First autopilot flight in the 747-400 QOTSII

[Christopher Low 5,325]

I finally completed the flight from EIDW Dublin to EGNX East Midlands, although not without another couple of (user generated) issues. I forgot to move the physical throttles back to idle when I was descending, and something happened that made the power increase to around 65% when I was trying to remain stable @ 180 knots! The speed increased to around 240 knots before I realised what was happening. Then I had to click the Autothrottle ARM switch twice to disengage it (I only noticed this when I tried to reduce power on final approach, as I was slightly above the glideslope). Both of them were just careless errors, so a few more notes to add to the "must not forget" list!

Don't worry, I am not intending to go for a real world pilot's licence. They probably wouldn't even let me through the front door

[Budbud 227]

12 hours ago, charlie130 said:

He about a full Cat 3 auto land?

Leave auto throttle on, speed set at VRef, at weight on wheels, nose wheel down, engage reversers, 70 knots, out of reverse, stop, then disengage autopilot and autothrottle.

Pretty much. Leave the AP fly the aircraft and roll on until the speed is under control on the runway. When main landing gear touches the runway, engages the reversers at idle and check that the speedbrakes are extended. Use more that reversers idle if needed, then 60kt back to reversers idle and out of reverse at taxispeed. Don't let the aircraft stop on the runway as you should not extend your stay on a runway.

As for the AP disconnection, I don't know if there is a recommended speed after an autoland but I would disconnect it when I'm ready to leave the runway at around 30-35kt or earlier if the visibility is ok. The lower the RVR, the longer I would keep the AP engaged but don't take my word on that.

[charlie130 196]

11 hours ago, Budbud said:

Pretty much. Leave the AP fly the aircraft and roll on until the speed is under control on the runway. When main landing gear touches the runway, engages the reversers at idle and check that the speedbrakes are extended. Use more that reversers idle if needed, then 60kt back to reversers idle and out of reverse at taxispeed. Don't let the aircraft stop on the runway as you should not extend your stay on a runway.

As for the AP disconnection, I don't know if there is a recommended speed after an autoland but I would disconnect it when I'm ready to leave the runway at around 30-35kt or earlier if the visibility is ok. The lower the RVR, the longer I would keep the AP engaged but don't take my word on that.

Yes you can be economical with those engines in reverse, with excellent brakes, on all that gear and spoilers. Come out of reverse and auto pilot and grab your exit with ease! Just beautiful!

But if you are wanting to stop this magnificent beast in a big hurry,  then try touching down with minimum fuel and light weight with aggressive use of full reverse and max wheel brakes wilk give this aircraft truly amazing short stopping distance. Believe it or not, I stopped this aircraft at LOWI with well over half of the runway left! I could barely believe my eyes!

Good job it's a simulator, anyone sat behind me wouldn't want to pay for another ticket!

Regards.

 

[Budbud 227]

5 minutes ago, charlie130 said:

Good job it's a simulator, anyone sat behind me wouldn't want to pay for another ticket!

Hehe, how many broken noses did you get?

[charlie130 196]

3 minutes ago, Budbud said:

Hehe, how many broken noses did you get?

Would have been my own, but I hid in the Captains toilet untill they had all de boarded!