Hey, 

Starting to have some fun with the a320 after few hours of learning the basics, 

Still have 2 or 3 questions if I can ask

Question 1 : How do I know the remaining distance and time in this plane ? Quite annoying to see only one leg at a time without knowing the Total, in the Garmin gns530 its quite very easy 😛  

Question 2(and3) : After crossing a cloud I have a lot of ice on the plane is that normal ? and when should I correctly use the Wing/eng1/eng2 anti ice button ? and the Probes windows heat ?

 

thanks a lot 

A rule of thumb is to start your decent from 110 to 120 nm out (at about 2000 feet/min). The FMC is broken in that regard - same with the managed decent.

You can set the range in your ND to 160nm to be able to see your destination.

If you have strong tailwind start your decent earlier/if you have a strong headwind you can start later.

A decent is normally done with charts, because a STAR (standard terminal arrival route) is used in IFR flying. That means a STAR will tell you when to be at a certain altitude at a certain way point and at what speed.

There is lots to learn, watch a few youtube video's from real world A320 captains.

Anti-Ice is a bit overdone in the sim. Normally it is turned on if the outside temp is below 10C, but that depends on the airline. Rule of thumb. If clouds are around, turn on anti-ice....

Hope that helps a bit.

Edited September 5, 20205 yr by Silicus

35 minutes ago, Silicus said:

A rule of thumb is to start your decent from 110 to 120 nm out (at about 2000 feet/min). The FMC is broken in that regard - same with the managed decent.

You can set the range in your ND to 160nm to be able to see your destination.

If you have strong tailwind start your decent earlier/if you have a strong headwind you can start later.

A decent is normally done with charts, because a STAR (standard terminal arrival route) is used in IFR flying. That means a STAR will tell you when to be at a certain altitude at a certain way point and at what speed.

There is lots to learn, watch a few youtube video's from real world A320 captains.

Anti-Ice is a bit overdone in the sim. Normally it is turned on if the outside temp is below 10C, but that depends on the airline. Rule of thumb. If clouds are around, turn on anti-ice....

Hope that helps a bit.

Thanks for the advices :)

how do you know the remaining distance In this plane ? You say to start descend around 120nm before but i only see the distance to the next waypoint not the total or even remaining time (at least I could do the math if I had the distance :p )

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_three_(aeronautics)

You see it on your ND, if the range is set correct, it has distances rings.

Icing is a bit over the top in the sim in some places, but you can use the anti-icing switches whenever you feel it is necessary since they are fed by hot air from the engines and avionics, so you won't 'use them up' even if you have them on for a long time.

The real A320 has a little ice accretion indicator mast about the size of a felt-tipped pen which sticks out between the two front pilot windows. 737 pilots use the windscreen wipers for the same purpose:

This indicates when icing is building up: if that little mast is iced up, it's time to turn the anti-ice systems on. Alternatively on the real thing, there is a specific window in the cabin of the A320, near the wings, which has a little mark above the window to indicate that it is the optimum window to look out of if you want to see if the wings are iced up. At night, that's what the lights on the side of the fuselage which point at the wings are for.

In MSFS, since icing is a bit overdone, you can just look on the external view and if you can see some ice, turn the anti-icing stuff on. If you like being realistic, avoid using anti-ice systems when in the climb up to your cruise altitude unless the icing conditions are really desperately bad; this is because the engine anti-icing system blows warm air into the front of the engine cowling to stop the fans icing up, but when it does that, the warm air going into the engine reduces the amount of thrust the engines are able to develop, so you're better off just powering through the clouds quickly without the inlet anti-ice system switched on. To be honest, the default A320 in MSFS probably doesn't simulate that much realism, but if you like doing stuff properly, there's nothing to stop you from pretending it does.

thanks a lot for all this information, that's precious 😄

Hi dyl55.

Another way to calculate descent is cruise altitude minus landing airfield elevation multiplied by 3.

Cruise, say FL330, landing field is 1000ft asl.(above sea level)

33000 ft (lose the zero's) becomes 33. Landing field, do the same. Lose the zero's. This becomes 1

33-1 = 32. (ground breaking mathematics!) Multiply 32 by 3 = 96. So 96 miles from destination you need to start to descend.

However, you need to add approx 10 miles to allow for deceleration. You don't land at 300KTS indicated!

Usually, decelerating takes 1 nm for each 10kts as a rule of thumb, in (zero wind)

Adding the 10 miles to 96 make 106 miles out, time to start descending.

As you say, the distance to destination is not showm cumulatively in the mcdu as it is in the real aircraft.

So, in the flightplan screen, scroll to destination and make a note of the NM. Say it's 500NM. 

