pilot wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2009 at 4:10am:

Matt 2218 Thanks for the fix package. I do have one issue with the AP in that when I switch on the Aileron Master(Autopilot master), the switch flips up to the engaged position correctly. The Elevator Master(Pitch Hold) however does not flip up in the pop up AP window. It seems to function just as u say but I have to remember whether I switched it on or off by testing the pitch responsiveness to the yoke. Is this the way it is supposed to work or is the Elevator master switch supposed to move like the Autopilot master?(it seems to only be stuck in one position"off" even though it functions as u say it should by clicking on it) BTW, in case u are wondering I do have the AP selector in manual at all times. Thanks in advance. Alex C

Good Morning Alex;

No, it is not supposed to work like that...the elevator master is supposed to flip up and down to indicate whether or not "pitch hold" is active. Assuming that you put it in the right place (727-100 "panel" folder), there are two other things I can think of:

- First, even with the revised gauge I also have noticed 'strange' autopilot behavior at times, especially when loading a saved flight or changing aircraft.  I have gotten into the habit of flipping the AP off and on a couple times to clear out any 'memory' it might have.  Just yesterday I had a situation (saved flight) where the elevator master switch would not respond.  Turning the AP off and on a couple of times fixed it.  Please let us know if that works for you.

- Second, the boolean variable that I used to move the Elevator Master switch is "Pitch Hold"...I recall seeing something in the SDK about this being a new variable for SP2/Accel, but I'm not at my home computer to check it right now.  If you are running something other than SP2/Accel, could that be it?

Other than those two things, I don't know what to try.  Please keep in mind that the AP xml gauge that I was able to edit is only half of it.  Behind the scenes is a .gau gauge that I dont know how to edit, so our ability to impact its performance is limited. We're blazing new trails here so everyone please remember to back up your old stuff before you try anything new  :D

- aircanada; keep in mind that you cannot "set" an airspeed or altitude with the 727.  The altitude window on the panel is just an 'alert' that rings a tone when you get close to or deviate from the altitude shown. If a tone is not ringing when the alert goes off, you need to go into the "sound.ini" file in the "FSX/Captain_Sim" folder and change "soundoffwhenslew=1" to "soundoffwhenslew=0" (I think that is what it is called anyway). As for following a heading, make sure that you've got the autopilot set to "manual", aileron master switch on, then flip the "heading select" switch. This should enable you to set the heading with the heading bug.  If you switch it to "NAV/LOC" or "AutoGS" the heading bug is useless.  To hold altitude, you need to flip the 'altitude hold' switch when you are at the desired altitude (and not climbing or diving more than 500 fpm) and it is supposed to hold it from there. I hope that helps, otherwise I don't know.

Anybody else smarter than I am feel free to chime in.  That's about all I know  :-?

Again, anytime you suspect AP issues, flip it off and on once or twice and rotate the mode knob right and left to clear it out. And did I say to back everything up first?

MarkOz - I'm sorry I forgot to include your Flight Engineer Hotkey fix in my file  :-[