In article ,
" wrote:

So I own a 1961 Cessna 172. She's a great little airplane, light on
fuel burn, and not too bad on the airspeed, although she could do
better. I want an autopilot to start taking her on long trips. I'm
trying to do it as cheaply as possible but still legal obviously.
Anyone know of autopilots that will at least keep the wings level,
maybe an altitude hold as well?

An autopilot is nice on long xc, especially when in the soup.
Back in the 90's, I put an STEC 40 autopilot in my cherokee 140.
Way nice to let the AP handle stuff for a little while writing clearances,
etc.

The AP isn't necessary, but it nice.

The basic wingleveler, eg, STEC 20, is really all you
"need" in a basic bugsmasher. Think about how easy it
is to maintain altitude vs heading.

--
Bob Noel
(goodness, please trim replies!!!)