Auto-landing 747-400

[Guest Joshuah Wetzel]

Hey everyone, I'm new to flight simulation, so any help you can give me will be a considerable amount of information. I am trying to figure out the auto-land function on the PMDG 747-400 Queen of the skies. -What are the steps in order to configure the auto-land-How do I intercept the ILS frequency-Where do I enter the frequencyThese are the problems I am trying to overcome in the flight simulation world. And yes, I have read over the manual, but found it not to be clear enough for me to understand.Any help would be greatly appreciated. ThanksJoshuah WetzelE-mail: joshuahwetzel@gmail.com

[cowpatz 243]

Hi Joshuah,An auto land in the 747 is very simple.On the ARR/DEP page select the ILS approach you wish to use along with any STARS and transitions etc. This will automatically select the ILS frequency for you. If you go to the NAV RAD page you will see the ILS FREQ entered. Do not do this too far from destination or all you will see is PARK. The park position removes the LOC and GS indicators from the screens when not needed. You cannot autoland off a non precision approach.Make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to get nicely established on the ILS.At 1500 ft you will see the 3 AP's engage and the rudder will now become actively controlled by the AP's (instead of just yaw dampers). You will see a white ROLLOUT and FLARE appear above LOC and GS. This indicates that the rollout and flare manouvers to come later are armed. At around 500ft the AP will start to decrab for any crosswind component. Shortly after it will trim back to assist in the flare manoeuver. You can use Flap 25 or Flap 30 for an autoland. At around 40ft the Flare manouever will commnce and you will see on the FMA a green FLARE with a green box momentarily around it. The autothrottles will retard as well. At about 5 ft to touchdown ROLLOUT will go green and be boxed as per FLARE. The AP will maintain the centreline. As long as you have autobrake selected the aircraft will start to decelerate. It is up to you to select reverse thrust. When you want to take control to taxy the aircraft then disconnect the AP.Basically all you do is hook onto the ILS as per normal and sit back and watch.If for some reason the ILS freq does not appear you can manually enter it on the NAV RAD page. It maust be in the form of FREQ/INBD CRSE ie. 109.0/051.CheersSteve

[markadeane 272]

Just to expand on what Cowpatz said, you should try and intercept the localiser beam at an angle no bigger than 30 degrees, anything above 30 degrees and the LOC mode will 'chase' the localiser and never fully settle down. I find hitting it at 20 degress with speed back to 160-170 knots is best, but Cowpatz can have the authoritative say on that.It's all about having a plan too, get everything set up nice and early, make sure you've reined in the speed before intercepting the localiser. I aim to have the aircraft stable on the ILS (ie gear down, landing flaps selected, speedbrake armed, loc and gs captured, speed at Vref30+5) at the time that the LAND 3 annunciation comes up passing 1,500 feet. Unless of course I've been asked to keep my speed up by ATC which is unusual.Anyone wish to offer technique corrections?

[Guest Joshuah Wetzel]

Couple problems with the auto-land. When I am trying to select the ILS freqency, sometimes the runway that I have been cleared to land on is not on the list. What do I do if that happens? The airport is KSDF (Louisville, KY).Joshuah Wetzel

[Guest Joshuah Wetzel]

Okay, here is what I am doing in a step-by-step guide. Please correct me if I am wrong; I have not completed the auto-land because my computer keeps freezing up, but this is what I have down:-Open the FMC-Click on ARR/DEP-Click on one of the ARRs-Select the ILS frequency for the runway you have been cleared to landThis is what I have successfully done so far. If anyone knows the rest of the procedure in a step-by-step format, please complete it for me. I seem to complete things better if it is in this format. Sorry for any inconvenience. ThanksJoshuah Wetzel

[markadeane 272]

