I have just got my MD-11 and am having the exact same problem, so i am reading with interest. I am not yet an accomplished sim pilot so this is a very helpful thread. I do however have another error that has shown up and that is that when going to the star page, i do not have BLM1G star in my list. The closest i have is BLM2G. I have downloaded and istalled the latest nav data from Navigraph.

The closest i have is BLM2G. I have downloaded and istalled the latest nav data from Navigraph.

That's why. The BLM2G is the newer version, I believe (I don't fly much on that side of the sea, so I'm not the most knowledgeable with procedures over there).

That's why. The BLM2G is the newer version, I believe (I don't fly much on that side of the sea, so I'm not the most knowledgeable with procedures over there).

Thanks Kyle. Just finished my first complete MD-11 flight using that star and everything worked flawlessly. Now i have to figure out how to approach and land without all that autoflight and profile stuff.Regards,

The way your FMA is showing:0.825 Thrust | Nav1 | Hold 34000 (in white)...makes me think that you're not setting the systems up properly. Any time you're following FMC direction, the FMA should show things in magenta. When you're setting your altitudes on the MCP are you pushing or pulling the knob? If so, you shouldn't. If you accidentally left or right click that knob, press PROF, and the FMC will take back over. Note that in your descent picture, you selected 4000, but the FMA still says HOLD 34006. To me, that's telling me that you pushed the knob, which sets it to ALT HOLD at whatever your current altitude is (at that point, apparently 34006).One more thing:Make sure you set 29.92/1013 above the transition level. At 34000, no matter what country you're in, there's no way you should have your altimeter set to 29.22 :(

Tried again tonight and the same problems, definitely not pushing the knob and being extra careful about this. I take your point about the altimeter but would it be enough to skew the whole flight? I found a few other anomalies listed in summary post at the end of this. I click on PROf just to ensure as well.

John,your FMC cruising level is wrong, for whatever reason it is not set to FL340, hence the white 34000 indication on the FMA. Double check the INIT page having 340 as your cruising level. The FMA has to show 34000 in magenta colour.Cheers,Markus

Markus I checked this again on tonights attempt and the INIT page most definately had 340 as my cruise level. The FMA did not reflect this though as you mention.

Agree with the above, you've got your cruise FL set at FL345 presumably because you've inadvertantly turned the alt knob to 34,500 and the FMC has interpreted that as your new cruise (INIT page as mentioned).Alt knob: Right click for Climb Thrust or Idle Descent, left click for Alt Hold.While we're on it, millibars/hectopascals everywhere in the world except Northern America, TA in the UK is 6,000ft and your RVSM altitude for that direction of flight should be an odd FL (if you're going to do it, you might as well do it properly :( )

I have to disagree! My cruise level at no point shows 34500 !!

A couple of things I have noticed about the tutorial and the differences I get.1/ From the load planner tutorial it says TOCG 20.6, but I get 20.0 even though the other numbers match up.2/ In the FMC WEIGHT INIT my UFOB number is 108.0 but the tutorial shows 30.0, so I change it to the tutorial figure of 30.0 Before this I have a TOGW of 278.0 which then changes to match 207.4 after the change matching the tutorial.3 Entering 370 FMC preparation as the cruise level throws up an error message whereas 340 seems OK4/ The magenta parts you guys mention I do not see, on climb the figure is in white.I have followed this tutorial to the word other than the mistake with the altimeter setting being slightly out which I corrected earlier. Im wondering if it is possible something outside of FSX is causing these issues though i do not have any add ons as such.John.

I have to disagree! My cruise level at no point shows 34500 !!

Fifth screenshot down, PROF is expecting to be at DIK and LIMGO at FL345, your cruise altitude.

3/ Entering 370 FMC preparation as the cruise level throws up an error message whereas 340 seems OK

Try putting your weights in first (INIT page 2) and then coming back to the cruise FL. Passing through FL120 your optimum is FL365 and max is FL384.If you can't solve the issues a re-install might be worth a try.

Fifth screenshot down, PROF is expecting to be at DIK and LIMGO at FL345, your cruise altitude.Try putting your weights in first (INIT page 2) and then coming back to the cruise FL. Passing through FL120 your optimum is FL365 and max is FL384.If you can't solve the issues a re-install might be worth a try.

