737 autopilot shuts off

[misgav 2]

I fly the 737 with FS2Crew. lately I've noticed that on long flights, when I put the plane on AP and get away from my pc, on several occasions I've returned and found the plane on or near the ground. Everything on the panel is the same except the AP is off! The plane lost control and dove down.I can't figure out why this happens sometimes.EytanLLHA

[downscc 1,327]

I had no idea the 737 would fly for 12 hrs... wow. Anyway, the first thing I would try (after verifying I had not run out of gas) is to set the weather up such that it didn't change. I and others have experienced a significant loss of airspeed while at cruise. This will lead to a sequence of events that will leave you in circumstances you describe. I think this is due to wacky weather conditions that are no realistic occurring in areas with limited reporting stations.

[misgav 2]

Dan,I never fly the 737 for more than 4 hours...I use AS6 for weather input. Yes, there are times when winds aloft will change drastically, affecting airspeed suddenly, while the autothrottle races to adjust the engine thrust. Is the PMDG 737 so sensitive to abrupt wind cahange as to lose the AP functuion in midflight?The fs default 737 is steadier. I guess this means the PMDG is more realistic, but the realism shouldn't shut the AP down in midair.Eytan

[downscc 1,327]

"Is the PMDG 737 so sensitive to abrupt wind cahange as to lose the AP functuion in midflight?"Not in real world, but the abrupt wind changes are very unrealistic at cruise altitudes. The problem is thin air, where stall speeds are much higher than you'd first expect, coupled with the safety feature that APs trip when the pilot needs to take over. Of course, you get alarms and the pilot is usually in the cockpit.The default 737 is mearly a toy.I solved the problem using the wind smoothing features of FSUIPC, which I consider a must-have even with ActiveSky.Hope this helps.

[johndrago 4]

>I fly the 737 with FS2Crew. lately I've noticed that on long>flights, when I put the plane on AP and get away from my pc,>on several occasions I've returned and found the plane on or>near the ground. Everything on the panel is the same except>the AP is off! The plane lost control and dove down.>I can't figure out why this happens sometimes.>>Eytan>LLHAPerhaps you had a spike in your yoke/joystick. This will disengage your A/P.- John

[misgav 2]

Well, I'm getting a new joystick. Maybe that will change things.Eytan