One-Eleven (1-11) 510 autopilot

[DavidK]

Hi all,

I've recently started trying the 1-11 510 virtual cockpit and think I've worked most of it out -- except the autopilot. So far, I've found that:

• "Az Master On" = turn to heading-bug's heading;
• On the left, IAS then Engage accel/decelerates the plane to the speed set by Select Speed knob;
• On the right, Acq then Engage starts a climb/descent to the altitude set by Select Height knob and Lock then Engage maintains the current altitude;
• the "Select Pressure" doesn't provide selection, just shows the current flight level / QNH pressure.

...but I'm not sure about:

• why the two damper switches double as the autopilot's on/off switch;
• whether Throttle then Engage maintains the current throttle setting -- isn't that already achieved by wherever the throttle levers are set?
• what the "Prime Land"/"Glide Gearing" switch achieves (as regards ILS, I assume);
• what difference the Flight Director (F/D On) makes to any of the above.

Any confirmation / help much appreciated!

David

[MALTBY D]

Hi David

There's some detail for the 510ED autopilot here...
http://www.dmflightsim.co.uk/html/1-11/Manual_AP.htm
Scroll down past the regular A/P section.

I think that just about covers everything.

DM

[DaveB]

I thought I'd covered 3 of the 4 'not sures' David.. you obviously took me at my word as I don't often fly the 510

Throttle and IAS are two different things. IAS will hold a set IAS with the AT armed and throttle will maintain a particular throttle setting. As you'll appreciate, a given throttle setting and a particular IAS may be completely different.

Anyway.. you have a link to a more recent panel manual (it's more recent than mine) so that will give you all you need to know

ATB

DaveB

[DavidK]

Thanks from David to David and Dave (amongst everything else, will the government now have to cap how many babies are given this name?),

Yes, that webpage looks like it should do the trick -- I had an older version of the page that didn't include the 510 section. Thanks also for the IAS/Throttle explanation -- I can now see the point of it!

David M: Is it (or can it be made) possible to remove the yoke from the virtual cockpit display? Despite trying Shift+Enter or Shift+Backspace to change the angle of the view from the pilot's seat, I'm finding the top of the yoke's column tends to obscure the heading and heading bug knobs on the Course Direction (HSI) dial.

David

UPDATE: Just thought that if removing the yoke isn't possible, then, once I have the autopilot engaged, I suppose I could reach the knobs by pulling back on the yoke with my left hand, moving it out of the way, without making the aircraft climb...

[NigelC]

IAS will alter the pitch to maintain IAS with a fixed throttle setting (manually set). Throttle will hold IAS at a fixed pitch by changing the power setting.

Nige

[NigelC]

...It shouldn't be used that way though, throttle setting should only really be used as an "auto-throttle" on approach. For climb use IAS by setting climb power, initiating the climb and then engaging IAS.

[DaveB]

IAS will alter the pitch to maintain IAS with a fixed throttle setting (manually set). Throttle will hold IAS at a fixed pitch by changing the power setting.

Ah yes.. an important aspect of the real one I'd forgotten about Does the model work this way too Nige.. I honestly can't remember (I only use throttle) DK.. in RW, what this means is in IAS, the aircraft will climb to bleed off excess speed or descend to gain speed and with airways being as tight as they are these days.. ATC's don't like aircraft bobbing up and down

ATB

DaveB

[NigelC]

IAS will alter the pitch to maintain IAS with a fixed throttle setting (manually set). Throttle will hold IAS at a fixed pitch by changing the power setting.

Ah yes.. an important aspect of the real one I'd forgotten about Does the model work this way too Nige.. I honestly can't remember (I only use throttle) DK.. in RW, what this means is in IAS, the aircraft will climb to bleed off excess speed or descend to gain speed and with airways being as tight as they are these days.. ATC's don't like aircraft bobbing up and down

ATB

DaveB

Used in climb, it will increase rate of climb to bleed of excess speed and reduce rate of climb to gain speed. In the cruise, height lock should be engaged and cruise power set manually. Of course, you can cheat and engage throttle mode and use it as an autothrottle to nail the speed.

[DaveB]

Hi Nige..

Cheers The particular example I gave was for use in 'cruise' which is why it's not used and height lock is As it happens, I cheat and use throttle to nail the speed TBH, I use FSNav's 'Fly Plan' button most of the time which does it all for me

ATB

DaveB

[DavidK]

Thanks for the further input, Nige/Dave:

So, if I've understood correctly...

Speed
• Use the IAS setting when climbing / descending to change the rate of climb/descent in order to maintain the speed set... which should mean almost no risk of an overspeed if (say) 225 kts set during a climb or set with time to decelerate before crossing FL100 during a descent..?
• Use the Throttle setting to have the autopilot maintain the set speed without changing pitch, i.e. as if nudged back and forth by Muggins in the older 1-11 variants. (Doesn't sound like cheating to me!)

Altitude
• Use Acq to climb/descend to the altitude set -- but, obvious though it might seem, I think it's probably also worth mentioning that nothing will happen unless some degree of pitch is set using the wheel. At least, that's how it seems to work. (At first, I thought the autopilot would start climbing/descending at some default rate (say 1,500 ft/min), but when nothing happened...)

ILS
• Just curious what the "Prime" in "Prime Land" (why not "Auto-land"?) and "Gearing" in "Glide Gearing" refer to -- I've already found out that "Prime" land does the best it can, but doesn't necessarily succeed (at least, not with today's "real-world weather" crosswind on approach to David M's Manchester airport !)

David