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Piaggio P180 FMS and Saitek compatability

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 4:13 pm
by liam kelly
Had an interesting time in the X-Plane Piaggio P180 this evening flying KLAX to KSFO - Following an approved change from the filed GPS flight plan, to land instead at KMRY with vectors to the field, I switched the FMS back to Nav1, so that I could use the Saitek AP panel, which is faster to set up for heading and altitude changes. There was quite a struggle as the previous altitudes and directions overrode any new inputs, even after the AP was totally turned off. The fix in the end was to INIT the FMS, thus erasing all previous content.
I'm enjoying the Piaggio, having transitioned to it from the Carenado B58, but it takes getting used to, especially around how it interacts with Saitek panels. Another quirk is the sound, if you want to hear the ATC properly, you need to set the engine and prop sound levels to about 30%, and leave the remainder at 100%, otherwise it is seriously difficult to understand the comms, and it sounds more like the radio isn't working. Didn't have this problem on the Cessna or Baron.
Liam.