WT 530 has the “Garmin GFC based” autopilot code that they wrote for the G1000Nxi/G3000 in it now.
The WT Avionics run in what is called “Avionics Managed Mode” which was introduced in SU5 with the NXi. This allows them to Put the SIM AP under the hood into a Pitch and Roll Mode.
Then the Avionics Managed Mode Allowed the Separation of AP STATE and the Autopilot A:Vars. This meant they could leave the AP in Pitch and Roll … BUT “lie” to you and set the A:Vars for the Various Autopilot Modes based on their WT Autopilot Code.
Then the second part was that they added the ability to “Intercept” K:Events which would be grabbed before they could get down to the Sim. These Events can come from other Gauges (like the KAP-140 which just sends K:Events) or from External Hardware – Thus standard interfaces like the Logitech MultiPanel no longer needed 3rd party software to replace the events with H:Events or L:Vars.
The Result is an Ability to create custom Autopilots but still use the standard Events and Vars which was never possible before. In FSX/P3D 3rd party would have to all write this using L:Vars and drive the AP in HDG and VS modes. Then your hardware all needed to have it’s own ability to re-map to this data.
The Bridge:
It is replacing the call in a panel xml for the AS530.HTML Gauge with a replacement to the WT530.HTML Gauges.
The result is that your getting the WT Autopilot in addition to the GNS unit. This is where the confusion lies… It’s not the “KAP” that is being broken. The KAP is just a “Keyboard” that is sending the K:Events.
There is something since SU-14 where some of the AP initialization and the FD turning OFF then back on is causing low level issues with regards to the Avionics Managed Mode and the Low Level Sim Autopilot that is supposed to hand off to the WT AP.
BKSQ issued a “fix” that solved some of their Hot Plug issues… but that fix also would result in the default C172 not hanging on a Dev Mode Quick Reload either. It also fixed an issue with ALT/VS captures in the TBM 850 using the TDS. That same fix solved issues with capturing ILS in APR mode with the PC-12 on Raw needles and the FSW-414 again both after SU-14 release…