Autopilot/autothrottle questions...

[bowler_man]

Hey all, I've got a couple questions about autopilot and autothrottle procedures.

1) After takeoff, I have trouble staying below 250 knots while under 10,000 feet. Is it normal to arm the autothrottle, set it to 250 knots, and turn it on, so that the aircraft starts going due to the autothrottle being turned on? If not, should I just adjust throttle manually after takeoff to maintain a speed below 250 knots? Would doing what I suggested be harmful to the engines?

2) When is autopilot typically turned on? Right after takeoff, or once cruising altitude is reached? I usually fly almost my entire flight via autopilot. Is this the sign of a rookie pilot, or is that common?

3) When does autothrottle get turned off? Since I have a hard time maintaining proper speeds (especially in large jets), I typically use autothrottle from just after takeoff until I'm on short final. Is this poor practice?

Hopefully I'm making sense with what I'm asking. Thanks in advance for any help!

Jimmy

[BSW727]

1. Pull the throttles back from the firewall and use climb speed settings for power. Pitch to hold the desired airspeed while adhering to the flap speed schedule. I don't have A/T.

2. Different airlines have different procedures, and sometimes it's left up to the Captain to decide that. Sometimes it's an aircraft or AP limitation as well. I won't turn it on until the SID has been flown or until reaching 10K, whichever comes first. Or sometimes not. For a short leg like EDDS-EDDM or LOWI-EDDM I'll hand fly the entire flight.

3. Can't answer that since my aircraft doesn't have it. Learn to work the gas.

If you are constantly relying on the AP & A/T you will never learn to fly the aircraft and be as confident flying it as hopping in your car and taking a spin.

[aeroart]

At a fixed power setting, say, climb power, airspeed is controlled by pitch attitude. You could reduce the airspeed by climbing more steeply. If the pitch attitude looks unrealistically steep, reduce power, and again adjust airspeed with pitch.

If you want to learn how to do it on your own, leave the autopilot off, climb at climb power, and shoot for different airspeeds by adjusting pitch. Also notice the relation between power, pitch, airspeed, and rate of climb.

The "Airplane Flying Handbook" is available online at www.faa.gov. Load up your printer and print the sections you need -- FREE! Click on "Regulations & Policies," then "Handbooks and Manuals." It's listed on the next screen.

You'll enjoy FltSim much more as you learn to do more yourself.

Art

[Staiduk]

Bowler: If I might offer an answer you might not want to hear:

Turn the autopilot off, get into a C-172 and learn to fly hands-on. It takes a bit of effort, but believe me once you have some good solid fundamentals under your...er...fundament , you'll find your daily sim-flight a lot more exciting and engaging. Simply turning on the autopilot is about as boring as you can get (IMO, anyway).

Cheers!

[aeroart]

Actually, I found the same high-power problem on a sim of the Boeing 707-436. Even when climbing at 4000 fpm, the Mach bell starts ringing due to the overspeed. There is a note in the text file that came with the airplane saying that it does not have autothrottle, so watch the power settings. Autothrottle is an aircraft.cfg setting in the [autopilot] section, and can be added by changing the 0 to 1. But that still leaves the high speed problem when hand flying. Someone suggested that I reduce the power value in aircraft.cfg, but also said that there was a lot more to it. I think the answer for both of us is to just reduce the throttle setting to keep climb rates and speeds within realistic limits.