On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 08:30:27 -0800, "Pete Schaefer"
wrote:


"Roger" wrote in message
.. .
To paraphrase the manual for my auto-pilot. When encountering more
than moderate turbulence, turn off the autopilot. I believe Pete
touched on this as well.

Driving an auto-pilot too hard can put your servos on the rate limit. On a
rate limit, a servo develops serious amplitude-dependent lag, which can
destabilize your loop closures. THe way arount this problem? Big, huge,
powerful, fast servos. This solution opens up a whole other can of worms.

Ahhh... That's not what I was getting at.
They have you disconnect to protect your airplane as the servos can do
too good a job of holding altitude. It wasn't lag they were worried
about.

Just as the question asks on the FAA exam. What do you do when
entering an area of moderate to severe turbulence?
The AP doesn't know the correct answer for that one and it's going to
hold altitude, and/or attitude even if it has to break something to do
it. (depends on the AP)

There really is such a thing as "too much of a good thing".

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com