SOP3 - Wrong "500 continue/go around" call height.

[Flexman 30]

Hello,
In SOP3, the "500 continue" call on approach should happen at 500ft AAL not RA. That means it should happen at the beginning of the amber bar in the Landing Altitude Reference bar in the altimeter and not when the radio altimeter reads 500ft.
Is there a chance to get this fixed or is there a sim limitation?

Thanks!

Edited March 14, 2021 by Flexman

[byork 2,259]

Unless you're flying over a mountain, RA and AAL will be pretty close.

But we'll add it to the list.

Cheers,

[Flexman 30]

On 3/15/2021 at 12:13 AM, byork said:

Unless you're flying over a mountain, RA and AAL will be pretty close.

But we'll add it to the list.

Cheers,

Thank you, but that's just how the procedure is. You don't need to be flying over a mountain for RA to be different than aerodrome level. At the time you are 500ft above the airdrome, the radio altimeter will be reading hills, the sea, trees and what not. Even in very flat areas you can see a difference of 100ft or 200ft. airports along shores have this too, where the radio altimeter will show you a higher height than how high you really are with reference to the threshold. What matters is that in real life the trigger for 500 continue or 500 go around is the amber bar in the landing altitude reference bar in the altimeter, not the radio altimeter 500ft reading.

Thanks for looking into it. I'm just pointing out the differences between SOP3 and the procedures in the company on which they are based on, for which I happen to fly for.

[byork 2,259]

That's technically true... it's on our list.

Cheers.

[byork 2,259]

On 3/22/2021 at 12:06 AM, Flexman said:

Thank you, but that's just how the procedure is. You don't need to be flying over a mountain for RA to be different than aerodrome level. At the time you are 500ft above the airdrome, the radio altimeter will be reading hills, the sea, trees and what not. Even in very flat areas you can see a difference of 100ft or 200ft. airports along shores have this too, where the radio altimeter will show you a higher height than how high you really are with reference to the threshold. What matters is that in real life the trigger for 500 continue or 500 go around is the amber bar in the landing altitude reference bar in the altimeter, not the radio altimeter 500ft reading.

Thanks for looking into it. I'm just pointing out the differences between SOP3 and the procedures in the company on which they are based on, for which I happen to fly for.

Looking at the code, the trigger is already based on Landing Runway Elevation, not the Radar Altimeter.

So there's nothing for me to change.

The elevation data is pulled directly out of the PMDG's FMC via their SDK.

I doubt however that's threshold elevation... it's probably airport elevation.

 

[Flexman 30]

On 3/23/2021 at 10:04 AM, byork said:

Looking at the code, the trigger is already based on Landing Runway Elevation, not the Radar Altimeter.

So there's nothing for me to change.

The elevation data is pulled directly out of the PMDG's FMC via their SDK.

I doubt however that's threshold elevation... it's probably airport elevation.

 

The LANDING ALTITUDE REFERENCE BAR starts at the LANDING ALTITUDE INDICATION. The first 500 feet of the bar are amber and the last 500 ft are white. We call 500 CONTINUE or GO AROUND exactly at the point where the landing altitude reference bar changes from white to amber.
When parked on the platform in the real non-flat world, if you change the departure runway you can see how the landing altitude reference bar moves up or down. So it's definitely threshold elevation. In P3D airports are flat, so airport elevation should always be equal to threshold elevation anyway.

From my experience with FS2CREW SOP3, the 500 continue call doesn't happen when the reference bar changes from white to amber. I thought the problem could be that it was RA based but since your code is correct maybe the problem is not on your side but on the PMDG SDK..I'll ask in their forum.

Thanks

Edited April 4, 2021 by Flexman

[byork 2,259]

We can't read the threshold elevation from the SDK.  We can read airport elevation, however.  That would probably explain the difference.

 

[Flexman 30]

Airport Elevation and Threshold elevation in P3D should be identical as airports are completely flat.

[byork 2,259]

2 hours ago, Flexman said:

Airport Elevation and Threshold elevation in P3D should be identical as airports are completely flat.

True, but the airport data pmdg uses in the FMC may use real-world elevations, not P3D specific data where everything is flat.  That'd be one for PMDG to answer.