1. I dunno if they will climb that high, but you should be able. It's even better to climb yourself if you are flying on manual mixture or you're engine might stop if you warp.

2. It's pretty much impossible to trim any CFS aircraft for straight level flight. Why not use the AP?

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If you're serious about it get a joystick with rotary trim controls. I loved my Saitek X-36 combo.

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You can install 3rd party panels with an autopilot if you wish. Not all the functions will work in CFS & you might have to tweak the autopilot entries in the AIR files for it to work properly. Depends on how realistic you want it. WWII bombers had a very primitive form of autopilot but most types were flown manually.

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All aircraft are easier & much more pleasant to fly if they're properly trimmed. Forget the autopilot & try it some time. It must be very difficult to fly an untrimmed arcraft in combat & this is an unnecessary handicap..

I found this history of the autopilot written by a Honeywell employee in 1944. http://www.mnhs.org/school/historyday/herb/autopilotback.html

Note that autopilots (known as 'George' in RAF Bomber Command) were mainly used on 4-engined bombers - notably in conjuction with the top secret Norden Bombsight fitted to the B-17. This allowed the bombardier full control of the aircraft during the bombing run. http://www.squadron13.com/B17/Norden.htm

~S~

I still come back to the offline Battle of Britain campaign in CFS1 from time to time and always try to fly it without warping and with all the visual aids switched off. Naturally, I get shot down a lot while doing so...   It takes time, of course, but I still get a kick out of it. What a game!

BTW there is a very nice simple auotpilot gauge around called something like ap_mil.gau or something very similar.

You can find one that will work in CFS1 and 2 in the gun sight calibration package here: http://uk.geocities.com/wily_crocodiley/cfs2/fixes.html The relevant extracts from the provided CFS2 panel files that define the Autopilot window will also work in CFS1 panel.cfg files

I used to add these as pop-up panel windows to all of my aircraft for those long hauls - also useful for 'auto-trimming' your aircraft. Simply put it on for a minute or so until your bird quietens down and then switch it off.

Note that trimming manually is much easier if you are not going at full pelt - find a nice cruise setting on your throttle and prop and enjoy the scenery...  

IMHO it is also much easier to trim manually via button or keyboard input rather than slider/rotary controls (the use of which will negate the autopilot anyway - CFS autopilots use trim to control your aircraft and cannot override the input from a slider or indeed stick X- or Y-axis (if you are that way inclined... ).

~S~

Pads

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Right. Most people don't seem to realise that trim is changed throughout the flight envelope. You don't just set it & forget about it. Everyone has their own preferences but I find rotary trim controls much easier to use. Not only that, it's very similar to the controls in the real aircraft.

It also depends on the type of aircraft you're flying. Autopilots were very rarely fitted to WWII fighters, even those used for long-range escort missions over Europe. In this case, setting trim for straight & level flight at cruise altitude would be essential & take the hard work out of it. I've read that one of the common problems of this type of mission was the pilot keeping himself awake.