Piper Autocontrol IIIB

Flew to dinner today with an outside temp of 10F. Auto pilot worked OK on the
trip out (plane came out of a 45F hanger). Parked for dinner for about 2
hours. The autopilot didn't work on the way back. You could feel the clutch
take hold but no corrective action to follow the bug. Simple roll control
didn't respond either. Well, about 20 minutes into the flight home, it started
to work. OK all the way home.

So, is it on its last leg and I should pull it and see if I can get it fixed?
Fixed where? Or is the low temperture (it was outside for 2 hours in 10F) the
problem? If it's low temp, I'm tempted to let it go since I don't often fly
there.

Chuck

How often do you fly in weather this cold? I would believe that the
clutch disk is just cold and did not have the friction required to
follow the commands. I had this happend in my 180 but not due to cold
but due to dust/dirt. Sometimes the clutch just loses its capability to
turn the thing. I sent it back to Stec and they fixed it.

Sandy Mustard

PaulaJay1 wrote:

> Flew to dinner today with an outside temp of 10F. Auto pilot worked OK on the
> trip out (plane came out of a 45F hanger). Parked for dinner for about 2
> hours. The autopilot didn't work on the way back. You could feel the clutch
> take hold but no corrective action to follow the bug. Simple roll control
> didn't respond either. Well, about 20 minutes into the flight home, it started
> to work. OK all the way home.
>
> So, is it on its last leg and I should pull it and see if I can get it fixed?
> Fixed where? Or is the low temperture (it was outside for 2 hours in 10F) the
> problem? If it's low temp, I'm tempted to let it go since I don't often fly
> there.
>
> Chuck