Hi,I am trying (with varying degrees of sucess) to land the A320 at Funchal.This airport has no landing aids, so the landing needs to be flown "manually".I can land the bus at an airport use ILS, but am struggling with a non-ILS landing, so what I need to know is whats the best why to fly this sort of landing in an A320?, what AP modes "should" I be using.CheersDan.

Don't use any autoflight modes is my advice. Just turn off the autopilot and autothrust and fly like you would a light aircraft.The key it to control the descent angle to the field using a combination of thrust and pitch. Even if you maintain a constant pitch angle the descent angle can be controlled with precision just using the thrust to maintain a desired airspeed. Keep practising this and you'll find your landing skills will improve.You'll be surprised how similar it is and if you can land a wide variety of aircraft well you realise that in priniple it's all the same!James

Hi James,Thanks for the reply, so I dont use AP at all, interesting.Ok, I'll just think of it as a "normal" plane, I am probably giving it to much thought as its a little different to the other planes I fly, but I guess on a manually landing it isnt.The only thing that I am curious about is the trust, now the thrust levers have the detents on them, which you move with the + and - keys, which detent should I be in on a manual approach?, once in the detent for approach I imagine the thrust levers act in the same way as a "normal" plane?, cause normally you dont touch the thrust levers, the computers do it all for you.Also, I assume the trim works in the same way as a "normal" plane.BTW the closest I have got to landing at Funchal, is whacking the gear on the cliff at the beginning of the runway, I was a little low LOL, needless to say the PAX were not to happy sliding down the runway LOL.CheersDan.

Query: which FDE are you using? The IFDG A320 is one of the most well-behaved large aircraft for handflying an approach I know. As long as you manage to keep your descent steady around 400-500 fpm and the speed around 140kt IAS she'll go exactly where you tell her to.Misha

Hi Misha,I am using the IFDG A320 model and FDE with the PSS panel, it performs extremely well, I had to make a couple of mods to the air file, but only to the EGT section.It flies like a dream.I think my speed was too low, I was at about 130 KIAS, I'll have to try it agian tonight, with a higher speed.ThanksDan.

Turn off the autopilot and fly the airplane.............TonyDigital-Flight

Umm, Tony did you read the previous posts at all? He is trying to manually land it and is just looking for some advice on how to do it right. I wish some of the readers here would actually read before they post....remember what we learned in elementary school...."always listen before you speak"!

Dan, 130 sounds low even with barely any fuel. It's fun landing without AP. I've attempted it with all my aircraft at some point (he stresses "attempted").billg

>Turn off the autopilot and fly the airplane.............>>Tony>Digital-FlightHmmm, OK, the reason for me asking is that the fact of the A320 being a fly-by-wire plane, and one that is SUPPOSED to be flown using the autopilot.None of the documentation I have read explains how to deal with non instrument approaches, and how to "hand" fly the A320, it must be possible as I have seen 320's fly into Funchal and there is no ILS or anything there so they must do it.My question was HOW do they do it, is it possible to TOTALLY fly the A320 using the sidestick?"thanks" for your "help" :-rollDan

Howdy there!You are mixing up autopilot and fly by wire. FBW just means that there is/are no actual mechanical connection(s) to the flight controls from the stick and rudder pedals.Switch off the A/P and the bird flys just like any other, except for envelope protection, which I doubt is modelled in the sim.130 across the fence is not really too slow. Full flaps should be fine for that speed. Speed.The thrust lever question... Don't worry about the detents when manually flying. Move the levers to control speed on final. I know, pitch is supposed to do that, but at 100 feet, pushing the nose down to speed up is gonna hurt.Just land the plane like any other and you will be fine. Watch descent rate, don't get above 500 FPM (MAX) to the flare and try to get V/S to zero right before the wheels squeak. Easy does it. use an approach/final speed of about 140 and she should handle fine.Oh yeah, use the VASI. White on White, you're outta sight, Red on White, you're allright, Red On Red, you're dead. . Ancient axiom....BC

Dan, you have been given some great advice here but I have yet to see a suggestion that should most helpful. Here's my $0.02:Find yourself a piece of clear (safe) sky, trim your aircraft, turn off the AP and practice what's called "slow flight". This is where you maintain altitude while you slowly drop flaps, the gear and reduce power. Your airspeed should decrease (which is what you want to happen) until your IAS reaches the 140 to 150kt range. Adjust the trim if necessary. You should be able to control the "bus" with practice.The next step in this lesson is to further reduce power until you can maintain an 800 ft/min descent as well as maintain the 140-150kt speed. Once this slow flight and controlled slow descent is mastered, you are ready to try that approach for a (hopefully) successful touch and go or full stop at the airfield of your choice.Hope this helps.

Hi,Many, many thanks for all your great advice, it certainly looks like I am getting all mixed up in this FBW stuff, thinking it makes the plane somewhat different when flying without the AP.I flew into Funchal again last night, 140kts, and managed it, not a great landing by any stretch, but the plane was in one piece!!!.CheersDan.

If I'm repeating anything here that others have already posted I apologize in advance to Mr. LeMay........As another poster pointed out, fly by wire and the autopilot are two separate things. The thing to keep in mind is that a heavy jet, even one that uses a FBW control system is still an airplane and flies using the same basic principals. These big birds are not hard to fly so it just takes some practice and a little homework. What I don't think anyone else has pointed out is that it's important to know the proper speeds to fly for various flap settings, approach, final and touchdown. If you can find a POH it will give you this information for various aircraft weights. If you can't find that then go through the checklists and other info that you got with your plane so you can at least get the critical speed data needed for approach and landing. The point of all this is that these are the speeds that the plane will want to fly at so if you stay close to the proper numbers everything else will fall into place.As for the rest it's just going to take practice. Setup with 20% fuel, forget about the autopilot and fly the pattern. Because of the higher speeds and reduced cockpit visibility you might bring up the GPS to keep track of your position. Once you're comfortable with pattern and landing work try flying a full flight plan without the autopilot and then for the final challenge, try some manual ILS approaches in bad weather. It's all great fun and you'll be a better sim pilot for the time spent.TonyDigital-Flight

LOLLOLLOL.Airbus ALWAYS uses autothrust when airborn, there is no other way to fly it.Of course some models in FS don't replicate that...

So Mr Wenting, you say that the Airbus NEVER uses manual speed control?, it is ALWAYS managed by using the AT, in all forms of landings?Dan.