X plane 11 autopilot

[sightseer 895]

19 hours ago, Col1948 said:

 

So now if I set a course in Garmin I have to climb to the desired altitude before I can select the AP and ALT hold by then I've flown a good few miles off course.

which aircraft are you dealing with?  In the Cessna you can use VS mode to climb to altitude and in the Cirrus you can set a target alt and also use VS mode (with either HDG or NAV mode engaged).  If its another plane I cant help but Im sure there is a way.

[Col1948 0]

I have tried various aircraft and I'm sure the Cessna is one of them, what is VS mode?
I went on FSX today and flew a few aircraft using the Garmin which is slightly different to the one in XP, but having said that I found it a lot better, I will be honest I have had FS9 and FSX for a long time and mainly do a lot of ai stuff so don't fly very much.
I do like some of the aircraft in XP and I also like the scenery but after spending a lot of money buying the boxed version and a few payware aircraft I feel a bit disappointed.

[sightseer 895]

VS mode is vertical speed mode and in the Cessna you can press the VS button on the autopilot and then rotate the input knob so it says '+7' (or whatever it says, cant quite remember at this moment) and you can set a heading bug and takeoff and activate the autopilot with HDG mode and VS mode engaged and it will follow the heading and climb at the VS rate until you reach your altitude at which time you can either slowly decrease the VS rate to zero and then press ALT to hold that altitude or just press ALT.

 

[Anxu00 176]

Perhaps a more informative answer would be how does the XP default Autopilot work compared with real life generic AP.  FSX comes with many "convenient" features, distorting the real working of AP.  

On 6/13/2017 at 1:48 PM, Col1948 said:

I have tried various aircraft and I'm sure the Cessna is one of them, what is VS mode?
I went on FSX today and flew a few aircraft using the Garmin which is slightly different to the one in XP, but having said that I found it a lot better, I will be honest I have had FS9 and FSX for a long time and mainly do a lot of ai stuff so don't fly very much.
I do like some of the aircraft in XP and I also like the scenery but after spending a lot of money buying the boxed version and a few payware aircraft I feel a bit disappointed.

Can you list these payware aircrafts?  Payware developer (the good ones) will provide their own AP and not using the default, and is better or functioning close to the real one. That has been my experience with payware.

[Paraffin 2,197]

3 hours ago, Anxu00 said:

Perhaps a more informative answer would be how does the XP default Autopilot work compared with real life generic AP.  FSX comes with many "convenient" features, distorting the real working of AP.  

Can you list these payware aircrafts?  Payware developer (the good ones) will provide their own AP and not using the default, and is better or functioning close to the real one. That has been my experience with payware.

Right, and in many cases it's up the user to do some additional research, to learn how each autopilot works in every different plane model. Even the best payware plane developers don't always fully document the AP features. 

With regard to the default Cessna 172 in XP11, the name on the autopilot is "S-TEC Alike," possibly based on the S-TEC (Genesys Aerosystems) System Fifty Five X. Here's the PDF file manual for it:

http://genesys-aerosystems.com/sites/default/files/files/System Fifty Five X_ pdf(1).pdf

For anyone unfamiliar with it, you can get an idea of the basic functions by reading the In-Flight Procedures chapter (skip the pre-flight tests). I don't think the X-Plane version in the Cessna has all the functions, and it's missing some things in the display, but the basic operations of Heading, Heading/Nav, Vertical Speed, and Altitude (set current only, no "capture") are there.

When you fly a different plane, you may have to learn some slightly different AP features and control modes. A big part of using an AP successfully is being completely comfortable with it, especially knowing what mode is currently active.

One last tip: Make sure you have one keyboard key or switch on your flight yoke/joystick set to completely disable the AP. It's possible to get into some situations when you're learning AP functions where you'll need a "panic button" to switch it off. You'll need it for landing anyway. Use either the "servos on/off toggle" command, or "Disco servos, flt dir, yaw damper, trim." I use that last one, because sometimes a plane model will leave the trim engaged if you just hit servos off, which can lead to fighting the controls when taking over manual control.