Autopilot heading, altitude channel should disengage by control input.

[sissypilot]

My father was a Mi-8 pilot and he said that autopilot is kinda messy:

1. The heading should disengage when pedal input

2. Altitude channel should disengage when collective input

 

And in real life AP is a lot more accurate: I mean it really maintains heading rock solid if you dont touch peadls contrary to the sim's way...

Edited April 9, 2015 by sissypilot

[Devrim]

So?...

 

Item #1 is working, but I'm not sure about #2.

[AlphaOneSix]

Altitude channel only disengages if you press the collective friction release button on the collective (friction effects are not something that is really able to be simulated well), not just by moving the collective. And while the heading channel is fairly accurate, I wouldn't call it "rock solid". I mean, it's rock solid if you're in nice straight and level coordinated flight to begin with...

 

EDIT: I will add that video games never EVER feel just right to people who fly the real thing. I think they get pretty close, but the real thing has just way more "feeling" to it, as you could imagine. Hard to explain what I really mean, but I figured I'd try.

Edited April 9, 2015 by AlphaOneSix

[sissypilot]

He did not fly it I just showed him. He flew the "old" Mi-8 not the MTV2.

He said in level flight AP is fine but when you disturb level flight or hover with lets say collective input (both raise or lower) he was surprised that the nose went sideways, he said such thing did not happen. Also he was surprised that with altitude channel on I could gain or loose altitude with pitch, he said no such thing is possible: if you keep inputs small it will maintain level if too much pitch input AP disengages.

He has some 4000 hours on it, so I tend to believe, just I tought let you know.

[AlphaOneSix]

Fair enough. All of my experience is from MTV1 and newer. I've never seen the altitude channel disengage from changing altitude with pitch inputs...it just eventually maxes out the altitude channel's authority and stays that way until the channel is disengaged with the trim button on the collective. To be fair, it is very rare that we use the altitude channel.

[sissypilot]

In fact he said that it was very rare to use any channel at all even at long flights because the AP is too "sensitive" he said. When you otherwise would let the plane to move naturally because of some wind disturbances the AP compensates. It tries to be way too "smooth" flier for his taste.

However the heading channel comes handy when some precision landing must be done because it keeps the planes nose "rock solid" even when collective input. The sim however lets the yaw change when collective input.

[AlphaOneSix]

Yeah the problem with our pilots is that they don't like to fly with their feet off the pedals, it just isn't going to happen, and you have to have your feet off the pedals for the yaw channel to be engaged.

 

Pitch/Roll are always engaged for us.

[Socket7]

The big problem I have with the Yaw autopilot is it's ability to trim the pedal centerpoint without you being aware of it.

 

If my CH pedals altered their center point in relation to the pedals in game it'd be fine, but since it doesn't the yaw channel always ends up trimming my pedals all the way to the left or right without me noticing. I only realize when I apply full pedal and nothing happens.

 

I only use yaw control when i've got a few dozen KM to fly in a completely straight line.

[Dun_Aenghus]

Apart from the autopilot critique, was your father generally impressed by the Mi8 in DCS?

[sissypilot]

Not really Dun. Though the reason might be is that father is not a computer fun at all. He thinks it is a childish toy :)

[1.JaVA_Platypus]

My father was a Mi-8 pilot and he said that autopilot is kinda messy:

1. The heading should disengage when pedal input

2. Altitude channel should disengage when collective input

 

And in real life AP is a lot more accurate: I mean it really maintains heading rock solid if you dont touch peadls contrary to the sim's way...

 

The heading-hold disengages when pressing the pedals in either direction. And it engages again after you release pedal pressure, holding the new heading. And altitude-hold disengages after touching the collective. IIRC. But I rarely engage the altitude hold mode since force-trim with the G940 works awesome. The Force-feedback actually let the stick rest in whatever position it was when you pressed the force-trim button.