Using King Air 350 autopilot/GPS/alt. hold

[lensman 0]

Hi all,I have been trying to fly the King Air 350: a twin-engine is definitely more challenging than a single. One problem - I have not been able to figure out how the autopilot works. Specifically, I cannot seem to get an altitude hold. There is an altitude alerter, which I've not been able to find any documentation for. The vertical status indicator doesn't appear to do anything other than set a useful target for hand flying. Specifically, if I set the NAV/GPS switch to GPS, and turn on the autopilot, set the altitude hold, and push the NAV button, it does not track the GPS course. It also does not hold the altitude. The altitude alerter never goes off, and setting the VSI to zero doesn't affect anything. Is there a guide somewhere to the use of the autopilot in the 350? It's not discussed in my copy of FSX Deluxe + Acceleration. I've searched the forums but not found anything.A pdf file would would especially useful, as Adobe Reader has a text-to-speech function helpful with low vision.Thanks,dan

[Guest JIMJAM]

That AP is about as simple as it gets so it might have corrupted somehow.Are you starting with it running from a cold/dark situation?Are you loading another payware plane or panel before it?I just did a quick flight and its pretty basic.Load the gps airport ident,flip switch to gps.AP on,nav and it should track.ALT is the same. Set,hit Alt and its fpm climb/decent is default but can be changed.So load the default 172 or Baron first, then try it.If it does not work, it may have been corrupted. I do not know if it can be reinstalled from the disc alone.

[n4gix 4,947]

Did you actually turn the autopilot ON?

[Art_P 6]

I do notice that using keypresses assigned to altitude hold and heading hold will cause the Kingair to hold the current altitude and heading, changing from whatever was previously set. If you use the buttons on the center of the virtual panel, ALT will result in the aircraft climbing or desending to an altitude previously set on the display, and HDG will result in the aircraft turning to the heading previously set.ArtBiostar TF560-A2+, Athlon 64X2-6000+, 4GB RAM, Geforce 8800GTS-320MB, 500W PSU, 250GB HD, FSX (SP1-SP2), Vista Home Premium 32 bit, CH Yoke & Pedals, 22" WS LCD monitor

[lensman 0]

Hi Art,>I do notice that using keypresses assigned to altitude hold>and heading hold will cause the Kingair to hold the current>altitude and heading, changing from whatever was previously>set. If you use the buttons on the center of the virtual>panel, ALT will result in the aircraft climbing or desending>to an altitude previously set on the display, and HDG will>result in the aircraft turning to the heading previously set.Ohhhhhhh. Ick. I rely on the keyboard since it's very hard for me to read the labels. Similarly, I avoid the VC on the props since it takes so long to figure out one a/c. I've never looked at the VC on the 350. I'd better try it. Thanks for the warning.dannever tried listing hw before:Antek 900 case, 750W PSU, ASUS P5K, Intel Q9450 or maybe 9540, 2 GB Corsair memory, 1 TB Seagate HD, random DVD, Realtek Audio, WinXP with SP3, FSX with Acceleration, Saitek AV*R joystick, Radeon 3870 512K, a 22" and a 15" LCD panel.