Auto pilot will not stay on?

kbergphd · Post by **kbergphd** »

I am having trouble keeping the autopilot to say on? I set it up to track an heading, and climb at 700 fpm to 5500 and turn it on. It stays on for about 30 seconds and then beeps and turns off. When I turn it on again it has set the VS to 1400 fpm and then air speed drops to 40 and stalls while I am trying to get climb rate under control. Any idea what is going on. The NAV/GPS switch is set to NAV. I also have the F1 GTN 750 but am not using to control flight, unless it is causing some weird kind of interaction? Thanks, Kent.

Tomas Linnet · Post by **Tomas Linnet** »

Hi Kent

What platform are you using?
What buttons are lit on the autopilot? The autopilot on the A2A C172R is not working as the default autopilot. In the aircraft it behaves as the real world autopilot does, this feature confuses a lot of people. Have a look in the manual, there's a link to the real world manual.
Here a FAQ on the C172 auto pilot: https://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewto ... 08&t=35837 maybe the solution for is there.

kbergphd · Post by **kbergphd** »

Hi Tomas,

Thanks for the reference. None of those are what I am experiencing.

I am using FSX:SE on a WIN10 i7 with 16G RAM and a 4GB ADM Video Card. I am using Saitek Yoke System, and have trim setup on A1-A2 on Left Yoke handle. I use the mouse to activate the AP.

I have a sequence of screen shots that hopefully will help explain my situation. However it says the board attachment quota has been reached. (It is only 135 kb)

(((.

Anyway, I set up the autopilot for example set a VS to climb at 500 FPM to 3500 Ft and then ARM the Alt. Then on climb out I activate the AP. I am flying straight out with ROL. The VS is 500 and going up nicely in straight and level.

Then after 20-30 seconds I hear a beep and the AP has turned itself off. When I turn it on again, the VS at 2100 FPM. Before I ahve a chance to set it back to a more sensible VS it begins to stall. I then have a hard time getting the trim set up.

What would cause it to turn off like that?

Also, when I attempt to adjust the trim it is very slow to change when I use A1-A2.

kbergphd · Post by **kbergphd** »

My apolgies for not being very good navigating the forum. I was trying to figure out why the picture would not upload and made several attempts.

SORRY!

Post by **Nick - A2A** »

Hi Kent,

There's some advice on attaching images such as screenshots to your posts here. Basically the images will need to be hosted on an external site such as Dropbox.

As regards the KAP 140 autopilot, please bear in mind that any manual trim inputs will cause it to disconnect. Is it possible your hardware is sending trim commands to the sim? Another thing to consider is that the aircraft must be reasonably well trimmed before you engage the autopilot. If it's not, the simulated elevator and pitch trim servos just won't be able to react quickly enough to stop the aircraft pitching up (or down).

Thanks,
Nick

P.S. No worries - I've cleared up the duplicated posts.

kbergphd · Post by **kbergphd** »

"As regards the KAP 140 autopilot, please bear in mind that any manual trim inputs will cause it to disconnect."

To my knowledge I am not putting in manual trim when I turn on the autopilot. I have it trimmed for a specific FPM, then set the FPM in the autopilot then arm that to the designated altitude desired. I also set it initially for ROL on climb out. However, after switching to autopilot it sometimes seems to pitch up dramatically and sometimes has a 1200 FPM even though I put in a 500 FPM after it has turned off and I turn it on again.

Also, when I am flying straight and level I trim up the plane manually before I set the auto pilot.

The problem continues to be that the Autopilot turns off after 20-30 seconds or so for no reason?? (I watch to see if the trim wheel is turning and it is not).

Another problem is the trim wheel moves very slowly when I try to adjust it with the A2 on the yoke via FSUIPC. Much slower than other planes on the simulator.

I have updated the plane to the 9-16-18 update, which I assume is the last update. Not sure what to try next. Would reinstalling the airplane help or is there anything else to be checked?

Thanks

Kent.

kbergphd · Post by **kbergphd** »

Well, I can not seem to get this forum stuff right. I thought I was adding to this forum, but actually started a new forum

Sorry.

Post by **Nick - A2A** »

Hi Kent - no problem: I've merged your separate post back into the original thread.

