I`ve loaded a simple fplan luton to birmingham into fmc and I believeall other info, before reaching ToD I set autopilot to 2700 alt and on reaching ToD the fmc reacts and the aircraft starts to descend but reaches the airfield way above the ils and consequently overshoots I`m not an expert but I`m obviously doing something wrongcan someone advise please. Also the tuturial says switch to LOC then to APP is there a time in between presses?thanks eric

Hi Eric :)I'm not too sure what you're talking about in the first bit as I don't know the full picture, however that may be due to the lack of any altitude or speed constraints entered in the FMC, often through STARs. Give a shot at entering custom altitude and speed constraints (in da manual).In regards to the last bit (haven't read tutorial lol) this might mean that when APP is selected after an intercept heading has been previously selected, the roll mode as displayed on the FMA is HDG, with VOR/LOC being armed. When it is time for the localiser to intercept, VOR/LOC becomes active, and APP then takes over. You'll also notice that ALT HOLD is the pitch mode before Glide Slope intercept, and G/S becomes the active mode when the G/S is close to intercept.Hope that helps a bit. If not, i'm sure somebody else will write something of better quality ;)Geoffrey BaleanCanberra, AU (YSCB)http://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg http://www.vozvirtual.org/images/pmdgforumsignature.png"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. All is well!"Pentium 4 2.4GHZ, P4G8X Deluxe with Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet, 512MB RAM, LG Flatron L1710S 17" LCD, GeForce MX440 Millenium Silver, Creative Soundblaster Audigy, Logitech Speakers, CH Yoke & Rudder, Quantum Fireballp AS30.0 - Basically nothing crash hot :)MSFS 2004 acof, PMDG 737 6/7/8/900, Activesky 2004, Flight One Cessna 152, SquawkBox 2.3 w/ guage, ServInfo 2.2, FS AutoStart, FS Real Time, FSUIPC 3.212 (unreg.:()

Make sure you've entered all the correct data in the FMC DES page, you've picked out the ILS runway to land on, and use a PATH DESNick B.Continental Airlines 737NG Pilothttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/800driver.jpg--AMD Athlon XP 3200+ @ 2.2 Ghz (Equal to 2.8 ghz)400W Power supply3x 80 mm Case FansSoyo VIA KT600 Dragon PlusnVidia GeForce FX 5200 128 mb2 x 512 PC400100 GB Western DigitalMicrosoft Sidewinder Precision 2

"I`ve loaded a simple fplan luton to birmingham into fmc and I believe all other info, before reaching ToD I set autopilot to 2700 alt and on reaching ToD the fmc reacts and the aircraft starts to descend but reaches the airfield way above the ils and consequently overshoots I`m not an expert but I`m obviously doing something wrongcan someone advise please." I would check to make sure you set the FMC alt to reach a specific height depending on the distance from the RWY. I normally set the FMC to turn for the ILS usually between 2500 and 3000 feet, based on the flight plan (and depending on the terrain or course) but you can get the details of the ILS angle from FSNavigator and work it out from there. "Also the tuturial says switch to LOC then to APP is there a time in between presses?"Normally, you press the VOR/LOC to get the plane turn at the right point to join the ILS, and when you do, it is usually displayed in white. When the plane turns, during the rurn at some point, this changes to green, which means it is established on the LOC. It is at this point I tend to switch to the APP mode, although sometimes I do wait a bit until the vertical glideslope indicator comes down nearer the centre (normally about 2 or 3 pips above the glide slope.The only reason I wait is because sometimes the ATC or FMC will bring you in to join the flight path quite a way out and if you are in quite low and engage the APP then, it can be quite a slow approach. In VOR/LOC mode you can just bump up the speed a little until just before you intercept the glideslope, then engage APP mode and slow down to VREF+5 for the final descent.(Its a bit of a mouthful but I hope it helps. Works fine for me.)cheers,Ronniehttp://ronnie.vandelaak.com/baw644.gif

"I`ve loaded a simple fplan luton to birmingham into fmc and I believe all other info, before reaching ToD I set autopilot to 2700 alt and on reaching ToD the fmc reacts and the aircraft starts to descend but reaches the airfield way above the ils and consequently overshoots I`m not an expert but I`m obviously doing something wrongcan someone advise please." Make sure that you are entering your winds in the DES FORCAST page. It gives you the ability to add up to three altitudes I normally enter FL260, 16000, and 8000. This then allows the FMC to properly compute the TOD and perform a decent with out giving you the DRAG REQUIRED or arriving too high. Also I add a FIX for my destination with a radius of 20 miles. Once I get down to 10000 I take over the control in the LVL Change mode and make sure that I arrive at the 20 mile mark at the proper altitude. As for the VOR/LOC that should be engaged just prior to crossing the ILS, this will alow the A/P to acquire the Horizontal portion of the ILS as it feels it needs to. Once established on the ILS watch the glide slope, once it becomes active wait for the bar to get 1 notch above the center mark and then click the APP buton this allows the A/P to intercept the glide slope and take command of the vertical portion of the ILS. Once you are in final configuration and speed you can switch on A/P B if you have both NAV radios tuned to the ILS frequencie and you will be on a Dual channel approach or CATIII full autoland.

>Make sure that you are entering your winds in the DES FORCAST>page. It gives you the ability to add up to three altitudes I>normally enter FL260, 16000, and 8000. Where do get the winds aloft at fl 260 - fl 160 - fl 80 for the flightplan you are flying?I have the same problem of overshooting or drag and I agree with you it's the right way to do: enter the DES FORECAST!Thanks for the help,Denis Janssen

I use these two sites for the US http://adds.aviationweather.gov/flight_path/ and http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/Winds/Aloft.cgi you can also use http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/wafswind.shtml I don't have it but if you have activesky it is in that program. Have fun with your preplanning to me it is as much fun as the flight anymore.

Getting to the right Altitude and Speed by Glide Slope Intercept.During the FMC preflight, on the LEGS page, type in the scratch pad 150/XX with 150 being the Speed and XX being the Altitude at the ILS Final Approach Fix/Glide Slope Intercept waypoint. Then right line select the 150/XX on the Final Approach Fix/Glide Slope Intercept waypoint, EX. 150/30. The 150 is 150 knots and is the lowest speed the FMC will let you preflight with (you could use 180 knot iuf you want to, it shouldn't make much difference). This should should push your TOD back and start you down earlier in order to be properlly configured by the time the airplane reaches the Glide Slope Intercept point.Push APP or VOR/LOC?If you have been cleared for the approach by ATC then just push the APP button. No need to push the VOR/LOC first.If you have not been cleared for the approach by ATC but have been cleared to join the ILS LOC course and have an altitude restriction with ATC then you'll only want to push the VOR/LOC button in this case. This will let the airplane join the ILS LOC course but keep the airplane from going below the altitude restriction which is what would happen if you were to push the APP button. Floyd