For John Barrett:

I discussed the need for a yaw dampener with the folks in the Lancair Avionic shop back sometime in the late 90's when I was looking to purchase an autopilot.  Their opinion was that the yaw dampener and the flight director were just added expense so I took their advice and did not add them to my STEC-55. However when I first flew my L-IVP,  I found the plane to be quite squirrelly at low speed and it demanded large amounts of rudder trim with airspeed changes  Later, before I painted, I added a set of strakes which improved the handling but I still have to be careful with the rudder trim.

I also have the winglets and I find the aileron forces to be quite high altho the autopilot doesnt seem to notice.  I get a lot of spectator comment about the winglets and I think that they add a lot to the appearance of the plane even tho they might slow it down a little.

Regards, Bill Hogarty