Help!
Help!
Guest
Asked

Hi,

Basically when I am taxiing and taking off the speed indicator works fine. When I'm in the air and engage the autopilot, it says I am traveling at 0. I have the heading, altitude, and speed indicators all on for autopilot. I engage the autopilot by pressing Z and this is when it stopped working.

I tried a flight by pressing the autopilot switch with the mouse. The speed did work. I then turned everything off for the landing using the mouse also. When I did this the speed indicator sometimes worked sometimes didn't. It's really annoying as I'm landing not knowing my speed! As far as I know, there isn't anything in the options saying for me to have faults on it.

Has anybody got any help for me?!?! Thanks very much.

Answers 11 Answers

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Guest
Guest
Answered

I have now just changed the airspeed from indicated to true. It does now say how fast I'm going but the autopilot is unable to keep the speed, I have to do it manually.

During all this problem I have had the weather to snow, so I'm thinking would this be a common problem for the indicated airspeed? As it takes temperature into account?

Cheers once again

captainsimon
captainsimon
TraineeTrainee
Joined: Oct 24, 2006 Posts: 51
Answered

Turn on the PITOT heat.

x pilot
x pilot
Guest
Answered

when its cold and freezing ice form over the pitot tube blocking air from going through the hole and through the system to give the instrument a reading, air is what makes the needle move...

as with your question answered turn on the pitot heat and see it the indicator move....

SOP to have this on when in jets or flying high or in cold conditions

Guest
Guest
Answered

Thanks very much, im flying the 747, and its Shift+H to turn the pitot heat on or off, however I acnt seem to seen an indicator telling me whther it is infact on or off?

x pilot
x pilot
Guest
Answered

find the pitot heat or de icing switch in the cockpit and see that postion its in

Charlie10
Charlie10
First OfficerFirst Officer
Joined: Jul 04, 2006 Posts: 238 Location: Northern Lower Michigan
Answered

I dowloaded a Piper Arrow that had a blank airpspeed indidcator. I flew in without a problem - of course I've flown and landed real airplanes with the airspeed indicator covered. A TIP - if your airspeed indicator goes out, you have ground speed on your GPS. Remeber, however, it is ground speed. It's nice to know your ground speed on an approach.

EASY FIX
EASY FIX
Guest
Answered

IN THE AIRCRAFT CONFIG OF THE b737_400 THERE IS A SECTION [SPEED_indicators] I PLAYED WITH THIS A WHILE AND NOTHING WORKED SO I BACKED UP AND JUST DELETED THE ENTIRE INDICATOR AND WALLAH,, AIR SPEED WORKS AGAIN WITH NO ISSUES. THE Boeing 747-400 SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY PLANE WITH THIS SETTING AND THE ONLY ONE I EVER HAD THIS ISSUE WITH..

dullesaviation123
dullesaviation123
Guest
Answered

I had the same problem as you did. I turned on the APU and the airspeed indicator went to normal!

Rusheelraj
Rusheelraj
Guest
Answered

I on the pitot heat and it went back to normal 

Ian Stephens (ianstephens)
Ian Stephens (ianstephens)
CaptainCaptain
Joined: Feb 22, 2012 Posts: 882
Ian Stephens is an expert on this topic. Read his bio here.
Expert Answered

Hello there!

Based on the information provided, it appears that the issue you're experiencing is likely due to the pitot-static system being affected by icing conditions. When flying in cold weather or in the presence of visible moisture, ice can form on the pitot tube (which measures dynamic pressure and is essential for determining airspeed). This can lead to erroneous airspeed readings and cause your autopilot to become disoriented.

As other users have suggested, turning on the pitot heat should resolve this issue. The pitot heat works by warming up the pitot tube to prevent ice formation and ensuring accurate airspeed readings. In fact, activating pitot heat is considered a standard operating procedure (SOP) when flying in cold conditions or at high altitudes, regardless of the aircraft type.

To avoid similar problems in the future, make sure to enable pitot heat as part of your pre-flight checks or when entering conditions that might lead to icing. In Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX), you can do this by pressing the Shift+H key combination or by manually clicking the pitot heat switch in the virtual cockpit. Keep in mind that this advice applies to both FSX and the more recent Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) 2020.

In summary, always make sure to activate pitot heat when flying in cold or icing conditions to ensure accurate airspeed readings and proper autopilot functionality.

  • Pitot tube: measures dynamic pressure, essential for airspeed readings

  • Pitot heat: warms the pitot tube to prevent ice formation and ensure accurate readings
  • Standard operating procedure: activate pitot heat when flying in cold conditions or at high altitudes

I hope this helps! If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Safe flying!

John Prax
John Prax
Guest
Answered

     FSX 747-400 airspeed indicator shows zero after take off.  Make sure anti ice switch is on &  VERY IMPORTANT ALSO SHIFT H. should solve problem

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