FS2020: Back To Basics With MSFS: Part 2 - Basic Auto-Pilot Procedures

Continuing my Back To Basics Series: this video concentrates on the very basic Auto-pilot functions and procedures, that I feel you should all become proficient in.
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My Back To Basics Playlist: • Back To Basics With MSFS
⌚Timestamps⌚
Introduction: (0:00)
Flight Planning & Other: (1:32)
Aircraft setup & Map settings: (8:02)
The Flight Itself & practicing Auto-pilot procedures: (14:22)
#MSFSBasics #MSFSAutoPilot #MSFSLearningAutoPilot

[@lfisher441]

When I began with MSFS i could only fly for a short time, shoulders and neck where so stressed out. After watching your videos on autopilot and trimming and fine tunning the sensitivities my flying is stress free and more fun with lots of time to sightsee. Since starting MSFS in December I have gone from game pad to thrustmaster with pedals to velocityone which I think is just great. Your videos are digging into my retirement, but fun and worth it in my old age. Also London City is my new home airport, boring and flat and nothing to see out here on the western plains below the Rockies. Great work on explaining MSFS and everything.

[@Huddison]

Thank you my friend, and happy I helped to make your retirement more fun ;)

[@tommyrebenius8473]

Your tutorial for beginners like me and several of my friends, is highly appreciated. Greetings from us, the pensioner flyers in Sweden to you and all sim pilots around the globe. Great work. All the best.

[@Huddison]

Thanks Tommy, the best to you and your friends also 😊

[@mikkdc]

The addition of the VISUAL APPROACH options are fantastic. Going to make lining up for final approach and landing MUCH easier!

[@Huddison]

Yes 100%.

[@Pindi44]

Your channel is indispensable for newbies like me, no doubt for advanced fliers too, thank you very much

[@Huddison]

Thank you, much appreciated.

[@fish7days]

I have watched plenty plenty hours of G1000 videos and you are literally the only content creator that calls the outer knob the inner knob and the inner the outer. Thanks for your vids though, very helpful. Just have to mentally adjust for the knob terminology.

[@Huddison]

I like to be different ;)

[@larryedwards5703]

Huddison: Very nice video. You are a good instructor. Very detailed and simple to understand. Thank you.

[@Huddison]

Thanks Larry, really appreciated :)

[@chowlissy]

Wonderful video, again, many thanks. You´ve made what would be very daunting to a newbie like me very manageable. Well done.

[@Huddison]

Great feedback and happy to hear this kind of video is still helpful.

[@jamiecheslo]

This has been said many times before, but your channel is incredible! From your tutorials on how to install and set up the sim and its components, to your in-flight tutorials, you have it all for beginners to experienced simmers. I keep coming back here to brush up on my skills, or whenever I need some configuration assistance. I cannot tell you enough how helpful you have been. Keep it up! Cheers from Canada!

[@Huddison]

Thanks Jamie - I can't tell you how much I appreciate that comment 😍

[@yannisspyrakis6098]

What can I say? Just found your channel with the best understanding entry level navigation and functionality that made made me get into the spirit of MSFS.

[@Huddison]

Thanks so much, that' hugely appreciated.

[@marcom18c10]

Thank you so much for these videos! It’s so very helpful, I would definitely appreciate a video discussing trimming.

[@lyskmusic]

Your way to teach is out of this world ! New subscriber for life :)

[@Huddison]

Thanks and most welcome :)

[@thebigpicture3177]

As a newbie to Xbox and FS2020 rekindling my interest in flight, I found this instalment of your efforts very concise informative. I live in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia and look forward to setting up an auto pilot track over and around nearby Fraser Island, something local tour operators do on a daily basis. Thanks again and keep up the great work. Steven.

[@Huddison]

Wonderful feedback and comments - many thanks Steven.

[@BostonballH8ter]

I'm so grateful for your easy to understand lessons, although still a noob,you've added so much more to my experience..sub for life!

[@Huddison]

Thanks Paul!

[@littlenemo14]

I’m getting a real buzz when the plane lines up perfectly with the runway. Makes the flight so much more interesting.

[@Huddison]

It really does Steve.

[@leebest1a470]

Great info, thanks. Learned some things I did not know.

[@Huddison]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bradhaines5711]

Brilliant video mate. you've helped me again and again. Thanks so much. The offer still stands if you ever come to Western Australia. Merry Xmas.

[@Huddison]

Thanks Brad; have a great Christmas

[@LievenFrans]

So well explained! Congratulations! Tnanks!

