Anyone else entering a waypoint in MCDU PROG page? I find it useful to enter the last waypoint before TOD. I’ve got the MCDU on my iPad, so I’ll glance at it every now and then when I’m not present at the flight deck… After TOD I usually enter the FAP.

Also very useful to have Navigraph Charts on iPad. During departure and arrival I have charts on my iPad Pro and MCDU on a smaller, older iPad. I shut down all unneeded background programs in Windows, put aside my keyboard and just put the iPads on the desk in front of my, in between the sidestick and throttle quadrant.

Edited March 16, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

2 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Anyone else entering a waypoint in MCDU PROG page? I find it useful to enter the last waypoint before TOD. I’ve got the MCDU on my iPad, so I’ll glance at it every now and then when I’m not present at the flight deck… After TOD I usually enter the FAP.

Also very useful to have Navigraph Charts on iPad. During departure and arrival I have charts on my iPad Pro and MCDU on a smaller, older iPad. I shut down all unneeded background programs in Windows, put aside my keyboard and just put the iPads on the desk in front of my, in between the sidestick and throttle quadrant.

I usually fly the star that Simbrief recommends once I know the arrival runway, and just enter it into the MCDU. 

Just to continue the discussion re: landing distance required. I implemented @Farlis advice when I landed at LIML Linate.

• Landing weight: 64.4 tonnes (MLW 64.5)
• Winds were light (around 4kts)
• Max manual braking
• Max reverse thrust
• Flaps full
• A/THR off

EFB calculations:

• Landing distance required: 1119m
• Landing distance available: 2442m

I struggled a bit when disconnecting A/THR as I had thrust levers in the CLB detent as I disconnected, giving me way more thrust than I wanted...

Judging from the screenshots below, I'd say the aircraft came to a full stop about halfway down the Rwy (perhaps 1220m). And btw I used CATII autoland. Could have used CATI though 😉 

Perhaps this if off topic as per the topic title. Not sure if there's a general Fenix thread to discuss topics like this. 

Edited March 16, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

13 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

struggled a bit when disconnecting A/THR as I had thrust levers in the CLB detent as I disconnected,

Tip: you can actually move the levers out of the CL detent and match the current thrust output by using the donut indicators, and THEN disconnect the ATHR. 

TLA is acting as a thrust limiter in this case.

8 minutes ago, SAS443 said:

Tip: you can actually move the levers out of the CL detent and match the current thrust output by using the donut indicators, and THEN disconnect the ATHR. 

TLA is acting as a thrust limiter in this case.

Great, didn't know that (obviously), thanks!

4 hours ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Anyone else entering a waypoint in MCDU PROG page? I

Yup. Always the runway I'm shooting for.

1 hour ago, Cpt_Piett said:

I struggled a bit when disconnecting A/THR as I had thrust levers in the CLB detent as I disconnected, giving me way more thrust than I wanted...

 

1 hour ago, Cpt_Piett said:

And btw I used CATII autoland.

You may know this, but on an autoland you're not supposed to disconnect autothrust before landing. You would retard the thrust levers from the climb detent to idle at the appropriate time, thereby disconnecting autothrust.

In fact, it's Airbus philosophy to leave autothrust on for manual landings too, though some airlines have a "manual flight, manual thrust" policy (Lufthansa is one, I believe). 

57 minutes ago, martinboehme said:

You may know this, but on an autoland you're not supposed to disconnect autothrust before landing. You would retard the thrust levers from the climb detent to idle at the appropriate time, thereby disconnecting autothrust.

In fact, it's Airbus philosophy to leave autothrust on for manual landings too, though some airlines have a "manual flight, manual thrust" policy (Lufthansa is one, I believe). 

In hindsight I remembered this. Should have gone for a manual landing. Thanks for the reminder!

1 hour ago, martinboehme said:

In fact, it's Airbus philosophy to leave autothrust on for manual landings too, though some airlines have a "manual flight, manual thrust" policy (Lufthansa is one, I believe). 

Correct, there is one exception you can observe on the Fenix as well - which is when the conditions are appropriately gusty and the ATHR is oscillating a lot attempting to keep VApp. Then the recommended course of action is to disconnect ATHR and handle it yourself. 

