Need some assistance as I have some issues concerning proper FSX default A321 landing procedure, as aircraft literally plunges down when I disconnect the AP, and when trying to correct the situation and put nose up with joystick, aircraft climbs up at more than 15 degrees...like if something was "retaining" the aircraft from manual control, even with ap, a/thr, fd and apr buttons off.This is was I usually do just before landing:a) since centered on ILS (20 miles before landing) , press on APR, speed around 220. (I always take care to be above ILS altitude mark, when appearing at 19,5 miles to landing, now under, like it used to be in FS9):( 15 miles before landing - speed at 200, flaps first position (does not accept flaps above 200, is this weight related ?) c) 10 miles before landing, speed at 180, autobrake selection at 1,2 or 3 depending runway, autospoiler selected (I cannot press that autobreak button on the A321 - neither on 2d or virtual cockpit)it does not work, so I use keyboard command, is this normal ?d) 8 miles befores landing, gear down, spead 180, I manage to leave always 5 to 10% fuel left on landing, is this too much ? I count a an average of 25% total fuel carried for each flying hour, including diversion fuel. e) 5-4 miles before landing, once landing cleared, speed at 150, flaps at 25 (3rd position), can I affort 140 ?f) 1,5 mile before landing, A/THR off, keep speed at 140 and idle when on runway pathg) 1 mile before landing, AP and APR off (that's where the problem start, should I disconnect AP and APR earlier, around 2,5 miles ?)h) landing, reverse engine until 80 knots, then autobreak and spoiler do the job until 25-20knots, then break if required.i) realize FD is always off, despite AP disconnected, should I have it on automatically ? So I press on it just after engine reverse.Description above is what is always have with my PMDG Boeings in FS9, and it ever worked very smoothly.Do you think I should look into joystick command settings in FSX command settings, and have the neutral zone a bit wider ?Sorry for my bad "pilot english". Many thanks for your commentsRegards,Patrick Geneva

The Airbus tries to mimic the auto-flare of the real aircrafts FBW system. Clearly this is something that MUST be included in the Learning Centre with the first available patch, as the existing procedures in there are cribbed from the 737 are wrong.In fact, as we now have a precedent for `quick` fixes, this is something that should, could, and ought to be fixed tomorrow. A variety of things seem `different` between the Airbus and the Boeings and it would be nice to be told what they are :)Allcott

The A321 is the one plane I have flown a little in FSX.The FSX implementation of the fly-by-wire system makes the A321...interesting. You must be very careful on your pitch settings, and it takes some getting used to. Once you are used to the pitch control on the A321 it is much easier.To the limit of my knowledge, as allcott said the pitch down on short final is the fly-by-wire trying to make you flare. You have to learn to expect the plane to attempt this nose pitch-down on short final...be ready for it, and apply slight up elevator to counter.The result is a perfect flat Airbus flare. Don't try to flare the A321 like you would a 737.I never fly that close to the threshold with autopilot on. I always turn it off about 10 miles out, and hand-fly approaches, especially with the A321. That way nothing can mess with my approach, except me.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2530 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian

I agree the procedures do need to be updated in the Learning Center.It's great though that the sim now tries to model the difference between Airbus and Boeing FBW systems (Boeing being more pilot-centered, that is more traditional stick and rudder, and the Airbus approach of trying to reduce the potential of certain pilot errors by giving you a little added 'assistance') - each way has it's merits for sure, and can be debated forever - one I love to get into given the chance, but I won't here!!!!I love flying both the default 737 and the A321 - though I'll admit, my first approach in the A321, I found myself in trouble trying to do my usual 737 style approach, and finally aborted my landing and had to go around. Then I realized, ah --- they are modelling the Airbus FBW systems now to some extent, it's actually pretty good, to my knowledge at least, and once I realized that after going around, my landings have been great - and great fun we get to experience these different types of flying, in many ways, this has added a lot to my enjoyment of FSX.

I like the default FSX A321, but...try this...Fly a normal and stable autopilot ILS approach and disconnect the AP on short final, say, at 1000 feet AGL: the FSX A321 goes crazy the moment I disconnect the AP button, it plunges and it becomes very hard to control--that connot be normal! According to a close friend who flies the A320 for United (real life pilot), when you disconnect the AP button, the real aircraft maintains the current flight attitude without any crazy up-and-down behaviour like in the FSX A321. Has anybody been able to find a fix for that?Thank you in advance,Kerke

?? I have not noticed the A321 doing this. When I disco the a/p, the aircraft continues flying as it was.The only time it does not, is if I am going too slow. Then, yes, the pitch becomes difficult to control.Now, perhaps you are disco'ing too late. I would not a/p an approach down to short final. On short final, the FBW starts interacting, and maybe that is what you are seeing, too. A combination of low airspeed and FBW interaction on short final.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

I wonder why I am having that problem while it works OK for you. One thing to consider is that I am a keyboard pilot (no stick), I wonder if that may have anything to do with it. I've used FSim since the Commodore64 days, always with the keyboard. However, I don't have the same weird behaviour when I disconnect the AP on any other FSX default aircraft, just the Airbus A321.As far as the speed is concerned, I should be able to disconnect the AP on any stable ILS approch at, say, 1500 AGL (140 kias) without the aircraft going nuts on me.Thank you for your reply,Kerke

