FAQ

Currently, the PortaPilot is compatible with most of the following aircraft:

Cessna 150 L and M models

Cessna 152

Cessna 172 L and newer models

However, you must ensure compatibility with your aircraft with a in-flight measurement. Please see our compatibility page for more information: https://www.portapilot.com/compatibility

If your aircraft has a 28V charging system, you MUST use our 28V to 14V power adapter:

The PortaPilot may not be modified to work on unsupported aircraft.

All PortaPilot products come with a 1 year warranty against any material or manufacturing defects.

We also back our products with a 60-day (or six hours of use) full-refund return policy (excluding shipping costs)

For more information please see our Shipping & Returns page: https://www.portapilot.com/shipping-returns

Both portable, and panel mounted GPS navigators are compatible. Simply connect the included bare wire cable to an unused serial out port on your GPS navigator. For panel mounted GPS, we recommend bringing the serial port out to a panel mounted connector. You may need to configure that port to output navigation data with either Aviation or NMEA183 protocol and a baud rate of 4800 or 9600 and configure the PortaPilot settings to match. When communicating properly, you should see the GPS indicator on the PortaPilot Control Module flashing green.

Note that the PortaPilot is specified for turbulence that is no greater than light intermittent in nature. However, it is possible to improve this condition by temporarily reducing the Roll Gain to a point where the flight is more stable, but the aircraft is adequately controlled. Don't forget to restore the Roll Gain setting for typical conditions.

The PortaPilot is not certified nor capable of coupled instruments procedure. However, as a last resort in an emergency, while connected to an IFR WAAS GPS navigator, it can provide guidance in response to ATC vectors to final while in HDG mode. Once established, selecting NAV mode will cause the aircraft to intercept final approach and track it. At the DA it should be within 240 feet off centreline, which is well within the required 700 feet. Glide slope must be manually controlled by the pilot as normal.

It is possible that you will be able to use the PortaPilot, however the added control yoke resistance imposed by the built-in autopilots could be an issue. The PortaPilot has limited torque which may not be capable of overpowering the built-in servos. If there is excessive drag on your controls, the PortaPilot will not work.

Yes! As long as this is not a hard turning tendency, the PortaPilot will correct for it. This can consume several minutes to stabilize, however, the yoke clamp can be rotated as needed to compensate, while flying LVL, HDG or NAV. The center field of the display will indicate the amount and direction of the rotation. For specifics, read the Alignment Procedure section in the PortaPilot Pilot's Guide.

Yes, you may be able to mount the User Interface to the yoke using elastic bands. The Control Module may be secured to the dash using some high quality adhesive tape that can be removed easily, such as 3M No Residue duct tape. You may also be able to use a small amount of low temperature hot glue, which could then be removed easily with some isopropyl alcohol. Some creativity and experimentation may be necessary. It is very important that the Control Module not be moved or bumped during flight, so keep this in mind when mounting.

Yes! While we don't have this available yet, in the future, you will be able to send in your single axis PortaPilot for a Two Axes upgrade. We will then uprade your NAV hardware and software into a fully functional VNAV set.