[@Huddison]

Thank you! :)

[@prasadtn5864]

Thank you so much for the detail

[@Huddison]

My pleasure

[@jakew9887]

Excellent Video. Thanks

[@Huddison]

Many thanks Jake ;)

[@gberlucchi]

Excellent. Thank you

[@Huddison]

You are welcome

[@Old_B52H_Gunner]

Yay! A new one. I’m learning more and more. I can fly by the seat of my pants like nobody’s business, but this newfangled tech is new for this Boomer lol. Thanks so much for these, if I ever get back to the UK, ( I was there while in the Air Force for an air show), I owe you a pint or ten for these.

[@Huddison]

Sounds good to me Brian ;)

[@bigdan4477]

Great video as always. A video showing how physically set trim would be most helpful.

[@Huddison]

Thanks and noted :)

[@martindescoteaux9288]

Merci!! I appreciate!

[@Huddison]

mon plaisir!

[@69THGILF]

Thank you.

[@Huddison]

Thanks David.

[@albertlozano3437]

Yes, please. Do a video to go more in depth on trimming. Thanks!

[@Huddison]

Will do

[@leonardlakey7779]

Great video! I have almost 200 hours under my belt, but I always learn from Huddison’s vids! If you are new to MSFS 2020, you have found the best place to learn the ropes. Subscribe and come back often!

[@Huddison]

Sorry Larry, I somehow missed this message from you - thank you as always :)

[@cesarpenacoba9685]

Thanks for that excellent and clear video. I tried to repeat all your steps, one by one, and I found a couple of problems, most probably because of a latest update to the G1000: The most important one is once you define the approach to the destination airport. Once done, the last thing to do, "Activate Approach" is dimmed for me, I cannot select it. The other, this time minor topic, is how to go back in menus. Instead of clicking on the "Menu" button, I have to use the "CLR" one.

[@Huddison]

This video is a little ahead in the series: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpu2k6aPlMt-hbM - but it shows a more definitive way to approach an airport for an AP landing.

[@charlesallsop2470]

Great traing video as always,just cant seem to figure out why the edited altitude from 3000 to 4000 does not show next to the Autopilot altitude on the PFD?

[@bigglb4223]

Hi James thank you so much for your clear and well presented videos/tutorials, I look forward to the each one with great anticipation. Could you please confirm that panning on the MFD still doesn’t work on XBOX. TIA

[@Huddison]

Still no panning as of yet; hopefully soon.

[@AlasdairMacG]

Thoroughly enjoyable and very informative - thank you. Never knew about the Visual approach mode - it looks really useful. Will be using it a lot from now on! One question if I may - on your descent, after you had turned AutoPilot (AP) off, the Flight Director (FD) magenta/purple arrow/marker was constantly suggesting you should be climbing rather than descending. Is there any way to turn off the FD automatically when you disable AP, so it does not needlessly clutter up the screen and possibly confuse matters? Or do we have to turn off FD manually? Many thanks in advance, Alasdair

[@Huddison]

Great question; I'll look into that one!

[@weircottage]

Excellent timing for me at my stage on my XBox X! Been quite difficult keeping on track whilst fiddling with buttons!! Really helpful, thank you. What does the 24 relate to on ‘visual 24’ that you chose giving space for final approach?

[@Huddison]

If I understand your question correctly: the 24 relates to the Runway heading in degrees (effectively it should be 240 degrees, but in aviation they always shorten/abbreviate runway headings), that you'll be landing at.

[@weircottage]

@@Huddison Got it. You select the number relating to the arrival runway. Many thanks for this and your very helpful and informative videos. I used to fly gliders and 3 axis microlights but only had basic instrumentation so all this is new, fun and time consuming!

[@Murphy_Peoples]

Hi James! I'm thoroughly enjoying your videos. I have a question though... when I install the GSX1000Nxi does that now default to every single engine aircraft in my hanger? I like flying under old instrumentation as well. thank you!

[@Huddison]

Hi Murphy, the NXI will replace the old G1000, in all aircraft that use the G1000. You can always uninstall it to use the old G1000; but the NXI will become default at some point in the future.

[@Murphy_Peoples]

@@Huddison Thank you!!!

[@TinTin_57]

Hi I am a new subscriber, have been really enjoying the Back To Basics series. Had a question as you have the sim on box Xbox and PC. We have it on the Xbox Series X, would we have to buy it again separately for the PC or can we use it for both? Cheers.

[@Huddison]

You can use your Store version on the PC.

[@mrfairycake4333]

Great video again...did you ever do that trimming video?

[@Huddison]

I see you found that one ;)

[@skippy3107]

Another great video, thankyou! One question: You talk about Flaps1 and Flaps2 - I have flaps mapped to a dial on my FR-TEC Raptor HOTAS combo. Is Flaps1 half flaps and Flaps2 full flaps?

