Hello All,
     As a new member  I would like some basics  on using auto pilot .
   First a question , can auto pilot be used to fly an entire mission , take off to landing , from any airfield to another and    watch what happens during the flight from the cockpit.?
  I would like to know if this can be done and how to set it up.
  I think  it would  be helpful show how the flight should be done so you could try it yourself  manually

           Regards,
                 FUTABA.

Have you taken the various; "Flying Lessons" in FSX/FS 2004?

Always a good way to start....

Paul... 8-)...!

The short answer to your first question is no. What version of FS are you using?

I don't believe the autopilot can be used for such a purpose, both in Flight Sim and in the real world. In fact, in all the planes I've flown (which feels limited), the checklist says to ensure that the autopilot is disconnect, or off, before takeoff. From previous experience, most autopilots are also not capable of landing an airplane, unless they are approved for auto-land system, in which case I'm pretty sure there are three autopilots. Autopilot also does not control yaw... just as a heads up.

SaultFresh wrote on Dec 6^th, 2012 at 8:09pm:

Autopilot also does not control yaw...

Advanced autopilots do. Not the real single prop Cessna mounted ones, this I give you (they'd cost more than the plane), but those in liners, especially the long haulers, MUST be able to control all three axis.

Regardless, to build a plane that would be able to do all on its own (push-back, taxi, take-off, climb, cruise, descent, landing, taxi, park) would not be absolutely impossible even nowadays. Planes that could realistically fly themselves without needing a pilot are technically possible... fact is that there are several factors that keep the builders to buy those hypothetical monsters, one of them is the reliability of all those systems (statistically, the more a system is complex, the easier some problem or failure can happen to it), the other is the simple argument that it's true that about the 50% of plane accidents happen because of human error... but would you fly on a plane that has no pilot? Even one accredited to be able to do all the flight on its own from pushback to park?

I would not. :P

Hi Futuba,

I think the best you can do in FltSim is to preset your autopilot to your cruise altitude and climb airspeed, then select your destination in the GPS. Take off manually. After you clean up the airplane, turn on the autopilot and select GPS with the NAV/GPS switch. You will have to reset the AP's airspeed to your cruising speed when you reach cruising altitude. The GPS will take you to your destination at your cruising altitude. If you fall asleep on the way, the GPS will start circling when it reaches the preset destination. It won't circle around the destination point; that point will be a point on the circumference of the circle.

Art