I am trying to get the Captain Sim 727 autopilot to work. I love hand flying this plane but I can't get the A/P pitch command to work right. I understand that the A/P does not have altitude aquisition mode. It will hold a pitch angle or hold altitude once there. After I take off & get to 3000 AGL I engage the A/P and the plane will pitch up & down like crazy. My elevator trim will peg to the up side. If left alone the plane would eventually nose into the ground. Any hints or tips? Thanks.Pat Callaghan

you will probably get a quicker response herehttp://captainsim.info/forum/

I don't know if this is the right way to do it, but I fly the 727 enough that I know roughly how many fps climb is indicated by the pitch knob. I then set it for roughly 2500 fps, get my aircraft at that climb rate using pitch and throttle, then turn on the autopilot. Otherwise, it'll oscillate if there's too big a difference between what the autopilot pitch is set to and what your current pitch really is. billg

Billg, I managed to do it successfully once last night. I did just as you suggested & it worked OK. I think I just need to practice with the plane. I bought it when it first came out but only now am finnaly getting to learn about it. Thanks for the input.Pat

>Billg,>> I managed to do it successfully once last night. I did>just as you suggested & it worked OK. I think I just need to>practice with the plane. I bought it when it first came out>but only now am finnaly getting to learn about it. Thanks for>the input.>>PatShe is a beast to fly but once you get the hang of it she is very rewarding.See you in the fence...CYYZ

it's one of my favorites for sure. It climbs out like a #### in heat, you can just kind of feel it. If you like this one, and how could you not, hehe, check out the RFP 747. It's a classic too...rgds,billg

My understanding is that it doesn't hold your CURRENT pitch but the CURRENTLY SELECTED pitch (little knob with the red airplane). I set it to about 6 clicks nose up and that works like a charm for me. Eddie KABQ

Actually that's just what it should do. Engaging both AP paddles should have absolutely no effect on the aircraft whatsoever - apart from allowing you let go of the controls. Pitch should then be maintained and VS will be dependent upon power setting. Pitch is then adjusted using the pitch/turn knob. I don't know if it depends on how you use the AP in the CS 727 as they have coupled the FD and AP whereas in reality they are totally independent instruments. As a result, the FD control on the Fire Control Panel seems to actually operate the AP itself instead of just the FD bars on the ADI.Of course, in FS we can make things do want we want and in this case it's convenient, in fact in previous freeware releases of mine (like the 707) I used the FD control in the same way. However, it might be worth trying to ignore to FD/AP control and just use the pop-up AP itself. That's just an idea, I didn't try it myself as I have a different 727 to play with :-)http://www.blandreynolds.btinternet.co.uk/DF_PG_sm.gif

Hello Paul and allOk, Paul, you KNOW my question..., so I won't even ask it in an open forum..LOL.As for the 727 autopilot...well, going from my experience in the 'real thing', I can tell you this....for the most part, most 'two-seven' pilots I know and knew, used the AP for only holding altitude.For anything else.....IT WAS TERRIBLE AND MOST UNRELIABLE!We hand flew the aircraft to altitude, used the 'hold' to keep it there and occasional used the HDG to hold it on course. However, at no time, (after my first 30 days in the aircraft) did I ever attempt to use the pitch trim to climb . . .as it just didn't work as the Lord or Sperry intended.On climb and descent, you would switch off the AP, trim the aircraft to climb or descend as you desired and keep an eye on it....remembering we didn't have things like FMC's and such. Once at the desired altitude, we would switch back on 'hold' and all would be ducky.On approach, it was much easier to FLY the approach until YOU caught the localiser and then switch on the GS/LOC . . . much less trouble and lots less weaving back and forth. And yes, you think FS weaves and hunts?.....try the real thing. Once or twice of scaring the living snot out of yourself and you learned that the pitch control was just so much window dressing and the trim button was your best friend.I'm sure someone will disagree with me, but that's how I flew the beast, and still, I think I loved every minute of it.Best to all,Clayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

Just waiting on Nick and he's promised for this weekend to me, so expect yours early next week.Hamilton has told me much the same as you Clay, 'just hand fly it'. This is why I spent so much time pretending the DF727 is a Cessna and flying one circuit after the other by hand.However, I think that most users of FS, rightly or wrongly, actually expect the equipment in their aircraft to work as the manufacturer expected.You also mentioned the use of trim in the real world; I'm surprised at how many add-ons actually have very poor trimming characteristics. In fact, hats off to MS on this, the default 737 is quite nice to hand fly and trim whereas some add-ons, one click of the trim button and you actually see the VS needle jump! It's no wonder some many people want to use the bloody AP all the time :-)http://www.blandreynolds.btinternet.co.uk/DF_PG_sm.gif

>I am trying to get the Captain Sim 727 autopilot to work. I>love hand flying this plane but I can't get the A/P pitch>command to work right. I understand that the A/P does not>have altitude aquisition mode. It will hold a pitch angle or>hold altitude once there. After I take off & get to 3000 AGL>I engage the A/P and the plane will pitch up & down like>crazy. My elevator trim will peg to the up side. If left>alone the plane would eventually nose into the ground. Any>hints or tips? Thanks.>>Pat Callaghan

You can pre-set the pitch knob on the autopilot to get near the climb rate that you want, before you engage it. Each degree up or down seems to roughly correspond to 400 feet per minute climb/descent. I typically use a 5-degree setting (2000 fpm) most of the time. So if you can get the plane stabilized in a 2000 fpm climb, when you engage the autopilot it should hold it with a minimum of wobbling. When you get close to your desired altitude, start dialing the pitch down slowly, and hit altitude hold when you arrive where you want to be.Thanks for the tidbits on the 727 and its A/P, guys. I fly the CS 727 a fair bit and rely heavily on the autopilot, probably more heavily than I should. I wish there was a way to engage it just to keep the wings level while I manually controlled the trim to climb and descend, but I haven't found one yet (I don't think engaging the left- and right-hand switches separately does anything?). Keeping it on-course, AND on-speed, AND on-climb, AND doing all the stuff the co-pilot would normally be doing, is a challenge...being able to reduce at least one factor would help. :)Lewis "Moose" GregoryColumbia, South CarolinaDVA 1427/Solent 644