If your airplane is WAAS equipped, then you can leave the autopilot on GPSS mode. The tricky portion is if you are doing a procedure turn. Keep the autopilot on ALT or vertical speed (VS) and ALT as required. Then, make sure the S-TEC autopilot is in GPS Steer (GPSS) mode and it will fly directly to the fix to start the approach.
![stec 50 autopilot troubleshooting stec 50 autopilot troubleshooting](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-96FkQ8LP50/maxresdefault.jpg)
Keep the HSI in GPS mode and simply activate the approach. The first step is to make sure that you have the proper fix loaded in the GPS. The procedure for flying to an initial approach fix (IAF) is pretty simple and straight forward. Also, don’t forget to change the HSI to VLOC on the Garmin 430. Referencing the above picture, the proper place to arm the NAV and APR modes would be when ATC gives you the heading to turn to in order to intercept the FAC. In doing this, it won’t mess up the airplane’s current direction of travel at all unless you change the heading bug. Now that the autopilot is on HDG mode, this would be the best time to go ahead and activate the approach on the Garmin 430 GPS. Once ATC gives you that first heading to fly, set the heading bug for that heading first, then put the S-TEC autopilot in heading mode (HDG) and keep it in altitude mode (ALT). Typically, it is faster to receive vectors then to fly the full procedure (especially on an ILS). Most of the time, when in a non-training environment (see: out in the real world), most pilots will be given vectors to fly to intercept final.
Stec 50 autopilot troubleshooting how to#
For now, here’s how to program the autopilot when receiving vectors to the FAC. We’ll visit that a little bit later, though. The exception comes when dealing with the descent on the final approach course (FAC). The autopilot procedure is pretty close to being the same for both non-precision and precision approaches.
Stec 50 autopilot troubleshooting manual#
So, just turn that autopilot on, sit back and get ready to learn! (Note: All information below is taken from the Cirrus Flight Operations Manual for the SR20 and SR22).
![stec 50 autopilot troubleshooting stec 50 autopilot troubleshooting](https://s1.manualzz.com/store/data/001607738_1-6bdb579ad039ae442f5718f0617cbce9-360x466.png)
I’m going to split the article up into how you would be flying the approach, either receiving vectors or flying directly to an initial approach fix. If so, your approaches should look a lot more organized and streamlined! This week, we’re going to discuss what Cirrus recommends as far as using the S-TEC autopilot to fly approaches. I hope you’ve had some time to practice some of the techniques presented there. We talked last week about the Cirrus recommended procedure for briefing and flying instrument approaches. By Hank Gibson, Gold Seal, CFI, CFII, MEI