I was playing around with some of the wonderful features in the FMC yesterday and started thinking about the ground power unit. It dawned on me that I'd never actually used one in FSX and wondered *when* or under *what* circumstances you'd use one? I mainly fire up the APU, get the systems online and perform a normal startup. Could anyone with infinitely more knowledge than me shed some light on when you'd use the GPU/ground connection? Haven't got to that part in the FCOM yet, but I thought it would be nice to chat to folk with experience as well!

Some possible situations

1. When APU is INOP
2. Company Policy and environmental concerns
3. Long turnaround / parking time or overnight

Joe

Well, APU's burn gas, so anytime you have a fuel critical flight you would want to use ground power in order to save on gas. ALso, most major airports have ground power available so in most major airports you would again use ground power.. Really, the only time you would want to use an apu is when there is no ground power available..Pam

Ok great, thanks for the info guys.