After the SU5 update, does anyone know a reliable way to fly the PC-12 all the way down to the runway using autopilot and other approach aids? I tried a number of methods before the update and none of them worked very often. Been trying for months to figure this out. Thanks
Neither the real PC-12 nor any sim version of it will fly itself onto the runway — the autopilot and approach aids are there to get you to a point, usually around 500 ft on final, where you take over. In my experience the last bit only goes wrong when the approach before it was already wrong: speed drifting, late flap, chasing the glideslope. So I’d fly a coupled ILS or RNAV with the aircraft fully configured, trimmed and on speed early, then disconnect at about 500 ft with nothing left to do except close the throttle and flare. If it’s in trim and on the numbers when you disconnect, the hand-flown part is ten seconds of work rather than a fight. I can’t speak to this particular add-on’s quirks, but that method has been reliable for me in everything I’ve flown, real or simulated.
Appreciate the advice. The problem is that the autopilot and approach aids don’t get me down to the 500 ft level. Something always malfunctions or doesn’t function and the AI guidance invariably leads me to the VS approach which I’m trying to avoid if possible. I’ll keep trying.
That sounds less like the aircraft and more like the sim helping you. First thing I’d check: Options > Assistance — set everything to Hard/off, especially anything under Piloting and AI assistance. The in-sim guidance will steer you into VS mode and fight the autopilot. Then make sure the approach is activated (not just loaded) in the GPS and APR is armed before the final approach fix, crossing the FAF at the platform altitude. If the glidepath still won’t capture with assists off and APR armed, then it’s an add-on quirk worth reporting to the developer.