User Guide

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THREE-AXIS AUTOPILOT
The autopilots in the Malibu Mirage and Navajo Chieftain
are very similar in basic operation to that in the Cessna 172, but -
once again - they offer additional features and capabilities.
The most significant of these is that they can control the ele-
vator as well as the ailerons. There are three pitch modes. When
the autopilot is first turned on, it will capture and hold whatever
pitch attitude exists at that time. You can change its pitch attitude
using two methods: either hold the pitch control switch on the
autopilot controller in the up or down position, which will change
pitch attitude at around one degree per second or push the pitch
sync switch on the yoke (if you have it enabled), fly the airplane
to a new attitude and release the switch.
Pressing the ALT button will “capture” the altitude at that
moment. The airplane will level off and continue to hold that alti-
tude. Fine corrections (for example, when you receive a new
altimeter setting and change the altimeter) can be made using the
up/down switch; the airplane will climb or descend at around 500
fpm as long as the switch is held, and will capture the altitude at
which the switch is released.
You also have a very useful device called an altitude alert-
er/preselector. Set a desired altitude into it, using the inner and
outer knobs, and as you climb or descend to within 700 feet of
that altitude, it’ll alert you with a chime. Once you’ve leveled off
at the desired altitude, the unit will chime again to warn you if
you stray off altitude by 300 feet in either direction.
If you’re climbing or descending with the autopilot engaged,
pressing the ALT ARM button on the alerter/preselector will have
no immediate effect, but as you reach the desired altitude the
autopilot will automatically switch from pitch hold to ALT HOLD
mode, and the airplane will level off, untouched by human hands.
Finally, if you’re flying an ILS, the autopilot can follow the
glideslope. Put the system in APPR mode to arm this feature. As the
glideslope needle nears the center of the scale (usually, you’ll
approach it from below by flying level in ALT mode), the system
will capture it and control the airplane to the required descent rate.
We can also make a couple of fine distinctions. The gradi-
ent between levels of rain is important, i.e., a red area surround-
ed by wide areas of yellow and green may not be as rough as one
where the surrounding bands are narrow. You can also sometimes
get information about the extent of a storm by using the radar’s tilt
control, which lets it look at weather above or below your cruise
altitude as well as straight in front of you. Tilt too far down, and
the screen will light up with smeary returns from the ground,
rather than from weather. On larger, fancier airplanes, the radar is
stabilized in both tilt and roll with signals from the autopilot gyros.
On smaller ones, you’ll have to adjust the tilt manually if you
change pitch attitude for a climb or letdown; and during turns,
one whole side of the screen will light up as the beam scans down
onto the ground on the inside of the turn.
The radars on the Malibu Mirage and the Navajo Chieftain
have an extra feature called “Vertical Profile.” It’s activated by the
“track” arrows and the VP button on the face of the radar. Here’s
how it works:
Select a weather cell you wish to examine and press the left
or right “track” arrow. A yellow line will appear on the screen.
Use the arrows to point it at (and through) the center of the weath-
er cell. Now press the VP button. The radar will stop sweeping
back and forth. Instead, it will remain pointed at the selected cell,
and will scan up and down. The screen presentation will change
to show the airplane at the left and a vertical cross-section of the
weather; the numbers at the top and bottom of the screen indicate
heights in thousands of feet above and below your present flight
altitude, not above sea level.
Flight Instruction
Flight Instruction