PPRuNe Forums - STEC Autopilot

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I'm not sure which forum this belongs in, but here goes... Anyone who has experience with both the Stec 30 & Stec 50; can you offer advice as to which is the preferred unit? I believe they are both similar in price, but the 30 uses up less panel space because it replaces the turn coordinater, so why then is the 50 apparently the more popular unit? (apparently: looking at photos of cessnas & such, a lot have the 50 installed & few have the 30)

I have an STec 30 with a GPSS steering unit connected to a Narco HSI and a Garmin 430. I also have the alt unit. It was added as a retrofit by me a couple of years a go.

I did not have the panel space for the 50 and the 30 was a perfect slot in replacement for the TC which was on the fritz anyway.

I think that is the main reason people tend to go for a 30 over a 50. Performance wise they are the same.

I find the 30 to be simple, totally reliable and handles turbulance very well. with the GPSS unit it will fly a complete IAP, SID, STAR etc.

Can't find a single fault with it.

I'd prefer the 30, nice little unit and fairly intuitive to operate.

Agree with Bose-X, behaves faultlessly. It does just what you specify.