When I say autolevel......

[beresford]

I'd like to lobby for a 'When I say autolevel, I mean autolevel' button. Some planes drop out of autolevel too easily, notably the IL2. You go to look at the map and return 0.5 seconds before you're a lawn-dart. In some bombers it is possible to force it into autolevel by going into bombsight view.

[Carl_infar]

Its all about the trimming, if the plane is trimmed well for current flight condition  at the moment when You press the autolevel key , the auto level engages without problem and it stays on. 

 

 

[40plus]

I've never had any plane leave auto-level unless I moved a control input. Including the il-2

[ITAF_Airone1989]

It drop out only if you touch your stick or if the speed is not enough and it's going to stall. Otherwise it can go forever

[dburne]

2 hours ago, Carl_infar said:

Its all about the trimming, if the plane is trimmed well for current flight condition  at the moment when You press the autolevel key , the auto level engages without problem and it stays on. 

 

 

 

That has been my experience as well. 

[beresford]

It's true that I never touch the trim wheels. I tend to fly bombers so I don't need the last degree of performance. But I'm not too slow or touching the stick, I've removed my hand from the stick to look at map view etc.. I use a Microsoft SW FF so perhaps the force feedback is moving it.

[[DBS]Browning]

50 minutes ago, beresford said:

I use a Microsoft SW FF

 

Ah ha! I think we have the answer.

When you remove your hand from this stick, the motors turn off and the stick can move to one side. This will disable auto level.

You could fix this by taping over the hand sensor at the back of the stick, but you must then remember to unplug the stick when not in use.

[Noisemaker]

Try it with the UV2.  Sometimes completely random dropout of auto-level.  Speed stable, no inputs, no trim to be had, unfortunately.

 

[FlyingH]

Even in bombers you trim for level flight. It´s not about getting "the  last degree of perfomance" it´s about keeping the plane balanced whith the speed and loading. Trimming is mainly for beeing able to do, like you said, checking the map or looking around, (maybe changing position to a bombsight or gunner station) or maybe take your hand off the stick to scratch your head or whatever, whithout loosing course or hight at once! Have you ever taken your hand off the stick whitout "leaving" the cockpit? Try and you´ll see why you need to trim.

[Noisemaker]

12 minutes ago, FlyingH said:

 Try and you´ll see why you need to trim.

Unless of course, you can't...

[LLv44_Kanttori]

You need to trim the bombers very much and all the time. For ex. when taking alt you must do it with the elevator trim, NOT pulling the stick all the time. It's the most effective and only right way to fly them. 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

On 7/21/2020 at 7:00 PM, beresford said:

It's true that I never touch the trim wheels. I tend to fly bombers so I don't need the last degree of performance. But I'm not too slow or touching the stick, I've removed my hand from the stick to look at map view etc.. I use a Microsoft SW FF so perhaps the force feedback is moving it.

Trimming is for your own comfort and ease if flying, not for performance. 

 

Reminds me of how I was under the assumption for a while that the Bf-109 didn't have trims, until I found out they're called "vertical stabilizers" there and have a separate key binding. Back then, I always had trouble landing them as they needed a constant and heavy pull on the stick to keep the nose up, and the smallest of movements would immediately cause a loss in altitude. Now I just give 60-80% trim up and she almost lands by herself.

 

Back on topic, I've never had the level autopilot disengage by itself. The fact that you don't use trim might be the problem. Without trim you likely need to provide a constant force on the stick to stay straight and level. If you then, after you engage the level AP, let go of your stick, it will move back to its default position. This movement will disengage the AP.

 

So, in other words, just trim for a straight and level flight and you should be fine (and make your flying a great deal easier). If your plane doesn't have trim, first let go of the stick and then engage level AP.

[=FEW=fernando11]

I'm prety sure the I 16 is the only plane without pitch trim...

Might be called elevator trim, might be called stabilizer trim

 

PS: not counting FC ww1 planes

[Talisman]

On 7/21/2020 at 5:52 PM, [DBS]Browning said:

 

Ah ha! I think we have the answer.

When you remove your hand from this stick, the motors turn off and the stick can move to one side. This will disable auto level.

You could fix this by taping over the hand sensor at the back of the stick, but you must then remember to unplug the stick when not in use.

 

This is very good information.  A small piece of sticky tape over the hole at the bottom of the stick where your little finger sits. 

 

I use electrical tape and replace it after a couple of weeks with a new piece when it loses its stick.

 

Remove the tape when the stick is not in use and place back over the hole when in use.

 

Also, try and keep your aircraft in trim as much as possible.

 

Happy landings,

 

56RAF_Talisman

Edited July 25, 2020 by 56RAF_Talisman