Re: Autopilot question

[snecker]

Okay here's what you do. Instead of engaging autopilot lock from the instrument
display, use the menu's to engage it. Say you're at 10'000 and you want to head
up and level out at 12'000. Type that value in as well as the rate of altitude
increase, say +300 per min. The autopilot will then increase altitude and level
out at that height. Of course, you need to make sure you have enough power in
the engines and there is nothing that would cause this to fail. My autopilot
doesn't compensate by increasing power if it doesn't have enough. It generally
stalls. The same goes for descents.

Snecker

Hi all,

I'm a new FS gamer (about 3 weeks). I'm having trouble getting the autopilot to

work on some flights - it will happily keep the wings straight and follow GPS
paths but not hold altitude correctly - with the plane nose diving through the
autopilot selected altitude. I have the correct parameters checked and I've
tried using the pull down menus as well as cockpit controls. The only aircraft
that seem to handle correctly are the Cessnas. Often, on a flight after being
unable to get the plane I'm flying to maintain any altitude on autopilot, I
select a Cessna - then set the autopilot - which will always work, then select
my original plane and sometimes my original aircraft will then fly correctly
altitude wise.

It's frustrating, any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

John

[hallrob]

Okay here's what you do. Instead of engaging autopilot lock from the instrument

display, use the menu's to engage it. Say you're at 10'000 and you want to head

up and level out at 12'000. Type that value in as well as the rate of altitude
increase, say +300 per min. The autopilot will then increase altitude and level

out at that height. Of course, you need to make sure you have enough power in
the engines and there is nothing that would cause this to fail. My autopilot
doesn't compensate by increasing power if it doesn't have enough. It generally
stalls. The same goes for descents.

Snecker

The 182 does not have an autothrottle as this is usually reserved for jets. You
have to control the power in function of what you want to do. If you are
cruising at 6,500ft and want to climb to 8,500, then you need to increase the
throttle for the climb. The reverse goes for descents. If you put an altitude
into the autopilot, but do not give it a rate (VS), then it will not change
your altitude. You might want to watch out for the fact that if you take the
controls, you can end up overiding the autopilot. Some of the planes have
altitude alarms, which are designed only to warn you when you pass through a
given altitude.

Regards,

Robert Hall
ELLX

[artburke]

Okay here's what you do. Instead of engaging autopilot lock from the instrument

display, use the menu's to engage it. Say you're at 10'000 and you want to head

up and level out at 12'000. Type that value in as well as the rate of altitude
increase, say +300 per min. The autopilot will then increase altitude and level

out at that height. Of course, you need to make sure you have enough power in
the engines and there is nothing that would cause this to fail. My autopilot
doesn't compensate by increasing power if it doesn't have enough. It generally
stalls. The same goes for descents.

Snecker

The 182 does not have an autothrottle as this is usually reserved for jets. You

have to control the power in function of what you want to do. If you are
cruising at 6,500ft and want to climb to 8,500, then you need to increase the
throttle for the climb. The reverse goes for descents. If you put an altitude
into the autopilot, but do not give it a rate (VS), then it will not change
your altitude. You might want to watch out for the fact that if you take the
controls, you can end up overiding the autopilot. Some of the planes have
altitude alarms, which are designed only to warn you when you pass through a
given altitude.

Regards,

Robert Hall
ELLX

Good answer! Additionally - even at *only* that altitude in the 182 you'll
probably have to lean the mixture somewhat or it may not do much climbing at
all!
Art