Planes just wanna go up!

[Brett_Henderson]

Plus, I can be decreasing airspeed and it still pitches up.

That is interesting because that is the exact opposite of what should happen.

That's exactly what an autopilot will do. As airspeed decreases, the autopilot will keep trying to pitch up, to hold altitude..

[Brett_Henderson]

Checklists are there for a reason...  

If you've ever:  Had an engine sputter while climbing out because you weren't on the fullest tank...  Radios quit because a generator wasn't online...  Tower yell at you because your transponder is on stand-by... Airplane leap off the runway because trim wasn't set to take-off... Magneto/plug foul out because the primer wasn't in AND locked... Takeoff take longer than expected because carb-heat was on................................

You'll cherish the checklist, no matter HOW experienced a pilot you are..

Funny thing is...  I'm more religious about checklists in the sim, than i am when flying real airplanes  

[BFMF]

[quote][quote]Checklists are there for a reason...

[dave3cu]

gtirob01,

Does this happen only in flights you create in the 'free flight' window?...or does it happen with saved flights also?

You never said whether you checked the autopilot....your symptoms definitly sound like it is on.

Also, you said it only started after a flight 2 days ago. Did you happen to save that flight as your 'default flight'?

If so, and the autopilot was on when you saved, the autopilot will be on in any new 'free flight' you create. It does not effect other saved flights.

Dave

[garryrussell]

Is it correctly loaded around the CG??

[gtirob01]

I really only do freeflight, with the occasional mission or multiplayer. Unless it does it automatically, i dont save my flights. But who knows, may have saved one and didnt even realize it! I will check everything over again tonight.

Not much of a checklist on the old Ford Tri-motor, and im not even sure it has autopilot, but it did the same thing. But I will still check again tonight.

[Sovien]

Plus, I can be decreasing airspeed and it still pitches up.

That is interesting because that is the exact opposite of what should happen.

That's exactly what an autopilot will do. As airspeed decreases, the autopilot will keep trying to pitch up, to hold altitude..

Good point, however, in this case, he said when he manually adjusted the trim it seemed to work for a very brief second or two, but then would go back to nose up attitude. If autopilot was active he wouldn't be able to manually adjust the trim setting as he claims he is doing. The autopilot in the sim would ignore his control input/keypresses.

Atleast whenever I've used the autopilot in the sim it ignores all my manual flight control inputs (including trim setting). If I'm remembering correctly no matter how much one slams the flight controls around, or press flight control buttons on the keyboard (such as trim control), if autopilot is active the sim doesn't even recognize the manual inputs and they dont have the slightest of effect. Maybe I'm just forgetting how the AP works in the sim. I've been flying GA for awhile now and haven't really been using Autopilot at all lately.

@qtir - probably a silly question, but have you double checked your keybindings or your joystick settings to make sure you have both positive and negative trim mapped to a key?

[TSC.]

Next time you get the problem try hitting 'Z' to switch the AP off, you'll soon eliminate that line of enquiry.

TSC.

[gtirob01]

I guess Im just not sure its the autopilot. Its my understanding that if it is turned on, any imput you give will not do anything. However, I can completely control the aircraft. Just have to keep the nose down. I may be wrong here, and if I am, please let me know! Just trying to figure this out, cause I gotta do some screenies for the next comp tonight!

[gtirob01]

Ok, I get on tonight to get some screenshots, and the problem I had before was completely gone. Didnt change any settings, autopilot was off, trim was ok. Not sure what it was... must have been a temporary glitch or something. Oh well! back to normal.... for now!

[macca22au]

Have you looked at your trim setting in Options/Controls.  If the trim line is 'filled in' even if you only press it once the control will run to its full extent.  It should be 'unfilled' so it operates only once per trim command.

[Anxyous]

I know the whole point is to go up in the air... but what I mean is, I wont even give any imput on the controls and the plane pitches up on its own. I try trimming, but that seems to only work for a second or 2, then it does it again. I have to keep constant pressure to hold the nose down. My stick is calibrated correctly so I know thats not the problem. This has happened with more than one plane, and they are all planes Ive recently flown. Anyone else see this problem?

You problem is actually the trim setting. As you said, "seems to only work for a second or 2", reason is because you're increasing in speed and thus your plane starts to lift it's nose. Pilots set trim based on the current speed of the aircraft inorder to keep the nose level. If you increase speed the nose will drift up, if you decrease speed the nose will start to drift down. This is what you are experiencing, so the good news is the sim is doing what it's supposed to do!

It's not the speed you adjust actually.

Let's say you're doing 100 knots in level flight, and you've trimmed the aircraft for that speed.

If you pull back on the throttle, the aircraft will start pitching down, in an attempt to maintain 100 knots.

If you press forward on the throttle, the aircraft will pitch up to maintain 100 knots.

[Sovien]

I know the whole point is to go up in the air... but what I mean is, I wont even give any imput on the controls and the plane pitches up on its own. I try trimming, but that seems to only work for a second or 2, then it does it again. I have to keep constant pressure to hold the nose down. My stick is calibrated correctly so I know thats not the problem. This has happened with more than one plane, and they are all planes Ive recently flown. Anyone else see this problem?

You problem is actually the trim setting. As you said, "seems to only work for a second or 2", reason is because you're increasing in speed and thus your plane starts to lift it's nose. Pilots set trim based on the current speed of the aircraft inorder to keep the nose level. If you increase speed the nose will drift up, if you decrease speed the nose will start to drift down. This is what you are experiencing, so the good news is the sim is doing what it's supposed to do!

It's not the speed you adjust actually.

Let's say you're doing 100 knots in level flight, and you've trimmed the aircraft for that speed.

If you pull back on the throttle, the aircraft will start pitching down, in an attempt to maintain 100 knots.

If you press forward on the throttle, the aircraft will pitch up to maintain 100 knots.

I dont think I said you adjust your speed anywhere???? Atleast, I didn't mean to. I was actually trying to say what you just did

[gtirob01]

I understand about trim and everything, I just dont know if that was the culprit. It was probably just one of those unexplained glitches that happen here and there. I mean, with the 747, trim made no difference. And like I said, last night it was like the problem never even existed. I made sure autopilot was off, but other than that, didnt do any other checks, and all was well. Just some strange stuff going on I guess! Maybe my comp didnt want me flying that day!  ;)