Heading Bug Reprogramming...PLEASE

[Dynon101]

Dynon,

Can you PLEASE reprogram the heading bug action for doing 360 turns?

In other words...lets say ATC instructs you to do a "right 360"...with the current design you turn the heading bug to the right and the autopilot starts to make the right bank and when you pass the 180 point and keep turning the heading bug the airplane will then start a left turn...so the current work around is to spin the bug 179 degrees...then wait for the airplane to turn some more...then you add some more heading bug twists...wait for the airplane to...then geez what was the original heading???

It would be Mo Betta to simply twist the heading bug right until it gets back to the heading you were just on and the airplane will keep turning like you thought it would do.

THANKS!!!

 

[Tim Fitz]

Have never seen an auto pilot system that somehow knew you wanted a 360 turn simply by spinning the heading bug. That includes the CRJ, B-777, AW-139, HH-65 and others. You just have to keep it on the correct side of the tail as you spin it around to the correct heading. Many a times in the sim I watched guys get too ahead of themselves and start turning the opposite direction desired. Would like to hear from others if they know a system that can do it. I would think you would need two switches on the AP panel with “left 360” or “right 360” to accomplish this task.

 

[Marc_J._Zeitlin]

Have never seen an auto pilot system that somehow knew you wanted a 360 turn simply by spinning the heading bug... Would like to hear from others if they know a system that can do it. I would think you would need two switches on the AP panel with “left 360” or “right 360” to accomplish this task.

I have no idea if there are any other A/P's that can do what's requested here, and there may very well be none.

However, given the existing software inside the Skyview system, it would be a trivial amount of work to achieve this end - just tell the system to turn in the direction that the last <20, 40, 60, 90, 120 degrees, or whatever ends up being reasonable> heading or track bugs were within the past <n> seconds. So if you want to do a left 270, you spin the knob left to arrive at your new heading/track. The system knows which way you spun the knob - the blue line on the screen clearly shows what you were doing - so it would know which way to go. Obviously, some tuning would be necessary to ensure the minimal # of false negatives and false positives, but the information is there to do the right thing.

This could be an option in setup - either turn in the direction that entails the least heading/track change, or turn in the knob rotation direction. If you're turning due to ATC guidance or instruction, they almost always tell you which way they want to turn, and if you're turning on your own, well, then you know which way you want to turn.

 

[lancair360]

Oh yeah, not a big deal. Flown stuff before that will allow you to spin past the tail and keep going. Kinda makes sense when you think about it.

Since the Dynon is different I have to remember that every time I fly, gotta be careful with my big turns cuz all of sudden it starts going the other way!

 

[Tim Fitz]

Oh yeah, not a big deal. Flown stuff before that will allow you to spin past the tail and keep going. Kinda makes sense when you think about it.

Since the Dynon is different I have to remember that every time I fly, gotta be careful with my big turns cuz all of sudden it starts going the other way!

Curious what it was in?

 

[swatson999]

Curious what it was in?

Also curious. Not behavior I've ever seen in an HSI and A/P, but then, I certainly haven't seen them all .

 

[lancair360]

I THINK the Citation XLS did it, can't remember now. And the Dash 8 Q400 allows you to go past the tail too. Certain of that since I teach on it.

 

[skysailor]

The Airbus autopilot works this way. I flew the 319, 320 and 321. It was the only airliner I flew with this feature.

 

[Dynon101]

Rockwell Collins in the Global 6000. First couple of versions of the software did the silly "depends on what side of the tail" like the current Dynon "feature"...then this last revision of the software you can just spin it around to do a 360 and it keeps turning....so we know it is possible.

Gee...I have never turned it two times around and around to see what happens...Hmmm

 

[Dynon101]

Did you by chance add this to the old "To Do" list