How do I deal with the "Air" warning?

[Guest cliffie1931]

Prior to take off I have a blinking yellow warning reading "AIR" on the FMCU on the bottom right. (As shown in the attachment.)How do I deal with it please?Cliff

[Cuddly1956 1]

Cliff, open then system display menu, click air, or click the overhead and turn the apu air off - it's because the apu is supplying air for the aircraft when engine bleed air is available.I had the same lolAlso when parked at the arrival gate remember to shutdown the apu as is doesn't shut down automatically as it does when finished when ready for taxi and you deselect the items.Even a worse mistake I made was to engage the autothrottle when on taxi; that is 'fun' or brown alert lol.John Ellison

[VIPERGTSR01 22]

When you see a message down there like that you should check the appropriate system display page, in this case 'air', the air button (on the console directly behind the fuel selectors) would have a white bar on it indicating it wants your attention.

Even a worse mistake I made was to engage the autothrottle when on taxi; that is 'fun' or brown alert lol.John Ellison

Wow you must apply a lot of throttle during taxi to have autothrottle clamp.Jay V.

[Guest]

Wow you must apply a lot of throttle during taxi to have autothrottle clamp.

Well, I had the same. Once. :( I have a Logitech joystick with a not too big throttle wheel: before you know it you pass the N1 65%! It's only a matter of millimeters. So it all depends on you hardware, I think. :( Luckily it happened to me while I was turning unto the runway, so I was able to get airborn without problems. But it's a funny experience when the plane suddenly moves forward like that!

[mfrantz 45]

Well, I had the same. Once. :( I have a Logitech joystick with a not too big throttle wheel: before you know it you pass the N1 65%! It's only a matter of millimeters. So it all depends on you hardware, I think. :( Luckily it happened to me while I was turning unto the runway, so I was able to get airborn without problems. But it's a funny experience when the plane suddenly moves forward like that!

There is no reason to have ATS armed while taxiing. If you don't arm ATS (pressing AUTOFLIGHT) until when lined-up on the rwy for take-off you will avoid this kind of problem. As far as I know this is the practice of some (but not all) MD-11 operators.

[shortspecialbus 13]

Well, the tutorial does have you set autoflight during taxi :) But you just need more patience if you are throttling even close to 65% to get moving, even with a small throttle!! ;)-stefan

[Guest cliffie1931]

Cliff, open then system display menu, click air, or click the overhead and turn the apu air off - it's because the apu is supplying air for the aircraft when engine bleed air is available.I had the same lolAlso when parked at the arrival gate remember to shutdown the apu as is doesn't shut down automatically as it does when finished when ready for taxi and you deselect the items.Even a worse mistake I made was to engage the autothrottle when on taxi; that is 'fun' or brown alert lol.John Ellison

I'm not quite sure where to find the "APU AIR" in order to turn it off. I'm including attachments showing which buttons are currently activated that are, I believe, relevant to AIR.Can you direct me to where it is please John?Regards................Cliff

[shortspecialbus 13]

Either picture, there is a button labeled "APU" and it has a blue "ON." Click that one, it shuts off the APU bleed air and also will shut down the APU. I recommend doing it after you have 3 good starts.-stefan

[Cuddly1956 1]

As Stefan says above, button lit with APU on it.... by the way it seems you don't have any fms data set up there at all as no Vspeeds or routing is showing so apu is the least of your worries. Unless you just set it up to show :( I'd stick to the tutorial until you can get it right (not having a go, just an observation). Happy flying.Oi my 'taxi' problem was with trying to use the keyboard as I was too idle to plug the yoke in... tapping the F4 key by mistake didn't help... Niether did tapping F1 after either as it went to RTO :( That's when I thought I'd better read the manual.All good fun anyway and at least no lawsuits from virtual passengers :( John Ellison

[Guest cliffie1931]

As Stefan says above, button lit with APU on it.... by the way it seems you don't have any fms data set up there at all as no Vspeeds or routing is showing so apu is the least of your worries. Unless you just set it up to show :( I'd stick to the tutorial until you can get it right (not having a go, just an observation). Happy flying.Oi my 'taxi' problem was with trying to use the keyboard as I was too idle to plug the yoke in... tapping the F4 key by mistake didn't help... Niether did tapping F1 after either as it went to RTO :( That's when I thought I'd better read the manual.All good fun anyway and at least no lawsuits from virtual passengers :( John Ellison

Right! Thanks guys...............Incidentally you're correct about there being no FMS data as I wanted configure the aircraft for take off before programming the FMCU.I'm doing it this way as I'm fortunate in having a retired B.A. Airline Captain spending a few hours with me on Wednesday to help me brush up my programming skills and I want to therefore concentrate this precious time on the FMCU.Regards................Cliff