AP cannot switch from Hdg to Nav sometimes

[Tapi]

PLS help: why following process do not work? :
Flying NAV mod towards the Vor, over Vor i switch AP to HDG mode (direction of the new outbound radial). Then turn OBS arrow to that new radial and finally click NAV to navigate that direction. But HDG mode remains active. Why?

[Rolo Bach]

Same to me, also the ATT doesn't engage and remains on ALT. Then, I must end the flight manually. I've tried with Spad.neXt, nothing. Disable the AP controls on the Honeycomb Bravo, nothing. Use the mouse to click the AP buttons, nothing. May be problem with the GNS 530/430? I love the Black Square Duke, but this malfunction ruins my flights.

[Black Square]

This behavior sounds like what I've been seeing since my earliest aircraft when users have outdating or incompatible GPS mods in their community folder. The situation has gotten better over time, but our support team was quite adept at identifying these conflicts back when there was more confusion. Since I use the native autopilot implementation in all my aircraft, it's very unlikely to cause problems like you are describing with the autopilot unless a GPS is trying to take control of the autopilot, such as the WT GNS and PMS50 GTN do. If you wanted the quickest possible test, I recommend removing everything from your community folder, and trying the autopilot with the no-GPS avionics configuration. This should tell you very quickly where the problem lies. You're also welcome to contact Just Flight support, since they've solved very similar problems for everyone in all of my aircraft now. Good luck, and let me know what you discover!

[Rolo Bach]

@Black-Square Thanks for your answer. Today I've done a flight without gps flight plan. VOR to VOR (CDI to VOR nav on both GNS) Not problem at all. A I've suspected, the GNS 530/430 is the source of conflict. I enjoy to fly VOR to VOR, then, no problem I will forget the GPS.
Note: On the community folder are no one nav device. The GNS530/430 version is 1.2.4 (anterior version uninstalled time ago) The actual version is unable to be uninstalled from the content manager.

[Black Square]

I'm glad that you're not upset, but I never like hearing that my products are not working as intended. I make no claims that everything is perfect, but I spend most of my testing time on the hot-swapping avionics, so I am confident that we can arrive at a solution for you if you become interested at a later time.

[Rolo Bach]

@Black-Square Thanks, you are really a kind and skilled developer. The only airplanes I'm flying are the Tiger Moth (occasionally now), the WB Sim C172S (the GNS530/430 works fine on shee, also load the MSFS flight plan) and, almost all time, the Piston Duke. Mainly I fly on USA, are a lot of VOR there. If any time I go fly to Patagonia by example, will need the GPS, there aren't many VOR's there.

[Tapi]

@Black-Square THX for the answer. Well I use free version of PMS50 GTN, so may be this is the culprit.
Nontheless, yesterday I flew over VOR and did not switch to HDG mode and back to NAV mode but instead just remain on NAV mode and set a new course on OBS while flying over VOR and it worked.
As for the HDG to NAV mod switching I am suspect that it sometimes need a while to let VOR signal "establish" and then the armed NAV mod "win" and HDG mode is switched off...

[hughesj2]

Hi @Tapi, I fly exclusively with dual WT GNS530 but also have the free PMS50....I have also experienced this, one work around I use is to switch the radio stacks to the dual KX155B and the TDS GTNxi and hit confirm, then switch back to your desired config..I believe you can also "preflight" the AP system by tuning a VOR and engaging NAV on the ground, I think that way you know you are good to go as you'll see the flight director steering cue (as per pic) . Obviously you can also do this in flight (i.e. swap the radio stack). I would report that this happens very rarely for me so not a big deal now I have a workaround.
Hope this helps
Cheers
James

[Tapi]

@hughesj2 Interesting tip, I will surely try it, THX!