AP & Non-ILS landing question

[Squishy 0]

Ey all,Well i was told to make a new thread for these questions, so here goes::)a) Sometimes i accidentally (or not) press the V/S or ALT HOLD button while in a LNAV/VNAV path...Now after i've done this, i can't, no matter what I try, get VNAV to engage again.Pressing VNAV results in nothing..and i cant get the V/S button to turn off. When i turn off FD & A/T, all lights turn off..then i press AP disengage..but when i turn on FD it jumps back to V/S! Pressing it wont turn it off & pressing VNAV does nothing either. I checked the manual (AP & FD section) but cant find what im looking for.please help;]:( whats a good way to land on non-ILS runways? Do i just need to manually try and land it using HDG & the runway course?

[Guest ColdBear]

Walter,I can't answer question a, but I know a lot about b.On a non-ILS approach you fly the airplane down to MDA then level off till you decision point.(a point you choose from where you can land the airplane. on our light aircrafts thats usually in the same place as the MAPt.) now, you you don't see the runway at MAPt, you'll have to go around. if you do see it, you should disconnect the A/P and F/D throttle back a bit and make a turn and decent towards the runway. a non-ILS is a non-precision approach and you'll sometimes/most times end up a bit off course. that should be it. And do remmember to follow the VASI/PAPI when they are there.Martin

[Squishy 0]

Hm ye landing a Cessna isn't such a problem but a 747-400 is quite hard IMO..unless i take 100nm to get it right..

[Qavion 19]

Are you flying straight and level when you accidentally push the V/S or ALT HOLD buttons? If so, I'm not sure what you're doing wrong.If you were in a descent, did you try resetting your MCP altitude to a lower value? If I had difficulties, I would probably dial in a lower altitude, switch to FLCH, recapture the VNAV vertical profile (with a bit of extra drag... aka speedbrakes) and re-engage VNAV.Perhaps a RW pilot can chime in here? I'm not sure of the correct procedure for doing this sort of thing.Cheers.Q> イアン

[Guest ColdBear]

Walter,what your flying doesn't really matter because the basic technique is the same - Pull back it goes up etc.All you got to do is concentrate on holding the MDA till either time is up or you're at a DME distance. The level flight segment is usually only one or two miles long. You can even program the entire approach into the FMC and fly it as a CDA approach, just as long as your visual when descending below the MDA. The rest should be easy - flare and landing like from a ILS.Now try this with two engines out on the same side and tell me about quite hard!Hope this helped a bit :-DMartin

[Squishy 0]

hm not sure how to explain it best so i'll make a vid soon.I just dont get why i cant force it to VNAV when i want to

[Guest vvanrij]

Well as I'm tought (on the md11 and airbus a310), you fly non-precision approaches automatic (using fpa or v/s, and hdg/track/localizer/vor mode)The MDA is also your decision point (as with bigger aircraft, when you don't see the runway by then, you will have a very small change of landing it (with safe maneouvring).Begin with VOR/DME approaches, and later try some NDB/DME approaches (NDB's tend to be harder to follow), and try it with calm winds at first I suggest. When you become visual, disconnect the A/P and A/T, try to line up with the runway as soon as possible (small corrections), and maintain your 3/deg glidepath. Its also helpfull to keep your FD on, because if you used your modes correctly, it will show you the track (corrected by you for the wind) and 3/deg glidepath to follow. If the PAPI/VASI shows that your high/low or you see that you are drifting away from the runway, you have to fly out of your FD to correct.-Victor