When you say you're "trimmed for a specific FPM", do you mean that you can let go of the yoke/joystick and the aircraft will be relatively stable at this vertical speed before you engage the AP?

Also, as you mention FSUIPC, I recommend that you double check this for any stray trim or AP disconnect inputs. If the problem persists, perhaps try an autopilot engagement with FSUIPC disabled, and see if the issue remains.

Thanks,
Nick

kbergphd · Post by **kbergphd** »

I have checked FSIUC and nothing hooked up to the saitek joystick and thottle quadrant. I am still not able to keep the autopilot on for more than 20-30 seconds. I am wondering if the plane needs to be reinstalled into FSX:SE? My Cherokee and Comanche autopilots work ok and stay on as they should.

This is very frustrating as no one seems to have a problem with their autopilot like I do. Thanks for any help.

Kent.

Post by **Nick - A2A** »

Hello Kent,

Have you made sure the C172 installation is fully up to date? To do this, you can run the Accu-Sim update available here.

If you're having trouble getting the autopilot to stay engaged, I recommend that you test in straight and level flight under calm weather conditions.

Trim the aircraft to fly straight and level at say 100 KIAS without you having to touch the controls.
Press and hold the AP button for at least 0.25 seconds to engage it.
Just leave all the controls alone and see what happens.

If something is causing the autopilot to disengage under these conditions, is likely a trim input coming from something such as noisy elevator trim hardware. Do you use a hardware pitch trim axis at all, or just buttons?

Thanks,
Nick

kbergphd · Post by **kbergphd** »

Hi Nick,

Well, I ran the updater and it says that it can not find the C172, Comanche, or the Cherokee (the three A2A planes that I have! I have updated them before but now they can not be found even though I see them in the Airplane folder.

The path on my computer is Program Files(x86), Steam, steamapps, common, FSX, SimObjects, Airplanes...this is where the A2A_C172, plus the commanche and cherokee foldes are as well as all the other folders.

I tried giving the path at each of the folders starting with |common|; then \FSX\; then \SimObjects\; and then \Airplanes\ and each time it said that the planes can not be found.

I know I am doing something wrong because I have updated it before successfully. I thought that I used "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX" and it worked just fine, but not now.

I know the planes are there because I fly them (not well but I do)...

Any idea what is going on. I'm sure I do not have the path correct (obviously)...but am at my wits end...

Thanks, Kent.

kbergphd · Post by **kbergphd** »

Well, Nick that was it. I had not installed the new Update. Unfortunately. I have managed to not install the A2A planes in the correct folder, because, when I reinstalled the C172 the updated found and updated and the plane autopilot works as it should. However, I can not get the updated plane configurer give message of "Can't find the sim path"

The Updater recgnized the new plane that I installed in the SimObjects\Airplane\ folder, which is the wrong place for that folder, so I know what the problem is. Now the question is why does the Updated not see the three that I previously installed. What a Mess!!!

I have my self all turned around here....and it is embarassing.

Kent

Tomas Linnet · Post by **Tomas Linnet** »

Most important is the fact that your C172 is working correctly.

A2A has the best customer support!!

Post by **Nick - A2A** »

Hi Kent,

Given the issues you describe, the safest bet may be for you to carry out a clean reinstallation of your A2A fleet. To do this, please uninstall all of them in the usual way and then manually delete the folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\A2A".

After doing this, you'll need to restart your PC and then run the latest update.

It might take a few minutes to complete, but hopefully this should get you sorted.

Thanks,
Nick

kbergphd · Post by **kbergphd** »

Well, I believe that the mystery is solved. I did a clean re-install of all the planes that I have, BUT I was still having trouble with the C172 autopilot not working. HOWEVER TODAY...I realized that every time I hit the number pad 1 to change my ChasePlane View (Pilot View) the autopilot went off. So, I changed the key assigned key to "Z" but it still turned off when I hit that key for "Pilot View." There appears to be no other interaction that causes this with the other assigned keys for ChasePlane views. The autopilot on it stays on and works as it should. None of the other assigned keys for the different ChasePlane views seems to turn it off, just the assigned key for Pilot View. That seems very ODD.

Anybody using ChasePlane have this problem, or anybody know why this interaction should be happening? Please help me get my C172 back.

Thanks, Kent.

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