autopilot or manual

[WebbPA]

That's why there's a Pause button.  Press P (for piss break).

[Erhan]

hehehe..good call, i always wandered what the 'P' stood for  ;D

[born_2_fly]

As for me i cant say i have never masterd intercepting the localizer and only 1ce had a go at a automatic landing. The only time i have really made a landing useing pretty much only three instrements is when i landed Concord at Heathrow from a flight from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia useing my altimiter, attitude indicator & [glb]TEXT[/glb]!!!

[EirePlane]

How do you land in autopilot though

[WebbPA]

I answered this in another forum, so cut & paste and here it is:

                 The theory is (and it works much better in theory than in
                 pratice) to be more or less on final approach or within 30
                 degrees of the runway heading. By this time you should have
                 lowered your speed and extended your flaps for landing, and
                 you should be at the altitude instructed by ATC.

                 Set the NAV1 radio to the ILS frequency and hit the APR
                 (approach hold) button on the radio. As soon as you are within
                 range of the ILS signal you will see the glideslope become
                 active. You MUST be below the glideslope to intercept it. (The
                 triangle symbol will be above your current altitude.)

                 Once you intercept the glideslope the aircraft will begin to
                 steer itself and the altitude hold light will go off. You will
                 still have to control the speed yourself but the aircraft
                 should line up on the ILS runway and land.

                 In practice this does not work perfectly. I stopped attempting
                 fully automated landings after being slammed into the ground
                 short of the runway a few times. Also, the aircraft does not
                 properly flare at landing which will result in a bumpy landing
                 or a crash.

                 I usually turn off approach hold after I am lined up and on
                 the glideslope about a mile out. All you need to do after that
                 is control your speed and rate of descent.

[Erhan]

automatic landings are very hard, now just imagine CatIII landings!!!!!!!!!  :o

[beefhole]

WebbPA.... youve got it just about right. ivebeen playing these games for a while now, and have literally taught myself everything.  I land FULL autopilot, except for contrilling the altitude when im roughly 2 miles off the runway. webb, uve pretty much got the APR thing right, but you started talking about how u would land short, or how the aircraft wouldnt flare.  there is NOTHING in the AP that will control the pitch for you automatically. you have to either set the alt hold, or control the pitch yourself. i use the ALT hold for about 1/2 of the FA, with it set to a VS of -900. then i manually control the pitch. engaging the APR hold doesnt mean the airplane controls its own pitch. just because i always use full AP to land my plane, it doesnt mean im lazy.  it means that im trying to add realism to my flying experience. unfortunately, ive recently been having some problems where the APR is landing me to the far left of the runway.  Paris-right on the stripes. Orlando-right on the stripes. Honolulu-not even close.  Vancouver-to the left side of the runway.  I leave for Boston from Vancouver sometime soon.  Ill see what happens then.

[packercolinl]

Just did an AP approach into BIKF,cancelled AP at 500ft/1.5nm after letting down from 13500ft at 1000fp,RW11,winds 5@82. On the money all the way in!! WHY CAN'T THEY ALL BE LIKE THAT

[Craig.]

i believe that is a called an offset ILS approach, why its used i dotn know so others can confir, and correct

[FSTipster]

there is NOTHING in the AP that will control the pitch for you automatically. you have to either set the alt hold, or control the pitch yourself.

Not sure of your definition of pitch here.

If you mean angle of attack, the autopilot will trim as neceassary acording to the altitude you're trying to maintain and the thrust available (and all the rest of the flap/gear configuration etc.).

If however you mean that APR can't bring the aircraft down a glidesplope, then you're wrong I'm afraid.

It will do it if the configuration of the aircraft is correct to allow it to do so AND, you've activated APR when intercepting the glideslope from below, not above.

The FS2002 autopilot will not "seek" the glideslope from above. It has to "run into it" which can only be achieved by flying towards and beneath it.

To successfully achieve this, you should have both the heading and Alt hold switches on when you press APR. The autopilot will extinguish both (usually at different times) when it acquires the ILS heading and subsequently when it acquires the glideslope.

Obviously this only works where the runway is equipped with an ILS as opposed to a VOR.