Thanks for the input Aamir. 

Except for what I described above, I've never flown with A/THR off. I'd imagine it would be quite challenging to do this on final approach. Which is why I'm going to do exactly that when trying to bring the aircraft "safely" down to the "just a bit too short" runway at ENSD 😁 Anyone care to join me in a group flight from ENAL to ENSD? 😅 Let's see how many Fenixes we can fit into the tiny airport 🤪

EDIT: This does not bode well for my epic flight - just loaded a flight from ENAL...

Edited March 16, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

44 minutes ago, Aamir said:

which is when the conditions are appropriately gusty and the ATHR is oscillating a lot attempting to keep VApp.

Let's say that this is not entirely correct, in cases of SEVERE TURBULENCE it is recommended to proceed according to the dictated by the Abnormal list described in the QRH. This applies to what @Aamir  says, in some phases of the flight, except for approach where the same list mentions that the Autothrust must be turned on and must be used in managed mode. 
In conditions of strong winds and gusts, the use of autothrust is highly recommended to take advantage of the Ground Speed Mini system.

he Ground Speed Mini function takes advantage of the aircraft inertia when the wind varies during the approach in order to provide an appropriate indicated target speed (i.e. the managed target speed represented by the magenta triangle on the PFD). When the flight crew flies this indicated target speed, the energy of the aircraft is maintained above a minimum level that ensures standard aerodynamic margins versus the stall. The minimum energy level is the energy level the aircraft will have at touchdown with an indicated airspeed equal to VAPP, and with the wind equal to the tower reported wind as inserted in the PERF APPR page. The ground speed then equals the Ground Speed Mini. The Ground Speed Mini is not displayed to the flight crew. During the approach, the FMGS continuously computes the managed target speed in order to keep the ground speed at or above the Ground Speed Mini.

I hope this information serves to clarify some doubts about the use of the auto thrust.

Just now, polosim said:

Let's say that this is not entirely correct, in cases of SEVERE TURBULENCE it is recommended to proceed according to the dictated by the Abnormal list described in the QRH. This applies to what @Aamir  says, in some phases of the flight, except for approach where the same list mentions that the Autothrust must be turned on and must be used in managed mode. 
In conditions of strong winds and gusts, the use of autothrust is highly recommended to take advantage of the Ground Speed Mini system.

he Ground Speed Mini function takes advantage of the aircraft inertia when the wind varies during the approach in order to provide an appropriate indicated target speed (i.e. the managed target speed represented by the magenta triangle on the PFD). When the flight crew flies this indicated target speed, the energy of the aircraft is maintained above a minimum level that ensures standard aerodynamic margins versus the stall. The minimum energy level is the energy level the aircraft will have at touchdown with an indicated airspeed equal to VAPP, and with the wind equal to the tower reported wind as inserted in the PERF APPR page. The ground speed then equals the Ground Speed Mini. The Ground Speed Mini is not displayed to the flight crew. During the approach, the FMGS continuously computes the managed target speed in order to keep the ground speed at or above the Ground Speed Mini.

I hope this information serves to clarify some doubts about the use of the auto thrust.

Please bear in mind all I said was "appropriately gusty" - in this case I mean severely gusty, something I imagine in the real world you will encounter probably a handful of times over your entire career. This, for obvious reasons, can happen more often in MSFS than the norm. 

After the latest update (V2.0.0.392), the cockpit and cabin do not load anymore for me:

 

Any ideas? I have already run the installer again, but to no avail.

3 minutes ago, thepilot said:

After the latest update (V2.0.0.392), the cockpit and cabin do not load anymore for me:

 

Any ideas? I have already run the installer again, but to no avail.

Does the Fenix.exe run in the background? Also does it happen with other liveries (default livery)?
If both yes, I suppose a clean install of the Fenix will solve this (remove completely, all folders -> install latest version).

9 minutes ago, Fiorentoni said:

Does the Fenix.exe run in the background? Also does it happen with other liveries (default livery)?
If both yes, I suppose a clean install of the Fenix will solve this (remove completely, all folders -> install latest version).

Thanks, hadn't quite considered it could be the livery since it was working before. But it looks like it needs updating.