Altitude Control

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CajunRon
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Joined: 16 May 2012, 21:23

Altitude Control

Post by CajunRon »

I just purchased the Connie and still on the learning curve but I think I've got the basics pretty much figured out. My one problem is controlling the altitude. I understand that the autopilot controls attitude not altitude but still I am chasing the attitude and thus the altitude constantly. Even at cruise when everything else is stable...I seem to be constantly adjustingf the attitude controller to try to maintain altitude. Unless I devote 100% attention to it there is no way I can maintain a constant altitude within what I would think is acceptable standards (+/- 500ft ?). And if I'm going to devote 100% of my attention to altitude I might as well just be flying manually...I can actually maintain a more stable altitude flying manually.

I'm not a real world pilot or an aeronautical expert, just a retired chemical engineer who has been flight simming for over 30 years. But my logic and common sense tells me that this CAN"T be how it really was in the real Connie. Either I'm missing something or the simulation is missing something....If it's me, I sure could use some pointers. If it's the simulation I do hope this is looked into...even if they just provide us a little "cheat" to make it more realistic.

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Tug002
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Joined: 25 Oct 2013, 11:40
Location: Ontario, Canada. CYSH

Re: Altitude Control

Post by Tug002 »

Welcome to the forum CajunRon. Once I have my desired altitude and have trimmed the aircraft I find that very small increases or decreases in throttle settings will help keep a stable altitude keeping in mind that wind gusts and change of direction will effect the aircraft. As I understand this auto pilot was the one that was used in the Connie and will take some time to get used to. I am sure that some other good folks here will also give you some good advice as you will find that everyone here is eager to help out fellow flight simmers.

Keep smiling
Tug :)

Stearmandriver
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Joined: 12 Mar 2017, 22:33

Re: Altitude Control

Post by Stearmandriver »

I just switched from the sperry autopilot to the default FSX one (there's an option in one of the pop up menus) and use altitude hold. I suppose this is a "cheat", but here's the thing - you're one guy trying to do the work of five.

I appreciate that A2A made it an option, because different folks will want different things out of the sim. The sperrys were known for being rather cantankerous, and the Connie known for being unstable in pitch, so I imagine it did take close watching by a pilot. But the flying pilot wasn't also trying to be a navigator, engineer, radio operator etc...

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Eugene Kremlev
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Joined: 09 Sep 2017, 02:12

Re: Altitude Control

Post by Eugene Kremlev »

Stearmandriver wrote:I just switched from the sperry autopilot to the default FSX one (there's an option in one of the pop up menus) and use altitude hold. I suppose this is a "cheat", but here's the thing - you're one guy trying to do the work of five.

I appreciate that A2A made it an option, because different folks will want different things out of the sim. The sperrys were known for being rather cantankerous, and the Connie known for being unstable in pitch, so I imagine it did take close watching by a pilot. But the flying pilot wasn't also trying to be a navigator, engineer, radio operator etc...
Yes, it's so. I use this mode. I like to manually take-off, departure, approach and landing, but in cruise i pay attention to engineer panels as not using help of a virtual crew.

CajunRon
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Joined: 16 May 2012, 21:23

Re: Altitude Control

Post by CajunRon »

I just switched from the Sperry autopilot to the default FSX one (there's an option in one of the pop up menus) and use altitude hold. I suppose this is a "cheat", but here's the thing - you're one guy trying to do the work of five.
Thanks for the tip...this is exactly what I was looking for. I do want to manually fly with the Sperry during the "interesting" parts of the flight as Eugene said but this gives me a way to reduce frustration when all I want to do is fly level.

Beyond this I did have one anomaly when beginning my descent into Santa Barbara. I had started the flight without any weather so winds were calm. In this situation I was able to hold a pretty constant altitude with the sperry alone. (Except when making course corrections when the Connie always goes into a 500 ft/min or greater climb when turning) When entering the descent I dialed in a nose down attitude and pulled back on the throttle to give me a 1000 ft/min descent rate. All was fine initially and I think I flew in this attitude for maybe a minute or so. Then for no reason I can see the Connie's nose rapidly swung high and it went into a 1500 ft/min or more climb. I was able to regain control and get it to settle back to a 1000 ft/min descent rate but it was a wild ride for those passengers. Any thoughts on this?

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Eugene Kremlev
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Joined: 09 Sep 2017, 02:12

Re: Altitude Control

Post by Eugene Kremlev »

Beyond this I did have one anomaly when beginning my descent into Santa Barbara. I had started the flight without any weather so winds were calm. In this situation I was able to hold a pretty constant altitude with the sperry alone. (Except when making course corrections when the Connie always goes into a 500 ft/min or greater climb when turning) When entering the descent I dialed in a nose down attitude and pulled back on the throttle to give me a 1000 ft/min descent rate. All was fine initially and I think I flew in this attitude for maybe a minute or so. Then for no reason I can see the Connie's nose rapidly swung high and it went into a 1500 ft/min or more climb. I was able to regain control and get it to settle back to a 1000 ft/min descent rate but it was a wild ride for those passengers. Any thoughts on this?
Sperry, if necessary, better use in cruise. Left from heading indicator is three regulators — they set level servo speed. Set minimum value, for example — 1. But, better use Sperry only in cruise. Climb and descent in manually mode. And yes — Connie throws sometimes sharply and highly. Also read A2A tutorial for Connie about Sperry, page 129.

HighBypass
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Location: Lancashire, England

Re: Altitude Control

Post by HighBypass »

I believe that it's probably better to turn off the Sperry when making a turn. I too use the FSX autopilot, but appreciate the options A2A have given.
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