Hours to install S-TEC

[Frode Berg]

Hi!

Just a question if there are any mechanics here.

What would the normal install time be for an S-TEC system 20 one-axis
autopilot be into a 1968 Piper Arrow?
Presuming the directional gyro/heading bug is OK, and the NAV instruments
are up to it off course.

Just to have an idea.

I got a price quote from one shop here, and they claim approx 30-50 hours
install time.
I find this figure quite high, but if anyone has any experience with this,
let me know.

Also, does anyone have links to mechanic shops in Sweden and Denmark?

I just want to shop around a little bit....

Thanks,

Frode

[Don Tuite]

On Thu, 6 May 2004 22:52:58 +0200, "Frode Berg" >
wrote:

>Hi!
>
>Just a question if there are any mechanics here.
>
>What would the normal install time be for an S-TEC system 20 one-axis
>autopilot be into a 1968 Piper Arrow?
>Presuming the directional gyro/heading bug is OK, and the NAV instruments
>are up to it off course.
>
>Just to have an idea.
>
>I got a price quote from one shop here, and they claim approx 30-50 hours
>install time.
>I find this figure quite high, but if anyone has any experience with this,
>let me know.
>

The club put an S-Tec 30 into its Cherokee 235 last summer. One of
the club members is friends with a guy who has a licensed repair
station in the California Sierra foothills (not Jim). They let our
guy do a lot of the dog work and crawling around. The two guys, our
member and his mechanic friend used to own a PA28-161 together, so
they both know the planes.

Complicating the installation was the fact that we also installed an
old Morrow GPS at the same time, so our situation is not exactly the
same as yours.

The job took a whole weekend plus. I'll call our guy tonight and get
his estimate of man-hours.

But I don't think your shop is sandbagging you.

Don

In the end, we were $300 over budget. I'll get the actual figure
tonight as well.

[Craig]

"Frode Berg" > wrote in message >...
> Just to have an idea.
>
> I got a price quote from one shop here, and they claim approx 30-50 hours
> install time.
> I find this figure quite high, but if anyone has any experience with this,
> let me know.
>
> Also, does anyone have links to mechanic shops in Sweden and Denmark?
>


Sounds about right. The time involved for installing a two axis S-Tec
in the SF-260 was about 30 manhours and it doesn't have as much
interior to be removed and reinstalled as an Arrow.

Craig C.

[Michael]

"Frode Berg" > wrote
> Just a question if there are any mechanics here.

Not a mechanic, but I am an amateur who has installed an autopilot.
Not counting the time spent to test/repair/scrounge, which presumably
would not be necessary for a factory-new autopilot that comes with a
complete installation kit, I would say 30-50 hours was just about
right for me.

So basically the quote is right assuming your mechanic is no faster
than an amateur who has never done any kind of autopilot installation
before.

Michael

[Nathan Young]

On Thu, 6 May 2004 22:52:58 +0200, "Frode Berg" >
wrote:

>Hi!
>
>Just a question if there are any mechanics here.
>
>What would the normal install time be for an S-TEC system 20 one-axis
>autopilot be into a 1968 Piper Arrow?
>Presuming the directional gyro/heading bug is OK, and the NAV instruments
>are up to it off course.
>
>Just to have an idea.
>
>I got a price quote from one shop here, and they claim approx 30-50 hours
>install time.
>I find this figure quite high, but if anyone has any experience with this,
>let me know.

Did they give you a final cost? Or was it MSRP + install hours *
labor rate? This is probably not useful for you, but there are shops
in the States that will do an STEC-20 install for <$6k USD.

http://www.pennavionics.com/STEC_PRICE_LIST.jpg

-Nathan