How to autoland?

[Fsxlover2 0]

Hiya! I love my pmdg 737 and flew it for a while now but im new to all these computers on board. So could someone tell me how to autoland from the beginning to the very end. Ive looked at videos but i found them to complicated and i could not turn on VNAV and because of that my plane did not follow the path . I know i can just land with out it but my landings are very hard.

-Mat

[downscc 1,327]

Please review the Introduction document to see what is in there, at least, and then fly the Tutorials.  Keep flying the Tutorials until you are comfortable with them.  If you are having trouble with VNAV it's not time to learn about autoland.

Welcome to the PMDG forums, please review the forum rules and note that full names on all posts are required here.

 

[Budbud 227]

Hi,

I'm seconding Dan here. First step is to understand how the system works.

However to perform an autoland, you need to do the following:

_ Both Nav set to the same ILS frequency

_ Both course window on the MCP set to the same course

_ Both CMD A and CMD B engaged (you need to have the APP mode armed at least to be able to engage both autopilots simulateously).

_ Both FDs on

_ APP mode engaged

_ Landing flaps set before crossing 1500' RA

_ Not technically required but highly advised: Speed brakes armed and autobrake set (value depends on the runway length and condition, wind and runway operations requirement).

Autoland status will be verified with FMA displaying SPD / LOC / GS in green and FLARE and ROLLOUT armed in white.

 

Despite the fact that autopilot may seems the easiest way to land the aircraft, it requires actually much more knowledge of the aircraft to be achieved than a manual landing.

[OneWhoKnocks53 51]

I did the first tutorial about 10 times before I firmly grasped the auto flight system logic.  And i'm am ifr pilot IRL, so it's a steep learning curve.  The first tutorial I'd ABSOLUTELY mandatory and it will help you.

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

Recently I responded to a post where someone had asked for help understanding how to stay on the glideslope and they hinted that they really didn't understand what the glideslope was.  There certainly is nothing wrong but asking!

My response was pretty short, but I hope it was very helpful.

Our hobby has existed for over 30 years, and in that time we have amassed a tremendous number of websites that have information and even instrument/navigation simulators) that explains most anything one can think of when it comes to flight simulation.  Of course we also have endless forum threads and guides which are extremely helpful for technical/computer questions.  For some reason, when we have an issue or question we (the collective "we") never think that someone else might have had the same issue or question, but if we simply did a search for the answer we'd not only get the information instantly (rather than waiting for someone to response and then having to weigh if the information as accurate), but we'd find numerous resources that we could use for other questions in the future. Yet another benefit is receiving a full answer - and answers to questions we didn't know to ask!  One rarely receives such benefits from answers via forum posts as people simply don't have the time to write a treatise.

I'm not saying RTFM, and I certainly don't wish to imply there is anything at all wrong with posting a question.  But there is 30 years of tremendous information out there and I run across people ALL THE TIME that had no idea it existed and truth be told never thought to look.  We have some incredibly knowledgeable, talented and devoted people in our hobby who took the time to create these resources and they are AWESOME!

My very best wishes to everyone.

 

[Orlaam 306]

To me, autoland defeats the purpose in the sim.  Nice for once in a blue moon low vis landing, but that's about it. 

It's also much more gratifying to learn the plane and try to fly it realistically.  Your landings won't be hard if you practice.  To be honest, I couldn't fly in this sim without a yoke.  A joystick is just awful to me.  If you can get a chance to buy some pedals and a yoke, it truly makes it much easier to manage the flying aspect.

[Chock 17,769]

Whilst I sympathise with the learning curve required to fly your PMDG 737 if you are new to that sort of thing, the simple fact is, learning how it works is what will enable you to operate it properly. To that end, the Tutorial 1 document should be something you work through. Yeah I know it is 105 pages long, but really all you need to do, is get yourself a big cup of coffee, set aside a couple of hours, and have at it, and you will be confident in how it all works in no time (i.e. a couple of hours).

But, if that seems like it might be too much for you, then there is an alternative, and it is this:

http://www.utem.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=20

Written in a friendly style intended for flight simmers who are new to flying airliners, and with lots of pictures and diagrams which explain what everything does in a easily understandable way, you might find that a bit less daunting than a 105 page tutorial flight, or, if you want a very 'quick and dirty' guide to doing that, this one is a mere five dollars and is uses the default FS B737 to explain how to do a complete flight:

http://www.utem.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=114

Both of those are well worth a look if you need something which makes things easy to follow. But as I say, if you don't want to spend any money on those, you already have Tutorial 1 for the PMDG 737 on your start menu and it's well worth the effort to go through it. Do it twice and you will be an expert.

[Fabo 213]

Autolanding is really quite easy in the NG once you get your head wrapped around what you need and what you don't.

For example, you don't need VNAV.

Here is a video showing you how to do it from (I hope) without unnecessary information overload