FS2004 Autopilot issue

[Vokial]

Hi.
I have a problem with the autopilot, and to be more precise with the altitude and vertical speed. I set the altitude and the vertical speed and
activate the AP: the nose of the aircraft raises to that VS and holds it for about a second and then it returns to 0 (or sometimes to a maximum value
of +/- 500) both with climbs or descents. I think that this problem first occurred 2 or 3 days ago: i don't remember what i have installed 2 or 3 days
ago but could it be an addon that corrupted the original FS9 AP? Is the AP a gauge?
How can i do to solve this problem?

Thank you in advance.

[SaVas]

Could be something has been corrupted. What aircraft is this? Is it a FS8 or FS9 model?

Is it using standard AP like the default aircraft?

[Vokial]

At the moment i'm using the Dornier Do328 Jet model by Mike Stone, but the problem occurred also with the stock Beech King Air and the Baron 58... I
don't have FS8 models, only FS2004 ones.

[Kstinson]

When loading the aircraft or starting Fs9, do any messages pop up saying things like the files are corrupted or that certain files arnt
compatible with Fs9 or missing gauge, etc.?

[Vokial]

No error messages at all...
ATM i'm flying with my king air (the stock FS9 one) and i have set VS to 2000 feet/min (i have the red needle on "2" on the indicator) and the plane
is climbing at 500... if i move the needle the plane initially follows the new vertical speed (by rising the nose like a fighter and occurring in a
bad-G fear for the passengers) but then the nose levels to 500... and again, if i try to make a descent to.. say.. -1500 f/m, the nose falls to
approx. -1500 for a sec. or so and then levels to -500...
I really don't know what i can do to solve this... maybe by reinstalling FS?

[SWAFO]

You're not touching the controls after applying the AP, are you? This can cause it to disconnect/enter CWS mode.

[Vokial]

CWS? What does CWS mean?

Anyway, i'm not touching my joystick after engaging the AP... usually i use FSP keyboard shortcuts to tell my FO what to change like heading or
altitude. Regarding the vertical speed i rotate the knob near the indicator (or in an appropriate way depending on the panel i'm using)...
I can't understand if the problem is in the autopilot or in the gauges... i think in the AP because i used the stopwatch to see if the climbing rate
shown on the VSI was correct and it is. Of course even the altimeter gauge might be corrupted in some way but i don't think so... Different planes,
with different panels (both stock panels or custom ones) using different gauges behave the same way...

[SWAFO]

CWS is Command Wheel Steering... to be honest, I'm not even sure if it's modeled in FS9... I believe the PMDG aircraft model it (some
other high quality addons might as well... not sure). This mode can be applied independently of the AP, or activated when force is
applied to any of the control axis' while in flight with the AP engaged. It's usually used for severe turbulence, as well as some other in-
flight manuevers. It basically allows us to set a desired degree of pitch and roll, and the AP will maintain this flight path until we manually
adjust it, or disable CWS... not too useful in reality.

So basically, you're problem is that the AP will hold the desired VS for a few seconds, then return to 0, correct? Is it possible that when
this occurs you have the altitude in the altitude selection window set to a value that is close to or below your current altitude (that is if
you're trying to climb... if you're trying to descend, it would be that you have an altitude set which is close to or above your current altitude).
I'm not sure what aircraft or autopilot (if you downloaded aftermarket versions of one or both) that you're using, and it could just be the way
the AP is modelled in relation to the altitude setting (if this is the problem).

I realize that probably confused the heck out of you, but I hope it makes some sense. I don't know how else to word it.

[Vokial]

Thanks for the explanations about CWS but i don't really think that the King Air that comes with FS9 has it...

My problem is that the autopilot is capable to raise or lower the nose of my plane only between +500 and -500 feet/min. Example: i'm at FL300, ATC
tells my to descent to ... i don't know... FL120. I set 12.000 feet in my autopilot and then he begin the descent. The red needle on the VSI (the one
that indicates which VS you selected for the autopilot) automatically goes to the typical descent rate (approx -1300/-1500, i don't remember exactly)
and the white needle (the one that indicates the current VS of the plane) begins to fall to -1500 (or so) but then it raises to -500 and it doesn't go
further down to -1500.
On another plane for example the range of the autopilot VS was -700 / +700 but the problem is the same...
If i move the red needle, to change my desired descent rate, the white one initially falls (or climbs) to my new VS but then it returns inside that
range...

You know, that's the first time i get such a problem... really...

[SWAFO]

I understand your problem much more clearly now. I still can't provide a fix though. It sounds like what happens if we activate the
autopilot in VS mode with landing flaps selected. I'm not sure about how to go about fixing it though, and would probably recommend a
re-installation. That is unless someone else on the forum comes up with a better idea.

[Vokial]

While we're talking...

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5921/immagine8ht.jpg

Here's the problem... notice the VSI and the position of the red and the white needle... and no, the white needle is not descending, it's still there
(with the ATC telling me to speed up the descent... ).

[Kstinson]

I tried flying the plane a few time and got this problem a once or twice. What I do to correct it is set the rate of climb or desent before you
set a new altitude. For example if your at FL300 and want to desend to FL120 at a vetical speed of -1800, set your desent rate for -1800
then set altitude at FL120. I found that whenever I have the same problem you do, this works more often than not. The plane was
probably programmed to, when a new altitude is set, take the vertical speed currently set and reamin at that vertical speed so, if you
change during the desent, your actually setting the vetical speed hold for the next time you change altitude. I'm just guessing for all this
so I may be completly wrong but try it out and tell me how it works.

Hope this helps.