[RESOLVED] Possible BUG REPORT - 'after Autopilot flight'

[The_Bullet_Chef]

Hello all,

 

TRY THIS FOR YOURSELF...!!

 

I have had many hours in the F-14B by now and wanted to share an anomaly I seem to have found.

 

It's related to Flight Handling / Characteristics after Autopilot use.

 

The best way for me to explain will be to go through the steps one by one so others can set up the same scenario.

 

(1) Set up a normal standard flight in the F-14B (calm weather no wind or turbulence, medium fuel etc.)

 

(2) Fly straight and level (wing sweep in auto) at a speed of approx .7 Mach.

 

(3) Ensure all AFCS Channel Switches are on / engaged (normal)

 

(4) Bank the aircraft 'semi swiftly' 45 degrees left, then 45 degrees to the right (no need for rudder input for the purpose of this experiment - go back and forth a few times to get the feel) - notice how the flight characteristics appear normal, free, smooth and 'analogue like'...

 

(5) Then on the Autopilot Panel, select the ENGAGE switch - then select the ALT switch - you'll see the red A/P REF light come on to the left of the VDI - then depress pinky switch (nose wheel steering button). We've now engaged the ALT Hold setting (Aircraft will now hold current ALT)

 

(6) Now, dis-engage the ENGAGE Switch, and set the ALT Switch back to OFF.

 

(7) Resume straight and level flight at approx .7 Mach.

 

(8 ) Now bank the aircraft 45 degrees left and right like before - you will notice that despite all the AUTOPILOT functions being switched off, the aircraft still feels locked in, semi rigid and 'digital like' (best described like the aircraft is locked into the bank angle as soon as you release the banking input on the stick) You will even notice this 'locked in' characteristic when trying small pitch changes too.

 

(9) Cycling the 3 AFCS 'Pitch - Roll - Yaw' Switches does not help, or reset this anomaly either.

 

(10) I have tried this on a friend's DCS F-14B setup at his home and I got the same results.

 

There is quite a difference between normal flight before & after AUTOPILOT usage.

 

I look forward to hearing what others experience.

 

Thanks...

Edited April 13, 2019 by IronMike

[Galf]

I think I got this too. I felt the plane acting odd.

Does trim work for you after doing that? Because my trim appears to not work anymore sometimes, and I suspect it's related to this.

[The_Bullet_Chef]

I think I got this too. I felt the plane acting odd.

Does trim work for you after doing that? Because my trim appears to not work anymore sometimes, and I suspect it's related to this.

 

 

I'll give the trim a go when I'm back home soon and get back to you...

[The_Bullet_Chef]

*** UPDATE ***

 

Galf,

 

You're right..!!

 

The TRIM SYSTEM does not work after Engaging & Dis-engaging the AUTOPILOT...!

 

I played around with my / our situation a bit more, and it seems it's purely related to the ENGAGE switch only, ie - once you 'engage' it then 'disengage it', the aircraft is forever locked into this 'autopilot mode' characteristic regardless of how you try to reset it.

 

I'm keen to hear if anyone else has figured out a fix or if it's acknowledged as a BUG....

[Decibel dB]

I notice that too. You also end up with PITCH STAB 1&2 and ROLL STAB 1&2 Caution light ON

[The_Bullet_Chef]

I notice that too. You also end up with PITCH STAB 1&2 and ROLL STAB 1&2 Caution light ON

 

Well noted, you're right. I'm getting that too, with no way to reset it. Hopefully more people will jump on this so it's addressed.

[Raz_Specter]

yes +1 on this, I noticed that the Trim system has no function after autopilot

[danny875]

Just tried it and my trim worked fine.

Steps:

Level out, engage alt hold and auto pilot.

Disengage autopilot (alt hold disabled a automatically when disengaged auto pilot)

Trim functions as expected.

 

I have not updated since the F-4 came out so I don’t have the hot patch installed so maybe it was broken then?

[Rlaxoxo]

I use "Autopilot disengage" bind to turn off my AP

[The_Bullet_Chef]

Just tried it and my trim worked fine.

Steps:

Level out, engage alt hold and auto pilot.

Disengage autopilot (alt hold disabled a automatically when disengaged auto pilot)

Trim functions as expected.

 

I have not updated since the F-4 came out so I don’t have the hot patch installed so maybe it was broken then?

 

Unfortunately for us (updated version) this isn’t working...

 

Whether it’s disengaged through direct cockpit ‘clicking’ or by a ‘bindable button’ the autopilot switch ‘visually switches off’ however the aircraft still appears to be locked into ‘attitude hold’ mode with the trim function not working...

 

No way of resetting it for the rest of the flight either..

[MuldoonX9]

I was getting this too. Turning on autopilot, doing a severe maneuver, then turning off autopilot (usually all by clicking the switches instead of any hotas binds), I would get into a state where the rear stabilizers were trying to pitch me up. Here was my trim with a neutral stick.

[CptJackSparrow]

I have the same issue as well.

[Mad_Max2]

hmmm... weird, my trim works fine. Tried with and without use of alt hold, threw some maneuvers in there too. All good.

[Galf]

I didn't test it throughly, but I did notice that switching off the autopilot BY BINDING allows for another click of the autopilot engage on/off switch VISUALLY. Meaning that there was a sort of "half autopilot" state that seemed to mess with trim. I check for trim visually on the stick and gauge btw.

