Cessna Caravan C208 autopilot fails to engage

User Support Hub Aircraft & Systems
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:wave: Thank you 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?

I don’t think I have any mods installed. Community folder is empty.

Brief description of the issue:

Autopilot fails to engage in C208 Caravan

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

Sorry, I forgot to get a snapshot while the issue was happening. I verified multiple times, that HDG and FLC modes were enabled, and the correct heading and altitude were selected. In all fairness, even if they weren’t, the AP should still have at least turned on, when I hit the AP button. I verified there was no light on, next to the AP button, and no “AP” indication on the PFD.

Detailed steps to reproduce the issue encountered:

Setup a night flight from KSEA to KFHR with C208 G1000, current time and weather. The flight loaded with engine running. The FMS flight plan was setup by MSFS for a point-point flight. I selected altitude 4500 and FLC with airspeed 120, set the heading bug to runway heading and enabled HDG mode. Advanced the power lever and took off. Pressed the AP button on the panel, and it wouldn’t engage (AP light stayed off). I shrugged my shoulders and flew manually, but was irritated by the aircraft not wanting to hold the pitch trim I entered. I finally noticed it was rolling the trim back to some other trim setting that caused a gentle climb, as if AP was engaged and trying to trim, but AP wasn’t indicating on, and it wasn’t holding heading or airspeed, and then it didn’t capture the altitude when I got up there. I didn’t figure out how to “pull the breaker” on the trim, so I ended up constantly fighting the out of trim condition. I have many hours using the G1000 in the SF-50 and other aircraft in X-Plane 11, but not too much time using it in MSFS, maybe a dozen or so hours total in other MSFS aircraft like the TBM-930. This seemed a lot like a bug that needed to be reported; maybe it crept in during a recent update, although I’ve seen other users reporting similar issues back in the beginning, with people commenting that it worked fine for them, so it’s hard for me to know the real story.

PC specs and/or peripheral set up if relevant:

Asus ROG laptop, 256GB SSD about half full, 16GB RAM
Intel(R) Core™ i7-8750H CPU @ 2.20GHz 2.21 GHz
GPU0 - Intel UHD Graphics 630
GPU1 - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

Build Version # when you first started experiencing this issue:

1.29.30.0 - AFAIK, this is the latest MSFS update as of today (12/11/2022).

: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:

2

Flight Director?

3

Yes, it has a Flight Director, and it was on. I used the pink FD bars during the flight, to help me fly more smoothly.

4

Does it constantly do this, or just the one time?

Addons can also be Marketplace items installed by the Content Manager.
These can sometimes interfere as well.
Any other programs that you run in conjunction with the sim?

5

[constantly?]: Don’t know yet. I saw it that once so far, and since I decided to live with it and press on, it affected me for an extended period, so I reported it right away. Maybe premature, although guaranteed it happened, so I wondered who else was seeing it, and didn’t see anyone else complaining, so I thought I should make it known. I should really check for repeatability. Haven’t found the time yet, to go again.

[Addons?]: Marketplace items…? Good point. I’ve loaded some aircraft and scenery from the MSFS Content Manager. Since I use MSFS infrequently, I’m not honing my advanced user skills, so I’m not sure how to back them out…

[other programs?]: I run FlightEvents to follow along with ForeFlight. I usually have the Task Manager window open.

6

It’s quite easy to remove Marketplace installed items.
In the Welcome screen, at the top, click on Profile.
Click on the Content Manager.
You will see all your sim’s contents displayed.
Click on the item(s) you want to delete (you can do multiple, it doesn’t have to be one at a time).
When all are selected, click the Delete button.

These will then be removed, and they will show up in the Content Manager in the top left as Not Installed.
Clicking on that “Not Installed” will show them, when ready to reinstall them, again, select the one(s) you want and hit the Install button.

If the issue continues to happen, there is a much easier way to prove that addons aren’t the issue.
You can start the sim in “Safe Mode”
This loads the sim without any addons.
To do so, with the sim running, use Windows Task Manager to shut MSFS down.
The next time you start the sim, you will have an option to choose Safe Mode.

Ensure you aren’t running any outside program such as ForeFlight for the trial.

7

Does it still happen if you remove all WT (Working Title) apps from BOTH Community Folder & Official.

Pay particular attention to any in Official - easy to uninstall, and later re-install if it not causing the issue.

8

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:

When using gps and turn on autopilot aircraft flies in circles and does not engage the magenta line. I have tried on several flights. I do have the 208 mod installed. Can anyone give me a cure for this problem. Thanks.