Yes I can see what you mention about FL345 and knowing I never set this level tells me there is something wrong with either the install or the software. Will try re-installing I think but thanks for your help.

John,You might have set FL340 but if you've rolled the alt knob to FL345 the aircraft will treat this as a new FL. I only know because I've done it a few times myself :(

Don't forget using the load manager set it to 2/3 then click all the white spaces in the front cargo hold to get the cg to 20.6.Set the pressure to the outside pressure on the ground (B key) then std above 6000'When changing the altitude knob make sure not to go above 37000 (If you do remember to reset 370 on the INIT page) as that's what it says in the tutorial not 34000 (should be an odd flight level anyway).If you set the altitude knob to 7000 you'll find it gets to 7000 at GIPOL - the ones before are an above figure not hard constraints.John Ellison

Thanks for the replies, have reinstalled but still experiencing the same issues. I had a bit more success with my own flight plan Paris to London following the same procedures and this was to force myself into getting a better understanding of the FMC. Certainly it needs a fair bit of trial and error and its a complex beast. Hopefully will have a flight plan Paris - London that will be bullet proof for practice purposes.Definitely a lot of sim for the money that much is true.John

Don't forget using the load manager set it to 2/3 then click all the white spaces in the front cargo hold to get the cg to 20.6.Set the pressure to the outside pressure on the ground (B key) then std above 6000'When changing the altitude knob make sure not to go above 37000 (If you do remember to reset 370 on the INIT page) as that's what it says in the tutorial not 34000 (should be an odd flight level anyway).If you set the altitude knob to 7000 you'll find it gets to 7000 at GIPOL - the ones before are an above figure not hard constraints.John Ellison

Yes I followed this part John from the load manager. I will bear in mind the part about GIPOL next time I attempt the tutorial. ThanksJohn

I've run this tutorial flight a number of times and didn't hit any altitude problems. I did notice however that if you follow the advice in the Weights and Fuel section of the tutorial "Don't worry about the fuel as this is already set via the panel state we loaded before" you'll end up with the fuel load the load manager defaults to, in my case 77000kg, overwriting the 30000kg set by the panel state you are told to load. I doubt this is the cause of the problem but it's something to watch out for.Andy LawtonP.S. I'm using the boxed version so the text of the tutorial might be different from the download one.

Thanks Andy. I will give the tutorial another go but in the meantime have nailed my flight from Paris to London. From start to finish and full autoland it all went exactly to plan. Interesting what you mention about tutorial docs I was using the download version but also have the boxed set, so wonder if there are any differences? Shame the PMDG guys didn't give us the FMC manual in the box like the 747 but never mind it may be one for the work printer!! Thanks everyone for the help and suggestions here it has helped me.John

I had this problem too, but I found that if I went direct to GIPOL, it would descend to the correct altitude......Otherwise it would descend at a rate of approx. 400fpm

Hi,Just got the MD11 and leaving the 747 in the desert for the moment but I have question about the tutorial 1. I have followed this to the letter on both occasions and everything stacks up as the tutorial mentions until I get to the top of descent stage. What is happening is a slow descent with quite a fast speed meaning I am way to high for the approach. I noticed on both attempts that the FMC showed an error saying cruise level to high for flight plan ( or something similar maybe not exact wording ) but in the plan and on the MCP 37,000 feet was selected as per the tutorial. Any ideas on what is going on? Like I mentioned I followed the tutorial exactly.My remedy on second attempt was to add a holding pattern at GRIPOL and 3 circuits of that got the altitude down to 4k and I completed the autoland without a hitch. It would be nice to avoid the stack for an extra 25 minutes so appreciate any answers on the T/D issue.Thanks.

Hi,Just looking at your screenies and noticed you altimeter was set at 29.22inches! It should read 29.92ins as per the default weather and standard altimeter setting. You could try changing this via the rotate button on MCP until you have the correct setting and see how that works. I know how little things can spoil you experience so don't despair... just persevere and you'll soon get on top of it.Good luckLin

Hi,Just looking at your screenies and noticed you altimeter was set at 29.22inches! It should read 29.92ins as per the default weather and standard altimeter setting. You could try changing this via the rotate button on MCP until you have the correct setting and see how that works. I know how little things can spoil you experience so don't despair... just persevere and you'll soon get on top of it.Good luckLin

Or just simply press 'B' on your keyboard if not assigned otherwise.best regards,toby