VNAV Path question

[MarkW 1,490]

Last night I was flying from Denver to LAX. At cruise level FL310 I noticed a couple of strange things.1) about every 20 minutes the engines would go to idle for 30 seconds and then back up again. Is this just the FMC "catching up" to the path ?2) At least twice on the flight the entire warning panel lit up for a few seconds then back to normal.Is the above normal in the 767PIC ???Mark.

[Guest united777]

I get those sometimes.. normally happens when MSN instant messenger is loaded.. make sure you don't have your Joystick active when you are flying and doing other things..AKA-surfin the net, chatting etc..- and that panel warning lights. I think its just a bug.. I could be wrong. Hope htis helped!http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d51a5440e3ce469.jpg"come fly our friendly skies" (by friendly, we MEAN FRIENDLY ;)

[Guest GeorgeDorkofikis]

The engines go sometime to idle when you access the FS menu and return. I don't know if this is an FS problem or a panel bug. Normally, you don't need to go to the menu during flight.However, during flight and after you have engaged the autothrottle make sure you have set your joystick throttle to full. Otherwise, every once in a while PIC will 'read' the idle throttle from the joystick and thus move the throttle to idle until the autothrottle takes over again. This is normal and happens to the real plane too.You should not touch the throttles when autothrottle is engaged unless the THR/HLD is announciated on the FMA during take-off to allow for rejected take-off.Also, there is an option in the PIC carrier options where you can tell PIC to ignore joystick throttle input when autothrottle is engaged. Enable it and your problem should be solved.The warning panel lit seems to be a small bug. Consider it a periodical system check... Nothing to worry about.Fly safe.George DorkofikisAthens, Hellas