Ahh - AP engage on ground. I would not have thought of that.

 

With Autoland in place, Takeoff remains the last bastion of the pilot flying the airplane.

 

Fortunately - for the most part - it's a case of brute force over ignorance ... You put on a phenomenal amount of power, it races down the runway, then defies all know laws and lifts off.

 

Or is that helicopters?

Also worth noting - until recently it WAS possible to engage the AP on the ground. It's specifically forbidden by Boeing, but after a couple of pilots did it and took a while to figure out what they'd done - a service bulletin came out about it. I think the ability to engage the AP on ground was taken out by AIMS update 16 earlier this year ...

Also worth noting - until recently it WAS possible to engage the AP on the ground. It's specifically forbidden by Boeing, but after a couple of pilots did it and took a while to figure out what they'd done - a service bulletin came out about it. I think the ability to engage the AP on ground was taken out by AIMS update 16 earlier this year ...

Scary pilots those who turn on the A/P for T/O roll!

 

I would never trust any A/P mode during the initial flight phase below an acceptable altitude which can give me in return a chance of preventing that "hole in the ground".

 

There is the term: "gear up, flaps up, sports page". But for those "lazy experts" the sports page must be first on the list. Or what do they intend by activating the A/P already on the ground? :unsure:

 

Thanks for the interesting RW information!

I don't think it was intentionally engaged on the ground. But having somehow engaged it - it was not immediately obvious that it was engaged (other than AP on the ASA). You can steer the tiller without impact on the rudder since the AP doesn't touch the rudder unless LAND 3 is annunciated. But eventually they worked out out and reported it (which was the right thing to do) - and Boeing put out a notice saying (the obvious) not to engage the AP on ground before takeoff, and I think eventually putting software in place to stop it happening. At least that's me recollection of the events.

But the OP said he was engaging it on the ground. That explains everything he saw. You have to be able to engage it for functional test purposes. Whether or not it's possible on the aircraft, it's clearly possible in the PMDG sim.