Driving a 400B

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   My airplane has an old autopilot that works great but the Aspen panel requires an ACU interface that uses the Cessna ARC vacuum gyro. I understand that the new Garmin GI275 will drive the autopilot directly eliminating the vacuum system. So.... my question, is there any hope that the IFD 550 will be certified to drive my autopilot?

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MarkZ Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 05 Sep 2015 Location: 0TX0 Status: Offline Points: 172	Post Options Post Reply Quote MarkZ Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Driving a 400B Posted: 12 Jun 2020 at 7:50am
	My airplane has an old autopilot that works great but the Aspen panel requires an ACU interface that uses the Cessna ARC vacuum gyro. I understand that the new Garmin GI275 will drive the autopilot directly eliminating the vacuum system. So.... my question, is there any hope that the IFD 550 will be certified to drive my autopilot?

AviSteve Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12 Feb 2018 Location: Melbourne, FL Status: Offline Points: 2161	Post Options Post Reply Quote AviSteve Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 14 Jun 2020 at 11:05pm
	I don't believe that the IFD will ever drive the autopilot directly. The better question is whether the IFD will be able to drive the GI275 such that it will drive the autopilot. I'm not familiar enough with the brand G product to know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is yes. The GI275 wouldn't be in our STC, though, so even if it does work, you would have to get that approved.
	Steve Lindsley Avidyne Engineering

MarkZ Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 05 Sep 2015 Location: 0TX0 Status: Offline Points: 172	Post Options Post Reply Quote MarkZ Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 Jun 2020 at 8:43am
	Thanks for the reply Steve. As you know, I’m not a fan of the G stuff but I’d really like to keep my functional autopilot without a vacuum system. The folks at Aspen wouldn’t spend the $$$ to get the 400 approved as G did, not that I blame them. I see a market for PFDs that you guys are familiar with. Is there a chance that you’ll get back into that market?