Autopilot not working properly in External View

Bug Reporting Hub Resolved
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1

Since installing the beta, I have found the above problem with multiple aircraft. In the external view, which I frequently use on sight-seeing bush trips, the aircraft does not follow changes of course but flies straight on past the waypoint. It also drifts off the set heading, and randomly gains or loses altitude. It is erratic and does not happen at every single waypoint or change of course, but it does happen frequently.

This happens on both standard game bush trips and those from 3rd parties. I do not have any Garmin or other autopilot related add-ons.

Has anyone else experienced this, or are there any suggested fixes?

Switching to cockpit view and the autopilot leaps into action to restore correct altitude and heading.

2

I’d like to test this issue. But rather than just flying random bush trips to test it, could you identify some of the specific missions on which you’ve had the problem, and then I can validate the issue.
Regards

3

Hi. Thank you for getting back to me, and thank you for looking into this.

I’ve recently completed the New Caledonia Tour and the New Guinea Challenge, both standard in-game trips using the DA62 and the Savage NX, and had the same problem on both trips.
I’m currently flying ‘The Nile,’ a trip in 2 parts from flightsim.to that uses the standard in game-172, and that does the same. I restarted the in-game Iberia connection trip just to check out another one, and that had the same problem. Same problems also on the Rhine Valley 3rd party trip that uses the standard TBM930, so it’s not solely on the G1000.

In addition, an aberrant behaviour that I forgot to mention earlier is that sometimes there is an excessive, uncommanded and uncontrolled trim / pitch up that happens immediately on engaging the AP, to the point of stalling the aircraft. Alternatively, the AP sometimes does not latch onto the VS and will pitch down instead, despite everything being set correctly. In every case where I have had a problem immediately on engaging the AP, the aircraft has been very close in speed, climb rate and heading to what I want the AP to do - I don’t just whack it on 100% throttle and engage AP as soon as the wheels are up.

I hope this is helpful, and thank you again for looking into this.

4

I was only able to do some partial testing. In the New Caledonia flight, on waypoint 5 of the second leg the AP failed to make a turn to the next waypoint, and had climbed to about 860’ above the set altitude while watching from the exterior viewpoint. So that’s definitely validated.
I was only able to fly most of the second full leg for the New Guinea challenge, and it was working fine. But since I didn’t get to do the whole flight, and you’ve noted the issue seems random, I can’t definitively say that trip was a success.
I’ll try and do some more testing when I have time, and will post the results. But it’s definitely confirmed for at least one bush flight, so it should be checked out, and I’ve voted for this issue.
Regards

5

Thank you for checking it out and for voting.

If anyone else has had the same problem, either in regular use or after seeing this post, please join in and vote or comment.

6

As a follow-up, I resumed the New Guinea flight and it blew right through the first turn point I came to after the leg I resumed the flight on (using external view).
I’m not seeing any specific trigger for which AP turns it’s failing to initiate. But it’s definitely an issue.
Thanks for pointing out this apparent issue!
Regards

7

So this only is an issue with scripted Bush Flight ?

8

Hi N6722C,

I wondered that too, but as far as I can tell it affects normal manually input flight plans too. To check it out I set up a flight with multiple waypoints between Inverness and Stornoway using the stock C172 G1000, and I got all of the above issues - using external view, it missed waypoints, veered off course completely and gained and lost altitude. Switching back to cockpit view resolves the issue.

So far this has happened with the Cub, the 172, the DA62 and the TBM930. I haven’t tried an airliner yet but will try and do so tomorrow. If you can replicate the issue, could you confirm and also vote?

Thanks.

9

This is a cherry-popping moment for me when it comes to identifying and reporting a bug, btw - Is this discussion likely to be read a noted by anyone who can do anything about it, or do I have to log a separate error report or something?

10

Full disclosure-- as there now seems to be some effort into figuring out what is happening.

I am flying the WB-SIM C172, using the PMS50 GNS530, and as much WT stuff “turned off” as possible, and with Navigraph nav database installed.

I am also on the current MSFS beta, so I assume any WT stuff is both installed, and currently up to date.

Currently flying, and after a few False starts, where I turned on and off the AI Pilot, I am now flying with the AI pilot, it returned to the 1st WP of the FP, and is now correctly flying the FP, in BOTH Cockpit & Outside view.

ai-pilot test 2
ai-pilot test 21706×1033 213 KB

11

I’m confused. Are we talking about the AI pilot or Autopilot?

