WingFlex DAP500 Review

There aren't many dedicated GA autopilot panels out there. There's really only one other worth knowing about, and it costs $349 USD. This one (The Wingflex DAP 500) is $159. Same basic job, less than half the price. That gap is the whole story of this review, so let's get into whether the WingFlex DAP500 is too good to be true or a genuine no-brainer.

Before we start, two things you need to know. WingFlex sent me the DAP500 to test and review. And more importantly - I've never had my hands on the real Garmin GFC500 that this is based on, and I've never touched the Real Sim Gear version either. So when I talk about how something feels, that's me on my desk with no real reference point. Keep that in your back pocket, because it becomes important later.

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What Is the WingFlex DAP 500?

The DAP500 is a small physical autopilot panel with heading, altitude, vertical speed, nav, and approach - all on real buttons and knobs instead of a mouse.

WingFlex don't claim it's a 1:1 replica of anything. They say it's inspired by modern GA autopilot logic. It looks a lot like a Garmin GFC500 to me, but I'm not going to tell you it's one-to-one because I genuinely don't know for sure.

The point of a panel like this is simple. If you use the autopilot in the sim, you know the problem - you're managing a heading bug, an altitude selector, and vertical speed all with a mouse, clicking and scrolling on screen. Every time you go hunting for that cursor there's a little visual disconnect that pulls you out of the immersion. The Wingflex DAP 500 fixes exactly that by putting it all on physical controls. If you're coming from mouse-driven cockpit controls, you'll absolutely love this little panel.

Because it's inspired by something that exists in the real world, it's also very intuitive to use. There are aircraft in the sim it's an absolute perfect match for - the SR22 or the Vision Jet in X-Plane, plus a whole heap of planes in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

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Price and Value - The Headline

Here's the comparison that matters, up front. The Real Sim Gear GFC500 is $349 USD and is essentially the same device - again, that's from what I can see on the surface, as I've not used the Real Sim Gear unit myself. The WingFlex DAP500 is $159 USD.

That's not just half the price. It's less than half. And the DAP 500 is well built and finished to a standard over and above what I expected for this kind of money. If you fly aircraft that accommodate this type of autopilot, that makes it close to a no-brainer in terms of value.

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Compatibility - Read This Before You Buy

This is the most important practical section of the review, because "does it just work" depends entirely on what you fly.

Once the firmware is updated, the DAP500 is genuinely plug and play - but only if you're flying a supported aircraft. WingFlex publish a compatibility list on their website here.

In X-Plane 12 there are eight aircraft on the list and they're all Laminar defaults. I tested the SR22, the Vision Jet, and the 172 - all three plug and play, they load up and work with no binding and no faffing. Microsoft Flight Simulator has a longer list. I tried the DA62 and the 172 in MSFS 2024 and both worked perfectly.

But load an aircraft that isn't on that list and you'll get nothing out of the box.

Here's the saving grace though. The DAP500 is a standard HID device, so you can bind it yourself to anything you like. That's genuinely a strength - it means this little GA autopilot isn't actually locked to GA at all. The catch is you're doing that work yourself, and the autopilot buttons and features might not match the labels on the panel depending on what systems your aircraft runs. So keep that in mind, but know that it's open season for making it work with just about anything.

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A Firmware Heads-Up - Don't Panic If It Looks Broken

Worth flagging because it caught me out. Mine didn't work immediately out of the box. Two things were wrong when I first plugged it in - the annunciator lights wouldn't come on when something was engaged, and in MSFS 2024 nothing was bound even to the supported aircraft.

The fix was a firmware update, which is about as simple as it gets and took no time at all. After that the annunciator lights on the panel came to life in both sims exactly as expected. So if you plug this in and it looks broken, it's almost certainly just old firmware. Run the update first before you assume anything's wrong.

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Build Quality

For such an approachably priced product, I rate the build quality quite high.

