A week ago, I purchased the IFly 737 along with its FS2Crew version. I got the button version. So after a couple of test flights, I had no problems, and everything went flawless. However, a couple of days ago, I discovered that I was not able to engage the autopilot. Now, I know that there is problems with the IFly's autopilot, but I am very certain that it's FS2Crew that I'd causing it. Why, you might ask? Well I have tried every single other 'solutions', but they did not help. So as I was on the verge of getting a refund, I decided to do one last flight. I disabled FS2Crew for this flight, and finally I was able to engage the autopilot. I did this a few more times, all with the same result. Now, I am not going to throw away FS2Crew, but I suspect that something within it is applying forward pressure on the yoke.

In the 737, the yoke needs to be "neutral" or the autopilot won't engage.

 

That's probably the source of the problem there.

 

FS2Crew doesn't apply any pressure to yoke because the FO doesn't try to fly the plane.

 

To guess, I suspect you have a joystick sensitivity problem; try increasing your null zone.

 

 

 

Best,

Thanks for replying, but I still have my doubts. I have done about 6 test flights to see if I'm right. For some reason, on all of the flights with FS2Crew disabled, I was able to engage the autopilot. In all of my test flights I have made sure that I have no trim and made sure that I was not putting forward pressure on the yoke (I actually do not have a yoke, so I fly with a keyboard). I am certain that the F/O is pressing a button that I am unaware of. Either that, or I got lucky. I am not sure what's wrong, and I am not going to uninstall FS2Crew. I just want to report this problem to you guys.

And also, can you show me exactly what the F/O does in terms of button interactions? This can help me narrow down to exactly what is causing the problem.

 

 

And also, can you show me exactly what the F/O does in terms of button interactions? This can help me narrow down to exactly what is causing the problem.

 

FS2Crew only interfaces with the iFly via the the iFly SDK.  FS2Crew doesn't send keypresses.

 

We haven't had an issue like this reported before, so it's hard to guess.

 

Try re-setting your FSX Controls keyboard assignments.  Maybe you've got a conflict somewhere... you're sharing a key that can also disengage the autopilot?

 

Also, since you said it worked before, and this only happened recently, you must have changed something.

 

Cheers,

The only key commands I changed were the autofeather and autofeather sync buttons to 'E' and 'R' respectively, as instructed in the manual. I have not changed any other key commands, but rather I added keys that allow me to center the trim and controls. Even when I press these keys, they do center the plane but it won't help to engage the autopilot.

And after those first successful test flights I've done, I do the exact same thing in regular flights as I did in the test flights. In the next few hours, I am going to do one more flight, and see what the F/O does exactly, as I have noticed that he does fiddle with some switches. I'll report back as soon as possible.

I'd also ask the iFly support forum for advice.

 

Cheers,

OK, I'm back... with bad news. I've set up two identical flights, one with Fs2crew enabled and one without it enabled. Of the two, I was only able to turn on the autopilot with the flight without FS2Crew. I have no clue what is causing the problem. It's hard to pinpoint what's wrong, even when I double checked what the F/O is doing. I have been on the IFly's forum, but all of their solutions did not work. The only thing that does work is disabling FS2Crew and flying the plane by myself. Apparently, I am the only one with a problem like that. So to sum up-

I am very sure that something within FS2Crew is causing the problem.

Disabling FS2Crew seems to work.

It is hard to pinpoint what is causing it. I seem to be the only one experiencing the problem.

 

Well, to be honest my computer seems to have problems with almost everything in Fsx. Even with a gaming laptop I still experience errors. Luckily I do find a way to fix those problems. Hopefully, the same thing happens here.

The thing is you said it worked before, so something changed on your system.

 

FS2Crew does not have access to any internal iFly code; we can only access it via the SDK, which allows us to press buttons.

 

We can't touch internal system's logic.

 

Did you try re-installing the iFly itself?

Well, to be honest my computer seems to have problems with almost everything in Fsx. Even with a gaming laptop I still experience errors. Luckily I do find a way to fix those problems. Hopefully, the same thing happens here.

 

Hi, I know you've tried a lot of things already but it sounds to me like a controller issue too (despite the other things you've tried)

 

Try this, set up a flight with fs2crew and before you tell the FO to 'select command a' press CTRL+K on your keyboard, this will toggle joystick input on/off. See if the autopilot engages.

If it does, you'll know that it's a controller issue.

Actually yes, I did try to reinstall the IFly, last week. I reinstall it specifically because of this autopilot problem. I did also uninstall and reinstalled the unregistered version of FSUIPC. But those are probably the only major things I did in Fsx.

OK, let me explain what I do in a takeoff. While I taxi into position, I engage the autothrottle and the FD. Once I got my take off clearance, I allow the F/O do his flows and then I engage TO/GA. As we roll down the runway he does his callous. At 'rotate' I pull the yoke back and we do a standard after takeoff procedure. I tell him to engage the autopilot once we are above 1000 feet, but it doesn't engage. And then I'm left, handflying the plane.

I don't see anything wrong with my takeoff procedure. I rarely pull the yoke forward and I double check my trim is at 0.

Is there an option in the iFly's config for "realistic CP engagement" ? (for example there is in the PMDG 737).  If so, perhaps that option is somehow selected when you're using FS2Crew, but not when you fly without it.

Might a reinstall of FS2Crew work? I've never done it but is their any risk?

And also, I doubt that their is a control issue, since I don't have a controller. I fly via my keyboard. I've actually did try that Ctrl+k option, but that didn't work unfortunately. I've even disabled the controller option in the Fsx controls menu.

Might a reinstall of FS2Crew work? I've never done it but is their any risk?

 

Absolutely no risk. Give it a try.

 

Very strange situation though. Given that you fly with the keyboard that rules out a controller issue! You said in your original post that everything was alright in the initial test flights. That means the autopilot too?

 

One last thing, setup a final flight with fs2crew and instead of asking him to engage the autopilot, you should physically click the CMD A button instead. See if it works.

Let us know how you get on!

 

(ps. You mentioned there's a problem with iFly's Autopilot? What problem exactly?)

As I recall, you are using the keyboard as a controller.  As a consequence you cannot use the CTL+K option to disable the 'joystick'.  You must, however, make sure that nothing in FS2Crew is using the 'Z' key.

 

DJ

Hmm, turning on the autopilot myself does sound interesting. I might try it before I do the reinstall. Also, when I mentioned that problem on Ifly's autopilot, I'm referring to the fact that there is known problems with its autopilot, but they do have simple solutions.