A simple question I came up with last night -

 

Can you assign a VECTOR in the VIA column?

 

Example: I flew in to Raleigh / Duram from Atlanta, the last point in the route derived from the IFR route analyzer at FlightAware was the Raleigh VOR, which is right at the airport. The approach says I would have gotten vectors to final prior to that VOR, but as of now I am flying solo, so no ATC obviously. I was setting up to swing around and approach from the NE (Atlanta is SW), so I offset that Raleigh VOR 10 miles or so SE, and then in the FMC connected it DIRECT to the first waypoint of the ILS. In the end I ended up clicking off the VNAV at that offset and flying HDG on the downwind / base to the first waypoint of the final.

 

I would have preferred to connect my Raleigh offset and the first waypoint on the ILS final in the FMC via VECTOR in a heading downwind to the runway. Note, I would have liked to assign the vector beyond that Raleigh offset in a different direction then the vector approaching it.

 

So the question - is it possible to assign via VECTOR on a specific heading?

More specifically-

 

The BUZZY6 arrival into Raleigh. You don't get a VECTOR after BUZZY in the FMC, you get another direct to RDU... and if you load an ILS approach (23R for example) you get a direct to PRSTN. I'd like to manually assign a VECTOR heading at either BUZZY, RDU, or an RDU offset, then head towards an intercept of the ILS at PRSTN by adjusting the HDG.

 

A side note, BUZZY has a hard alt & speed restriction on the STAR which the FMC didn't pickup on (I have the current database loaded from Navigraph and it wasn't in there). Is there an explanation for this? (It must have something to do with that "in a Northeast operation" note?

 

 

is it possible to assign via VECTOR on a specific heading?

 

 

Not exactly but you can create a custom waypoint using one of several options such as place-bearing-distance.  These are in the FCOM in the FMS section.

 

However, step back and think about what you are trying to do. You do not need fake vectors to fly to where you want to go... fly the airplane. As an helper, you can put one of the approach fixes (perferably an IAF or IF) on a FIX page and put an intercept bearing on it.  For example, you want to intercept LOC at fix ABCDE.  Copy ABCDE to the scratchpad, go to a FIX page and past it in there. Now assign a bearing, doing a little reciprocal arithmetic in the head, such as 330 for a 30-deg intercept for a 180 final course (180-30 is 150, recip is 330).

 

In this case I'd put a 5 nm mile circle arount the VOR to give me a helper for the downwind distance coupled with the FIX bearing to help with turn to base and final intercept course and you are on your way.

More specifically-

 

The BUZZY6 arrival into Raleigh. You don't get a VECTOR after BUZZY in the FMC, you get another direct to RDU... and if you load an ILS approach (23R for example) you get a direct to PRSTN. I'd like to manually assign a VECTOR heading at either BUZZY, RDU, or an RDU offset, then head towards an intercept of the ILS at PRSTN by adjusting the HDG.

 

A side note, BUZZY has a hard alt & speed restriction on the STAR which the FMC didn't pickup on (I have the current database loaded from Navigraph and it wasn't in there). Is there an explanation for this? (It must have something to do with that "in a Northeast operation" note?

Nope, notice the word "EXPECT" that means it's not a hard coded constraint. It means ATC may or may not give it to you in the clearance. It's on the chart for planning purposes.

Makes sense to me. I didn't even think about the FIX tip on the IF. Thank you!

Interesting tidbit I learnt, in the 777 fmc you use P/P### (# being heading you want to fly) to fly a heading from present position to infinity and beyond in LNAV, and WP### to fly a heading after passing a way point in LNAV, doesn't work in the NG though, I wonder why Boeing thought that would be useful, kind of like the automatic step climbs in the MD 11.

 

 

Interesting tidbit I learnt

Another one. In the T7 FMC you can create a PBD off of a PBD. Can't do it in the NGX. Example for ILS 25L at KLAX. GAATE071/3 results in waypoint GAA01 and GAA01/341/6 results in GAA02. A useless piece of information.

Gents,

 

Another thing to keep in mind here - and this is a crucial bit of information to remember - is that you need to be careful of heading versus track. With most of the entries that would get thrown at the FMC, you're going to end up tracking and not heading. That's actually a big deal because ATC is providing wind correction in their assigned headings for vectors. If the expected track is 180 and a stiff wind has been blowing aircraft off course all morning, ATC might start assigning (a heading of) 190. The resultant flight path (track) would be somewhere around 180 from the initial vector point. If you entered 190 into the FMC, the aircraft would provide the wind correction to track 190. Now you're not fitting in the stream and either get the typical ATC "what the [heck] are you doing" question, or you get booted from the stream to get worked back in at a later point for messing up their handiwork.

 

Of course, those who really love the FMC might be thinking "well if I enter 180, it'll track 180 and I'll fit in the stream, right?" Sure...kinda...but the reality is you're going to be right on 180 because you're tracking it, whereas the other people who are using HDG SEL (properly) are going to be drifting left or right of that, based on how well the 190 heading handles the crosswind. So, again, you're going to stick out ever so slightly. In this case, it's not as bad as tracking 190, but it's wholly unnecessary.

 

As Dan said, the real solution is in realizing the best mode for the end goal. In this case, just dump it onto HDG SEL and go from there. There's no reason to over-automate. The goal is to fly the plane, and not to Rube Goldberg the FMC just to get a pretty magenta line the whole way.

 

 

There's no reason to over-automate. The goal is to fly the plane, and not to Rube Goldberg the FMC just to get a pretty magenta line the whole way.

 

Sometimes in these situations I turn it all off, flight directors, A\T and all, and just fly the damn thing by hand. As soon I start to get too focused on the FMC, I think, hang on, what's the actual goal here and what's the simplest (Ockham's razor) way of achieving it.

