Autopilot - unable to preselect.
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Here's the workflow I've come up with. Set altitude for the autopilot on the ground. After takeoff get the plane trimmed for a normal climb then engage the autopilot and heading mode. It's now in pitch and Alt Arm mode and I can use the CWS button on the yoke to adjust the pitch attitude. Once it captures the target altitude then I can change the target altitude and hit alt to put it in VS and Alt Arm mode and use the up down to set the climb/descent rate.
I have sometimes been able to get it back into a pitch mode but I haven't yet figured out the magic combination to do so.
Here's the KAP140 manual - it does talk about a CWS button in it: https://www.bendixking.com/content/dam/bendixking/en/documents/document-lists/downloads-and-manuals/006-18034-0000-KAP-140-Pilots-Guide.pdf
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A better way, I believe, is to get rid of Pitch mode entirely (as in the real unit).
A brute force hack is adding this to an interior model xml file, in an Update section:
(A:AUTOPILOT ATTITUDE HOLD, bool) if{ (>K:AP_PANEL_VS_SET) }
Hopefully Nick @Black-Square has a better way..
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Here's the workflow I've come up with. Set altitude for the autopilot on the ground. After takeoff get the plane trimmed for a normal climb then engage the autopilot and heading mode. It's now in pitch and Alt Arm mode and I can use the CWS button on the yoke to adjust the pitch attitude. Once it captures the target altitude then I can change the target altitude and hit alt to put it in VS and Alt Arm mode and use the up down to set the climb/descent rate.
I have sometimes been able to get it back into a pitch mode but I haven't yet figured out the magic combination to do so.
Here's the KAP140 manual - it does talk about a CWS button in it: https://www.bendixking.com/content/dam/bendixking/en/documents/document-lists/downloads-and-manuals/006-18034-0000-KAP-140-Pilots-Guide.pdf
@MiRexer said in Autopilot - unable to preselect.:
Here's the workflow I've come up with. Set altitude for the autopilot on the ground. After takeoff get the plane trimmed for a normal climb then engage the autopilot and heading mode. It's now in pitch and Alt Arm mode and I can use the CWS button on the yoke to adjust the pitch attitude. Once it captures the target altitude then I can change the target altitude and hit alt to put it in VS and Alt Arm mode and use the up down to set the climb/descent rate.
I have sometimes been able to get it back into a pitch mode but I haven't yet figured out the magic combination to do so.
Here's the KAP140 manual - it does talk about a CWS button in it: https://www.bendixking.com/content/dam/bendixking/en/documents/document-lists/downloads-and-manuals/006-18034-0000-KAP-140-Pilots-Guide.pdf
.Seems to be similar to Learjet 35. Only way to adjust pitch - you have to map a toggle switch on stick.
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@MiRexer said in Autopilot - unable to preselect.:
Here's the workflow I've come up with. Set altitude for the autopilot on the ground. After takeoff get the plane trimmed for a normal climb then engage the autopilot and heading mode. It's now in pitch and Alt Arm mode and I can use the CWS button on the yoke to adjust the pitch attitude. Once it captures the target altitude then I can change the target altitude and hit alt to put it in VS and Alt Arm mode and use the up down to set the climb/descent rate.
I have sometimes been able to get it back into a pitch mode but I haven't yet figured out the magic combination to do so.
Here's the KAP140 manual - it does talk about a CWS button in it: https://www.bendixking.com/content/dam/bendixking/en/documents/document-lists/downloads-and-manuals/006-18034-0000-KAP-140-Pilots-Guide.pdf
.Seems to be similar to Learjet 35. Only way to adjust pitch - you have to map a toggle switch on stick.
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Guys.. the KAP140 autopilot does not have Pitch mode.. end of story
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Guys.. the KAP140 autopilot does not have Pitch mode.. end of story
@Bert-Pieke said in Autopilot - unable to preselect.:
Guys.. the KAP140 autopilot does not have Pitch mode.. end of story
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Well there is on this one
- it even says "PIT" on the panel.The only mention of the CWS button in the KAP 140 manual is this:
"2. “CHECK PITCH TRIM”- An
out of trim condition has existed
for 15 seconds.
a. Airplane Control Wheel
GRASP FIRMLY, press CWS
and check for an out of pitch trim
condition. Manually retrim as
required.
b. CWS button - RELEASE.
c. AUTOPILOT OPERATION
CONTINUE if satisfied that the
out of trim condition was tempo
rary. DISCONTINUE if evidence
indicates a failure of the auto trim
function."So it looks like the only use of it IRL on the KAP140 is to check for an out of trim condition and correct it (so that the airplane doesn't "SNAP" when you turn the autopilot off - I've personally experienced this IRL on simple autopilots).
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To interject, I believe my rationale for the pitch mode back when I created this was that MSFS doesn't really have altitude arming like you think it does. This means that defaulting to VS mode can have some unexpected behavior depending on selected altitude. Of course, this was a decision probably made three years ago when I knew a lot less about how to reliably create workarounds for these things. I will look into it, what you're seeing now exists because it was a "safe" solution to a shortcoming in the simulator.
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Thanks for agreeing to look into this.. I am sure a solution can be found.
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BTW, the one line hack that I suggested above works well for me and could be used as part of the next update if nothing else is ready..
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To interject, I believe my rationale for the pitch mode back when I created this was that MSFS doesn't really have altitude arming like you think it does. This means that defaulting to VS mode can have some unexpected behavior depending on selected altitude. Of course, this was a decision probably made three years ago when I knew a lot less about how to reliably create workarounds for these things. I will look into it, what you're seeing now exists because it was a "safe" solution to a shortcoming in the simulator.
@Black-Square Please give the kap140 a nice makeover
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Just wanted to let you guys know that I was working on this last night. Here is the post from another thread:
I think I was able to arrive at the optimal solution with only some small edits to the code. I also improved some other small things in the KAP140 while I was there. The only thing I'm not sure about relates to the behavior of the real world unit. If you engage the autopilot when you are already within 200ft of your selected altitude, the vertical speed will be zero, and it will capture the selected altitude. All things considered, this is a very small tradeoff in my eyes, compared to what is sometimes required to circumvent the native autopilot. It's always amazing when you implement some of these small things, and you can immediately feel how much more intuitive they are. Thanks, guys!
An addendum for this thread: The capability to display "PIT" mode still resides in the KAP 140, but you should not see it during normal operation. I've left it there more as a debugging tool, since errant autopilot modes are my best tool for diagnosing GPS addon issues.
