Flight Director Question/problem??

[jmoss]

Loving this plane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, I noticed that the flight director has pitch and alt hold yet it does nothing. Only the actual auto pilot will do it. Does anyone know why? I checked all five pages of this forum, so if I missed it, sorry to post again. Best regards, J.Moss

[Lou_Betti]

The FD has pitch and alt hold???

No, the AP does. The FD just provides commands for hand flying.

You can use the FD without the AP, as you can on just about any aircraft.

Regards,
[link:www.dreamfleet2000.com|http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/im...nners/LOU.gif]
[font size=1][font color=blue]Can you pilot a plane, instead of programming an FMC to do it for you?[/font color= blue][/font size=1]

[jmoss]

Hi Lou, I must have misunderstood the function of the switches on the flight director. When the autopilot is on, if I want to make any changes to pitch, the pitch dial does nothing. Same with alt hold. I have to use the controls on the center console. I thought you could change it on the flight director as long as the autopilot is on. Being they are at eye level, it seemed to make more sense. I have to read up some more I quess. Thanks for the quick reply as usual! Best regards, J.Moss

[Tabs]

jmoss,

Read the maunal man... 727s have completely SEPARATE flight director systems - it is NOT coupled to the autopilot at all like in most modern airliners. The controls on the glareshield are for the FD only - to control the AP you have to use the AP panel with is down with the radios. You use the little paddle there to control pitch/roll in MAN mode.

So yes, you can have the FD displaying something completely different from what the AP is doing in a 727 - this is normal. Get in the habit of putting them both in the same mode and you won't see this.

Ryan

[jmoss]

"Read the maunal man".... Yes, you are 100% correct. I have it down pretty well now. I went back to the manual last night. I always had them both in the same mode. I was just thrown off when I tried to give commands to the FD and it did not make a difference. Anyway, thanks for all of the input. Best regards, J.Moss