While the autopilot is on NAV hold (after acquiring the course) it often seems to behave strangely. Often the aircraft will hunt for the signal, turning from left to right madly, other times it is blown off course by a crosswind and never corrects the heading to compensate. Having flown this aircraft extensively in FS 2004 I'm beginning to wonder whether I'm the only one experiencing these anomalies. Does Microsoft plan on releasing any patches for this product?

It is functioning correctly. Hunting for the signal is entirely normal, as is the decreasing phugoid until the actual capture. The hold in nav mode is never as strong as in heading mode, as the beam width increases with distance, as it declines in power, leading to inaccuracies. A heading hold can be accurate to within a degree or two but in nav mode it is quite acceptable to have aircraft `hunt` either side of the line. If you have sufficient patience the hunting eventually diminishes. Crosswinds just start the hunting all over again. Perhaps in some airrcaft the problem is the actual tendency to be blown off course by the crosswind component, but that's the flight model, not the performance of the nave mode of the autopilot. In such conditions a real pilot would disengage the autopilot anyway.Allcott

I have experienced the same thing with jet aircraft in FS2002. Sorry, I can't help you with FS2004. I don't have that version.

Yup, totally normal. I would suggest in crosswind situations, that you manually center the aircraft on the airway or radial and then re-engage the NAV HLD. This will decrease the AP's hunting for the sweet spot.

By the way, as far as I know, the small Cessna's have a very poor autopilot. I believe they are simply a device for a short term break to look at a map or whatever. I have no idea when aircraft get a more precise autopilot. I would think the Caravans or more advanced turoprops probably have a better AP. I would like to know what planes have a near perfect AP actually. Obviously, Boeing, Airbus, large commuters would have a darn good AP, but compared to a 6 or 8 seat twin prop, I can't say.Chris

As to your autopilot question... You can buy whatever autopilot you want in an airplane. If you want an AP with altitude preselect and 3 axises just pay for it. As for standard autopilots from manufacturers like Cessna Beech, etc, they are usually a single axis autopilot that will hold a course heading or track a VOR but not hold altitude. But again, you can put just about anything on your panel if you've got the space and the money. I think the default Mooney is a very good representation of what is par for the course on an expensive bird like the Mooney and it has a very good autopilot.

Okay, thanks. That makes perfect sense to me. I heard that the Mooney manufacturer was having financial problems, is this because their planes are to expensive or what? Chris

Incidentally a phugoid oscillation only occurs in the pitch axis, i.e after a trimmed aircraft has its angle of attack changed. The left / right hunting of an autopilot is not a constant energy oscillation and therefore not a phugoidCheers