Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler

Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support | Altitude Hold

DVA13111
Captain, B737-800

Joined on October 11 2016
50 State Club
Century Club
Everett Century Club
Eurocap Club

Abingdon, MD

110 legs, 129.9 hours
108 legs, 126.6 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on October 29 2016 12:07 ET by Brian Ward

After I have climbed to altitude and am in level flight, the airplane(B737-800) climbs on its own by about 300 ft. sometimes higher. ATC keeps telling me I am too high and to reduce altitude. The airplane slowly reduces altitude back to assigned altitude an the starts repeating the climb an descent again and again. Does anyone know what is causing this to happen?

Brian Ward

Captain, B737-800

DVA10902
Senior Captain, B767-300

Joined on July 12 2012
50 State Club
Everett 250 Club
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Online Quadruple Century Club
Quincentenary Club

"Where am I? Who dressed me like this?"
Bloomingdale, IL

515 legs, 1,153.3 hours
473 legs, 1,063.5 hours online
514 legs, 1,150.2 hours ACARS
9 legs, 19.0 hours event

Posted onPost created on October 29 2016 18:39 ET by Tim Oleary

Which 737...PMDG?

A few of the obvious ones is if you are in flight level altitude bands (above 18K in the US-NOTE:Transition altitudes can vary by country or can be in meters which is a real joy to fly.) have you set your altimeter to 29.92" (standard)?

If you are using the FMC is your flight planned cruise altitude entered correctly as well as the legs page showing the waypoint altitude correctly?

Do you have a failure mode enabled that effects the pitot-static system?

Those are the quick and dirty ones I can think of....

Tim Oleary (DVA10902)

DVA13111
Captain, B737-800

Joined on October 11 2016
50 State Club
Century Club
Everett Century Club
Eurocap Club

Abingdon, MD

110 legs, 129.9 hours
108 legs, 126.6 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on October 29 2016 21:53 ET by Brian Ward

I am using the FSX base 737-800, Flying at 18000 ft, no failure mode enabled and altimeter set at 29.92

Brian Ward

Captain, B737-800

DVA9843
Captain, B737-800

Joined on May 22 2011
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary

"High High High... in the sky... there i am.!!"
Mercier, QC Canada

19 legs, 23.9 hours
14 legs, 16.7 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on October 29 2016 22:58 ET by Eric Laferriere

Did you try one of the 737-800 that is on the DVA website too see if it's doint the same thing ?

Eric Laferriere

Captain, B737-800

DVA9505
Captain, B757-200
OLP

Joined on February 19 2011
50 State Club
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Virginia Beach, VA USA

1,806 legs, 3,270.8 hours
102 legs, 201.1 hours online
1,804 legs, 3,265.5 hours ACARS
2 legs, 3.3 hours event

Posted onPost created on October 29 2016 23:25 ET by Sean Costello

Hi Brian, welcome. Were you flying online with Vatsim, or using FSX atc?

Sean Costello

Captain, B757-200

DVA11250
Captain, B757-200
OLP

Joined on January 14 2013
50 State Club
B757 100 Club
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Blaine, MN

440 legs, 881.1 hours
320 legs, 640.2 hours online
439 legs, 879.2 hours ACARS
20 legs, 49.2 hours event

Posted onPost created on October 30 2016 03:59 ET by Joel Salminen

When I calibrated my flight controls through FSUIPC I noticed erratic behavior like that with aircraft that don't interface FSUIPC. To fix the problem I deleted any and all calibration settings in FSUIPC and calibrated through Windows or the SIM itself.

Joel Salminen

Captain, B757-200

DVA3220
Captain, B737-800
OLP

Joined on May 19 2006
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
B737 50 Club

Southeastern United States

78 legs, 129.9 hours
73 legs, 122.3 hours online
76 legs, 127.3 hours ACARS
31 legs, 57.3 hours event

Posted onPost created on October 31 2016 03:18 ET by Tyler Devereaux

Brian:

Not to discredit any of the suggestions hereto, but I think it is worth considering that the default FSX autoflight systems ... leave much to be desired, as do the default aircraft. Other factors to consider are weather. I'm not sure if you're using any weather products with your sim, but I know my software injects weather that can cause altitude deviations. It's been a very long time since I used default weather, and I honestly don't remember if the default weather will produce conditions that cause difficulty with altitude tracking. But, for sure with my sim, if I'm flying around severe weather, I will notice similar behavior.

You mentioned that you were using 29.92 as your altimeter setting. Are you noticing the altitude deviation in conjunction with a recent change in your altimeter setting? If local pressure and standard differ significantly, the change in altitude readout could very well be significant.

Honestly, though, what you're describing sounds to me like a limitation of default FS quality. It sounds like your autoflight system is too aggressive, so when your plane starts to drift off altitude, the AP over-corrects and then gets stuck in a pendulum of over-corrections. If memory serves correct, I think I remember the default B737's AP having a default vertical speed setting of 1800 (+/-) whenever it needed to capture an altitude. If you're only 100 ft off the altitude and that 1800 fpm rate kicks in, the plane is obviously going to overshoot your selected altitude. I would experiment with different aircraft and see if this problem persists with all of them. Alternatively, I would recommend disabling the autoflight system, manually leveling off and trimming the aircraft, and then re-engaging autoflight once you're level. A very real topic of training in real-world airline ops is the hazard associated with reliance on automation. Do not be afraid (or even hesitant) to disable automation and fly the plane when automation is not yielding expected results.

DVA13111
Captain, B737-800

Joined on October 11 2016
50 State Club
Century Club
Everett Century Club
Eurocap Club

Abingdon, MD

110 legs, 129.9 hours
108 legs, 126.6 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on November 01 2016 22:24 ET by Brian Ward

It seems to happen above 18000 ft and a speed of 300 knots. I tried flying with a airlplane I downloaded from DVA, in this instance the airplane started climbing and wouldn't stop going up. Frustrating!!!

Brian Ward

Captain, B737-800

DVA13111
Captain, B737-800

Joined on October 11 2016
50 State Club
Century Club
Everett Century Club
Eurocap Club

Abingdon, MD

110 legs, 129.9 hours
108 legs, 126.6 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on November 14 2016 22:24 ET by Brian Ward

I found the problem, I exchanged my yoke for my joystick and problem solved, no more porpoising. It's great to be able to fly straight and steady.

Brian Ward

Captain, B737-800

Posted onPost created on November 14 2016 22:38 ET by Tyler Devereaux

Brian Ward wrote:

I found the problem, I exchanged my yoke for my joystick and problem solved, no more porpoising. It's great to be able to fly straight and steady.

I'm glad you figured it out! Sorry I didn't respond to your last reply; somehow, I missed it. Happy flying

DVA8657
Captain, B737-800
OLP

Joined on May 19 2010
50 State Club
Globetrotter
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New Hyde Park, NY

1,818 legs, 3,966.2 hours
1,697 legs, 3,717.7 hours online
1,592 legs, 3,434.7 hours ACARS
1,394 legs, 3,092.1 hours event

Posted onPost created on December 24 2016 22:16 ET by Brian Kelly

Yeah sometimes I try to fly keyboard for for unknown reasons my controller was enabled and I wonder why it's acting weHird. (Family Guy joke)

Brian Kelly

Captain, B737-800

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