F-15c Autopilot Lights

[dresoccer4]

Hello all - i've been flying the heck out of the eagle recently and I think i've fallen in love with this bird :pilotfly: i found my soulmate, even with all her quirks. one of them being the autopilot.

 

now i've read a several posts on the forums about people having difficulty getting it to work. however i think i've got it figured out well enough that i can get it to hold a steady altitude when i'm in cruise mode (no afterburners). anyway, my question is about the autopilot lights on the bottom right info panel.

 

1) i press 'A' and that is mapped to ATTITUDE hold, but i don't really notice a difference in the behavior of the plane. it feels more like just an ON switch. and in the info panel the the light turns on saying "AUTO PLT"

 

2) i press 'H' and that is mapped to ALTITUDE hold. this works, and if i'm trimmed well enough (i'd say +-500fpm), then she slowly levels out and holds her altitude. but to add to the quirkiness, the info panel lights up with "ATTITUDE"

 

needless to say, this can really throw you off quite a bit when you're learning to fly her. so i guess my question is, has anyone else noticed this? any thoughts? am i doing something wrong?

 

cheers!

[fitness88]

• 
  
• "LAlt - 4" Autopilot - Altitude Hold Your ALTITUDE key map is different from the default
  
• "A" Autopilot - Attitude Hold
  
• "LAlt - 9" Autopilot Disengage
  

Edited March 30, 2016 by fitness88

[dresoccer4]

• 
  
• "LAlt - 4" Autopilot - Altitude Hold Your ALTITUDE key map is different from the default
  
• "A" Autopilot - Attitude Hold
  
• "LAlt - 9" Autopilot Disengage
  

 

that's correct. i just re-mapped Autopilot - Altitude Hold to 'H', as it's easier than pressing LAlt+4, sorry for the confusion. but even if you press LAlt+4, the ATTITUDE light comes on

[fitness88]

Hello all - i've been flying the heck out of the eagle recently and I think i've fallen in love with this bird :pilotfly: i found my soulmate, even with all her quirks. one of them being the autopilot.

 

now i've read a several posts on the forums about people having difficulty getting it to work. however i think i've got it figured out well enough that i can get it to hold a steady altitude when i'm in cruise mode (no afterburners). anyway, my question is about the autopilot lights on the bottom right info panel.

 

1) i press 'A' and that is mapped to ATTITUDE hold, but i don't really notice a difference in the behavior of the plane. it feels more like just an ON switch. and in the info panel the the light turns on saying "AUTO PLT"

 

First the Attitude [A] needs to be engaged [before Altitude A/P], the auto pilot light will come on and at the same time the toggle switch will go from off to on [lower left cockpit]. When in Attitude A/P the plane will assume the current pitch and roll when the j-stick is allowed to centre. You can move the stick to a new pitch/roll and again the plane will assume the new current pitch and roll when the j-stick is allowed to centre. There are limits of pitch/roll before the ATT A/P will disengage [see manual].

 

2) i press 'H' and that is mapped to ALTITUDE hold. this works, and if i'm trimmed well enough (i'd say +-500fpm), then she slowly levels out and holds her altitude. but to add to the quirkiness, the info panel lights up with "ATTITUDE"

 

If you have trim key map enabled as you need to on the Russian planes, I would disable it from your mapping. I had it enabled as a carry over from my Mig-29 and it didn't allow for stable transition to Altitude A/P.

Once you have ATT A/P enabled, you need to be within 3 degrees of flight level for ALT A/P to work. It is easily disabled by pitch/roll stick movement [see manual]. You can enable/disable/enable ALT A/P with a keystroke so long as ATT A/P is still enabled. I like the ATT A/P.

needless to say, this can really throw you off quite a bit when you're learning to fly her. so i guess my question is, has anyone else noticed this? any thoughts? am i doing something wrong?

 

cheers!

 

Hope this helps.

Edited March 30, 2016 by fitness88

[dresoccer4]

Hope this helps.

 

you basically reiterated what i said, so at least you've confirmed i'm doing it right. and also confirmed the autopilot lights are indeed messed up:

 

Autopilot-Attitude Hold = Auto Plt light - 'A'

Autopilot-Altitude Hold = Attitude light - "LAlt - 4"

 

should i report this as a bug?

[fitness88]

you basically reiterated what i said, so at least you've confirmed i'm doing it right. and also confirmed the autopilot lights are indeed messed up:

 

Autopilot-Attitude Hold = Auto Plt light - 'A'

Autopilot-Altitude Hold = Attitude light - "LAlt - 4"

 

should i report this as a bug?

 

No I'm not saying that at all. There is nothing wrong with the A/P lights they are working as designed. I was trying to give a detailed explanation of exactly how the A/P functions with the lights. From what you wrote you seemed to be missing some info.

Edited April 1, 2016 by fitness88

[dresoccer4]

No I'm not saying that at all. There is nothing wrong with the A/P lights they are working as designed. I was trying to give a detailed explanation of exactly how the A/P functions with the lights. From what you wrote you seemed to be missing some info.

 

ok. i would just assume that the attitude autopilot would turn on the...attitude light.

why does the altitude autopilot turn on the attitude light? i would assume it would turn on...altitude light. is there even an altitude light?

 

sorry to keep asking, i just feel like i'm missing something obvious that everyone else gets, like the slow kid in class :(

[MikeMikeJuliet]

This might be a tad bit off, but I've noticed that the effects of the attitude mode are hard to notice at first... but once you try air-to-air-refueling or formation flying you can easily notice the difference between not having the AP on and having it on attitude. Sort of like an autotrim but not quite. At least it smooths my close formation flying a lot.

[fitness88]

This might be a tad bit off, but I've noticed that the effects of the attitude mode are hard to notice at first... but once you try air-to-air-refueling or formation flying you can easily notice the difference between not having the AP on and having it on attitude. Sort of like an autotrim but not quite. At least it smooths my close formation flying a lot.

 

Especially when coming from the Mig-29s...that's a serious A/P system there!

[fitness88]

ok. i would just assume that the attitude autopilot would turn on the...attitude light.

why does the altitude autopilot turn on the attitude light? i would assume it would turn on...altitude light. is there even an altitude light?

 

sorry to keep asking, i just feel like i'm missing something obvious that everyone else gets, like the slow kid in class :(

 

 

When Attitude A/P is enabled the A/P system gets turned on and you will see a light bottom right saying 'autoplt'. The thinking may be that the A/P system gets engaged when the Attitude A/P is set[a double action]. Then when you activate the Altitude A/P it will only say Altitude at the top.

Edited April 2, 2016 by fitness88

[Chipwich]

I've noticed the same behavior. Press A (one of the default key mappings for Attitude hold) and the AUTO PLT light illuminates. Then press H (one of the default key mappings for Altitude hold) and the ATTITUDE light comes on. If you press H without A beforehand, neither light. v1.5.3.52018. It seems to function correctly regardless of the wrong light being displayed.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Chipwich