Autopilot being an idiot

[howdydude123]

Whenever im about to land at a runway, my plane says "stall" Bang! ten seconds later i plunge into the ground. Why dont autopilot do anything about stalls?!

[ATI_7500]

Because landing on autopilot is generally not recommended.

[BAW0343]

And generally, they don't control your throttle. Thats your job  ;)

[reider]

Unless its an autoland, in which case the autothrottle is fully used and controlled right down to the actual landing.  The brakes are automatically applied too.  Three autopilots are used for this, so its a Cat III landing.  If one fails it still carries on with the procedure as a Cat II landing.  The aircraft logs dictate that this procedure has to be fully carried out, where the facility is fitted, every x amount of days.  The 767-300ER is about every 60 days I believe, unless its changed.  A real life pilot mentioned the instruction contained in the logs, on his blog about a flight he`d done recently.

Reider

[MattNW]

Whenever im about to land at a runway, my plane says "stall" Bang! ten seconds later i plunge into the ground. Why dont autopilot do anything about stalls?!

Because you are the "pilot in command". Like reider said, in the real world only some aircraft are equipped with autoland. I don't think any default aircraft in FSX are so equipped. It's up to you to control the throttles and land the aircraft. The AP is only to get you headed in the general direction. It's also your job to keep on top of the AP and make sure it doesn't crash the aircraft even when it is engaged. There's a reason why airplane manufacturers put all those controls and gadgets in the cockpit.  ;)

[reider]

It sounds very likely that you are approaching the runway with too low a throttle setting.  Apart from autoland, when on autopilot it is the pilots job to take care of the flaps and throttle settings.  The autopilot merely flies the cruise heading and approach, ILS or otherwise.  If the aircraft is set up for an IRS flight via the onboard FMC then it will control the throttle, but not the flaps. It is also the pilots job to decide if the AP is doing the job correctly and be ready to override it at any point in the flight-SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.

If you read through the kneeboard you will find the correct flap/speed setttings for take off, cruise, approach and landing.  If this is a plane you fly regular then print them out and where possible laminate them.  You then have an extremely handy reference handy and ready for that flight.

150 knots and 30/40 (Position full) flaps for landing
200 knots and 20/30 flaps for approach (drop to 150/160 before you intersect the ILS)
250 knots and 10-15 on the flaps for flying below 10,000 feet (unless climbing, then flaps off)
300 knots and nil flaps up to 20,000 feet
.mach and nil flaps after 20,000 feet

Do not apply flaps until below 8000 feet

All the above varies from one plane to the next but will get you roughly in the ball park area that you need to be.  Onboard weight, fuel and passenger load has a bearing on this but more so with Payware planes rather than the FSX default planes.

Reider

[Brett_Henderson]

I can't resist.. oh the pain in trying  

Drill in the 172 until you can land effortlessy, fully understanding the theory behind flying an approach..  Then the Mooney... Then the Baron... Then the Caravan (to get used to turbine spool lag)..  Then the KingAir ... Then the Lear..

By the time you're landing big jets easily.. THEN start letting the autopilot handle an approach...  8-)


I'll go, now  :-X

[howdydude123]

Ok i do use the approch autpolit thingy. But whats the spped a 747 should be going before land?

[howdydude123]

Oh yea does KIAs mean knots?

[Jakemaster]

The speed depends on your weight, but generally I land a 747 between 140-160 knots (depending on weight)

As Mr. Henderson said for the millionth time in the past week it seems, start small.  I started small, and the other day I managed to do a full hands on visual approach to Midway's shortest and narrowest runway in a 16 knot crosswind touching down softly just beyond the numbers and with the nose on the centerline in a 737.  

Approach mode on the autopilot IS NOT autoland.  Approach simply controls the altitude and heading of the plane to follow an ILS approach path.  I use it often just to make my job easier, but I still control the speed and take over control of the plane for the final approach (at least a mile from the airport).

[MattNW]

Oh yea does KIAs mean knots?

Nope it means "Killed In Action" when you stall and smack the runway.  ;D j/k

KIAs=Knots Indicated Airspeed. This is the speed shown on the airspeed indicator. You can actually however be going faster or slower than this depending on wind speed and direction, atmospheric conditions or altitude.

[reider]

Have a look at the kneeboard and read the settings, its like 5 minutes out of your life and makes everything slot into place.  It gives you the flaps and speeds for all scenarios, in fact it doesn`t even take as much as 5 minutes......

Reider

[howdydude123]

Alright i just made a sucessful ladning at LAX smack on the centerline. I just made my speed at 200 knots(i know thats fast) then i put on autobrakes. Then as i descended i kept lowering the speed. Thanks for ur help.

[Pappy44]

http://www.simviation.com/fshelp.htm

there are a few good tutorials in there you should look at too..

[Nexus]

[quote]Unless its an autoland, in which case the autothrottle is fully used and controlled right down to the actual landing.