Take 106Nm from this which leaves 394NM. Scroll back through the flightplan until a waypoint roughly matches that distance.

That's where you start your descent.

How fast you descend depends on groundspeed. This is important.

Easy way to work it out is GS /2 *10

So if you are at 450KTS GS, half it and it becomes 225KTS. Multiply by 10 gives you a 2250 fpm descent rate. Adjust accordingly as you decelarate to landing speed.

Groundspeed is shown in the navigation display. Not to be confused with indicated airspeed!

 

Hope this helps

 

Stu

Edited September 6, 20205 yr by Bunchy

Alternatively, you can use the PIA A320 method: You fly to within ten miles of your destination, then stick the nose down into a 45 degree dive, so you're coming down at 8,000 feet per minute. Then you ignore ATC strongly suggesting you go around with a quick: 'nah, it'll be right mate' transmission, and instead come over the runway threshold at 250 mph, whilst trying to put the landing gear down. No need for brakes or thrust reversers; your engine nacelles will act as brakes as they scrape along the runway. Go around, not recommended.

Speaking of deceleration, one should be at 250 knots indicated or lower below 10000 feet I believe.. 

Correct. 250kts below 10000 ft, unless atc are feeling generous.

13 hours ago, Chock said:

Icing is a bit over the top in the sim in some places, but you can use the anti-icing switches whenever you feel it is necessary since they are fed by hot air from the engines and avionics, so you won't 'use them up' even if you have them on for a long time.

The real A320 has a little ice accretion indicator mast about the size of a felt-tipped pen which sticks out between the two front pilot windows. 737 pilots use the windscreen wipers for the same purpose:

This indicates when icing is building up: if that little mast is iced up, it's time to turn the anti-ice systems on. Alternatively on the real thing, there is a specific window in the cabin of the A320, near the wings, which has a little mark above the window to indicate that it is the optimum window to look out of if you want to see if the wings are iced up. At night, that's what the lights on the side of the fuselage which point at the wings are for.

In MSFS, since icing is a bit overdone, you can just look on the external view and if you can see some ice, turn the anti-icing stuff on. If you like being realistic, avoid using anti-ice systems when in the climb up to your cruise altitude unless the icing conditions are really desperately bad; this is because the engine anti-icing system blows warm air into the front of the engine cowling to stop the fans icing up, but when it does that, the warm air going into the engine reduces the amount of thrust the engines are able to develop, so you're better off just powering through the clouds quickly without the inlet anti-ice system switched on. To be honest, the default A320 in MSFS probably doesn't simulate that much realism, but if you like doing stuff properly, there's nothing to stop you from pretending it does.

Alternatively, rather than monitoring the ice accretion indicator or going to the cabin to check a cabin window, you can refer to the Airbus definition of icing conditions to decide to turn on the anti-icing systems. A320 FCOM:

‐ Icing conditions exist when the OAT (on ground or after takeoff) or the TAT (in flight) is at or below 10 °C and visible moisture in any form is present (such as clouds, fog with visibility of 1 sm (1 600 m) or less, rain, snow, sleet or ice crystals).
‐ Icing conditions also exist when the OAT on the ground and for takeoff is at or below 10 °C and operating on ramps, taxiways or runways where surface snow, standing water or slush may be ingested by the engines, or freeze on engines, nacelles or engine sensor probes.

There is also a Ice Detection System (but considering the current system depth of the MSFS A320, I doubt that it is simulated). A320 FCOM:

The ice detection system has two separate ice detector probes on the forward lower section of the fuselage.
The probes detect ice accretion. They also indicate, through the MEMO display, that icing conditions have disappeared. The system logic generates ECAM messages according to ice detector signals and the flight crew’s selection of engine or wing anti-icing systems.
The ice detection system does not control the ENG or WING anti-icing systems.

 

5 minutes ago, GearUp180 said:

Alternatively, rather than monitoring the ice accretion indicator or going to the cabin to check a cabin window, you can refer to the Airbus definition of icing conditions to decide to turn on the anti-icing systems. A320 FCOM:

Yeah I know. It was actually me who produced the SOP manual for the real A320, quite a few years ago. 🙂

I doubt the OP would have one of those to look at though, whereas I've got the first one ever. 🤣

Edited September 6, 20205 yr by Chock

1 minute ago, Chock said:

Yeah I know. It was actually me who produced the SOP manual for the real A320 years ago. 🙂

I knew it!

1 hour ago, Chock said:

I doubt the OP would have one of those to look at though, whereas I've got the first one ever. 🤣

A Google search and a little bit of perseverance could help...

The beauty of the FCOM (and generally speaking the technical documentation):

1. it comes from the manufacturer
2. it is concise 😉