Autopilot
What is it? When should it be used? This topic will answer those questions, as well as give an overview of the autopilot functions in the simulator. This will serve as a guide for beginners, so if you ar very confident in using this aspect of the game, I would suggest clicking off now. Thanks for reading, and happy landings!
Functions
V-Speed (VS)
V-Speed, or VS, is the aircraft’s rate of climb in feet-per-minute.
This is the rate used when climbing. When you press the VS button, it will automatically adjust to your current V-Speed, no matter what you set it at.
Altitude
Altitude is the aircraft’s distance from the ground in feet.Gee, never knew that lol Altitude MSL is the height above sea-level, and altitude AGL is the height above ground level. When in a mountainous region such as Denver, it is good to use AGL, but the autopilot will always be set to MSL, just keep that in mind when flying.
Heading/Bearing
Heading, or bearing, is the direction your aircraft is facing in relation to north. It is used in degrees. In autopilot, you must change this gently, otherwise your plane will jerk to the side, making it more like a rollercoaster than a flight. Heading is also one of the things that activates automatically when activating any of the autopilot’s functions.
Speed
Speed is the measure of how fast your aircraft is going in knots. When you activate speed, it will automatically default to your current airspeed.
##When Should I Use Autopilot?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you learned something!