I flew the Assist with V1.1.9 and Harry C's Automatic Mode Switching logic yesterday and it went very well. So far I'd say it is equal to anything else I have flown however it was not in the best airplane and we are constrained to low altitude at the local flying field so the votes are not all in.
I took off with the Assist off, and did a little elevator trimming before I switched to Damping Only. It flew quite well in that mode so I tried Auto Switching and left it there for the remainder of the first flight. I concentrated on maneuvers with transitions from HH to damping and back, like Double Immelmanns, horizontal rolls, 4-point rolls on 45 degree up lines, etc. I was very pleased with my ability to hold the lines and to transition from inside and outside loops to horizontal flight. I had put in a 0.8 second delay in the auto switch from Damping to HH. In previous tests of Harry's logic I felt it was switching to HH before I had established the line. I didn't have that trouble now. There was a 5 to 10 mph 90 degree crosswind but I had no trouble landing in Auto Switch mode.
The second flight was Auto Switch from takeoff to landing. The takeoff was like one of Hanno Prettner's. He used to take off and fly a straight line for what seemed like a quarter of a mile. I let mine go (didn't touch any stick) for a much longer time compared to my usual takeoff and it was straight as an arrow. The hardest part is to avoid changing heading when advancing the throttle.
I tried some vertical lines but couldn't really hold them as long as I would have liked due to the altitude rules. At one point I flopped what was going to be a stalled turn and I could see the rudder was hanging out resulting in a lot of yaw in the downline until I moved the stick allowing it to neutralize. This is why it is important to switch to Damping when you move the stick and not retain the original HH direction or lock on to a new one until the pilot has established the desired line. So you've still got to fly the plane but I believe the Assist will lower the workload and you will fly better and enjoy it more.
The next step will be to put it in a compeitive airplane and fly it through the whole pattern including vertical lines of 800 feet or more.. Stay tuned.
Jim O
The following user(s) said Thank You: sunbeam, Bobbele, Knut, Taildragger, uragano23, Cloudcruiser
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