Strange Problem

[gosta 0]

Hi all,in the past few days I noticed a strange phenomenon when using PIC. First, when I start up with a cold and dark cockpit (I usually select one of the 'First Delivery' options), the 'No Autoland' light is lit up. Then, during approach, I lose the autothrottle (I think it's when lowering flaps to 15, but not quite sure). I can then manually control the speed, even if the A/T is armed and 'SPD' mode selected. However, on touchdown it suddenly comes back alive and wants to speed up. (Also, it does not object to performing an autoland with A/T disengaged. Can this be done in the real plane, or is it a bug as well?) I recently installed a new sound card, and obviously something in the PIC files has become corrupted. Does anyone have an idea what it might be? I don't really want to reinstall, because for some reason the Wilco installer always leaves registry entries behind, which I then have to locate and remove manually, before I can reinstall. Also, could I re-use my aircraft.cfg (lots of PIC-POSKY merges), or could an altered entry in there have caused the problem?Any help would be greatly appreciated.Cheers,Gosta.

[Guest GeorgeDorkofikis]

Hi Gosta,I think the behaviour you are descibing is normal.I too get the lit up No Autoland warning when firing up a cold and dark cockpit. But as soon as the APU is started and the IRS are alligned, it goes away.As for the A/T, the behaviour is normal. Even with the A/T engaged, the pilot can make adjustments to the throttles manually. But as soon as stop manually controlling the throttles the A/T will kick back in and take over control.I don't know about the real a/c A/T & autoland behaviour, but in PIC you can make an autoland while you control the airspeed.I think the only difference is that in the real a/c, the A/T will disengage when too much throttle movement is done.Same stands for the autopilot. Any real 767 pilots in the forum can confirm/correct this please ?George DorkofikisAthens, Hellas

[gosta 0]

>Hi George, >>I think the behaviour you are descibing is normal. >I too get the lit up No Autoland warning when firing up a >cold and dark cockpit. But as soon as the APU is started >and the IRS are alligned, it goes away.Weird, I never had that before, either in FS2000 or FS2002. >As for the A/T, the behaviour is normal. Even with the A/T >engaged, the pilot can make adjustments to the throttles >manually. Yes, I know, but mine gives up completely, it goes down to idle and stays there until the plane stalls, it makes no attempt to maintain the selected speed, whether in SPD, VNAV or even N1 or GA mode.Any ideas what could be causing this?Cheers,Gosta.

[marcom 139]

It could be your FSUIPC version. Download the latest one and try it with that.As for autolanding without the autothrottle, it is possible, just remember to retard the thrust levers to idle when the plane enters the flare mode (45ft AGL)The autothrottle will remain connected even if it is manually overridden. That is unlike the autopilot, as that will disconnect if the pilot uses more than a specific value of force to fight the autopilot.

[gosta 0]

I've got FSUIPC version 2.86, which I think is the latest. I manually override the A/T quite frequently, but once I release the thrust levers, it will take control again, and maintain the pre-selected speed. It works fine during the entire flight, until I lower the flaps for landing. Then, I have to contol speed manually, no matter what speed I've set in the MCP, it will go to idle. And I have full control of the throttles, the A/T, although still connected and SPD mode selected, will make absolutely no attempt to correct in any way.It doesn't happen with any other plane, so I think it's something in the PIC A/P that's gone awry. Cheers,Gosta

[gosta 0]

Hi there, I enclose a screenshot of the problem this time. I am not manually controlling anything - speed is set to 138 knots, but even though it's reached 135, it's still dropping - also note the differences in N1, EGT etc. between the two engines. The A/T made no attempt to increase speed to, or maintain 138 kts. There was no weather selected, i.e. default FS conditions.Any ideas?Cheers,Gosta.

[marcom 139]

The fact that the two engines are displaying different values is normal. Happens to me aswell but I have no idea what causes it (normally, both engines behave exactly the same)As for the auto throttle, I have absolutely no idea and must say that it is odd. Try reinstalling FS2002 and 767PIC - who knows.As a last resort, try selecting the option in the PIC Preference menu that the A/T inhibits manual thrust control.Apart from that, I have no clues.Sorry,Mark

[gosta 0]

Hi Mark,thanks for your help - I have now reinstalled FS2002 and PIC, and everything is back to normal. However, I'd still like to know what caused this strange phenomenon. I've been using PIC more or less since it first came out, and I've never seen a discrepancy that large in N1, for example, - a few decimal points, yes, but this one was completely new. Also, it's always been (and is) my plane of choice to fly online - just because it's so reliable. That's why I'm so keen to find out what caused this behaviour, it must have something to do with changing the sound card, as that's when the problem first occurred. Considering the fact, that it didn't occur in any other plane, and taking into account the fact that PIC's A/P is programmed indepently from the default MS autopilot, there must be a link somewhere. So, what has become corrupted during the sound card install? It wasn't the aircraft.cfg - I just put back my old one after reinstalling. It wasn't the FS2002.cfg or INDEX_FILE either, I deleted both of them for one last try before reinstalling the whole lot. I found no registry entries linking to any of the gauges, but about 5 linking to the aircraft.cfg. Hardware changes didn't appear to have harmed PIC in the past - the sound card I installed was the one from my old computer which I used when I first got PIC, so there's no issue with that card per se. I suspect it's an XP issue.More ideas would be greatly appreciated, as it might help to alleviate future problems for anyone.Cheers,Gosta.

[Guest Ian_Riddell]

"the 'No Autoland' light is lit up."Splitting hairs here, but...It shouldn't light up at all... It's not a light ;-)Cheers.Ian.P.S. The ASA consists of two very brightly painted rotating shutters (If you're an oldtimer like me, they might remind you of the rotating number plates on James Bond's Aston Martin DB5(?)). They are electro-mechanically operated.There will be some backlighting for better visibility at night, but if the bulbs were inoperative, you wouldn't have any problems seeing them in the daytime or low light conditions.

[gosta 0]

I see. So I suppose, it could show without power - i.e. in a cold and dark cockpit? Or would that depend on the position it was left in at shutdown?Cheers,Gosta.

[Guest Ian_Riddell]

I'll have to get back to you on this one, Gosta... It's not something I generally look for when I power up a dead ship ;-)Cheers.Ian.

[Guest Ian_Riddell]

"when I start up with a cold and dark cockpit (I usually select one of the 'First Delivery' options), the 'No Autoland' light is lit up. "After looking at the Boeing wiring diagrams, Gosta, it appears that, without power, this could not happen in real life... unless the shutters were physically jamming in the Annunciator assembly. I have seen this happen in real life on other types of aircraft, but not on a 767 or in PIC.The shutters are spring-loaded to the blank position. Electrical power is needed to energize the shutter solenoids to show LAND 2, LAND 3, NO AUTOLAND or NO LAND 3. This (28 volts) is provided by the Left Transfer Bus or the Standby Bus (and of course, signals from the Flight Control Computers regarding autoland status). I think PIC, however, only has one source of power feeding the Autoland Status Annunciator (i.e. the Standby Power Bus).Hope this helps.Cheers.Ian.

[gosta 0]

Thanks Ian,as they say, you learn something new every day. So, whatever position they were left in when power was cut off, they would just default to the blank position. I seem to vaguely recall one of the instruments in my old 2CV that worked in a similar way, but got jammed, causing some concern (I think it was the oil warning, but I'm not sure...).Cheers,Gosta.