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Guest stalo

Autopilot

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Guest stalo

I have found a problem on my DC3. It has been working like a charm, however the other day I setup the autopilot with heading and climb, when I got on course altitude worked fine but heading did nothing. I though it was a fluke, and tryed it the other day again and same thing, this was on the R4D, I haven't tryed it on the C47. Any suggestions?:9

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Hi Stalo,Never heard of anything like this in all the time the Sperry has been out, which is about 7 years. I'm not certain exactly what you are experiencing. You say the heading hold worked and it stayed on heading during the climb, but not after you levelled out? BTW, the C-47's AP should not behave differently than the R4D or any of our DC-3's as they all share the same gauge file.Bill RambowMAAM-SIM http://www.fssupport.com/maam/maamsim_neon.gif


Bill Rambow

MAAM-SIM

www.maam.org

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Guest stalo

I normally fly out, get on course, still climbing engage the autopilot adjust my course and climb. as it is now I can adjust the climb but the course adjust has no effect. I looked at all the files I can and don't see any thing, however my knowledge of files is limited. I guess the only thing may be to just reload. I will wait to see if any one has an idea, any way it enjoyable to just fly this great simulation anyway, I rode in a "Gunny bird " but never got the chance to fly one.;(

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Guest stalo

My procedure is to set up course using the rudder control knob and what I think will be 500fpm using the elevator control,into the AP prior to taxi. Upon takoff and after cleaning up,I turn to the heading still climbing, I use the the Garmin to establish my course, and upon intercepting the planned course I then energize the AP, and adjust the rudder and elevator control knobs to make any corrections in course and climb needed; however currently the elevator control works as advertized, but rudder control has no effect. I make coordinated turns and the ball is centered, so I know the rudder is working, besides the takeoff would be interesting without the rudder once the tail got up. I hope this help's :D

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Guest wji

With this additional information it would appear you are expecting the SPERRY to operate beyond its capabilities. The R4D.PDF Manual states the SPERRY should only be engaged after straight-and-level flight has been achieved and the aircraft is trimmed. If any course or altitude changes are anticipated, the SPERRY should be disengaged while the course and attitude changes are made.I doubt if any " . . . and what I think will be 500fpm using the elevator control,into the AP prior to taxi.", such data can be programmed into the SPERRY before flight. Perhaps you refer to another autopilot which does have these pre-flight capabilities.Therefore, to test your R4D SPERRY autopilot may I suggest a test flight where one takes-off to straight-and-level flight and --after hitting the 'D' key to coordinate all FS9 Direction Instruments -- turn on the SPERRY autopilot. The AIL knob will trim for altitude hold when the unit is turned ON. Rotate the Upper Horizontal Indicator Card (HI) using the RUD knob until it aligns with the Directional Gyro (DG) on the lower card (previously set to the selected aircraft heading by either hitting the 'D' key or rotating it with the knob below the gauge). When the SPEERY UNIT is turned ON, lining up these two cards will cause the SPERRY autopilot to hold the present heading using the rudder.Further on in the manual, under Don'ts it reiterates that no course nor altitude changes shall be attempted while the SPERRY is engaged.http://members.shaw.ca/wji5/fs_9/sperry-coll.jpgCollage by wjiCaveateHaving said all this about all that, there are several work-arounds to these procedures due to the built-in keyboard capabilities of FS9; none of which will be mentioned here until it is established your SPERRY does indeed work -- like everyone elses.

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A red flag was raised for me when you said 'use the Garmin to establish my course'. Firstly, what the heck do you think you're doing messing about with GPS in a DC-3 :) and, secondly, do you disengage the GPS when setting the Sperry? If not, perhaps this is a simple matter of GPS vs. NAV setting.I dunno, I've never used a GPS in a DC-3. Dashed new-fangled paraphernalia, won't be having with it.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cathayhk.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/maamlogo2.jpg[/a]

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Guest stalo

I thank you for the information, I shall do as you suggest, and see what happens. However in regards to your last input, I am not trying to use the Garmin as gps guidance, I am using it as a referance line for the course from AtoB. If the gps was not to be used for something; then why was the click spot put on the panel. I would assume, it was included for use as a referance, since the R4D did not come equipped with gps, which as I said thats what I am using it for. :)

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<<<<>>>>>>>>>There's a click spot on the panel! Dang! How did that get there?:) Don't take me too seriously, Stalo. Many users are lost without the GPS, and others like yourself use it for reference where charts are not available, which is fair enough, and thus most developers include the FS GPS even if the aircraft it's placed in would never have seen one; the map function gives you that in FS, of course, but stops the sim each time you look at it which gets annoying. FSNav is the ideal answer, which ought to be part of FS in my view.OK, so if you are not setting your course by GPS, your problem remains unsolved. This is one that's hard to replicate, I fear. We'll keep thinking.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cathayhk.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/maamlogo2.jpg[/a]

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Guest stalo

Ok! Dark Moment, I did as you suggested, took off from my local airport, flew north climbed to 5K leveled off set my course 005,pressed D to correct any drift and engaged the autopilot. You could see the aircraft move slightly in altitude, but with a slight drift right, so I attempted to correct using the aileron control and this had no effect, on the lateral control at all, so I then attempted a small adjustment of the rudder control, this also had no effect. So I disengaged the Sperry and flew back, which is more enjoyable flying anyway. I think I have lost some binary some where, so I think the only thing I can do now is to unload this program and start again. You are right using the Garmin is distracting, when you file a VFR flight plan with the MSFSFAA you can print it out, but I find that going to Terrain on the Garmin is at least close to laying a map in your lap like it was when you were doing your cross country's on a windy day with the yoke in one hand and the E6B in the other. :-)

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