I get the whole idea that a pilot should be fully trained and comfortable flying the plane with ALL AP functions off, but I am far from being able to do that at this point. Especially with the lack of a first officer. For example last night I must have skipped something in the checklist and could not for the life of me get the 2nd CMD button lit on the final, so I had to manually land the plane. I sucked at it... I wondered why I sucked at it so bad, then realized how much one person alone in the cockpit has to deal with on the final with NO AP there to help - think about it-

 

Pitch, Yaw, Roll, stay on the glideslope, stay inline, deal with flaps, maintain speeds... I can see if you have a FO dealing with the flaps, and constantly adjusting the throttle to stay on the target speed, it might be enough for the pilot to deal with actually landing... but at least now I can't deal with it all and land smoothly. 

 

As for the approach, that's simple enough... however turning off ALL AP functions wouldn't work for me (at this point anyway). To do it all is just too much to maintain heading, alt, speed for long periods of time. Sure I could do it if I had to.. but I wouldn't want to be a passenger on that flight, sure to get airsick.

 

A side note... I downloaded a checklist and got off the normal amplified procedures the other day and found that the simplified checklist makes it too easy to skip or miss steps, so its back to the amplified procedures and force myself to get everything right. One missed step seems to always result in disaster. Last night I forgot to switch the plane from APU power to engine power after the start. Upon shutting down the APU all hell broke loose.

One think about the desktop sim, I find it to make the thinks harder when flying manually and having to flip some switches or turn some buttons compared to a cockpit sim (and probably to the reality).

 

First you have to use the mouse instead of your hands. Hence you loose the benefit of the sense of touch which allows to reach and handle flips and buttons almost "blindly". Also silly to say but the panels are real and at the reach of a hand. You don't need to navigate around the cockpit with your cursor to turn a button.

Second, even when using some device like the trackIR, when you turn your head the whole view turn toward your sight. It is more difficult to for instance set the MCP and keep monitoring the PFD. while in a cockpit, you can use your panoramic vision to catch thinks from the corner of your eyes.

Last, you don't feel the move of the plane. No sensation at all.

 

I was lucky enough to get a session in a Level-D 737 sim and I found it way easier to handle everything at the same time why flying manually than on my desktop flight sim.

 

Off course, it was a just "leisure/discovering" session in the sim, not a rating check or anything. I had a trainer with me who explained me the thinks during the different parts of the flights and so I had no pressure or no stress at all. And also we didn't simulate communications with ATC. I just followed the instruction from the trainer.

In rw or in checks, I bet it must be quite different but I'm not a real pilot and I then have no experience to talk about it.

 

 

I wondered why I sucked at it so bad, then realized how much one person alone in the cockpit has to deal with on the final with NO AP there to help - think about it-

 

This one is actually a common misconception in the sim community. There are several aircraft that are approved for single pilot ops where you're arguably more task saturated in that aircraft than you would be as a single pilot in a 737. The issue here is probably more that you're not used to load balancing. As an example, when I'm flying single pilot at a local towered field, I pre-set frequencies as much as possible. Any VOR that I need immediately after departing is in NAV 1, with the next VOR down line in the standby slot, and primary for NAV 2 unless I need NAV 2 for something else to cross reference. Comm frequencies are managed in the same way (you'll know the frequencies from the charts and your clearances ahead of time in many cases - at least during high workload situations).

 

 

 

Pitch, Yaw, Roll, stay on the glideslope, stay inline, deal with flaps, maintain speeds... I can see if you have a FO dealing with the flaps, and constantly adjusting the throttle to stay on the target speed, it might be enough for the pilot to deal with actually landing... but at least now I can't deal with it all and land smoothly. 

 

You're the one managing the yoke and throttle. Pitch + power = airspeed. It's not an isolated function where you can work them independently very well. It's possible, but it should be all managed by one person. For the flap settings, you call for them and the pilot not flying (PNF) sets them. It might help to try flying around and landing in the Cessna first. There's a certain level of basic airmanship that would definitely help as you're only going 40-60 knots at that phase and not 120-140ish.

I think one of my biggest problems is similar to what Romain said. A real pilot has that sense of movement. He can feel the plan roll / yaw, accelerate and can counter it with stick movements as it happens. He can become one with the plane in a sense.

 

We get none of that in a desktop sim. Perception is only visual, and sometimes I don't notice a change is necessary till its too late or obviously way out of whack.

 

 

In rw or in checks, I bet it must be quite different but I'm not a real pilot and I then have no experience to talk about it.

 

It's a lot easier when you're in the real thing. Heck, even flying GA is so much easier in the real plane versus in the sim. I don't even have to look over at the dials, or if I do, it's only to get the waypoints into my head to move my hand over there and then my eyes are back outside. From there, it's just all click numbers* to get the right freq, confirm by a glance again (adjust if necessary) and keep on going. Meanwhile, I'm not worrying about what the plane is doing, as I'm not having to stare at that portion of the panel like I'm forced to in the sim.

 

 

 

*Say I'm on 121.5 in the COMM 2 spot and want to dial in 125.05 to monitor a different frequency:

• Glance at the radio as I place my hand on the knobs, then look back outside
• Outer ring right 4 clicks
• Inner ring left 9 clicks (the Bendix unit defaults to .05 increments unless you pull the knob out for .025)
• Glance over to confirm I dialed it properly and hit the transfer switch

Seems pretty complex, but it's all second nature when you're in the plane and have done it a few times. That kind of tactile familiarity isn't possible in the sim when you're using the spacebar and mouse to look around, which adds a layer of complexity.