G1000 Autopilot not flying smoothly when engaging or changing mode

Bug Reporting Hub Aircraft & Systems
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1

ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:
The Autopilot feels extremely “wonky” at the moment:

  1. When engaging the autopilot (while following the FD precisely) it gets a sudden pitch up moment and has to correct that afterwards which worsens by the next point:
  2. It overcorrects way too much and does not plan ahead for GS interceptions for example
  3. It doesn’t correct smoothly for inflight turbulence encounters but lets the plane shake around
  4. It is reacting way too slow to lateral course intercepts leading to S Turns onto a course (GPS mode)

It feels like the logic is completely missing in this G1000 Autopilot.
Question: is it even the one we know from 2020 by WT? I have my doubts..

If applicable, which aircraft is experiencing this issue:
C172 & Caravan, probably even more aircraft which use this system (G1000/Autopilot)

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

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

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

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Try using the Autopilot & you will see what I mean. For gods sake let a professional try this out who knows how it behaves in Real Life and let him confirm my issue. I am flying on these systems regularly in the real world and they do not behave like that at all…

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:
Honeycomb Alpha & Bravo & Thrustmaster Rudder Pedals

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it?
No

[PC Only] What GPU (Graphics Card) do you use?
4090

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?

: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

Same here! Holy sh… did they startet from scratch?

3

I’m having this issue on the Caravan, but not the C172 G1000. Maybe it’s just too subtle for me

4

I find all the autopilots in 2024 to be sloppy. Also a bunch airplanes yaw back and forth even with no wind.

5

I’m having the same issue, thought i was going crazy. I’ve just completely given up doing medium cargo missions because they’re 3,5h+ long, and the C208 will move like a rollercoaster up and down constantly diving and climbing, and at an increased simrate this means +/- 1500ft of assigned altitude, ATC will get mad at me, and it’s impossible to get a good score.

The Daher TBM930 also acted very weird, it would move very smoothly as i was flying it myself, but the instant I tried to engage the AP the plane would start jerking up and down and side to side. The shaking would go away again immediately after disengaging the AP, the come back when i engaged. Not by as much as the C208, but it looked very bumpy to be a passenger, so it reduced my passenger satisfaction score, so now i don’t feel like playing Charter missions either. I feel like these kinds of issues makes me not want to play the affected planes.

I did have the same issues with the C172 the first 24-48 of playing, but it seems to have been mostly resolved, because it flies as expected on AP now, without me doing anything differently. But it too would initially act like a rollercoaster.

My first thought was that the AP didn’t properly respond to turbulence, but the Daher made me feel like the AP just has real issues working the control surfaces, no matter the weather.

Longer flights will be a no go for me until this is fixed, I dont have the free time to sit 3,5h in a stretch at my computer.

Edit;

Just a wild thought I just had. It’s not AI autotrim and rudder that is fighting with the autopilot..? I can easily see all of this happening if the game assists are fighting with the autopilot over who should be doing what.

6

And, i would like to add, the AP in the G2 has on several occasions just decided to start climbing 2300ft+ per minute, increasing upwards of 4000ft/min. Like, I’m just cruising along, on AP, with autothrottle, speed is perfect at 200, no noticeable turbulence, nothing happening whatsoever, and suddenly the plane starts climbing, fast. I look at the AP, and it’s still in Altitude hold mode, VS is off, and the FD is telling the jet not to climb, but still it just starts pretending to be an F-15.

And when I push forward to stop the climb, to align with the FD, the AP disables, as if it was doing it on purpose and I was interrupting it. This happens all the time.

I’m convinced that this is a programming issue, the AP is misbehaving in various ways across several airplanes.

7

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:
• autopilot lags in all aspects of flight

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
•

8

So, I figured something out today:

Had the same bug in the Caravan again…
But this time I realised that the Autopilot was immediately setting the Trim by a huge amount which lead to erratic behaviour when trying to maintain altitude.

Also on Climb Out with perfectly trimmed airplane and following FD I had erratic bank angles when engaging AP which lead to increasing osscillation around the roll axis. The AP was never able to catch itself and calm down.

I tried adjusting the Rudder Trim but that didn’t help either…

This needs an immediate fix, now!

10

Thank you for the bug report.

We have created an internal ticket to see if our team already has this logged, and if not they will attempt to reproduce the issue and create a new bug report. This item is now marked as feedback-logged. If there is an existing bug report or one is created, we will move this thread to bug-logged.

12

Hi , I have constant issues with autopilot in G1000 in Cessna 172. In HDG Mode the aircraft does not follow the HDG when I switch on the autopilot, also the the pitch in VS mode fluctuates and the plane is very instable in the air.
Is there any fix for this behaviour?

13

I must admit that I am somewhat puzzled by the low number of votes on this. In 2020, intercepting a HDG or NAV track was very precise and smooth with the G1000. In 2024 it is particularly bad in the C172, overshooting badly, overcorrects, and then oscillates a couple of times before settling down on the correct heading. Obviously not game breaking but quite annoying nonetheless.

14

It’s almost a year and I am still having this exact issue. In 2020 the garmin default autopilot has no problem capturing LOC/VOR but in 2024 its a roller coaster.

15

In my opinion the autopilot logic isn’t wrong, it is completely missing for GA aircraft. The A/P is the “servos” following commands provided by the flight director according to the lateral / vertical mode selected. The servos primarily put forces to the flight controls. If a trim servo is installed (esp. elevator trim) this trim servo supports the elevator servo by reliefing elevator forces. (In older airplane installations without trim servo the pilot is commanded by warning lights to trim up or down manually as the elevator servo reaches its max torque)

The FS2020 / 2024 implementation seams to “fly” the pitch changes directly via rapid changes to the “trim variables”. You can see this if you have a VF TRIMs Neo. The motorized trim wheel starts to rattle up an down with the A/P enganged. And you see this when disengaging the A/P, the manipulated values reset to zero and suddenly the airplane departs up or down.

Same behaviour with the ailerons. There is some internal a/p controlled value simply added to the aileron axis that is reset to zero when disconnecting the A/P. Test the A/P on the ground in HDG mode and turn the heading bug left or right: the Yoke slowly follows the heading bug. Now disengage the A/P: the yoke snaps back to zero instantly, what is complete nonsense. Do this with your FFB yoke and you will never ever engange that A/P again.