The surround is a smooth plastic and the face feels slightly textured. The heading and track knobs are tight and well finished - a little light in rotation for my taste, but nice enough.

The buttons are the standout. You can press one totally off-centre and the whole button still travels with it and still clicks. No wobble, no dead corners. I'm genuinely super impressed with them, and once the firmware is updated the annunciator lights above each button work exactly as they should - press autopilot on and the light comes on, same for flight director and yaw damper if your aircraft has the function.

The backlighting is even and adequate, though it's a little blue rather than a proper instrument white. Not a deal breaker, just something I noticed. There's also an ambient light sensor - set it to auto and it reads the room, dimming in the dark and brightening the panel in daylight. I'm not sure it makes much of a difference in practice, and I suspect it needs a software update to really do its thing.

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The Vertical Speed Wheel - Where I Disagree With Everyone

This is the part where I break from every other review, so it's worth spelling out.

Multiple reviewers have called the vertical speed wheel too stiff. Even reviews on WingFlex's own website call it out. I don't share that view at all. Yes, it needs a bit of pressure - absolutely granted. But I can turn it with one finger and get a single clean click every time.

So what's going on? There are two possibilities. Either I've got a later unit and something has changed in production, or those reviewers have hands calibrated to the real Garmin and mine simply aren't, because I've never touched one. I asked WingFlex about it and if I hear back I'll pin it in the comments.

This is exactly why I flagged at the start that I've got no reference point. If you're a real pilot who flies a plane with a Garmin unit like this, I genuinely want to hear about that vertical speed wheel in the comments — some perspective from someone with a real reference point would go a long way.

(Update: I reached out to Wingflex and they replied "We received feedback that the vertical speed dial felt too heavy during trial production, so the official production unit sent to you has already been adjusted accordingly.")

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Latency

I want to be straight about this because it's real, but minor.

In X-Plane, when I turn the heading knob the bug moves with a little bit of latency - you can see it in the video review. In MSFS 2024 the delay is slightly bigger.

It's not what I'd call bad, but I want to be clear about what it is and isn't. It's the encoders, not the buttons - the buttons seem fine as far as I can tell. And nothing actually gets dropped. I counted the clicks and the bug always gets where I send it, it just lags a little and takes longer to arrive. Where in the chain that's happening - the bridge software, my machine - I honestly can't tell you.

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Mounting

Three things to know about the mount.

First, you're sticking this down. I've got mine stuck to the desk, and whether you're on a desk or in a cockpit it doesn't matter - if you don't secure it, it's not really usable, because you need something to push against.

Second, the design is very Apple-like and it's rock solid once it's down.

Third, sticking it down is the only mounting option you officially get. But look at the shape of the box — you could Velcro or double-sided tape it to the underside of a desk with no bracket at all and it would be completely solid. That's actually what I'm planning to do on my next sim build.

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Who Should Buy the WingFlex DAP 500?

Buy it if:

• You fly GA aircraft with a modern autopilot - the SR22, Vision Jet, DA62, 172 and other supported planes
• You currently manage the autopilot with a mouse and want to kill that visual disconnect
• You want the same core functionality as the Real Sim Gear GFC500 for less than half the price
• You're comfortable binding an HID device yourself if you fly something off the compatibility list

Look elsewhere if:

• You fly aircraft that aren't on the list and don't want to do any manual binding
• You need an official mounting solution beyond sticking it down (eg. an avionics panel)
• Encoder latency in MSFS would genuinely bother you

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Final Verdict

The WingFlex DAP 500 is well built, well finished, and put together to a standard over and above what I expected for $159. It solves a real problem - the mouse-driven autopilot disconnect - and it does it intuitively because it's modelled on a real-world unit.

At $159 against the $349 Real Sim Gear GFC500 for essentially the same job, it's close to a no-brainer for anyone flying aircraft that suit this type of autopilot. The compatibility list is the one thing to check before you buy, and the encoder latency is worth knowing about, but neither takes much shine off what is a genuinely impressive little panel at this price.

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