Steerpoints/SPI's floating above ground?!?!

First, what an excellent support group here. Wording questions about some things can be as befuddling as the elusive answer. TIA for trying to decipher.... have tried searches on "SPI ground stabilize" but fruitless results.

I find steerpoints (which I intend to make SPI) floating a few hundred feet above ground in certain missions..... hunting/pecking with China hat and TMS up, etc. seems futile.

Is this a "ground stabilize" step I'm missing? Is there an option that needs to be toggled or is there a button that will put the point on the ground?

Much appreciate ideas......

When entering a waypoint in the Mission Editor, you need to ensue that the ground elevation is also entered.

When entering a way point in flight, by using the CDU, you need to do the same. Usually this is given for you as you enter the position co-ordinates.

In what way are these points being entered?

By default, steerpoints are assigned to the planned flight altitude (usually 6562' MSL if not changed in the mission editor). If you set the steerpoint as SPI, it will point to that point in space, including that altitude.

If you check the HUD explanation on p363 in the manual, you'll see line item #16 — this is what tells you the current target range and altitude data (in the manual, it shows “DTS” because that's where it gets that data from in that particular situation). If you have a steerpoint selected and SPI slaved to it, it should show the steerpoint/SPI altitude if one has been entered, or DTS if it's still at the default stored value.

To solve your problem, there are a couple of things you can do.

1. You can go through the flight plan in the mission editor to ensure that all steerpoints actually sit at 0 AGL, which requires a bit of pre-planning (and isn't available online), but changes the stored DTS value.

2. Once in the mission, you can edit the steerpoint elevation in the CDU, which is a bit of a faff, but changes the stored value to something other than what's in the DTS.

or

3. That line item #16 mentioned above? You can edit it directly and immediately from the UFC using the “DATA” rocker. Check pages 254–257 in the manual for all the gory details, but essentially, you can enter an elevation edit mode right on the HUD and either use the data rocker to step that elevation down to ground level or just enter a number, press the UFC ENT key to make that the elevation, et voilà, your steerpoint is now on the ground (or near enough) as it should be. If the steerpoint is SPI, the SPI will of course follow it down into the ground.

So, basically:

1. STPT as SPI and Slave all to SPI as usual, and look at a lot of pointless sky.
   
2. HUD as SOI (mainly for good measure so you don't accidentally change anything else).
   
3. UFC DATA rocker up or down – the altitude for the target (in this case the STPT) will show up if it didn't before, blinking to denote edit mode is active.
   
4. Punch in a sensible number on the UFC (if you know the actual ground level, punch in that number; if not, try 0 — worst case is you're pointing down too much and have to slew the SPI upwards a little to see your target).
   
5. Confirm with UFC ENT — the target altitude number will go steady to signify you're no longer editing; the SPI and any sensors slaved to it will move over to the new altitude and hopefully show something blow-up:able.
   
6. Go about your business.
   

@Tippis Great tip thanks, I never realized there was a shorter route than through the cdu.

By default, steerpoints are assigned to the planned flight altitude (usually 6562' MSL if not changed in the mission editor). If you set the steerpoint as SPI, it will point to that point in space, including that altitude.

 

If you check the HUD explanation on p363 in the manual, you'll see line item #16 — this is what tells you the current target range and altitude data (in the manual, it shows “DTS” because that's where it gets that data from in that particular situation). If you have a steerpoint selected and SPI slaved to it, it should show the steerpoint/SPI altitude if one has been entered, or DTS if it's still at the default stored value.

 

To solve your problem, there are a couple of things you can do.

1. You can go through the flight plan in the mission editor to ensure that all steerpoints actually sit at 0 AGL, which requires a bit of pre-planning (and isn't available online).

2. Once in the mission, you can edit the steerpoint elevation in the CDU, which is a bit of a faff…

 

or

 

3. That line item #16 mentioned above? You can edit it directly and immediately from the UFC using the “DATA” rocker. Check pages 254–257 in the manual for all the gory details, but essentially, you can enter an elevation edit mode right on the HUD and either use the data rocker to step that elevation down to ground level or just enter a number, press the UFC ENT key to make that the elevation, et voilà, your steerpoint is now on the ground (or near enough) as it should be. If the steerpoint is SPI, the SPI will of course follow it down into the ground.

 

 

So, basically:

1. STPT as SPI and Slave all to SPI as usual, and look at a lot of pointless sky.
   
2. HUD as SOI
   
3. UFC DATA rocker up or down – the altitude for the target (in this case the STPT) will show up if it didn't before, blinking to denote edit mode is active.
   
4. Punch in a sensible number on the UFC (if you know the actual ground level, punch in that number; if not, try 0 — worst case is you're pointing down too much and have to slew the SPI upwards a little to see your target).
   
5. Confirm with UFC ENT — the target altitude number will go steady to signify you're no longer editing; the SPI and any sensors slaved to it will move over to the new altitude and hopefully show something blow-up:able.
   
6. Go about your business.
   

Excellent post Tippis :)