1 minute ago, haskell said:

In the MCDU during setup, put your desired cruise speed or mach in the PRESEL field. (PERF button>NEXT PHASE until CRZ) It will accelerate to that speed at cruise. It will also show in the AP panel and you can adjust it to your liking once you are cruising. I usually start with .72 or 320 kts for a FL230 flight. 

For APPR PHASE I think it's supposed to do it automatically but I activate it when I wish to reduce speed. Otherwise it keeps you at 250 kts. So once I enter the airspace and need to slow, I activate APPR and it drops down to 200-210 kts. To continue slowing, just drop flaps one notch at a time. It will automatically reduce speed, down to Vref at flaps 4. 

Oh MCDU so that's what it's called hehe.  Thanks

Yeah I hit APPR phase manually today and it wanted to drop me to 120 kias - did I forgot to enter some numbers somewhere?

3 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

Oh MCDU so that's what it's called hehe.

I was just tryna sound smart. I call it the FMC regardless of plane. 🙂

38 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

Yeah I hit APPR phase manually today and it wanted to drop me to 120 kias - did I forgot to enter some numbers somewhere?

Then you probably had full flaps already when you enabled appr phase. That's not really correct. You set flaps way too early then.

The Airbus automatically sets and goes to the speed that belongs to the current flap setting. I myself slow the plane down during approach using flaps. I don't activate appr phase manually very often: it will be activated automatically during approach. Watch for the little purple circle on the ND: appr phase will be activated once you pass that circle. You can enable appr phase earlier if you'd like to slow down a bit earlier for whatever reason.

1. When the appr phase is activated the speed (in managed mode) will automatically drop to the computed green dot speed: check the green dot on the speed tape! The speed will stay there until you set flap 1.

2. Once you set flap 1 the speed will drop to the S speed (check the speed tape once more). It will stay there until you set flaps 2!

3. Usually I go to flaps 2 at the FAF. The plane will drop to the F-speed. Yup, check the speed tape again.

4. After settings flaps 2, and usually at or before 2000 ft AGL I lower the gear, arm ground spoilers, turn on the runway and taxi light and enable AP2 in case I want to autoland.

5. Once I reached the F-speed and usually at or before 1000 ft AGL I set flaps 3 and then full. Now the plane will drop to the landing speed.

As you can see you sort of control the speeds with the flaps!

 

 

 

Edited April 23, 20224 yr by tup61

Thanks for the comprehensive write-up @tup61. Until now I’ve gone into manual speed mode during the approach phase. 

15 hours ago, tup61 said:

I don't activate appr phase manually very often: it will be activated automatically during approach.

Hm, just did a flight and I don't know why I said the above but I usually activate appr phase when I am on my way to intercept the final course. Of course it also depends on the kind of approach. Besides, in the current exp version the appr phase didn't activate automatically,.. bit odd. Anyway, even in the flight I just did, where the Decel point was quite late, I had no problems slowing down and landing in managed mode. 😉

15 hours ago, tup61 said:

5. Once I reached the F-speed and usually at or before 1000 ft AGL I set flaps 3 and then full.

Also this may be a bit different than I had in my head. 😉 I simply go to flaps 3 and full at the appropriate speeds (185 kts and 177 kts) and I don't wait until I reach F.

But well, anyway, the main point of my post was that speeds automatically change depending on the flaps in use: use that to your advantage. 😉

Edited April 24, 20224 yr by tup61

19 minutes ago, tup61 said:

speeds automatically change depending on the flaps in use: use that to your advantage

I took that as your main point. Going to do a flight now and use managed mode exclusively. I’ll see if I have to activate approach phase or if it does so automatically.

Prior to this I was usually at 160KIAS and flaps 2 before intercepting glide slope. Then around 5nm before touchdown: gear down, flaps 3, flaps full, approach speed.

46 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

I took that as your main point. Going to do a flight now and use managed mode exclusively. I’ll see if I have to activate approach phase or if it does so automatically.

Prior to this I was usually at 160KIAS and flaps 2 before intercepting glide slope. Then around 5nm before touchdown: gear down, flaps 3, flaps full, approach speed.

Yes, I also usually try to set flaps 2 just before GS-intercept otherwise slowing down (while descending) might be a problem. I do take some time though between gears and final flaps (see my earlier post) but as always this also depends on the approach. Letting the Airbus take care of the speeds by using the flaps will make the approach more relaxing anyway. 😉

Edited April 24, 20224 yr by tup61

1 hour ago, tup61 said:

Letting the Airbus take care of the speeds by using the flaps will make the approach more relaxing anyway.

Worked like a charm! 

I know this will be a little too hand holdy for the average Avsim user, but since it often appears as one of the first few Google results when anyone searches, I figure I'd show how I do it.

I documented the steps from my latest flight. I used Flightaware to find a flight from CYYZ in Toronto (FlyTampa) to KIAD Washington Dulles (Flightbeam) this morning and used it's altitude, route, and flight time to duplicate it in Simbrief. Here's how to get off the ground in less than 100 steps. 😉

Planning and setup

1. Find flight in Flightaware.
2. Enter flight info into Simbrief and generate OFP.
3. Start add-on linker, select configuration, launch MSFS.
4. Activate live time & weather, select airplane and livery, set call sign and flight number, then departure airport and gate (Do not set destination info).
5. Launch flight. 

