Landing issue after AP disconnect

[RPRIEVER 52]

Greetings all,The other day I was attempting to land at KIND. I was fully established on the LOC/GS, flaps 35, final approach speed. At approx 2000' agl (can't recall the exact height) I disconnected the AP (using "Z") and tried to manually land. The plane didnt want to descend....it kept pitching up, and kind of floated. Any idea what I might have done wrong?

[G7USL 117]

2000ft is a little early to disconnect the AP. You need to do that at around 500ft. The MD-11 is fitted with 'autotrim' so that is why you found it hard to control.

[markadeane 272]

It's not really a matter of when you disconnect the AP, I routinely fly the whole ILS intercept and approach manually without any issue, the MD11 is a ncie stable handflyer if the conditions permit it.Ron, I suspect using the Z key isn't the best way to do this. On the yoke is a little yellow button that is an AP disconnect button, you can set a key command for it in the PMDG menu and then map it to a joystick button. You will most likely find that the aircraft behaves better if you disconnect the AP that way. Note that I say most likely, as there is a chance there is some other underlying issue here, but I'd say it's probably your use of the Z key that is an issue here.

[mburkhard 23]

2000ft is a little early to disconnect the AP. You need to do that at around 500ft. The MD-11 is fitted with 'autotrim' so that is why you found it hard to control.

Not true. 2000ft is just fine if you want to disconnect, or any other altitude. The auto trim function on the MD-11 is quite subtle in nature, yes you need to fly in trim, but it will NOT make the plane hard to control as you say it.

Ron, I suspect using the Z key isn't the best way to do this.

Actually the Z-key does the same as the AP disconnect button on the yoke, it has been programmed that way. So this can't be the problem either. Maybe there's some unwanted flight control deflection coming from somewhere? What does the SD config page say once the AP is disconnected?Cheers,Markus

[sheepfu 3]

It almost sounds to me like your approach speed is too slow given the flight parameters. If one attempts to fly the plane out of the flight envelope the automatic systems will kick in and prevent you from doing so. If approaching stall, it will kick in and stabilize the aircraft. Look for flashing indications on the PFD that you cannon clear. This is a sign that the plane is taking over.