Hello - I am currently in the trial and wanting to understand what I'm doing wrong.

 

I have flown LSZH-LSZS. It's a relatively short flight, but I have followed the instructions to taxi, takeoff and enroute altitudes/vectors.

There is no STAR at LSZS (so I don't know how the program delivers clearances to the STAR), but I never get clearance to follow the arrival RNAV approach. This is despite inputting the SID, arrival runway and approach into the flight plan before filing it.

I flew the approach down by looking at charts and I see the P2ATC window showing the correct Flight Plan altitudes, but I never get instructions to descend or begin the approach. Instead, I keep getting told to climb back up to the cruise altitude (or just below it) once I start descending).

So far I'm really liking the program, but I am lost why I get no guidance on the approach/landing and ATC seems to try to keep me at a high altitude.

I've flown it three times and each time it's the same thing. Thank you.

Assuming you've filed an IFR plan, received clearance and haven't made any changes to it or refiled it after the clearance, then about 4 minutes before the ATC calculated TOD (which uses actual groundspeed instead of planned GS, and so may be different from the one in your aircraft) you will get an arrival call, telling you what STAR, if any, and what Approach to expect.

Then, if no STAR is involved, at the TOD, you'll start getting descent instructions.  Depending on the angle of the route to final, you may or may not get vectors to final approach.  

You can adjust the TOD to be further out by decreasing the planned Descent rate.  

Dave

Thank you, Dave.

I will try to test that out. I thought that all of those conditions had been met when I previously flew the route for testing, but I will try again.

I was able last night, on my 4th attempt, to get vectoring and approval for the RNAV approach by requesting an enroute descent and then requesting approval for the approach. I wouldn't have thought those things were needed, but I was trying to get ATC to talk to me regarding the descent. I will try again as you indicate above and make sure I don't make any changes to the plan once I get IFR clearance.

Thank you again.