...and getting elevator trim in the ballpark when turning off autopilot and auto-throttle.  I tried to do this coming into KMSP this eve in the 738 and there was so much nose up that it was really hard to land the plane without a major forward push on the yoke--I turned AP off about 3 miles out with the plane is a nice attitude for landing while in auto-land CMD mode.   I had a look after I landed and trim was at around 7.6 or so.  Is there a procedure to follow to preset trim immediately after turning the autopilot off to avoid this massive flare up, or what is the right approach here?

I try to make the sure AP is not "chasing" the GS before turning off AP. If the approach is not very stable the AP runs the trim and throttle all over the place and it can make for an exciting ride when disengaging the AP.

My guess is that just prior to disabling the AP it had trimmed nose-up to compensate for lower throttle setting. I find the AP really "hunts" the throttle and trim...sometimes I get tired of the constant throttle-up, throttle-down and just disable auto-throttle (especially when level and maneuvering on the approach to final.

Would be interesting to hear from REAL 737 pilots about this behavior and how to mitigate it IRL.

29 minutes ago, somiller said:

I try to make the sure AP is not "chasing" the GS before turning off AP. If the approach is not very stable the AP runs the trim and throttle all over the place and it can make for an exciting ride when disengaging the AP.

My guess is that just prior to disabling the AP it had trimmed nose-up to compensate for lower throttle setting. I find the AP really "hunts" the throttle and trim...sometimes I get tired of the constant throttle-up, throttle-down and just disable auto-throttle (especially when level and maneuvering on the approach to final.

Would be interesting to hear from REAL 737 pilots about this behavior and how to mitigate it IRL.

Thanks for your insights.  Part of this may be the fact I'm using a poor throttle control...until tomorrow when a new TQ arrives.  Yes, I would love to hear how RW pilots do this in the 737!  

Traditionally, if George has the aircraft trimmed up when you take over, you shouldn't have any issues. In fact, it should have the tendency to continue it's trajectory it had with the AP on. The key thing is that you don't want to be making any changes when you are taking control. You want your changes such as speed and configuration completed before you click automation off. As long as you are on path, on speed and configured, you shouldn't notice any thing. If you are in gusty winds and turbulent air, the systems will be constantly correcting, which will induce some moments. The same should be said in regard to turning the AP on or handing the jet over to the other pilot. Trim it up, make it stable and then AP on or "your aircraft".

Rick 

Well that's just it the plane appeared super stable in auto-land mode w/ a nice attitude which is why I brought it up.  There was a serious quartering crosswind I wonder if that played a big roll.  I didn't observe the trim wheel moving around to grapple w/ conditions during those final couple of miles.

2 minutes ago, Noel said:

Well that's just it the plane appeared super stable in auto-land mode w/ a nice attitude which is why I brought it up.  There was a serious quartering crosswind I wonder if that played a big roll.  I didn't observe the trim wheel moving around to grapple w/ conditions during those final couple of miles

Hmm, it sounds like it could be a calibration issue as well. You click the AP off and suddenly your devices are commanding some input. See if you can calibrate your control device and round it out so there is a tiny bit of null in the neutral position.

Rick

Well definitely I'm not experienced w/ my new yoke which interestingly enough had a tiny bit of null when I installed it.  When I changed sensitivity for it I notice the null zone disappeared, but it's dead on zero'd so I can't imagine it was commanding any inputs.  From my recollection as soon as AP was the plane started a substantial climb so I'm leaning towards the quartering headwind/crosswind which was actually pretty severe as in....42mph!  So maybe 20 of that was headwind no wonder it ballooned up a bit!  I was going go around and go to a better runway but thought I'd see how it went which is one of the nice benefits of flying a simulator!   Thanks!

Noel,

Were flaps in transit (would certainly be late at 3 mi.)? I've notice that when moving flaps from 15 - 25, and then 30 it really requires a big nose-down trim change. If there was a sudden gust, that could make it start climbing, especially if the throttle was coming in. Changing throttle on the 737 really affects pitch, especially when slow. I live not too far off ILS25 at about 6 miles from KTOL and I watch the SCX 738 (Amazon) on final and rarely hear much if any power change, so I wonder if the PMDG is just more sensitive than IRL. Maybe IRL they tend to set the power and fly the yoke, and just let the speed vary a bit. In GA IRL I was taught to pitch for speed and control descent with power...maybe it's different in the jets (at least during approach).

While here, anybody:  I'm not hearing the Morse identifier on Nav 1 when it's clearly turned on!  Any tricks to make it sound?