[@Huddison]

When I say 'Stage one flaps' or 'flaps one' etc, I mean one notch of flaps - so 'flaps stage two' or 'flaps two' is the next notch of flaps etc. In the C-172, the absolute correct way would be to say 'Flaps 10 degrees; flaps 20 degrees (for the 2nd stage of flaps) and flaps 30 (for full flaps)'.

[@CanaryIrish]

You really need a mouse for this. Is there any point in calibrating the mouse. I've the Hotas, controller and mouse in use. Would be lost without such informative tutorials.

[@TheDailyGamingVideos]

My mum is going on a flight next week, and I want to do the flight in the game. I have to try and remember how to do the live traffic, lol. When you do an autopilot on Xbox series X, does your game pause after a while? I haven't done it for a while, but it used to happen even using the Hotas One.

[@Huddison]

Check your power saving settings on the Xbox; I've never had it pause on my yet, even during long livestreams. Love the idea of you replicating your mum's flight - got to try that someday! 😎

[@parforthree]

PLEASE do a trim video. Finding it very hard to trim using Saitek Pro Flight

[@Huddison]

Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHeTiqGJn850jbM

[@parforthree]

Many thanks Love you're videos keep it up

[@studioopinions5870]

Hi Huddison, I noticed while you were starting your glide Path, that, the Flight Director was WAY OFF, on your PFD, as if it was not guiding you. Please Explain that to me, and respond. Thanks for a great view of the Eiffel Tower. Love it. Terry

[@Huddison]

Hi Terry, I don't know if you caught it on the video, but I deactivated AP and manually flew down & landed on the runway. I was essentially following my own glide path down. See later videos in this series for a full AP decent (and even landing) on to a runway.

[@studioopinions5870]

@@Huddison Thanks Huddison, I was assuming you were to use the FD Button to keep you on path without the AP. (smiles) I will look at your full landing. Thanks. Terry

[@mikecoffee100]

ok how soon do I activate the Approach mode like how close to the airport cause when I do it the aircraft turn before the runway and head in the opposite direction Visual APP Runway 25 the plane will turn before the airport and turn to 250 and head away from the airport till I run out of fuel or who knows what. Its frustrating.

[@Huddison]

You can activate approach pretty much as soon as the Glide Slope indicator becomes active (starts to move).

[@UKGeezer]

Thx for the video. Got a problem with the G1000 nxi. I managed to change the map to North up, but the menu button won't close the menu options, so it's just stuck there over the map. Seems quite buggy still.

[@Huddison]

I'll take a look later.

[@cesarpenacoba9685]

Hi, I had the same issue. It seems pressing the MENU button again will not take you back, as it happened in the video Instead, I found that I had to press CLR .

[@jeremyspink9922]

As per Cesar's reply below CLR works

[@Tee-zt4wr]

I have two desktop window 10 pc's, they both have the same IP I assume since they are attached to the same router and Internet via cat six cables. Is there any way for my wife on One Pc and me on the other and fly multiplayer in MS flight Sim 2020? or do we have to pay for another internet?

[@Huddison]

Hi that's a great question. You can fly in a Group Only flight together, but I believe that you will both have to be connected to the internet to do this. As long as your internet is strong/fast enough, I don't see any reason why this cannot be done via your current setup - see this website for more hints and guides: www.eurogamer.net/articles/flight-simulator-multiplayer-friends-invite-group-7043

[@bertobones7182]

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@markmayfield3488]

Has anyone had an issue on the Xbox where you can't add the waypoints? The menu pops up but isn't clickable

[@Huddison]

Are you using the G1000 NXI mod?

[@parkerforte]

Does the DC3 fly with the Garmin autopilot in the retrofit version? I use the xbox series one with the game controller and can’t seem to get it to work.

[@Huddison]

I've not actually flown the retrofit version of the DC-3 much, but I've heard it's working fine.

[@parkerforte]

@@Huddison After a bit of experimentation, it seems to work fine. As you said in a previous video, press the Y on the game controller to start the autopilot, doing this while on the ramp. It emits an audible click, not a chime like in the Caravan with the Garmin 1000. Then, I manually flew it to altitude and pressed the right bumper then X for altitude hold, then pressed the right bumper and pressed B for heading. Took me right where I wanted to go. Your videos are extremely helpful!

[@CanaryIrish]

Interesting on C172 tried to set flaps to zero degrees on take off. Wouldn't let me but once in the air flaps went to zero. Is that a feature of the C172 ?

[@Huddison]

No you should load-in with no flaps set as default.

[@CanaryIrish]

@@Huddison Thanks. Tried that flight a number of times. Tough going. Made a comment on the approach set up which would appreciate your views.

[@CanaryIrish]

Hi all again ... On setting the VFR approach to Runway 24 at Orly I found I had to select "straight" not "vector" as if "vector" selected I couldn't activate the VFR approach. Any thoughts out there ?

