FMC and Approach

[Guest dimaleo]

With nice help from this forum's guys, I did manage to take off and cruise with 747 FSX with almost no errors ! Now I'm stumbled on approach procedure. As instructed by manual, I set alt to 0, ready for FMC to begin the descent manoeuvre. However, T/D indicator never appears on ND (which as I undestood should, just prior my plane starts to descent). Now, I suspect that because by this time I did not select STAR and RWY number FMC doesn't know when to begin to descent (but it knows the destination point anyway, is that so?). Is this a problem? if so, my question is how can I know in advance which STAR to choose as I can't contact destination airport to see which runway at work (still no options available through ATC window). So, I am confused here.And which STAR to select, there are so many of them for every runway. Should normally ATC provide with the proper STAR for working runway? What you guys do?Thaks, Leonard.

[downscc 1,327]

Giving us the destination would make it easier to help you. In general, for the US, arrivals are published to provide a transition between enroute and the terminal based on direction. Therefore, if you arriving from the East you would select the STAR that provides an Easterly arrival. There are usually various transitons that extend the arrival route from the arrival "gate" to a number of VORs or fixes to connect airways to the arrival gate.One way to learn how to use STARs is to fly real world routes, which you can find for the US at http://flightaware.com and the recent IFR flight plans they provide under pilot resources. Use this same web site to look at the STAR charts and notice how the real traffic flows.Normally, your flight plan that you enter during preflight will include the STAR but not necessarily the approach. I think the flight planning is one of the most interesting parts of the preflight and is not something to be ignored. Lots of charts and experience make it easier, but the experience comes with time.In Europe, the arrivals are different in that they are named for the arrival runway; which is why not knowing your destination makes it hard to provide a response detailed enough to be of much use. Hope this helps a little.See also: http://ops.precisionmanuals.com/wiki/SIDSTARS

[Airbrakes 0]

Just to chime in on this,The FMC should generate a TOD with or without a arrival runway or altitude restriction entered. The ETA to the TOD can be viewed on progress page one. Also, The MCP altitude usually doesn't get set to 0 unless the arrival airfield TDZE is below SSL. Usually, it's set to the runway TDZE rounded up to the next highest hundred, or in reality a cleared altitude by ATC or the restriction altitude as per the STAR as this gives you an extra reference on the EHSI with the altitude range arc and you won't end up busting any assigned altitude clearances by ATC. The final adjustment doesn't come until you're on the final leg.

[michal 44]

And which STAR to select, there are so many of them for every runway. Should normally ATC provide with the proper STAR for working runway? What you guys do?

Yes, ATC would normally tell you which STAR they want you to fly, this is something that can be changed later into the flight no matter what you filed in the beginning.