[Galf]

Alright I can reproduce this every time

 

1) fly around

2) enable autopilot through a keybind (I have autopilot on and off set to my switches on the X-55 throttle)

3) disable autopilot either by flight input or by actually disabling it with the "autopilot off" keybind

 

EDIT: I've used only altitude hold mode

 

 

THREE THINGS happen:

 

1) trim is disabled. Holding trim doesn't change stick position nor the gauge or the actual control surfaces

2) the plane feels like it tends to hold attitude more, but I'm not 110% sure about this

3) most importantly, even if the switch is off, you can physically click it again to switch if "off" for real

 

once you either click it off again or disengage AP through the emergency disengage paddle or you disabled manually (i.e. by clicking the switch in the cockpit) in the first place, the plane appears to behave normally, with trim working as intended.

Edited March 25, 2019 by Galf

[VampireNZ]

+1 i was also getting this as I had the ENGAGE switch mapped to switch on my button box, however switching OFF this switch was not disabling the AP correctly or allowing pitch trim.

 

I now use the emergency disengage trigger to turn off AP, and then have to switch the pitch and roll stabs back on.

[Tiger-II]

I saw this too, but then I'm n00b at engaging the AP anyway (the first time I tried it I hadn't spotted that you need to clear the AP to take control via the pinky switch).

 

I noticed it was harder to control afterwards.

[Donut]

+1 i was also getting this as I had the ENGAGE switch mapped to switch on my button box, however switching OFF this switch was not disabling the AP correctly or allowing pitch trim.

 

I now use the emergency disengage trigger to turn off AP, and then have to switch the pitch and roll stabs back on.

 

I made a post earlier today describing the same...

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3857128&postcount=1

 

The behavior does not seem correct and is not what the manual describes.

[CptJackSparrow]

Alright I can reproduce this every time

 

1) fly around

2) enable autopilot through a keybind (I have autopilot on and off set to my switches on the X-55 throttle)

3) disable autopilot either by flight input or by actually disabling it with the "autopilot off" keybind

 

EDIT: I've used only altitude hold mode

 

 

THREE THINGS happen:

 

1) trim is disabled. Holding trim doesn't change stick position nor the gauge or the actual control surfaces

2) the plane feels like it tends to hold attitude more, but I'm not 110% sure about this

3) most importantly, even if the switch is off, you can physically click it again to switch if "off" for real

 

once you either click it off again or disengage AP through the emergency disengage paddle or you disabled manually (i.e. by clicking the switch in the cockpit) in the first place, the plane appears to behave normally, with trim working as intended.

 

 

Exact same for me, as you described.

[104th_Maverick]

In the current version you have to manually flick the Autopilot engage / disengage switch with the mouse, the key binds for this does not work in this version but is fixed for next revision.

 

Look at your AP switch when pressing your key bind you’ll see it doesn’t go off.

 

I use AP on every flight and never have any issues but I’m always mousing the switches on and off.

[canned_fire]

+1 What the first poster mentioned. I dont think disengaging with mouse (or bind) makes any difference, AP remains engaged. Have not tried the emergency disconnect.

[Galf]

;3858801']In the current version you have to manually flick the Autopilot engage / disengage switch with the mouse, the key binds for this does not work in this version but is fixed for next revision.

 

Look at your AP switch when pressing your key bind you’ll see it doesn’t go off.

I use AP on every flight and never have any issues but I’m always mousing the switches on and off.

 

The problem is that it does!

It moves to off, it CLICKS to off, but if you go to right click it again it "clicks" again and stays on off, this time actually going off and disabling the weird AP autotrim bug.

[The_Bullet_Chef]

;3858801']In the current version you have to manually flick the Autopilot engage / disengage switch with the mouse, the key binds for this does not work in this version but is fixed for next revision.

 

Look at your AP switch when pressing your key bind you’ll see it doesn’t go off.

 

I use AP on every flight and never have any issues but I’m always mousing the switches on and off.

 

*** AUTOPILOT TEMPORARY FIX FOR THIS CURRENT VERSION ***

 

Hello all,

 

After much playing around with this issue, I've found what appears to be a temporary fix until this BUG gets sorted in the next update.

 

When I started this thread I had a button bound for Autopilot 'ENGAGE' and a separate button bound for Autopilot 'DISENGAGE or OFF' and the behaviour I described was consistent every time (I'm using a Thrustmaster Warthog)

 

Last night I bound the F-14 AutoPilot 'ENGAGE' Switch to an actual 2 way Toggle Switch on my Thrustmaster Warthog by selecting the option in bindings - 'Autopilot ENGAGE, else OFF' (forgive me if the binding terminology is not exact, I'm away from DCS at the moment but I'm sure you get my drift) and now when I disengage the AutoPilot, it is properly disconnected and the aircraft controls are back to normal & trim works etc etc

 

Hope this helps...

Edited March 26, 2019 by The_Bullet_Chef

[Mad_Max2]

3) disable autopilot either by flight input or by actually disabling it with the "autopilot off" keybind

 

 

Just so you know, flight inputs don't disengage the main autopilot. Not saying thats the problem, just a heads up.

 

 

I've had autopilot toggle bound to china hat fwd, and alt hold to china hat aft. Haven't had a problem since release. So with that being said it sounds like it might be a problem with how it is bound...possibly even with using engage and disengage rather than toggle. idk... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edited March 29, 2019 by Mad_Max2