Roger that. Thanks. It's been some long days, but I'm really making progress on the throttle/thrust issue. Big thanks to the snow (work has been cancelled for the last 3 days) and Roy Holmes (showed me what all that engine gibberish in the .air file does and how they relate).
As for resolving the Pitch Auto Trim issue, our buddy SPINS asked one of his buddies (Hornet Driver) about the System. See below.
Jamal,
In all of those scenarios, the jet will attempt to maintain 1g flight. It attempts to capture 1g flight which is done through flight path angle, and not nose position. So in all those scenarios the jet will adjust pitch to maintain 1g on the aircraft. This makes it very easy to lose track of airspeed because the jet doesn't respond to airspeed like a normal aircraft would. This is why the Hornet has such a good autothrottle system, and it's standard to use autothrottle whenever your attention isn't focused 100% on flying the jet.
Although I haven't specifically tested those scenarios, here is my understanding. I will jump in a simulator and flight test them and get back to you with 100% accurate answers. But the textbook answer would be;
1.) The jet will maintain roughly 10 degrees nose up in 1g flight.
2.) The jet will maintain 1g flight through nose position. The nose will stay at 30 degrees although the flight path will begin to fall and the end state here will be the nose pitched up 30 degrees and the jet falling out of the sky likely around 45-50 degrees alpha. The nose may start to fall off slightly as the rate of descent becomes excessive, but it will not fall like a normal aircraft to maintain trimmed speed since the jet is constantly retrimming for 1g when it's in UA mode.
3/4.) In both these modes the aircraft will continue to accelerate nose down at 1g until aft stick is programmed.
Again, this is my understanding of the FCS system, but I've never actually let go of the stick and allowed the condition to progress into the extremes that you're asking about. I'll write up a kneeboard card and test it out in the sim (probably Monday) and let you know what happens. Any other situations you'd like tested while I'm making the trip to the box?
-Evan