Cessna 172 G1000 - Cannot be held at a steady course and altitude in manual flight or while under autopilot

User Support Hub Aircraft & Systems
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ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:
The plane cannot be held at a steady course and altitude in manual flight or while under Garmin1000 control. When flying manually, the plane wants to veer strongly to the right. This is regardless of any flying conditions. The turn will continue to sharpen until the plane goes into a death spiral and crashes. It can be corrected using the yoke but it needs constant attention.
The Garmin is almost completely non-functional. The Alt and VS functions do work sporadically but often fail to attain or hold a given altitude. The NAV and HDG functions don’t work at all. Attempting to use either will result in the behavior described above.

The display control yoke does not respond properly. The display yoke moves it the opposite direction that the physical yoke is moved. Turn left, the yoke turns right and vice-versa. This only happens after the plane is airborne.

If applicable, which aircraft is experiencing this issue:
Cessna-172 and Beechcraft G36

[PC Only] Did you remove all your community mods/add-ons? If yes, are you still experiencing the issue?
Yes

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)?
Everytime

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

  1. Go to free flight
  2. Enter a flight plan into the Garmin
  3. Start flying.

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using, if relevant:
Logitek Yoke, Rudder pedals, Switch box and multifunction box, Octavi Garmin addon

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it?

[PC, MSFS 2020 Only] Are you using DX11 or DX12?

[PC Only] What GPU (Graphics Card) do you use?
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?
Intel I-7-12700 CPU
32gig ddr4 RAM

MEDIA

Please add a screenshot or video of the issue occurring.

[END OF FIRST USER REPORT]

: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:
•

1 Like
2

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

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:
• I am not able to control light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 due to high winds (I believe it is high winds). During takeoff and climb out (and landing for that matter), I have to use a Crab technique just to fly straight as the aircraft bounces left and right like crazy. I have all of the wind settings set to 0, so I am not sure how to solve this. Thank you.

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
•

3

I’ve found the 172 to be a pretty good platform. No major issues with the Garmin system/autopilot. Just to double check, you do have the “turbulence” setting in “Assists” turned to medium or low. The default “high” is pretty overdone.
Regards
PS: you might also want to check that any other “assists” haven’t been changed when the program loaded an update. It happens sometimes, even if you don’t make the changes.

1 Like
4

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
• No

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

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
•

1 Like
5

This is a new problem. I have used the 172 many times in FS2024 without a issue. I get the same behavior with the Beachcraft G36. I have run both planes in 2020 with no issue. This problem was not present before the last update.

6

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
• No.

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:
• I’m on the latest beta and didn’t notice any problems with the C172 or the G1000.

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
•

7

I’m not on the beta. The autopilot was fine as recently as Friday, but it was broken yesterday. This has been a sporadic problem since the release of 2024. The trim numbers also seem very high after takeoff, and the two issues could be related. I’m on auto trim.

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And it seems to be OK again. Autopilot doesn’t make the plane dive, and trim numbers are down. Maybe it works on Fridays.

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This is an update to the original post. The problem is still happening on most planes. The only plane I have found that works properly is the Cessna 208B. The Pilatus PC-12 and Cessna C172 show this behavior:

On activating the Flight Director at first there is no change. gradually the yokes will begin on their own and eventually will send the plane into a sharp right bank that will go vertical. Manual intervention will counter the yoke actions but after correction will return to the previous behavior. The yoke movements stop as soon as the FD is deactivated. Neither the Nav nor HDG functions work. The glass cockpit does show that a course is loaded and the course is the one that was developed in Navigraph and the Magenta brackets do display in PFD but the plane ignores the planned course. Course shows the FMS2 screen. Both the Alt and VS functions work properly.

10

@SwampFoxBG : are you experiencing the issue only with the the C172 G1000 or also with the C172 Classic ?

Moved to User Support Hub since cannot be reproduced so far. If others users can reproduce and provide steps then it will be moved back the the Bug Reporting Hub .

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Is the flight director showing the same prompts that the AP is reading or is the AP going beyond that?

12

Do you have the Auto Pilot turned on?

13

Other people have reported a similar problem, but with different planes. I have to emphasize both that the Cessna 208B works properly and this problem does not exist at all in FS2020. I don’t think this is user error.

14

I just finished a 115nm flight in the Cessna 172 and didn’t have problems.

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I regularly fly the C172 and I have never experienced this. I strongly suggest the OP takes a screenshot showing the PFD and MFD when this happens so that we can see what settings are active. Otherwise one can only speculate.

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@SwampFoxBG, would you be able to record videos of the issue that happens with and without autopilot when flying the C172 G1000 ?, I think it would be very helpful to see the aircraft behavior and your autopilot settings in the PFD as mentioned by @SlabsFly .

1 Like
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I did a flight recording of the problem but the file is too large and the forum won’t accept a compressed format. I left the commentary in and if you give me your email, I’ll send the video. The first point I want to make is that the first time I loaded FS today and ran this flight plan with the Cessna 172 it worked perfectly. I then tried the DXCub and the Daher and both showed the same behavior as in the video. After trying both of those planes I went back to the Cessna 172 and it no longer worked. I also have to emphasize that I have never had this problem in FS2020.

Keep an eye on the control yokes. They will start to move in the opposite direction from my yoke as soon as the autopilot is engaged and the Alt and VS functions are turned on. When the Nav function is turned on the plane will veer sharply to the right and go into a nosedive while the yokes are hard over to the left.

I use the Logitek controls for the yoke, throttle, switch box and multi-function box.

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Upload the video to YouTube and post a link here

1 Like
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Here is the youtube link: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/gEshc-N1m84

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EDIT: Nevermind.