I stopped by the Garmin booth at Sun-N-Fun, as usual, and talked to a guy. This guy was different though. His name is Patrick Coleman. His title is Manager, Aviation Aftermarket Sales - Americas.
I told him we wanted the Garmin autopilot for the piston and turbine commanders, but we weren't holding our breath due to small fleet size, lots of variants etc. His response was "never say never". He didn't promise anything, and Bruce is probably right - it will be never happen or it will be a very very long time. But he did mention the web site, and the place on the web site where we could offer a donor aircraft.
He also helped me with a technical glitch that I have had with my newish Garmin digital radar. (That was something I have been chasing down for almost a year now.)
Sooooo, as my father used to say "the squeaky wheel gets the oil." Everybody should communicate to Garmin (assuming we all want a Garmin autopilot.) that Commander owners matter!
On a side note. I thought "we" the Commander guys should have more of a presence at Sun-N-Fun. An airplane or two, guys hanging around chatting up the crowd. (Bruce)