I thought I knew how to use the A/P - until I started to get involved with Backcourses on non-GS runways. Then I found that I could not get the aircraft to descend!!THis is what it is all about . You can fly completely by hand or completely by A/P -- but you cannot mix the 2 together (without implementing the "fix" that has been offered to me. So thi means that if you choose to turn the A/P on and only select 1 function of it (say Nav) then you cannot use the manual controls to alter any other function of the aircraft like altitude, heading, etc.So now that I know this , I can handle it without having to implement the fix -- it's either ALL by hand or ALL by A/P

Bazza:I don't think I agree with that. I frequently use the localizer hold (not the approach hold, because it is so inconsistent in FS 2002!) and then descend the glide slope manually with auto-throttle in poor weather conditions where I do not go visual until the MDA (Minimum Descent Altitude). The only A/P fixes I know about are the older published wing leveller / pitch / bank ones. Which one are you referring to?Alex CN562ZMinneapolis

We both agree with one another -- just approaching it from different directions. You are saying that you use the A/P to hold the approach direction and use the A/T to control your altitude. While I have read that this way is dangerous to use in jets , it is certainly OK for piston aircraft (using the throttle manually that is - seeing as how they dont have an A/T)What I was trying to say is that you cannot (with the existing A/P) control your heading with the A/P (using either HDG, BC or NAV) and then use your joystick to manually descend the aircraft (we are talking jets here)The fix that you talk of does allow you to do this however.On another issue - it is strange to me that you find the APPROACH mode of the A/P to be inconsistent -- I have had nothing but success with it