iniBuilds A310 first impressions

[AJZip 256]

7 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

In the video I shared, it’s obvious I wasn’t anywhere near a proper configuration as the glide slope was captured. I thought I would have a few nm at the same altitude to slow down but things didn’t go according to plan. I need more practice. Obviously, haha 😂

Great video all the same 🙂

[AJZip 256]

55 minutes ago, Pochi said:

Hi,

I did my 1st flight yesterday, LFBO ILS32R. All went well until GS capture. For some reason, the airplane did not intercept the glide. G/S mode was armed and LOC captured. 

Do not know what happened. The only thing I noticed is that I forgot to retract  all the spoilers but I assume it should not have any effect on GS capture ?

Any idea ? Or bug ?

Pierre

That's what the discussion a few posts earlier is about.

It is clear that capturing (and keeping on) the glide slope is challenging at the moment.  There is a debate whether it is a bit of a bug or whether the aircraft is, indeed, one where 'everything has to be correct' for it to capture and keep the glide slope.  We will only know for sure if a real life 310 pilot confirms or otherwise but, as the BAe146 is very much the same - while quite sophisticated for its day, it nevertheless had to be 'flown' with the auto stuff assisting rather than correcting everything - my suspicion is that it is, at least partly, a feature of the aircraft and its era.

My only evidence - having, like you, failed previously almost every time to capture or keep the glide slope - is that following ALL of the guidance of the above tutorial posted above, and getting the approach to the ILS zone and the management of speeds/altitude/attitude/flaps/spoilers/FMS settings and ILS settings right, I've captured and kept the glide slope at every attempt since.

Whether it reflects real life or is a workaround I don't know - but it means that I don't any longer suffer the frustration of a long prep and flight only to pile into or overshoot the runway at the end.  🙂   

[AJZip 256]

By the way - something or nothing - another tip that seemed to make a difference to me:

Next to the ILS frequency display on the lower centre console is a Course knob and display.  A number of the tutorials I've seen emphasise to enter the ILS runway Course here in addition to doing so on the Course setting of the main panel.  One of the tutorials I saw had a passing comment 'and make sure it is the right one.'  That is, eg, Glasgow EGPF Runway 23 is 228 degrees, not 230.

It may be coincidence, but I put the generic 230 degrees on one attempt and it captured the localiser but missed the glide slope.  I repeated the flight and - although I may have by chance got other stuff closer - put both Course settings at 228 degrees.  This time it captured both the localiser and the glide slope.

Could be coincidence.  Might be important.  Who knows. 

That said, I don't think @Cpt_Piett put a course setting there on his vid - and he seemed to get pretty close... 

[Pochi 68]

Thanks for your advices !

The course setting for ILS is informative only. If you do not set it, the ILS will work normally. You just lost the situational awareness on your HSI. 

It seems weird to me that such a plane would require meeting such precise conditions for GS intercept. I think it is a bug.

I heard about a problem with custom ILS on 3rd party sceneries.

Pierre

[AJZip 256]

35 minutes ago, Pochi said:

Thanks for your advices !

The course setting for ILS is informative only. If you do not set it, the ILS will work normally. You just lost the situational awareness on your HSI. 

It seems weird to me that such a plane would require meeting such precise conditions for GS intercept. I think it is a bug.

I heard about a problem with custom ILS on 3rd party sceneries.

Pierre

You are probably correct 🙂

 

[Cpt_Piett 4,922]

1 hour ago, AJZip said:

That said, I don't think @Cpt_Piett put a course setting there on his vid - and he seemed to get pretty close... 

It’s true I didn’t. I was attempting an RNAV approach 🙂

[AJZip 256]

Just now, Cpt_Piett said:

It’s true I didn’t. I was attempting an RNAV approach 🙂

Good point!  😄

[xender 474]

Hi guys! Question:

Is any of you able to land and then begin another leg WITHOUT ending the current flight, going back to the main menu and then starting a new flight?

Right now, if i land and then try to prepare the plane for another leg, the FMC starts to do weird things (specially with the weights)

[Cpt_Piett 4,922]

1 hour ago, AJZip said:

Good point!  😄

So apparently, if I've understood things correctly, in order to do an RNAV approach, the aircraft has to be in descent profile mode on the FDU. It seemed to work as the aircraft descended in profile after the FAP. 

I'm still confused as to the stall warning on final approach though. I was in manual flight (AP off) with AT on. Even though speed gradually decreased way below Vapp, the AT stayed at 30% or so N1 until near-stall. 

I'm reflying the same approach now. 

[JSmith2112 317]

Definitely some head scratching things going on with the ILS. On one approach I managed to get so mixed up that I ended up doing a gear up landing. I've found that using LVL/CH instead of Profile when trying to intercept GS seems more reliable.

AP disconnect no longer works with the toggle autopilot master function (works on the PMDG 737), I'm pretty sure it worked before the patch - got to push the red AP Disconnect button on the yoke.

Otherwise I'm enjoying the aircraft.

[Flic1 1,013]

11 minutes ago, JSmith2112 said:

AP disconnect no longer works with the toggle autopilot master function (works on the PMDG 737), I'm pretty sure it worked before the patch

You have to use the 'Autopilot Off' bind for it to work. That way you can hit your button once to shut it off then again to silence the alarm. 

[SAS443 1,749]

 

1 hour ago, Cpt_Piett said:

So apparently, if I've understood things correctly, in order to do an RNAV approach, the aircraft has to be in descent profile mode on the FDU

• Non-ILS approach must be loaded
• MDA must be entered on TO/APPR page in CDU
• "FINAL APPR" must be selected on LSK6R

now you can  descend below FCU altitude while in PROF-mode. (akin to select "LAND" while shooting an ILS)

That's all there is to it.

[Cpt_Piett 4,922]

1 hour ago, xender said:

Is any of you able to land and then begin another leg WITHOUT ending the current flight, going back to the main menu and then starting a new flight?

Yes I just did that. FMS was fine so I just loaded a new simbrief plan. 

[Cpt_Piett 4,922]

29 minutes ago, SAS443 said:

 

• Non-ILS approach must be loaded
• MDA must be entered on TO/APPR page in CDU
• "FINAL APPR" must be selected on LSK6R

now you can  descend below FCU altitude while in PROF-mode. (akin to select "LAND" while shooting an ILS)

That's all there is to it.

Excellent, thanks. I just did KBUR RNAV Y 8 again before reading this. I guess I messed up something as I couldn't descend in PROF-mode, so went with V/S instead. 

Again I was not able to get configured in time for FAP so I had to do a go-around. On second attempt I was at slats/flaps 15/15 before descending down to FAP which worked out well. 

I was however able to do a turnaround successfully so now I'm on the way back to KFAT for another RNAV approach.

One more thing @SAS443: when can we select "FINAL APPR" on the approach page. I'm at 13,000ft and the option has not appeared yet. 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Cpt_Piett

[SAS443 1,749]

12 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

One more thing @SAS443: when can we select "FINAL APPR" on the approach page. I'm at 13,000ft and the option has not appeared yet. 

Good question. At least visible when inbound the IAF. And you must be in NAV-mode for the "final"-prompt to be displayed in the CDU. It wont show while in HDG select (like if you are receiving terminal vectoring)

Since you are flying a pure RNAV, it should prompt "FINAL X.X" where X is the pseudo glideslope coded for the procedure.