Glideslope callout on take off

[Christopher Low 5,352]

I have just started getting a "glideslope" callout just after take off in the 777. This never happened when I first started using the aircraft, so maybe I have a wrong setting somewhere? Can anyone offer any advice?

[Mike777 163]

11 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

I have just started getting a "glideslope" callout just after take off in the 777. This never happened when I first started using the aircraft, so maybe I have a wrong setting somewhere? Can anyone offer any advice?

Hi Chris,

Any chance you didn't turn off both FD switches after a previous flight and the aircraft is still in Approach mode?  Did the FMA say TOGA/TOGA as it should have just before takeoff?  I once did this and the aircraft tried to follow the localizer instead of the route!

Mike

 

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Both FD switches should have been on, as I started from a SAVE state (exactly the same routine that I use for the 737 and 747). I will need to check if the FMA states TOGA/TOGA just before take off. The aircraft follows the flightplan quite happily after this brief "glideslope" callout, so I am not quite sure what is happening.....

Edited May 4, 2018 by Christopher Low

[Mike777 163]

3 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

Both FD switches should have been on, as I started from a SAVE state (exactly the same routine that I use for the 737 and 747). I will need to check if the FMA states TOGA/TOGA just before take off. The aircraft follows the flightplan quite happily after this brief "glideslope" callout, so I am not quite sure what is happening.....

Of  course I meant to say turn FD switches off to clear out previous MCP mode and then turn them on again.  Then you should get TOGA/TOGA.

Mike

[Christopher Low 5,352]

This seems to have corrected itself, so I am somewhat puzzled. On a side note....does anyone else keep forgetting to activate the APU when taxiing to the gate?

[scandinavian13 5,192]

On 5/4/2018 at 12:07 PM, Christopher Low said:

Both FD switches should have been on, as I started from a SAVE state (exactly the same routine that I use for the 737 and 747). I will need to check if the FMA states TOGA/TOGA just before take off. The aircraft follows the flightplan quite happily after this brief "glideslope" callout, so I am not quite sure what is happening.....

To be honest, the plane's ability to fly what's in the computer has absolutely nothing to do with GPWS.

Sounds a bit like you took off without having a route in, or perhaps old route data? If it suddenly appeared and then suddenly stopped, that's a good indication that it was caused by the interface between the yoke and the seat...somewhat confirmed by:

4 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

This seems to have corrected itself, so I am somewhat puzzled. On a side note....does anyone else keep forgetting to activate the APU when taxiing to the gate?

Forgetting something that fundamental somewhat points to a lack of good and proper procedure. That isn't to be mean about it, but if you're forgetting to power up the APU (quite standard), then it isn't a stretch to think you might skip over something that might have caused the GPWS warning.

[Christopher Low 5,352]

My normal routine (with all three aircraft) is to load it "ready for flight" (in other words, all systems initialised), input the route information in the FMS, and prepare everything else (as per the standard tutorials). I then save the situation (so that I can start pushback immediately when I decide to fly the route). Now, these routes are only basic "direct to successive waypoints" at the moment, but I have been doing this with the 737 and 747 over and over again since I purchased them. I then started doing the same with the 777, and everything was working fine until those two or three flights where I heard the "glideslope" callout just after take off. I guess that I must have made a mistake at some point....

You would be correct in thinking that my flights are not as complex or "in depth" as those for the vast majority of PMDG users.....but I have become very familiar with the basic routine that allows me to successfully complete my current series of short flights in the UK. The main reason why I keep forgetting to start the APU in the 777 is because I do not have to do this in either the 737 or the 747 (by this, I mean that the instruments and clock in the 737 and 747 remain "powered" when I cut the fuel to the engines....which is not the case with the 777 unless the APU has been activated in advance). I flip between all three planes frequently, rather than concentrating on one for an extended period of time.

Please do not think that I am criticising the aircraft themselves. All three of them are works of art (both aesthetically and functionally). However, I do know the basic routine to get them up in the air, then follow the relevant programmed route, land at my destination, and shut down when parked at the gate. I have done this hundreds of times now.

 

Edited May 7, 2018 by Christopher Low

[scandinavian13 5,192]

21 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

You would be correct in thinking that my flights are not as complex or "in depth" as those for the vast majority of PMDG users.....but I have become very familiar with the basic routine that allows me to successfully complete my current series of short flights in the UK. The main reason why I keep forgetting to start the APU in the 777 is because I do not have to do this in either the 737 or the 747 (by this, I mean that the instruments and clock in the 737 and 747 remain "powered" when I cut the fuel to the engines....which is not the case with the 777 unless the APU has been activated in advance). I flip between all three planes frequently, rather than concentrating on one for an extended period of time.

You have this a bit backwards. Just because you can get away with it (kind of) doesn't mean that it's correct. Power up the APU on all of them...

21 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

Please do not think that I am criticising the aircraft themselves. All three of them are works of art (both aesthetically and functionally). However, I do know the basic routine to get them up in the air, then follow the relevant programmed route, land at my destination, and shut down when parked at the gate. I have done this hundreds of times now.

I'm not necessarily assuming you're criticising the aircraft. I am, however, pressing back on the idea that it's not you. Quite a number of people will assume "oh, I've done this hundreds of times so it's probably not me," whereas my point was: you're a human, humans screw up all the time, and here's an example.

I don't care how many hundreds of times you've done it. If you don't do it correctly on the nine-hundred-and-first time, it's still you who has done it incorrectly. I think this is where I see the largest difference between the sim pilot and the real pilot. Most (though certainly not all) real pilots will always have this inherent trust, but verified trust in themselves. In other words, they trust their abilities, but know that they can occasionally forget things, so they double-check, verify, and run a checklist. Sim pilots are usually the ones I hear "all Boeings are the same, so I skipped the tutorial flights," and "I've done this hundreds of times" from. I get it. I've been there. I started out as a sim pilot, and even when I first started flying, I felt like I was better than the other pilots at the airport because of my time in the sim. Experience only carries you so far, though. Yeah, someone might figure out the NG FMC a bit faster because they had the old 744, but you can just as easily pick up a bad habit and drag it else where (see your APU habit, for example).

Trust yourself, but verify. The use of "I have done this hundreds of times" should be something that you might want to reflect upon. Who are you trying to convince, and why?

Edited May 7, 2018 by scandinavian13

[Christopher Low 5,352]

I understand what you are trying to say, Kyle.....and I will activate the APU after landing from now on in the 737 and 747

Edited May 7, 2018 by Christopher Low