Pre-flight

1. Turn on flypad. Connect jetway and external power.
2. Turn on Battery 1 & 2 then EXTPWR
3. EMER EXIT LT - Set to arm
4. No Smoking / Seatbelts - Set to on
5. CREW SUPPLY (oxygen) - Set to on (white light off)
6. ADIRS IR1 - Set to on (it takes approx 5-10 sec for battery light to light up and then extinguish - IR2 activated after that - same for IR3)
7. Check OFP in flypad for Maximum Planned fuel.
8. Go to services page and hit Fuel at the top right. Press the little cloud icon to load the planned fuel value from OFP and press the "play" button to start loading fuel (set the rate - instant, fast, or real to your liking. I use real).
9. Go to the MCDU ATSU - AOC page and select  INIT/PRES, then press INIT DATA REQ to load FP into ATSU
10. Press INIT button and then INIT REQUEST to load the FP into the airplane.
11. Go back to ATSU - AOC menu, WX REQUEST - send, ATIS (for departure - if it is a short flight, I grab both, for longer flights I get arrival ATIS before TOD) - send, W/B - press send, then BOARDING START
12. Go back to ATSU - AOC menu, Select RECEIVED MESSAGES and print all messages.
13. Press F-PLN button. Press LSK next to departure airport. Select departure runway from OFP, SID, and transition (from OFP). This loads a FP into MSFS.
14. Select arrival airport (at the bottom of the F-PLN) and select arrival runway, STAR, VIAS (these are the transition points to final approach, not the transition point into the STAR - you select that next), and then approach transition as shown in the OFP,
    • NOTE: if you don't know which 'VIA' for final approach to use, select 'none' and you can fix it later by repeating this step if there is a good one to use. The Navigraph chart in the chart window will show you your choices if you click on the final approach on the map. That is the only way I know to find them as they do not appear on the OFP. RW pilots? any help?)
15. Get ATIS and Clearance from ATC. If runway is different from OFP, repeat step 13 with newly assigned runway. Set initial cleared altitude on FCU, and pressure on both altimeters. FO will set squawk, or you can do it.
16. Wait for PAX to load so you can do the 2nd INIT page. While they are loading, I do the following:
    • In the flypad, I 'pin' the charts I will use for the flight. Departure airport diagram (has moving map during taxi), and SID. Arrival airport STAR, Approach (runway), airport diagram, gate map
    • Call baggage cart and catering
    • Pre-plan pushback using TB Pushback
    • Start 'Cockpit Preparation" and "Before start" checklists (the latter cannot be completed until after PAX are loaded)
    • Turn on fuel pumps (extinguish 6 white lights on overhead) and start APU)
17. When FA yells, "<something> computer", press INIT button and use right arrow button to get to page 2. Press ZFW/ZFWCG button 2 times to load OFP values and then input them. Press the FUEL PLANNING button and then BLOCK CONFIRM input fuel load. Find "AVG WIND" in the OFP. Enter that value in the TRIP WIND setting. (Input negative values with a - sign. Example AVG WIND M05 is a headwind entered as -5. AVG WIND P10 is a tailwind entered as plain old 10).
18. Press PERF button. On TAKE OFF RWY page, input 1/1.7DN and press FLAPS/THS then use 61 or 62 for the FLEX TO TEMP (I find these 2 settings work for me most of the time, and give a fairly realistic length of take off roll - use the real numbers if you know them). Press V1 key 2 times, V2 key 2 times, and V3 key 2 times. Input TRANS ALT if it is not correct.  
19. At this point, you are basically ready. Complete "Before start" checklist up to turning on the beacon. Do that right as you call for push back. When APU is available, turn off EXT PWR. Disconnect jetway, external power cart, baggage and catering if they are still there. Turn on APU bleed and PROBE/WINDOW HEAT.
20. When clock hits your departure time, turn on the beacon, complete the checklist, call for push, and perform both engine starts during the push.
21. After engine start complete AFTER START check list. Turn on ICE IND & STBY COMPASS, press STS button on ECAM and make sure "Normal" is displayed, press STS again to get rid of it. Verify pitch and rudder trim are set to 0 and L 0.0
22. When push complete, perform TAXI checklist items (ENG MODE SEL - I leave on IGN/START and turn it to NORM at 10k feet along with turning off the landing lights, APU bleed off, APU off, and disarming the speed brake). For ECAM MEMO: TO NO BLUE, turn on Max autobrake, press the ALL button in the CALLS section of the overhead to sound the chime and alert the cabin. Press the TO CONFIG button on the ECAM panel to make sure T.O. CONFIG NORMAL is displayed.
23. Turn on taxi lights and call for taxi...

Enjoy!

For those that are using Navigraph. I usually load up the Simbrief plan using the desktop app. Then pin all the relevant charts. After this it’s easy to pull up the iOS app (or the in-sim toolbar feature) and just load the most recent flight plan. Everything done in the desktop app will then be there - the flight plan and all the pinned charts. 

I don’t have a second monitor. But I’m actively using my iPad for all the charts, as well as the MCDU. The latter is a great feature, just one example of the innovative creations of the FBW team.

Edited April 24, 20224 yr by Cpt_Piett

Since only today did I try the FBW A320N, to tell the truth it was miles better than I thought, its really is good.

I spent 3 years flying nothing but the FSLA320 and did a step by step walk thought for it, FSL pined it on there forums and still to this day is there with around 5,000 down loads. https://forums.flightsimlabs.com/index.php?/topic/20497-walkthrough-guide-including-aocatsu-flows-for-a319-a321-updated-7th-jan-2020/ 

So I converted it to the FBW A320N, it wont be "perfect"  as not done enough flights yet but if anyone wants a copy, PM/DM me your email.

From one of the pagers. Screenshot.