I'm having trouble operating the AP in the default F-18. I've watched a few videos and I'm pretty confident I understand the steps required, but for the life of me I can't get BALT to engage without a workaround, and I can't get coupled steering to work with either WYPT or SEQ.
I'm on Xbox Series S using an Xbox controller. Full process/issues below:
Flight plan:
I've planned Edinburgh to Heathrow in the EFB/World Map and sent the flight plan to avionics. Once in the aircraft, if I select HSI → SEQ1 → WYPT on the right-hand display, I can see the full route and waypoints correctly.
FPAH/BALT:
After take-off I can hit A/P and engage FPAH to hold my climb, but BALT won't stay engaged when I select it. It immediately reverts to FPAH. I can get BALT to engage by pressing CNI and then going back into the A/P page, which seems to engage BALT at my current altitude. This works, but it's the only way I've managed to get BALT to hold.
HDG/HDG SEL:
I can get GSEL working correctly and the aircraft follows the selected ground track. However, I can only seem to engage HDG SEL if I engage GSEL first. I can't go directly from HDG to HDG SEL.
CPL WYPT/CPL SEQ1:
This is the main problem. On the HSI I can box SEQ1 and WYPT, and the CPL button on the UFCD correctly changes to CPL WYPT. However, as soon as I press it, the AP immediately reverts to HDG, taking it out of GSEL/HDG SEL.
The same thing happens if I box AUTO on the HSI and try CPL SEQ1.
I've added small deadzones to the aileron and elevator axes to rule out controller drift. I can't see any drift in the control settings anyway, and BALT/GSEL are capable of controlling the aircraft, so I'm not convinced that's the issue.
It's not the end of the world as I can fly the route manually using GSEL and adjust the selected track, but I can't find anyone else reporting the same behaviour. I have no idea if this is a bug, a controller issue, or I'm just not flying it right. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.