12

OOOPS – sorry.. my Bad

You are talking about AP
I was rabbiting on about AI (pilot), as what you were describing seemed to be similar to what I was seeing with the AI Pilot, and I misread your post. Sorry for my confusion.

13

Since you’ve got several folks that have voted on this issue, I’d submit a bug report (using the supplied bug reporting format). Otherwise it’s likely to just get lost in discussion. I’m not sure if this a regression as part of the AAU2 update, or no one ever noticed it before the beta. I’d go ahead and report the bug in the AAU2 beta forum and see what happens there.
Regards

14

Thank you for the clarification, will do just that.

15

It’s autopilot, not AI pilot. It seems (to me and a few others at least) to not be working correctly and consistently in the External view, across multiple aircraft and locations.

17

Thank you for using the Bug section, using templates provided will greatly help the team reproducing the issue and ease the process of fixing it.

Are you using Developer Mode or made changes in it?

No

Have you disabled/removed all your mods and addons?

Yes

Which aircraft are you reporting an issue about? (Please also add the proper tag for it)

I think this affects all aircraft, but the ones I have tested that definitely have the issue are: C 172 G1000, DA62, TBM 930, Savage Cub NX

Brief description of the issue:

Since adopting the AAU2 beta, in External View aircraft do not adhere correctly to autopilot and flight plans. They can veer off course, continue flying right past waypoints where they should have turned and randomly gain or lose altitude. Sometimes, on first activating autopilot, the aircraft may trim / pitch violently up or down and stall or crash, despite being very near to the heading and altitude I want the autopilot to take over. This only happens in External View - switching back to cockpit view restores normal autopilot function, and the aircraft will correctly realign itself to heading and altitude.

Provide Screenshot(s)/video(s) of the issue encountered:

Detailed steps to reproduce the issue encountered:

Fly the recent New Caledonia or New Guinea Bush Trips, put the aircraft into autopilot and switch to external view. It does not always happen immediately or at the first waypoint, but at some point the aircraft will veer off course, fly right past a waypoint where it should have turned, or it will gain or lose significant altitude. I already raised this in the AAU2 discussion, and other users have confirmed the same issues: Autopilot not working properly in External View - Aircraft & Avionics Update 02 Beta / AAU_02 Discussion - Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums

PC specs and/or peripheral set up if relevant:

Probably not relevant but i7 11700K, 32GB 3600 DDR4, RTX3070ti, mostly ultra settings at 2k 30FPS and using all VKB controls.

Build Version # when you first started experiencing this issue:

Current build version plus using the AAU2 beta.

:loudspeaker: For anyone who wants to contribute on this issue, Click on the button below to use this template:

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:

19

I added the bug report as discussed, but it was moved by mods back into this discussion thread. I am not sure now that it will be seen or acted on.

The issue is very much still present - if I unsubscribe from the beta (Steam user), will that result in me having to reinstall the entire sim?

20

Hi @MagicQuasar1176
I saw they moved it back here, which is the right place for a bug report on a regression potentially with the beta testing. It will be looked at here by the appropriate folks!
While it doesn’t happen to everyone that exits the beta, there is the possibility of having to reinstall the sim again.
They might figure out what’s causing the issue during the beta, and issue an beta update that resolves the issue. But that’s certainly not guaranteed. Unless this is a real showstopper for you, I’d hang in there and see if it gets resolved, either by beta update or in the final version when it’s released.
It would be nice if we could get some folks not in the beta test this issue and see if it’s present in the previous version.
Good luck to you, either staying in the beta or if you decide to leave it.
Regards

21

Thanks for the info and your thoughts.

I will hang on in the beta and hope that it gets resolved - if it doesn’t, and the fault makes it into the final update, then I’m sure it won’t be long before lots of others notice it and something gets done. I’ve built up a lot of hours and achievements, and have it running really nicely on my pc so I would prefer not to risk losing all that and having to start over.

I am mid-way through a couple of long bush trips (the Nile and the Tour de France route) and have previously used external view plenty of times without problems, so I’m sure this issue is related to the beta.

22

The sim has both a multitude of auto-pilot systems in aircraft and an overall AI pilot which assists you in doing the radio (or controlling the aircraft). Hence my question.