[@Huddison]

I'll look into it

[@shubzstar]

​@@Huddison i'm having the same issue

[@Huddison]

I think the last update, either to the NXI mod itself or the Sim update, changed things a little: I also find that I now have to choose a transition other than vector for an approach - I'll keep investigating.

[@shubzstar]

@@Huddison I've now tried your ILS landing with the same configuration as you showed in your ILS video but during my approach it gave an error, must've another update issue. P.S, your videos are amazing, thank you very much for your time and effort into making these!

[@davidedel31]

Thanks for the videos, really appreciate them. But do have a couple of questions. Do you have any flying twins. I fly the Beech Baron 58 G. When set up auto pilot ran into an interesting scene. Set altitude, vs, and nav. Took off and started stable climb, turned on auto pilot, plane started turning to course (red line). When go close to course, plane turned and went parallel to course. Flight was from St Thomas to Nassau in Baron. Eventually it crossed the course about 3/4 of the way to Nassau. Thought the indicator plane was to fly on the course, are is this normal to fly on side the course.

[@Huddison]

I've noticed that it does that on my Series S sometimes.

[@davidedel31]

Any ideas why this is happening? Also when flew from Nassau Bahamas to Apalachicola Florida to New Orleans Louisiana had the same thing, not on the GPS course, but to the right. When almost the Apalachicola had crossed the course and was on the right. Then when got to Apalachicola instead of following the next leg of GPS course, plane kept flying straight and the GPS course disappeared from screen. Another thing was when tried to set up the course with ILS approach, gave me a flying height of 1700 ft for the whole approximate 700 plus mile trip. Any ideas why so low?

[@davidedel31]

Also downloaded the latest version of NXI.

[@Huddison]

@@davidedel31 Did you manage to capture the ILS at the end of the trip? If that happens again, set your own altitude for the cruise and come down to 1700 ft (or the designated alt for ILS) around 20-30 NM out from your destination. A lot of of encounter peculiarities with MSFS; for no rhyme or reason.

[@davidedel31]

Hi, want to thank you for you answers. Read some where MSFS has a lot of bugs which Microsoft are trying to work out. I use a pc for flight sim and last up date that I got from Microsoft was the one with Australia. Was sim update 6 for XBox? Only problem that is hard to figure out is that cannot get the lights to work on the Honeycomb throttle, even Honeycomb could not help. Again thanks again for your answers, appreciate that. Have been doing short flights about 30-40 minute flights working with Nav and visual approaches for now. When get more efficient with MSFS on this, will start working on ILS approaches. Also on the Garmin screen at bottom, is the Map opt for changing things on the screen? Your screen shows the circle, when my screen comes it shows a compass. Again thanks David

[@NevrNewd]

Seems like an update must have changed the procedures. After I select the runway, it asks me if I want vectors or straight. I tried vectors because that's what was on the screen in the video, but then nothing happened, even after loading and activating it. I tried switching to straight and it seemed to give me a flight path to follow, though it was a little less smooth than yours. Is there updated instructions?

[@Huddison]

See if this later video in the series is of help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpu2k6aPlMt-hbM

[@ryanr6240]

what do the different Visual #s stand for and how do we know which one to select?

[@Huddison]

I'm not sure what you mean there?

[@ryanr6240]

@@Huddison in the video when you were selecting the approach via the PROC menu there were 5 or 6 different Visual ## choices. Was just curious how are you supposed to know which Visual to choose. (20:12 in the video)

[@Huddison]

That is the number of the runway that I intended to land on from the beginning - you could choose any visual/runway and it should give you a route towards landing there.

[@ninjalightning2631]

I did exactly step by step and clicked APband then Nav my plane keep circling above the airport

[@Huddison]

Come and ask on our Discord about this.

[@CanaryIrish]

Stupid question but what does OBS stand for ?

[@Huddison]

"The courseline is selected by turning an "omni bearing selector" or "OBS" knob usually located in the lower left of the indicator. It then shows the number of degrees deviation between the aircraft's current position and the "radial" line emanating from the signal source at the given bearing." Taken straight from wikipedia for you 😉

[@CanaryIrish]

@@Huddison Brilliant. Once I get a mouse set up will be following your excellent guidance.

[@bikersi9821]

Arghhh! So annoying. I’m trying to copy your flight and following all your steps to add the approach in the nav but it is not working properly. The must have updated the nav and now it’s not working as per your steps. I’ve tried it about 7 times now Incase I was doing something wrong but sure it’s all correct.

[@Huddison]

See my later videos in this series: they are more up-to-date with the Sim evolutions.

[@bikersi9821]

@@Huddison Morning, thanks for the reply. I got it working in the end. If I just load the approach 24 in the nav it works fine. What was messing it up was activating it. Anyway loving the videos. Working my way through them all slowly!