Simviation Forums

ok, so I know this thing doesn't do heading-hold, just allows for pitch and bank settings.  fine.  but I can't get it to hold a course for more than a minute at a time unless I'm flying directly into the wind.  Am I doing something wrong (e.g. not trimming the aircraft sufficiently or something) or is this just how it is?  

I guess I could just turn the wind off, but I don't want to.  I like using the real-world weather download feature.  So yeah, any hints, or should I just continue to appreciate how much more difficult it used to be for pilots to navigate back in the old days?

The MK III does provide heading hold, but

hmmm, maybe I am doing something wrong, then.  Or I'm not seeing some button or switch or something on the panel.

to clarify, this isn't the default DC-3 autopilot that came with fsx, it was in an add-on plane (a B-25 Mitchell).  You can dial in the desired heading for reference, but it doesn't hold it...you have to get the plane pointed in the right direction, then adjust the pitch/bank/yaw settings to try to hold a steady heading, which it does until the wind changes direction or speed.  

I can still navigate fairly well, it just needs constant adjustment...and trying to make a flight of a few hundred miles without resorting to GPS or anything but charts and VORs, I found myself about 20 miles off course at the end of it.

With the default autopilot in the fsx DC-3, it seems like you can just set the heading and go have a sandwich, and you don't really get blown all that far off course.  

Like I say, maybe I'm missing something...there's supposed to be a manual for the autopilot, but it doesn't appear to have been in the download.  Awesome plane, though!

Is it the RAF B-25J MKII from here: http://www.simviation.com/simviation/?type=item&ID=66&page=9

Though I don't have the aircraft installed, I did download it. The autopilot manual is in the main gauges folder, 'RCS_Speery_MKIII.hlp', and indicates that heading hold is available.

Dave  

hey, thanks Dave!  

Yes, that is the plane.  I never did get that help file to open for some reason, but just knowing that it's supposed to work helped...I finally found the way to turn it on:  CTRL+H.  What I had been doing was akin to tying a rope around the yoke and praying that the plane keeps going the right direction...lol @ me.

note to self when using FSX:  in the future, if you can't find the switch on the panel somewhere, try using that thing with all the letters on it sitting there on the desk....


and I highly recommend that plane, btw, if you like old planes.