Engaging The Autopilot; Flight Director Modes - Garmin GFC 600 Pilot's Manual

AFCS

ENGAGING THE AUTOPILOT

The autopilot is engaged by pressing the AP key on the GMC 605. If the Flight
Director is already on the autopilot will begin following the active Flight Director
commands. If the Flight Director is not on when the AP key is pressed, the Flight
Director will come on with autopilot engagement in the default PIT and ROL modes.
Another way to engage the autopilot is by selecting the LVL key. This will engage
the autopilot in Level mode.
The aircraft must be within the GFC 600 engagement limits (+/-50 degrees pitch
and +/- 75 degrees roll attitude) in order to engage the autopilot.

FLIGHT DIRECTOR MODES

Flight Director modes are normally selected independently for the pitch and roll axes
using the keys on the GMC 605 bezel. Unless otherwise specified, all mode keys are
alternate action (i.e., press on, press off). In the absence of specific mode selection,
the Flight Director reverts to the default pitch and/or roll modes.
Active modes are annunciated on the GMC 605's screen in large text. Armed modes
are annunciated in smaller text below the active modes and are queued to take effect
as soon as capture criteria is met. Automatic transition from armed to active mode is
indicated by the armed mode annunciation moving up to the active mode field and
flashing for 10 seconds.
If the information required to compute an active Flight Director mode (such as air data
or navigation data) becomes invalid or unavailable, the Flight Director automatically
reverts to the default mode for that axis. The affected mode annunciation on the GMC
605 flashes in conjunction with the FD LED in yellow. The affected GI 285 annunciation
also flashes in yellow. When such a loss occurs, the system automatically begins to
roll the wings level (enters Roll Hold mode) or maintain the pitch angle (enters Pitch
Hold mode), depending on the affected axis. The flashing annunciation stops when
the affected mode key is pressed or another mode for the axis is selected. If after 10
seconds no action is taken, the flashing annunciation stops.
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Garmin GFC 600 Pilot's Guide 190-01488-00 Rev. B