Using your plane’s autopilot in X-Plane 11

Hi! It’s Randy again, with the X-Plane team. This is the next email in the course on getting the most out of X-Plane.

Everyone wants to know how to use their aircraft’s autopilot. This is as much a concern in the real world as it is in X-Plane—the fact is, many pilots don’t take the time to learn to use their autopilot properly.

Using the autopilot is as simple as turning it on, deciding which of its features you need (Do you need it to take you to a specific altitude? Keep the wings level? Change your heading?) and then turning that feature on.

Turning it on

To turn the autopilot on, locate the switch labeled “Flight Director Mode” in the cockpit (it may instead simply be labeled “FLIGHT DIR”). It has 3 modes: off, on, and “auto.” When it is set to “on,” the autopilot will give you a set of wings on your HSI which you can fly by hand in order to track the suggested path. However, the mode you probably want to use is “auto.” With the switch set to “auto,” the autopilot will physically move the aircraft’s controls for you, so you can sit back while your plane flies itself.

Which autopilot feature do you need?

Now, which autopilot feature do you need? The most common features simulated in X-Plane are as follows:

• The WLV button is the wing leveler. This will simply hold the wings
  level while the pilot figures out what to do next.
• The HDG button controls the heading hold function. This will simply
  follow the heading bug on the HSI or direction gyro.
• The LOC button controls the localizer flight function. This will fly
  a VOR or ILS radial, or to a GPS destination. Note that the GPS may be
  programmed by the FMS.
• The HOLD button controls the altitude hold function. This will hold
  the current or pre-selected altitude by pitching the nose up or down.
• The V/S button controls the vertical speed function. This will hold
  a constant vertical speed by pitching the aircraft’s nose up or down.
• The SPD button controls the airspeed function. This will hold the
  pre-selected airspeed by pitching the nose up or down, leaving the
  throttle alone.
• The FLCH button controls the flight-level change function. This will
  hold the pre-selected airspeed by pitching the nose up or down, adding
  or taking away power automatically. This is commonly used to change
  altitude in airliners, as it allows the pilot add or take away power
  while the airplane pitches the nose to hold the most efficient airspeed.
  If the pilot adds power, the plane climbs. If they take it away, the
  plane descends. SPD and FLCH are almost identical functions in
  X-Plane—they both pitch the nose up or down to maintain a desired
  aircraft speed, so adding or taking away power results in climbs and
  descents, respectively. The difference is that if you have auto-throttle
  on the airplane, FLCH will automatically add or take away power for
  you to start the climb or descent, whereas SPD will not.
• The PTCH button controls the pitch sync function. Use this to hold
  the plane’s nose at a constant pitch attitude. This is commonly used to
  just hold the nose somewhere until the pilot decides what to do next.
• The G/S button controls the glideslope flight function. This will
  fly the glideslope portion of an ILS.

Note that, by default, not all aircraft will have all these features.

Summary

So, once again, to use the autopilot:

1. Turn it on by moving the Flight Director Mode switch to “auto.”
2. Decide which autopilot mode you need. (E.g., if you just want the autopilot to keep the same altitude and heading, you want wing-leveler mode. If you want the aircraft to fly a particular glideslope down to a runway, you want the glideslope mode.)
3. Press the button corresponding to that mode, located somewhere on your instrument panel (probably near the Flight Director Mode switch).

If you’d like more details on any of these modes, check out the full writeup in the user manual. If you’re ready to try all this out in a real flight, you might want to fly an FMS plan (that is, a planned route in the Flight Management System) in an airliner.

How to choose the simulator that’s right for you

Previously, I’ve shown you the great things you can do in X-Plane 11—how you can find free aircraft for X-Plane on the web, how you can use it to shoot approaches, visualize or replay the flight, practice start up procedures, and even set up failures to test your mettle in emergency situations.

But, maybe X-Plane 11 isn’t right for you. In fact, you can run nearly all of the simulations provided in X-Plane 11 using X-Plane 10, and X-Plane 10 is just $49.

X-Plane 11 may not be right for you if you have a very old computer (say, 4 years old or more) or a very low-end computer (one with an integrated graphics card). X-Plane 11 offers the greatest realism in a flight simulator to date, thanks to its new, world-class aircraft models and upgraded global scenery. X-Plane 11 also is the only simulator for which we are constantly creating updates, which add new aircraft, new features, and more. However, if your computer is unable to run X-Plane 11 (meaning you will be unable to benefit from the big improvements we’ve made to the simulator), we recommend purchasing X-Plane 10 instead (you can find it at the bottom of our ordering page).

Until next time,

— X-Plane Customer Support