Hi, I'm very new to flight sim and I am trying to learn to fly the airbus a320 using the great tutorials people are putting up. 

There is one thing that doesn't get said. How do I find out the MDA(minimum desent altitude). When I enter the weather information into the MCDU thats the only bit I dont know what to put in.

Thanks

You will find the MDA on approach charts.

You will find approach charts (for free) on websites such as Skyvector: you can search by airport code on the top left, then pass your mouse over the airport name and it will give you the list of approaches.

For an A320, you need to use the category C approach in the table at the bottom of the chart.

Good luck!

Edited September 9, 20205 yr by GearUp180

An MDA is typically specified on the approach chart for the runway you are intending to land on. So it can usually be found either in the airport's Aerodrome Booklet, or on the approach chart for that runway. You can find these online most of the time. On some FMCs, if you pick a specific type of approach to a specific runway and enter all the details, the Decision Height figure will be automatically inserted in the FMC in the required slot.

As you probably know, it is the height at which (on a precision approach) you must descend no further and instead execute a go around if you have not met all the criteria specified for the landing, i.e. cleared to land, on a stabilised approach, properly configured, equipped with the necessary guidance avionics or able to see the runway, or whatever the required criteria are for that approach.

If you can't find it, and unless there are known obstacles on the approach path, just put 200 feet in, this is probably the safe minimum for an airliner going into a typical runway where if it's not looking good you'll still have time to throttle up and go around.

Be aware that some airports are not on level terrain, and so that 200 feet (or whatever) figure is normally the height above the field which the runway is at, and not necessarily the height above the ground you are over whilst on approach, for example this one, would be showing well below 200 feet all the way in. This is why it is a good idea to have the chart:

 

Edited September 9, 20205 yr by Chock

Depending on what you are doing, the MDA will be the big numbers in the approach minimums. It is a baro number while the little numbers will be agl. We had this saying, big jet big numbers and little jet little numbers lol. G5 was the big jet and we only used baro unless doing a CATII and in the G3 we always used the agl numbers.

Thank you everyone for your excellent help. I will go back to the charts and study them. I was looking at them before but didn't really know what I was looking at. I think I have a better idea what to look for now.

Thanks.

2 hours ago, GearUp180 said:

You will find the MDA on approach charts.

You will find approach charts (for free) on websites such as Skyvector: you can search by airport code on the top left, then pass your mouse over the airport name and it will give you the list of approaches.

For an A320, you need to use the category C approach in the table at the bottom of the chart.

Good luck!

Hi,

When I hover my mouse over the airport name its not giving me a list of approaches Any ideas?

Thanks

13 minutes ago, Yanna1 said:

Hi,

When I hover my mouse over the airport name its not giving me a list of approaches Any ideas?

Thanks

It does work for me:

Alternatively, you can click on the airport to open the dedicated page and scroll down for the list of the plates (airport diagram, SID, STAR, Approaches...)

2 hours ago, Yanna1 said:

Thank you everyone for your excellent help. I will go back to the charts and study them. I was looking at them before but didn't really know what I was looking at. I think I have a better idea what to look for now.

Thanks.

For your information, there is an excellent playlist of workshops from PilotEdge on the subject (I hope you have time: some of the videos are 2 hours+ ):

 

Hi, I got that now. Been trying to get UK airports but it doesn't show any approaches for them. Seems it only works for American Airports for me.

Thanks

51 minutes ago, Yanna1 said:

Hi, I got that now. Been trying to get UK airports but it doesn't show any approaches for them. Seems it only works for American Airports for me.

Thanks

Sadly, Skyvector is very much US-centered.

For the approach plates of UK airports, you may want to check the AIP under:

Part 3 - Aerodromes (AD) / AD AERODROMES /

EG[the airport of your choice] /

AD 2.24  EG[the airport of your choice] CHARTS RELATED TO AN AERODROME

https://www.aurora.nats.co.uk/htmlAIP/Publications/2020-08-13-AIRAC/html/index-en-GB.html

Edited September 9, 20205 yr by GearUp180

That is one of my favourite videos of a 757 at TEQUCIGALPA

nebojsa