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7.3. USING THE AUTOPILOT 77
1. The draw IOS on second monitor option must be enabled in the Rendering Options
screen, thus setting one of your available monitors to be used for flight and the other for an
instructor operator station.
2. A networked IOS must be set up using the IOS tab of the Net Connections window.
Note that more information on these multi-monitor simulator setups can be found in the section
“Using an Instructor Operator Station (IOS) for Flight Training” of Chapter 8.
Toggling the 3-D check box will shift the map into 3-D mode. When in 3-D view mode, the
arrow keys can be used to rotate the view and the ‘+’ and ‘-’ keys to zoom in and out.
Finally, the shut down tailwind ILSs box can be used to ignore the ILSs which are not
aimed in the direction you need. This is useful if you are flying at an airport with ILSs in opposite
directions on the same frequency, as is the case at KLAX.
7.3 Using the Autopilot
One of the most frequently asked questions from X-Plane users is the same as one of the most
frequently asked questions from real-world pilots—how do I work the autopilot? Many pilots have
simply never taken the time to learn—you might even find some real-world airliners jerking left
and right for five minutes or so as the flight crew tries to figure out how to program and engage
their autopilot.
The autopilot works by implementing a number of different functions. These include, among
other things, the ability to automatically hold a certain pitch, altitude, heading, or speed, or to fly
to a commanded altitude.
The following autopilot functions are available in X-Plane. A button for enabling each of these
can be chosen for an aircraft’s panel using the Panel Editor of the Plane Maker software. In the
Panel Editor, these buttons are located in the “autopilot” instrument folder. Each of these is a
mode that the aircraft can be put into simply by clicking that button on the panel with the mouse.
The actual use of these autopilot functions will be discussed in the following sections.
The WLV button is the wing leveler. This will simply hold the wings level while the pilot
figures out what to do next.
The HDG button controls the heading hold function. This will simply follow the heading bug
on the HSI or direction gyro.
The LOC button controls the localizer flight function. This will fly a VOR or ILS radial, or to
a GPS destination. Note that the GPS may be programmed by the FMS (discussed in the section
“Flying an FMS Plan”).
The HOLD button controls the altitude hold function. This will hold the current or pre-selected
altitude by pitching the nose up or down.
The V/S button controls the vertical speed function. This will hold a constant vertical speed
by pitching the aircraft’s nose up or down.
The SPD button controls the airspeed function. This will hold the pre-selected airspeed by
pitching the nose up or down, leaving the throttle alone.
The FLCH button controls the flight-level change function. This will hold the pre-selected
airspeed by pitching the nose up or down, adding or taking away power automatically. This is
commonly used to change altitude in airliners, as it allows the pilot add or take away power while
the airplane pitches the nose to hold the most efficient airspeed. If the pilot adds power, the plane
climbs. If they take it away, the plane descends. SPD and FLCH are almost identical functions in
X-Plane—they both pitch the nose up or down to maintain a desired aircraft speed, so adding or