I could use some help or explanation on use of autopilot systems when it comes to approaches.
Im flying the cirrus vision jet. Lets say im doing an ILS og RNAV approach into ENGM. I have clicked APR and caught the glidepath, gear down and 1 notch of flaps doing 150KT. ive got two whites and two reds on PAPIs and everything seems fine, then all of a sudden AP and AT just cuts and i have to take control, about 500ft abg and some ways from the runway… This happens alot and i cant seem to figure out what im doing wrong… This happens on all kinds of airports and approaches and lower speeds. HALP
hmm, im sure i have seen a youtube video of someone autopilot-landing it all the way to touchdown. im trying my bestest to find the video but can’t. This might have been msfs 2020 though. maybe it doesnt let you fully land in 2024.(?) I wish i knew more about the system honestly so i could tell wtf is going on. sometimes it just cuts off at a really awkward time
You can’t autopilot land in Vision Jet (in sim or in real life). Landing is the most critical part of any flight, you aren’t going to put that in the hands of autopilot. The only exception is for Cat III and you aren’t doing that in a Vision Jet.
The vision Jet does technically have an “autoland” feature, but it is only for emergencies and definitely not what you are talking about.
Instrument approaches are meant to guide you to the runway, especially in inclimate weather.
Hello, thanks for asking, good questions and it reads like you want to learn! May I offer a few pointers?
150 kts on the ILS is too fast in the VisionJet. Very good that you are established on the glide path, but you are carrying far too much energy at 150 for a smooth and uneventful landing.
In the VisionJet, one needs to get out of the A/T well before joining the approach procedure to have a well controlled approach to landing. May I suggest that somewhere between 10,000’ and and the Final Approach Fix (FAF) or pattern altitude if VFR, you first switch to A/T Manual mode, selecting your own speed on the descent, and then disconnecting the A/T along the way?
Putting all this together is going to take some flight time and practice! It is not going to come together in a few flights. The VisionJet can land at very low airspeeds for a jet, more like a hot GA prop plane, but only at the final approach to landing phase. The transition from A/P + A/T descent through the middle altitudes can be misleading. You need to manage your energy during the final few thousand feet of descent to gain confidence in your control of the aircraft.
Perhaps try some of the above and/or ask some more good questions. The VisionJet is a marvelous blend of docile GA flight capability, but it is still a high altitude machine and all that energy needs to be managed by the pilot, the automation is not completely up to speed on that.
We talked to our owner/operators (O/Os) when we first rolled out our version of the Vision Jet and everyone agreed - the Autopilot WILL fly you to the threshold if you let it. Not advised obviously since that’s not an Autoland Mode (and most of them were flying G1s). I myself was called out many times for riding the AP during QA testing and the O/Os immediately caught that I had NOT disengaged AP by procedure below MDA or 400’ whichever came first.
I’m saying the O/Os on our jet’s test team categorically state that the AP stays engaged all the way down if the pilot doesn’t intervene, and that’s how we built our jet’s Avionics behavior. MS-Asobo/WT jet has a different implementation.
I recommend someone open a Bug Report and add this to the list of MS-Asobot/WT Vision Jet defects. At some point, a tiger team will likely get assigned to it since Cirrus has a very close relationship to MS branding wise.
Just as an authoritative bookend to this thread, please see the comments by RISCFuture below. He’s one of our O/Os and was instrumental to getting our version of the Vision Jet as close to real life as possible in 2020.