I just took off from WSSS in the A350 and everything was smooth and under control until I was approaching TOC around FL380. My flight plan had a slight left turn, but the A350’s autopilot made a super aggressive left turn, then quickly swung back to the right just as aggressively, even exceeding the bank angle limit then the autopilot disconnected.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? Not sure if it’s just me or if the A350’s autopilot really gives overly aggressive inputs? I usually fly the A330 (both the neo and the -300 series) and never had anything like this happen. And with Boeing aircraft, the autopilot feels way smoother in comparison.
Thats cause Boeing is better. I’ve don’t fly any Airbus aircraft so I couldn’t tell you why. My hypothesis is that your speed was too high, causing the AP to overshoot the waypoint. My other thought is maybe your VS might have been exceedingly high and your speed too low, causing oscillations until the AP disconnected.
That equates to around 209,000kg if I’m not mistaken (I find raw weights easier to work with.)
FL390 would generally be sensible for such a weight - in fact I’ve taken A359s up to FL390 numerous times while heavier than this before without issue; therefore suggesting that perhaps this may be an issue with the autopilot itself considering I haven’t had any weight-related problems when climbing with it thus far, using recommended optimum altitudes based on real life.
Just to clarify however, would it be possible for you to go back and check the AOA just to make sure that the altitude and/or speed are not responsible for causing the upset situation? (I don’t believe this is the case but it’s always a good idea to double check.)
Hi, I tested with your flight conditions and tried very hard but failed to reproduce any similar problem. Also, I have not experienced such autopilot instabilities with the A350 in the past.
Aggressive bank angles is not an issue I’ve ever associated with the AP in general. However, turning off AP if your device has been calibrated for a different orientation, could be a suspect cause of sudden aggressive bank.
Any 3rd party apps to be ruled out as a possible contributing factor?
