As a radar controller, it feels that auto-pilot’s bank angle of 20˚ in IF isn’t enough/realistic.
After observing aircrafts in FlightRadar24, I feel they are able to make much more sharper turns as compared to turns made by IF planes because of the fixed bank angle of 20˚ in IF.
Also, IRL pilots can make 360 loops quicker compared to IF.
Real life pilots could confirm this.
Example: We cannot make planes do small turns like this while controlling approach
If the bank angle of auto-pilot could be increased slightly to something like 25˚ that would make controlling even more realistic coz planes will be able to make turns like they do IRL.
Time for one 360˚ turn:
- IRL (with 25˚ bank): 2 mins
- IF (with 20˚ bank): 4mins 6 secs
Maybe auto-pilot should have dynamic bank angle:
Something like:
| Altitude (FL) | Bank angle (deg) |
|---|---|
| < FL100 | 25˚ |
| FL100 - FL200 | 20˚ |
| > FL200 | 15˚ |
Because of this, we cannot use loops effectively while controlling.
Note: I wouldn’t prefer giving this control to pilot in IF, because it would be a nightmare vectoring different planes who have set different bank angles.
I hope we can get a feature close to something requested above as it should be relatively low development effort.
TL;DR
Can we please have max auto-pilot bank angle changed from 20˚ to 25˚ (at least for aircrafts in approach airspace).
It can remain the same (20˚) everywhere else.
Thanks IF team!