I am also a keyboard pilot.On the A321 I disconnect the autopilot at 10 nm out, almost always. And I gear down shortly thereafter, making sure I'm below 280 KIAS, and preferably 250 KIAS or so. I always hand-fly approaches pretty much.I do not keep autopilot on down to short final. I don't know what that would do, because the A321's FBW seems to pitch the nose down on short final by itself. If you were going fine on autopilot, then click it off on short final, I can imagine strange things happening.I'd suggest clicking off ap at 10nm out, KIAS at 250 or so. Gear down at 9 or 10nm, KIAS 230, notch of flaps at 8nm, KIAS dropping to 210 or so; I like KIAS slowly decreasing from 210 to 180, by the time we're about 2 nm out...depending on a/c weight, winds of course. Keep in mind a headwind will show higher KIAS.Final notch of flaps goes on at about 1nm out, but further if I'm high. Keep airspeed above 170, which means 30-35% N1 depending on your weight. Do not cut power too early, you need a little unless you are super light. At this point, THE FLY BY WIRE WILL TRY TO PITCH YOUR NOSE DOWN. Expect this, and counter with a smooth application of slight up elevator. Not too much or you will bubble up, and get in stall trouble. Just flatten out your nose. Do not over-flare. Do a very flat flare compared to a 737. Once you cut power to idle over the piano keys, the airspeed will drop rapidly and the aircraft will settle in. I takes practice on that plane...That's how I do it with the A321.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

Thanks again Rhett. I found out how to avoid the AP disconnect problem: I turned off the 4 "FLT CNTRL" buttons on the overhead panel (shift-5). When I fly with the "FLT CNTRL" buttons in the OFF position, the A321 does a very stable and smoot AP disconnect transition to manual flight.The only complaint I have left of the default FSX A321 flight model is that it accelerates way too fast on take off, have you noticed that?Kerke

>The only complaint I have left of the default FSX A321 flight>model is that it accelerates way too fast on take off, have>you noticed that?>Yes I have noticed that. But in real life that is how many airliners perform--notably the Rolls-Royce powered Boeing 757's. They are rocket ships. So are DC-8-70's with those 4 big turbofans. And of course so are Fokker 50/70's. Ferraris all. Don't know about A321's but if the FS flight model is anything like real world then it too is a rocket.So what you have to do is, throttle way back IMMEDIATELY after gear and flaps up.On takeoff, I run 1 notch of flaps (I don't know if this is correct, but it works for me). I power N1 to 94%, or a little more if I am heavy, or hot and high. Then I rotate (Vr) at 160 knots approx. Then, on positive rate of climb+1 second or two, I gear up, and flaps up. And immediately begin throttling down. That is very important. Maintain 1800 fpm, and throttle back to about 55-60% N1. don't overpitch on takeoff or you will get too slow when you throttle down.55-60 n1 at 1800 fpm should keep the overspeed warning off. Then I flip on the autopilot for 1800 fpm and whatever altitude ATC told me to go to.On climbout, you will find that 55-60% N1 at 1800 fpm will keep your KIAS at 250 knots or so. It might creep up a little but you can adjust throttle as needed.As you climb, you will need a little more power gradually. So from a start of 60% N1, you will gradually increase N1 to about 75% once you get up to 23,000 feet or higher. You'll need 70-75% N1 to climb at 1800 fpm past 23,000 feet unless you are super light.Keep in mind that by default the A321 is not too heavily loaded. You can check this in the payload dialog, where it will show a few "0"'s in some stations.The above numbers seem to work well for me for the default FSX A321.Last night I flew the A321 into Toncontin Airport in Honduras (MHTG). It was very difficult. Do that Runway 1 approach and you will learn new swear words! :) I suggest you try an easier airport until you get the hang of the A321.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

>Thanks again Rhett. I found out how to avoid the AP>disconnect problem: I turned off the 4 "FLT CNTRL" buttons on>the overhead panel (shift-5). When I fly with the "FLT CNTRL">buttons in the OFF position, the A321 does a very stable and>smoot AP disconnect transition to manual flight.>>The only complaint I have left of the default FSX A321 flight>model is that it accelerates way too fast on take off, have>you noticed that?>>Kerke>>>thanks for mentioning that, I'll try that.I've not flown the A321 for a long time due to its craziness on disconnection of AP.

When I land the A321 I leave the AP on all the way till I exit the runway after touchdown. The only thing I do is disconnect the auto throttle and manually control speed then pull the joystick back before I touch down. Even though the airplane is still on the glide slope it will flare up enough so the back wheels will hit the runway first, and you can ride the center line all the way down. I've watched several replay's of me doing this landing and it looks like an a+ landing.

wheres the fun in cat3 landings all the time?

>wheres the fun in cat3 landings all the time?Oh so thats a cat3 landing eh, I didn't know thats how cat3 worked. Does any one know if MMMX (mexico city) has that. Cause thats the one i've been flying to.

>I've watched several>replay's of me doing this landing and it looks like an a+>landing.Here I fixed that for you ;-) :I've watched several replay's of the autopilot doing this landing and it looks like an c- landing.Sorry, I could not resist. :-)Alex