Follow up on Edo-Aire auto pilot servo

[n3437d]

Well my "Britain" auto pilot servo turned out to be an Edo-Arie-Mitchell unit.
If any of you have such a unit in your plane and the servo is mounted in the wing and it goes bad - I can give you a "blow-by-blow description on how to remove it along with needed tools and assorted @#&@#*!#@ vocabulary. Fortunately for me my AI man gave me the tools and said "have at" or pay me $75/hr and I'll do it. 3.5 hrs later I had it out and sent for overhaul.

Joel

N3437D

[GAHorn]

Edo-Aire-Mitchell is the forerunner of Century Autopilots in Mineral Wells, TX. (Edo was originally a submarine mfr'r who transferred their knowlege of submarine control to flight control.)
The last time I did anything with those folks, I flew a state airplane up to Mineral Wells and their technician spent about two hours tinkering and then we did a flight-adjustment and I was on my way. A very small shop with excellent service, sort of unbelievable that they are the mfr of such a widely known autopilot.

[sargent]

Hello from B'ham Al.
My son and I recently purchased a 170B from north Texas, N2728C. It has a Century 1 AP that blew fuses. We sent the control unit off, and a Georgia repair shop said it was toast but had a unit we could purchase. We were thinking of removing the servo and sending it to the shop to see it it is also bad. I got a Century 1 install manual from Ebay but it is for a Piper. Can you tell me where in the 170 wing the servo is located. We will try to take it out.

Thanks Bill Sargent
sargentcim@bellsouth.net

[johneeb]

Bill,
On my 170 the Century servo is in the left wing in the extra (large) inspection hole located just inboard of the regular Aileron bell crank inspection hole.
Johneb

[GAHorn]

Yep, they can be in either left or right wing root, where the "bridle cables" can clamp onto the aileron cables. (If you don't have the installation instructions....how will you know if it's correctly installed? ...just because that's the way you found it don't make it so.)

Be extra-careful! You are fooling with primary flight controls. Be certain to have a qualified inspector look it over before closing and flying.

[n3437d]

Unbeleiveable - I am agreeing with George. Having just completly removed all components - servo, bridle and Century One drive unit (tied into a Garmin GPS) - discovered and learned alot about the system. A one axis (roll) "wing lever" has to by nature interface with the ailerons. The servo is placed either in the left or right wing. The "bridle cable" which attaches to your airleron control cable has to be installed with the correct tension or it will not work as designed. So "yes" a knowledgable mechanic must install it. Just to laugh at my impulsivity, when the unit was not operating I "assumed" the worse case scenario. About $1500 lighter and discovering the main drive unit was 100% OK and the servo was 100% AND after I had an Avionics guy try and sell me a newer and more improved device, My "hangar mate" who was an electronics specialist in the Navy took a look after everything had been re-installed - discovered the problem. There was a "kill switch" mounted on the yoke that would instantly disengage the unit if needed. The switch was stuck in the off position.
Rule # 1 ALWAYS look at the simplest item(s) first before going to the more costly components. Avaluable but costly lesson.


Joel
N3437D