Aerotto › MSFS 2024 autopilot
The MSFS 2024 autopilot, explained
What each autopilot mode in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 does, how to fly a whole flight with it, why it sometimes won’t engage or capture the glideslope, and what it can’t do at all.
Short answer: the autopilot in every MSFS 2024 aircraft keeps a heading, altitude, speed or flight-plan route once you are airborne. You still take off, set the modes, manage flaps, gear and power, and (in most aircraft) land by hand. If you want the whole flight flown for you, gate to gate, Aerotto is a free AI autopilot add-on for MSFS 2024 that does it.
Autopilot modes
Labels differ between aircraft (a Garmin G1000 Cessna, a King Air, an Airbus), but every autopilot has one lateral mode (where it steers) and one vertical mode (what it does with altitude), plus speed or thrust control in bigger aircraft.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| AP | Autopilot master: hands the controls to the autopilot in the modes you have selected. |
| FD | Flight director: the command bars on the attitude display. The autopilot follows them; you can hand-fly them. |
| HDG | Turns to and holds the heading bug. |
| NAV / LNAV | Follows the selected navigation source: the GPS flight plan, or a VOR or localizer course. |
| APR / LOC | Arms the approach: captures the localizer and then the glideslope (or the RNAV glidepath). |
| ALT | Holds the current altitude, or captures the selected altitude when climbing or descending to it. |
| VS | Climbs or descends at a set rate (feet per minute). Watch the speed: VS will happily slow you into a stall. |
| FLC / LVL CHG | Flight level change: climbs or descends at a set airspeed, with pitch. Safer than VS for long climbs. |
| VNAV / VPATH | Follows the altitude constraints in the flight plan, descending on a computed path. |
| A/THR, AT | Autothrottle: holds a speed (or climb thrust) with the throttles. Many light aircraft have none. |
| YD | Yaw damper: keeps the tail from wagging. Usually on in turboprops and jets. |
How to use it, step by step
A typical light-aircraft flight with a Garmin-style autopilot:
- Load a flight plan in the world map or the GPS, so NAV has something to follow.
- Take off by hand and climb to a safe height, a few hundred feet at least, trimmed and in a steady climb.
- Set the heading bug to your current heading and the altitude selector to your cruise altitude before engaging.
- Press AP. Then pick HDG or NAV, and FLC or VS for the climb.
- At cruise, ALT captures the selected altitude. Set the power yourself unless the aircraft has an autothrottle.
- To descend, set a lower altitude first, then VS or FLC down (or VNAV if the aircraft has it).
- For the approach, tune the ILS (or load an RNAV approach), set the CDI to LOC or GPS, and arm APR while ALT holds the intercept altitude.
- Disconnect at the minimums, flare and land by hand.
Airliners: LNAV, VNAV and managed modes
In the Boeing 737, 747 and 787 the route and its constraints live in the FMC: LNAV follows the route, VNAV the altitudes and speeds, and the autothrottle holds the speed. The Airbus A320neo works the same way with different words: managed modes (a dot next to the knob, pushed in) follow the flight plan, selected modes (knob pulled) follow the number you dial. Nothing flies the route until the FMC or MCDU has one, so the MSFS world-map plan has to be loaded into it.
Autoland
Some airliners can land themselves on an ILS approach with both autopilots engaged and the right setup: on the A320neo, for example, APPR armed, both AP1 and AP2 on and the autothrust active. They still need you to slow down, set flaps and gear, and they don’t take off or taxi. Light aircraft have no autoland: their autopilot disconnects on final and you land.
Problems and fixes
The autopilot won’t engage, or keeps disconnecting
Most often it is a controller. A yoke, joystick or rudder axis that sends even a tiny input can fight or knock off the autopilot. Give those axes a small dead zone in Options › Controls, or unplug devices you aren’t using. Also make sure the aircraft is powered (avionics on) and not banked or pitched past the autopilot’s limits when you press AP.
It won’t hold or capture altitude
The altitude selector is the target. If it is set below you in a climb, the aircraft levels or descends. Set the altitude first, then the vertical mode. In VS, too high a rate for the power you have ends in a stall.
It won’t capture the localizer or glideslope
Check that the ILS frequency is tuned, the CDI or navigation source is on LOC (NAV1) rather than GPS, APR is armed rather than only NAV, and you reach the glideslope from below. Intercept the localizer at an angle of 30° or less.
It follows the plan but never descends
VNAV only descends if the altitude selector is set below you. In a light aircraft without VNAV, you descend yourself with VS or FLC.
Where did the AI pilot go?
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 had an AI Control option that could fly your aircraft for you. In MSFS 2024 many players find it missing or unreliable, and it never taxied or parked. That gap is why Aerotto exists.
An autopilot for the whole flight
Aerotto is a free AI autopilot for MSFS 2024. Instead of following the modes you set, it is the pilot: it sets them for you.
| Cockpit autopilot | Aerotto | |
|---|---|---|
| Pushback, start and taxi | No | Yes |
| Takeoff | No | Yes |
| Flaps, gear, speed and power | You (autothrottle: speed only) | Yes |
| Route, STARs and approaches | Once you have set it up | Yes, from the world map or SimBrief |
| Landing | You, or autoland on an ILS in some airliners | Yes, on any runway, with a flare |
| Taxi in and park | No | Yes, at a free gate |
| Aircraft without an autopilot | — | Yes, it flies the controls directly |
It flies 30+ flight-tested aircraft, from the Cessna 152 and 172 to the TBM 930, the A320neo, the 737 MAX 8, the 787-10, the 747-8, the F/A-18E, floatplanes and helicopters (see the chart). Press Take Control any time and you are flying, and Re-engage hands it back.
Let it fly the whole flight
Aerotto is free for Windows 10 and 11 with MSFS 2024. Make a free account, install, paste your key once, and press Fly it all.
Questions
How do I turn on the autopilot in MSFS 2024?
Get the aircraft trimmed and climbing at a safe height, set the heading bug and target altitude first, then press the AP button on the autopilot panel. Add a lateral mode (HDG or NAV) and a vertical mode (ALT, VS or FLC). You can also bind Autopilot master in Options, Controls.
Can the MSFS 2024 autopilot take off and land?
No autopilot in MSFS 2024 takes off or taxis. Some airliners can autoland on an ILS approach with the right setup, but light aircraft autopilots disconnect before the runway and you flare and land by hand. Aerotto, a free add-on, flies the takeoff, the route, the approach, the landing and the taxi for any supported aircraft.
Why won’t my MSFS autopilot engage or hold altitude?
The most common cause is a joystick, yoke or throttle axis that keeps sending small inputs and overrides or disconnects the autopilot. Add a small dead zone to those axes in Options, Controls. Also check that the altitude selector is set to a target, that the flight director and AP are both on, and that the aircraft is not stalled or over-banked when you engage it.
Why won’t the autopilot capture the ILS or glideslope?
APR has to be armed, the navigation source has to be the localizer (LOC or NAV1, not GPS) unless you fly an RNAV approach, the ILS frequency has to be tuned, and you have to meet the glideslope from below, usually at the published intercept altitude with ALT holding.
Is there an AI pilot in MSFS 2024?
MSFS 2020 had an AI Control option that could fly your aircraft. In MSFS 2024 many players report it missing or unreliable, and it never taxied. Aerotto is a free AI autopilot built for MSFS 2024 that flies gate to gate: pushback, taxi, takeoff, route, approach, landing and the taxi in to a gate.