A321 Auto Pilot Question

[flying_saucer]

Hi All,

I've been flying A321 from Rome to Naples. I have an auto-pilot question.

The issue I am having right is I want AP to manage SPEED and ALTITUDE only and I can't seem to be able to do that. Once I have AP ON, with HEADING AP switch is OFF, I have no manual control of the yoke. Why is that?

I have to turn the AP totally off, then my stick comes back to life.

In Learjet, I do not have this problem. I can do AP-ON with no auto HEADING.

Thanks,
A

[TheBoeing738]

Hi,

I'm pretty sure the autothrottle will still manage your speed even if the Master AP is off - that's the way it is on the default 737. So, that way you'll have manual control of the yoke at the same time. I'm not sure about altitude hold though, I don't think you can manually control the yoke if the Master AP is on.

Hope this helps

[flying_saucer]

I only want to turn LEFT and RIGHT for fine-tuning heading in lining up with the runway. I want the rest on AP. In other words, I want everything on AP sans HEADING, which should be doable. But so far I can't on FSX's A321.

I did put the AP HEADING switch to OFF. Still could not manually turn left and right via the stick. The stick works again immediately once I take the MASTER AP to OFF. So, it is not a defective stick.

FSX's Learjet 45 works fine. I could run everything on AP except HEADING. I just need to take HEADING to OFF.

-A

[TheBoeing738]

Yeah, I understand what you're saying... but that's just odd.

You seem to be doing everything right, so I can't see the problem. You usually are able to turn the aircraft even if the A/P altitude and speed is switched on. I just tested it in a 737... It worked properly for me.

I'm afraid i just can't see what the problem is - perhaps it's something to do with the A321 or you have a fault somewhere.

[CaptainTower]

Hi All,

I've been flying A321 from Rome to Naples. I have an auto-pilot question.

The issue I am having right is I want AP to manage SPEED and ALTITUDE only and I can't seem to be able to do that. Once I have AP ON, with HEADING AP switch is OFF, I have no manual control of the yoke. Why is that?

I have to turn the AP totally off, then my stick comes back to life.

In Learjet, I do not have this problem. I can do AP-ON with no auto HEADING.

Thanks,
A

Open the A321 aircraft.cfg file and look near the bottom for the autopilot header:
[Autopilot]
at the end of that section under [Autopilot] enter these two lines:

default_pitch_mode=0
default_bank_mode=0

That will give you lateral control of the Aircraft with the autopilot still on. You are a brave pilot to want to fly the A321 manually.

Tim

[hooks]

Go to the overhead panel and click the [Sec 1 ] button under FLT CTL on the left side of panel. You will now have HEADING CONTROL.

[CaptainTower]

Go to the overhead panel and click the [Sec 1 ] button under FLT CTL on the left side of panel. You will now have HEADING CONTROL.

I never knew that. I switched off the Fly-by-Wire shortly after getting FSX and never turned it back on. Those switches always were off for me. The reason I turned Fly-by-Wire off was because I wasn't crazy about the autoland feature of the A321 and wanted to switch off the autopilot at decision height and land it myself. When I did that, the vertical control of the aircraft went crazy and became uncontrollable. I also noticed the Section 2 and 3 buttons and wondered if I should have switched one of them off before switching off the autopilot.

I have so much to learn about this FSX and, just when I think I am figuring out something, I read something that someone has posted that just blows me away. How did you know that? Did you read it somewhere in FSX Learning Center or some third party resource?

Thanks for your post.

Tim

[flying_saucer]

Go to the overhead panel and click the [Sec 1 ] button under FLT CTL on the left side of panel. You will now have HEADING CONTROL.

THAT DID IT.

THANK YOU.

So, what is this SEC1? There are SEC2, 3, and 4 on the right side of the panel too.

I really appreciate it.

-A

[CaptainTower]

THAT DID IT.

THANK YOU.

So, what is this SEC1? There are SEC2, 3, and 4 on the right side of the panel too.

I really appreciate it.

-A

Sec 2, I discovered, will return control of the verical aspect of your A321. The reason I disconnected Fly-By-Wire initially is because I did not like the Autoland feature of the A321 and when I disconnected the Autopilot to finish the landing myself, the A321 went nuts on vertical and was extremely difficult to control. But if, on final, I switch Sec 2 off, I don't have the problem of loss of vertical control and can finish the landing manually.

Tim