A/P GPS and FMS Slave

[Guest]

Hi all,I'm kind of new to the avsim community, and more to the point, the FLY 2 community. I recently obtained my copy of the software, have installed all necessary updates, and have hit a snag. I fly for a living, and have some time in the older HS125's, so I'm very familiar with the cockpit layout. (And they did a great job with it) But for the life of me, I can't seem to get the A/P to slave to the FMS. (Or the GPS in the other a/c) I set the selector switch to WPT and fire up the FMC, but when I engage the a/p NAV function the aircraft turns to 360 and that's it. Heading bug and regular NAV1/2 functions work fine. I do all the required flight-planning setup, and I even tried hand-flying to the course intercept point before engaging the a/p, still nothing. Some help would be greatly appreciated. (I'll bet it's something small and stupid I've overlooked too.) :) Thanks.

[Guest Josve]

Hello John!!Welcome to this great community!I'm at work right now so I can't answer you at the moment.But I'm sure you'll get an answer to your question from one of the Gurus here :)Johnny"I'LL BE BACK"[div align=center]http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/josve/zone.jpg ][/div

[Guest]

Ok Johnny. I'll be here in a hold. ;)

[RandallR 444]

Welcome John!A couple of questions:1. When you say "do all the required flight-planning setup," I take it your using the Flight Planner and creating a flight plan first - then clicking Start Flight Plan? (Sorry to ask, but that's what loads the flight plan into the FMS or GPS, nothing else).2. In the HS125, are you setting both the Bearing Source and Course Source to WPT on the EFIS Mode Selector?3. In a GPS-equipped aircraft, are you changing the NAV/GPS switch to GPS?4. Are you intercepting the flight path before the first waypoint before engaging? If you don't, Fly!II will not lock to the flight plan.Overall, Fly!II is a fantastic sim and is superior to Fly!2K in many ways. However, one of the things that got broken somehow, was the appropriate behavior of the FMS and GPS systems in Fly!2K, wherein I could intercept the flight path after a waypoint and could still lock (or relock) the AP in NAV Mode. In Fly!II, if you are tracking, coupled to FMS or GPS, then uncouple for a traffic vector, etc., then attempt to reintercept the flight path after the next WPT - forget it - the aircraft will continue straight on, while indicating the next fix is now behind you. :-)If you intercept before the 1st WPT, she should lock right in and follow the plan very well. If you leave the track, then return before the next WPT, she'll take it again. But, leave the track and reintercept after the next WPT it's all over (unless you reverse course and fly back over it, of course).This is an unfortunate but minor bug that you learn to live with.Considering your vocation, I'm sorry about the 1st 3 questions, but I'm just trying to cover the bases. If none of this applies, let us know and we'll figure it out.

[Guest]

John;You haven't given much info to go on here. For example, can I presume you have a flight plan in your FMC?If so, there are two knobs on the pilot side. Turn left knob (EFIS mode selector - bearing source) to waypoint (WPT). Turn right knob (EFIS mode selector - course source) to LNAV label (will read as WPT on pop-up identifier). Upon activating A/P, use heading hold to turn toward course and once you are within 30 degrees or preferably less angle from course, activate NAV Hold. A/P should lock-on to FMC course and your on your way.For GPS mode in other aircraft, find the NAV/GPS button and activate it. Again this presumes you have a flight plan in the GPS.Hope this helps,Robert

[Guest]

Guys, thanks for the quick responses. In response to Robert's post, yes, both switches are set to WPT, and there is an active flight plan. However, I have not tried your method. I'll give it a shot tomorrow morning. Now on to Randall's post. Yes, I have the nav source set to GPS in the other aircraft, but again, I've been attempting a/p activation after flap retraction, rather than using heading hold to stear to the intercept. Although, I tried hand-flying to get on course once, but had no luck. See what's happening is when I engage the NAV function, the aircraft turns to heading 360, and that's it. It just scrams. So, I'll go ahead and try your methods out tomorrow. I'm sure it has to have something to do with the quirks you described. Well, thanks to the both of you for lending a hand. I appreciate it. Fly 2 looks like it'll be a lot of fun. And just one more question. Does anyone know why the aircraft aren't called by their proper ident? (Flyhawk, Barracuda...)Thanks again

[Guest tonyc]

Big Microsoft vs little terminal Reality. MS has exclusive rights on some of the ac names in fs.tony

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day John,Mate you are not doing anything wrong, it just that if you select NAV mode then the auto pilot will operate in heading mode until the desired track is intercepted and captured. Nav mode will then automatically take over and turn the aircraft onto the desired track.Your problem is that if you directly select NAV mode first then as soon as HEADING mode is automatically selected the heading bug defaults to 000 so the aircraft will just follow the bug to 000. Manually set the bug to an intercepting course and the aircraft will automatically bank and follow the bug as you are setting it. You may now select NAV mode and the aircraft will continue turning on to the intercept course under HEADING mode and will remain in HEADING mode until intercepting the desired track when NAV mode activates and takes over.Eg.flight plan track is 350take off is 160as soon as gear up engage AP Heading modeA/c will start turning to left ( because heading bug is 000 )set heading bug to 320 and then select NAV mode. (optionally you may leave the selection of NAV mode until later, just so long as it is selected before the a/c actually intercepts the flight plan track.)A/c will continue turning to 330 ( under heading mode )when A/c gets to 330 it will fly this heading under Heading mode until it intercepts the flight plan track when NAV mode captures and then flies the aircraft along the flight plan.Cheers,Roger @YSSY

[Guest]

Ah, more good info, thanks. I'll fire up the sim right now and have at it.

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day John,A simple way to express what I am saying is ;NAV mode is a subset of Heading mode. You can only enter NAV mode via Heading mode.Cheers,Roger @YSSY

[RandallR 444]

You nailed it Roger - that has to be his problem. Using the HDG mode first to keep the aircraft on its appointed intercept is an automatic for me, so I've never had the switch-over to NAV give me any problem.

[Guest]

Bingo! Sierra Hotel gents, thanks. Just took the Hawker from Miami to Charleston without a hitch. After V2+40 I engaged a/p HDG hold and dialed in an intercept. Once on the intercept course, I toggled NAV mode. As stated, she remained in HDG mode until the CDI came alive then immediately switched over to NAV. Outstanding! :) Again, thanks to all of you for your help. You just made my day. Now, I'm going "FLYing". :) I'll see you guys later.