Auto pilot question

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miloguy
Airman
Posts: 31
Joined: 27 Jan 2014, 08:15

Auto pilot question

Post by miloguy »

G'day folks, been a while!
I'm back in the air after 18 months away!

I have fsx steam edition and I have the a2a cesna 172 which I'm trying to learn all over again.

my problem is going from A - B I get to say 3500 feet.
want to stay at that and hit auto pilot and altitude hold on..
but when I hit auto pilot I keep going round and round in cirlces ?

and cant keep the nose down, seems to want to point up?

so I've been flying mostly in manual , which is ok but still not sure how to fix this?

thanks...
milo

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Nick - A2A
A2A Captain
Posts: 13734
Joined: 06 Jun 2014, 13:06
Location: UK

Re: Auto pilot question

Post by Nick - A2A »

Hi Milo - are you sure the autopilot is actually engaging? When it does, it should activate the 'ROL' and 'VS' modes: in other words level the wings and hold the current course, and capture and hold current vertical speed (so long as the aircraft has the climb performance to do so).

One thing that quite important though, is to make sure that the aircraft is reasonably well trimmed before you engage the autopilot. If you're pushing the yoke forward hard when you engage the autopilot, it won't be able to correct effectively when you release the yoke.

I posted some links to the manual and a quick reference guide here recently. These are probably worth a look; for instance, to engage the autopilot, you must press and hold the 'AP' button for >0.25 seconds.

If you give us a little more info on which buttons you're pressing and what you're seeing on the autopilot display, it'll be easier to help! :wink:

Cheers,
Nick

miloguy
Airman
Posts: 31
Joined: 27 Jan 2014, 08:15

Re: Auto pilot question

Post by miloguy »

thanks for that, I'll see how I go.

is this ROL and VS a normal thing?

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Nick - A2A
A2A Captain
Posts: 13734
Joined: 06 Jun 2014, 13:06
Location: UK

Re: Auto pilot question

Post by Nick - A2A »

Yes, ROL and VS are the lateral and vertical modes which will activate by default when the autopilot is engaged. The documentation describes how to select and use the other modes such as HDG, NAV and ALT select and hold.

If you're used to the default FSX autopilot, you'll notice some differences in operation. The A2A version of the KAP 140 is much more faithful to how the real thing actually works. :wink:

Nick

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