First, let me say how pleased I am with the advanced AP. It is a jewel and I can't thank you guys enough for bringing it to life before mine ends 
. VNAV at last. I especially appreciate the nose up and down buttons for setting VS/IAS. Wonderful. And the minimums alert setting ability. Priceless!
I fly an RV-8A (which I built) about 100kias on glideslope.
I have been working on tuning and think I have it nailed on IAS within about 1.5 knots and in altitude capture it's right on. In smooth air. It nailed an ILS today with centered needles all the way to mins but close in I started to get lots of Pitch slips, most of which you can't tell which way. It's dangerous because - as you say - no one's flying the airplane, and if you trim in the wrong direction, you can make it really hairy.
The only pitch parameters maxed out are torque and sensitivity. I'm inclined to reduce sensitivity to a degree, but am curious as to whether I should get a stronger servo. The question is how do I decide on the servo issue and are there any other ideas on parameter adjustments that might affect the slips. Can't have the slip uncertainty lurking there in hard IFR.
One other thing: there is slop too...between the control system and both the servos. If I lock the controls, I get about a degree of movement on the control surfaces, but if I engage the AP with unlocked controls I can get at least + or - 5 degrees of movement. What do I look for in the servo installation that might be loose or improperly installed.
I look forward to your ideas, and once again, thanks for what you've brought forward. It's marvelous. Jack L
. VNAV at last. I especially appreciate the nose up and down buttons for setting VS/IAS. Wonderful. And the minimums alert setting ability. Priceless!I fly an RV-8A (which I built) about 100kias on glideslope.
I have been working on tuning and think I have it nailed on IAS within about 1.5 knots and in altitude capture it's right on. In smooth air. It nailed an ILS today with centered needles all the way to mins but close in I started to get lots of Pitch slips, most of which you can't tell which way. It's dangerous because - as you say - no one's flying the airplane, and if you trim in the wrong direction, you can make it really hairy.
The only pitch parameters maxed out are torque and sensitivity. I'm inclined to reduce sensitivity to a degree, but am curious as to whether I should get a stronger servo. The question is how do I decide on the servo issue and are there any other ideas on parameter adjustments that might affect the slips. Can't have the slip uncertainty lurking there in hard IFR.
One other thing: there is slop too...between the control system and both the servos. If I lock the controls, I get about a degree of movement on the control surfaces, but if I engage the AP with unlocked controls I can get at least + or - 5 degrees of movement. What do I look for in the servo installation that might be loose or improperly installed.
I look forward to your ideas, and once again, thanks for what you've brought forward. It's marvelous. Jack L