OK, we'll go with your example of KSDF. Firstly, you can probably get the procedure file for KSDF off www.navdata.at, install it as per instructions, then you'll have all the approaches. KSDF is not one of the FS major airports and so may not have as detailed coverage as say KJFK or EGLL.Once you have done this, let's say you want to do the ILS autoland on Rwy 35L. Here's the key info: ILS Freq: 109.35 - Approach course 346 deg. Elevation 462 feet.As you are about to start your descent into KSDF, go into the FMC DEP/ARR page and select the 'ILS35L' approach. Once you have confirmed this selection using the EXEC key on the FMC, the approach will be dropped into the flight plan. View it using the LEGS page on the FMC to confirm it is in place.What we want to do is fly a traffic pattern to intercept the ILS, it sounds a bit involved but it really isn't too bad.The first part of the approach will involve a downwind leg at about 220 knots, 5500 feet, heading 166 and the runway about 5-7 miles off to the left of the aircraft.As you come abeam the landing end of the runway (ie it's off your left shoulder), bring the speed back to 200, start a moderate descent down to 3000 feet. As the runway end passes your '7 o'clock' position, turn left 90 degrees onto a heading of 076, reduce speed to 180 knots, and verify that the ILS scales are showing up on your PFD.You should be able to see the runway extended centerline on your nav display, as you get to within 3 miles of it, you need to turn onto an intercept heading. In this case we want to hit the Localiser at a 30 degree angle, so we will turn left onto 016. You should now see the airport out to your '10 o'clock'. Press the LOC button on the MCP, and reduce speed to 160 knots. Gear down, flap 20. Check your glideslope indicator on the right of your PFD horizon. If the diamond is at the top of the scale, that's good, you want to intercept the glideslope from below. If the diamond is near the centre or below the centre, continue the descent down to 2000 feet at about 700 fpm.Once the aircraft nears the beam, the LOC mode will automatically line the aircraft up on the approach. As it does this, arm the APP mode and check your glideslope. If you're below it, STOP the descent now. If you're above it, increase the rate of descent to about 900 fpm, the idea is to fly onto that approach path, at which point the GS mode of the autopilot will kick in and start flying the aircraft down the glideslope. Once this is all happening, reduce speed to Vref30+5 knots, lower the remaining flaps, and arm the speed brake. Look across to your Autopilot Command buttons and make sure all three autopilots are engaged. (Question for Cowpatz: Do these autopilots automatically arm when you engage the APP mode or is it manually done?)Passing through 1500 feet (agl I think?) The autopilot does a self-check and if all is well, you'll see LAND 3 annunciated, and the ROLLOUT and FLARE modes armed on the PFD. At this point, the aircraft will do an autolanding. Cowpatz's instructions apply from here.Hope this helps, if you have any questions fire away.

[Qavion 19]

Joshua.. if you don't want to mess around with the FMC, just enter the ILS frequency and course directly into the MCDU on the NAV RAD page in the following formatFFF.FF/CCC or FFF.F/CCCWhen flying on an intercept course with the ILS and after the Localiser pointer has comes alive on your PFD, hit the LOC button on the MCP. When the autopilot has established you on the LOC, and ATC has cleared you to descend, and the G/S pointer is visible, hit the APP button. In the real world, you will have to worry about false G/S paths, so check your charts at specific altitudes to make sure these align with Marker Beacons (if there are any)The real aircraft can handle an intercept of up to 120 degrees off the runway centerline, but it's not recommended to do this.Other than configuring your flaps, gear, Autospeedbrake and Autobrakes and keeping an eye out for excessive crosswinds and tailwinds, there is not much to do (until touchdown) other than monitor your instruments :(On touchdown, make sure your speedbrake deploys, and then apply reversers as required.Cheers.Q>

[Guest Joshuah Wetzel]

To: MarkHey, is there any way you can give me the information on the flight (i.e.:ILS Freq.) you just gave me above, but going from KIND (Indianapolis International) to Chicago Intnational?Sorry for the inconvenience, but every time I try to land at KSDF my computer freezes up.Oh, and how do you activate the reverse thrust?Joshuah Wetzel

[markadeane 272]

You can get the required info at a site like www.airnav.comPut in the airport code to get a wealth of info including approach charts etc. KIND is the correct code for Indy, Chicago O'Hare is KORD.Reversers are activated using the F2 key. Good luck! Hear from you soon.

[Qavion 19]

"(Do these autopilots automatically arm when you engage the APP mode or is it manually done?)"On the real aircraft, yes, but in MSFS, you have to wait until you see the G/S and LOC pointers.Cheers.Q>

[Guest Joshuah Wetzel]

Okay, so I flew from KORD (Chicago International) to KIND (Indianapolis International), I opened the FMC, went to the DEP/ARR page, selected my runway, but when I opened the NAV RAD page, the ILS frequency was not entered. I tried entering it manually (111.75) but the FMC said it was an "Invalid Entry." So what do I do then?Joshuah Wetzel

[markadeane 272]

You don't want to select the runway in the DEP/ARR page, you want to select the ILS APPROACH for the runway.Look for an entry on that page that looks like 'ILS34L' or similar, depending on which runway you are aiming to land on.If no approaches show up, then either download the procedure file for the airport from www.navdata.at or pick a 'major' airport like KJFK which will have the ILS procedures already stored in the FMC database.

[Qavion 19]

"I tried entering it manually (111.75) but the FMC said it was an "Invalid Entry." So what do I do then?"At the risk of repeating myself...."just enter the ILS frequency and course directly into the MCDU on the NAV RAD page in the following formatFFF.FF/CCC or FFF.F/CCC"This information is also found in the manual.Rgds.Q>

[Guest Joshuah Wetzel]

Okay, so I enter the ILS frequency and course directly into the MCDU on the NAV RAD page. I have the ILS frequency, but does anyone know where I can locate the course?Joshuah Wetzel

[markadeane 272]

This was already explained. Go to www.airnav.com where you'll find things like ILS frequencies, inbound courses, etc.My other suggestion was to conduct a flight to an airport that DOES have saved procedures for it, KJFK I think being one of them.