Amadeus
Well Known Member
I have read that standalone G3X Touch Experimental can do Smart Glide with the latest software. Today I attempted to try it out and was 3,500' AGL with an airport less than five miles away. With no traffic in the area I pressed Direct To and held it two seconds and heard the voice alert say there was no airport in range and felt autopilot engage. This is where things went wrong.
Instead of putting the RV-12iS into Best Glide it nosed over into a steep dive while lowering the right wing and making a fast tight turn. The nose then began to rise and wings level before again going into a steep dive with right wing low and another fast and tight right complete turn (this can be seen on FlightAware N112DR).
I tapped the yellow "SmartGlide" strip at the bottom of the touch screen and stopped Smart Glide to hand fly the plane. The stick was heavy and the trim was in full nose down position (despite being told multiple times that autopilot does not change trim setting - but it does) so I corrected the trim setting and hand flew the plane.
After all this I positioned the aircraft one mile from the airport and was 2,000' AGL when I attempted another trial. Again received the voice alert that no airport in range and this time the airplane remained tracking the same direction and slowing to Best Glide and losing altitude. Once again I disconnected Smart Glide, corrected trim setting and hand flew the plane. I gave up the trials for the day and headed back to the airport.
What am I doing wrong? Smart Glide is such an ideal feature and I would love knowing that I could count on the G3X to reduce the immediate workload in an emergency.
Instead of putting the RV-12iS into Best Glide it nosed over into a steep dive while lowering the right wing and making a fast tight turn. The nose then began to rise and wings level before again going into a steep dive with right wing low and another fast and tight right complete turn (this can be seen on FlightAware N112DR).
I tapped the yellow "SmartGlide" strip at the bottom of the touch screen and stopped Smart Glide to hand fly the plane. The stick was heavy and the trim was in full nose down position (despite being told multiple times that autopilot does not change trim setting - but it does) so I corrected the trim setting and hand flew the plane.
After all this I positioned the aircraft one mile from the airport and was 2,000' AGL when I attempted another trial. Again received the voice alert that no airport in range and this time the airplane remained tracking the same direction and slowing to Best Glide and losing altitude. Once again I disconnected Smart Glide, corrected trim setting and hand flew the plane. I gave up the trials for the day and headed back to the airport.
What am I doing wrong? Smart Glide is such an ideal feature and I would love knowing that I could count on the G3X to reduce the immediate workload in an emergency.