How do You....?

[Guest]

How do you get the autopilot to land your plane i have been flightsimming for over 2yrs now and i still havn't been able to do it. I am useing FS 2002. Any help would be great Thanks :)

[Guest John_Hirsch]

The autoland feature was last used in the FS98 version of the sim and was removed from the FS2K version and not replaced in the FS2K2 version. That is probably why you cannot get the feature to work in FS2K2.There are, however, some third party aircraft with superb flight dynamics files that will get you "on the numbers" with just a little throttle assistance on your part. The hands off landing proceedure does take practice, even with good flight dynamics.

[Guest mikehaska]

Are you talking about a full landing, or just locking on to the ILS and flying down to 200 feet above ground, then you take over?

[Guest]

A full landing

[Minos 26]

Hi, What would be the use of such a feature? :-scatterI thought you would lke to pilot the plane yourself :-).....Anyway I think you can't do a full landing with the FS2002 autopilot. Greetings Minos

[Guest The Ancient Brit]

Blackfox1,If you care to drop me a line I can sent you a flight situation file (approaching KSFO ILS runway 28R in a B737-400) which comes very close to an autopilot automatic landing I follow the glide until 500 AGL then I disengage the autothrust and the APR. I engage the wing lever to hold the aircraft in a straight line. I then engage the vertical speed to about minus 700 fpm and with the altitude hold set to a level just above the runway, the aircraft flares as it approaches the altitude hold, with no autothrust however it loses speed and sinks below the altitude hold touching down just nicely. It sounds complicated as described, but really it is only a couple of mouse clicks applied at the critical moments and you have a touchdown that looks almost intentional. A flight briefing document describing the procedure in detail comes with the flight situation file. The method works a treat with non-ILS finals.Denis. The Ancient Brit.All landings are but controlled crashes.

[Guest]

Thanks for the tip. I have done this befor and it isn't that hard. I just thought that there was a way to lock the Autopilot onto the Glideslope with the Approch Hold switch. I guess I'm wrong.

[Guest georgi55]

As long as you control flaps, spoliers, and gears, FSNAV can do all the rest if you make a plan with it.Its makes some of the best beutiful smooth landings I've ever seen.

[Steve Dra 7,588]

"What would be the use of such a feature?"Here is one example I can think of...:)http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/DCForumID33/926.html"I thought you would lke to pilot the plane yourself"If the weather is true CAT III (a or :(, and I have the choice of either trusting my piloting skills or the computer's....I've compared them both many times...the computer wins, hands down, every time! :)This is one time that I'm quite content to be a "Systems monitor" and let the real pro fly the plane. If you've ever seen the Wilco 767 Pilot in Command panel execute an autoland, you'd understand why I feel this way. :)Regards,Steve Dra

[John_Cillis 2,406]

"Thanks for the tip. I have done this befor and it isn't that hard. I just thought that there was a way to lock the Autopilot onto the Glideslope with the Approch Hold switch. I guess I'm wrong."You are right--you can track the glideslope in 2k2, although the rules for intercept differ from FS98/2000. In 2K2, you must first lock the localizer, and then intercept the G/S from underneath. If you are not running full flaps for landing, be sure to gradually reduce speed while tracking the G/S as you deploy the flaps. More than one notch of deviation in either direction will cause G/S tracking to disengage. In my 757, I usually intercept at around 190-200 kts, and deploy my final bit of flaps while crossing the O/M. I wrote a proggie (which is currently hosted at flightsim) called Autoland 2001. It also works with FS2002 as long as you use FSUIPC 2.8x or better. But it's not really designed for true inclement weather--winds and turbulence make it next to worthless, although I have landed jets with it with about a 10 kt crosswind component...I've completed Autoland 2002 (which works with all versions of FS), and I am just trying to find time to post it at Avsim. Autoland 2002 improves a bit on Autoland 2001, and includes a screen which allows you to plug in A/P alt, hdg, spd, etc.....as opposed to selecting those entries via a mouse.-John