Autopilot Cessna Skyhawk-how to change altitude?

[sylvia_zde]

I just wanted to set the flight altitude on the Cessna Skyhawk.

But there is no button for the autopilot. According to some Youtube videos, you should put the "increase altitude" and "decrease altitude" on the buttons of the controller.

I did that but nothing happened.

So I checked the XPlane 11 manual and it says, to set the flight director to "Auto". In the entire cockpit of the Cessna, however, there is no flight director switch that i can click on.

Well, I tried the flight plan.

...
Update:

The manufacturer was probably Cessna - after that the flight plan worked.

I still don't know how to set the altitude, but at least the autopilot now maintains the altitude.

[Maki Nishikino]

You set the altitude via the knob that says ALT above it. The bindings for this are "Autopilot altitude up" and "Autopilot altitude down".

To enable and disable the flight director you press FD though upon autopilot engagement it will automatically show. The binding for this is "Flight director toggle".

There are two ways to get the aircraft to the desired altitude using the autopilot. Flight Level Change (FLC) and Vertical Speed (VS). Both utilize the Nose Up and Nose Down buttons. In FLC Nose Down will increase the airspeed and Nose Up will decrease the airspeed. Upon engagement of FLC the autopilot with will lock into the airspeed at which you engaged it provided you hadn't set it to anything prior. If you did it will pitch as necessary to capture it. In VS Nose Down will decrease the vertical speed and Nose Up will increase the vertical speed. It's important to note that in VS the autopilot will do what it takes to try and maintain the vertical speed that you set it at. If you're not careful the aircraft can stall if used in a climb. It can also stall in the default pitch mode. For climbing purposes it's best to use FLC and for descending purposes it's best to use VS.

[sylvia_zde]

@Maki Nishikino:

Thank you for the quick and detailed help.

Best regards

[Maki Nishikino]

You're welcome.

[Echo Kilo]

I think you (sylvia_zde) have been watching videos for a different aircraft or videos that were made before Laminar updated the C172 autopilot to the current one (XP11.30 onwards). Also make sure you check the correct manual. There is one specifically for the XP11 C172 autopilot in the aircraft's folder (\X-Plane 11\Aircraft\Laminar Research\Cessna 172SP\S-TEC Autopilot Manual.pdf) or alternatively you can also get it online:
https://www.x-plane.com/manuals/S-TEC_Autopilot_Manual.pdf

The S-Tec 55 style autopilot on the default XP11 Cessna 172 is quite different from the more advanced aircraft. There is no altitude preselect, so you can not set your target altitude in advance. The autopilot can hold your current altitude, but first you have to climb there either manually or by using the vertical speed (VS) mode. This autopilot will require some learning, but does work well once you get hang of it.

For videos, please check the one below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHBK10PCPgc&ab_channel=JasonVriends

The above applies to the C172 with analogue gauges. If you fly the one with G1000, then the autopilot operation will be different again.

[sylvia_zde]

@Echo Kilo:

I've just started reading the manual for the Cessna's autopilot.

I had already found out, that the "hold" button holds the current altitude. And held the course with the "Hdg" key.

It's slowly getting better :)

Thank you for your help.