Sounds like a perfect use case for DCS web editor (currently it’s in beta so not openly available) - you can select groups of units and move them (can even copy and paste units from one map to another)
I need to retest but had a flight the other night in the CE and AP wouldn’t activate (was trimmed out level) - then replayed the same mission and AP activated.
need to work through some test scenarios and validate if there is a bug
What happens if you press the first button (on the left) with the mouse pointer?
You have to first press that button, followed by what mode you want e.g. Alt to hold you altitude
I’ve seen auto mapping for example with WinWing Orion 2 for the Hornet, also for my thrustmaster F/A-18 stick (even with the Virpil Warbird base) but its across all modules
Another way to practice carrier landings without the a hud is just turn the brightness down on the F-14. In fact I don’t use the hud for landing the F-14, just the AoA, alt, variometer etc