A_Pilot

Hey guys, Just got back to using my sim after a long hiatus, and i apparently didn't buy my 777-200 on the same account as my 777-300 or 737 products. Now I'm stuck because I can't update, and the planes are behaving strangely, and I can't for the life of me dig up my old account information or remember passwords :( I have a semi-funcitonal 777, but with a wicked spoiler glitch that I can't work out. And I can't remember my password for the support forum either, so I feel a pit pooched. Any suggestions? Luc Arsenault

I wonder if anyone can help me, my AIMonitor doesn't appear. I can see the icon on the start bar at the bottom, but no window appears, and my log file for it only shows this: Components Initialized. Initial SIDSTAR items read. Initial Generic items read. Null 4 Initial Load Paths. Check scenery cfg. Initial read CURRENT SIDSTAR items. Initial read CURRENT GENERIC items. It's a clean install, and it hasn't ever worked for me EDIT - Disregard - I figured it out....turns out reading the manual is a good idea......sorry for wasting everyone's time :*(

Should make that my life slogan. Well, that's why I have this flightsim of mine. At least for now I have access to good full-cockpit sims at the company I work for, and regular company-sponsored Multi-IFR training (in the sims, but it works) Keeps me ready for that phonecall

Good clarification, I meant "precision-like" in that is gets more sensitive the closer you get to it. But by all means the LP is the GPS equivalent of a LOC The double-whammy I'm finding out about as a guy trying to get into the industry with no connections and no insider knowledge.

LNAV is the "easiest" to certify because the final approach segment altitude is the highest of all the GPS approaches. An approach will have only the minima that have been certified for the airport. It costs money to have an approach designed and certified. The lower the mins, the more complex the design process in certain areas. Operational need decides what airports get what treatment. Finally, some airports just can't handle the lower minima for approaches because of obstacle clearance requirements (Alps, North American Rockies, the entirety of Nepal). Based on what's been assessed, you may find temperature restrictions due to the limitations of the certification process for the country. I'm also guessing that a -15 limit on your approach might remove the need for a cold weather correction (the approach may be guaranteed obstacle clearance down to that limit), but that will be explicitly listed on the plate or in the general section of your country's documentation. However, in Canada with our Rocky Mountains you find no such temperature limitations because cold weather is par for the course here, and all operators are expected to know how to fly Cold weather corrections are right up my Canadian alley! Yes, below 0 you're required to add a cold weather correction to all your altitudes (some countries anything higher than 3000 AGL is exempt): DH, MDA, FAF, Procedure turn,MSA 25, 100nm safe, etc) If it's on the plate, correct it. This makes for charts with a lot of pencil scratches on them at first, and every northern Canadian pilot has the correction table taped to their clipboard it's used so often. Vector altitudes are already corrected for you. The Canadian cold weather correction chart gives up after -50. This relates nicely with the -40 limit on many engines as a starting temperature because your oil is too thick and you'll break the starter. If you've never experienced -40 before, don't try it. It hurts to exist at that temperature

Wow this got nuts, and I'm finding that all the relevant information is here but is all tossed out and about! Couple things I found in here though that I didn't see fully addressed: "RNP AR APCH this requires aditional aeroplane certification and pilot training. They may have lower RNP values than the standard RNP APCH value of 0.3, limitations of use should be published in your aircraft manual and training manual. " - the "AR" in there is Approval Required, and you typically find these in the restricted section of the hogwarts library your country's approach plates. Yes they do require aircraft certification, pilot training, and most importantly, legal approval. Just doing the training means nothing if your company doesn't have the legal thumbs up to do it. (Referred to in some countries as an Operations Specification - OPS SPEC) The other thing I noticed is the bit of conversation about Non-precision and Precision-like nature of approaches. Now, I'm not 100% sure about what all the various nations consider precision or non-precision, but there's the important distinction about the behaviour of the gauge: LNAV - deviation measured in (constant) distance. Proximity to the next waypoint on final doesn't affect sensitivity of the gauge. Full deflection means you're 0.3 (or as specified) off course at whatever point you're off-course. LNAV/VNAV - same LNAV as above, but adding either a barometric based glideslope (Baro-VNAV) or satallite based glideslope (WAAS in North America) LP & LPV - "Precision-like" - deviation measured in degrees - the closer you get to the runway the more sensitive the gauge is, like an ILS. This doesn't mean it is a precision approach in all countries, it just behaves like one. Mins will be in the 250' or lower AGL range, like an ILS. Full deflection means you're however many degrees off-course as your gauge is capable of telling you.

I agree - the takeoff segment that follows the 35' portion is typically more restrictive in performance calculations than the TODR calculation. That being said, I'm imagining some special plane that has landing gear with parachute-like drag, that once the gear is retracted it can rocket into the air really fast, and badly needs the clearway until that gear comes up

Yes, Clearway is meant for take-off and getting got 35' within the TODA But!: - not as much Using a runway/particular aircraft/specific payload/de-rated thrust is only possible when obstacles are not a factor. They're separate calculations. Yes a clearway would bring an aircraft closer to any given obstacle at 35' in the air, but that doesn't mean it's going to hit it just because it's using a clearway. As i'm sure you know, it depends on a wide number of factors. Both calculations are separate (though the obsacle calc isn't independent), and the obstacle clearance calculation on some models of aircraft is dependant on the result of the takeoff distance calculation, and as such, you wouldn't be able to say "Clearway only works if there are no obstacles" Now, for specific aircraft A, at weight B, for runway C, in conditions D, the clearway may very well only be usable with no obstacles through Obsacle Identification Surface E based on a TODA that uses a clearway. But look at how many variables must come together to make that statement work! As such I can't accept that "using a clearway is only possible when obstacles are not a factor". I would revise it as saying "Using a clearway changes the distance a specific obstacle must be at in order to clear it" I'm not saying this to pick on you, but rather to make sure that people following this post don't fall under the impression that an obstacle on the take-off path precludes the use of the clearway in the takeoff calculations - that simply isn't the case for all aircraft. It all depends on the math. Luc

Thanks for the clarification, I was getting confused at the cross-topic commentary

(Is the "all due respect" part is aimed at me?) In this case, I'm the pilot I know The reason I share this with others is because this sort of thing is drilled into us at length by our training department because of the northern operations we fly into gravel strips with odd towers on departure paths. And I'm not claiming technical authority, just trying to help and show the sources I got my info from. I'm just trying to share what I know in words that would have made learning this in the first place easier for me for those who would like to come here to learn

Spot on! Here in Canada they're commonly referred to as RVOP (Above RVR 1200, but below RVR 2600, considered optional), and LVOP (Below RVR 1200). A number of airports here have RVOP, but only a small handful have LVOP (CYVR, CYYZ, CYUL, CYWG, CYYC). Requirements to fly in each vary in both RVOP and LVOP from the airport's facilities (ILS CAT II/III, RWY Level Of Service, aircraft equipment, and pilot certification. Low minima, stricter requirements! And at the less-equipped airports there's a limit of 1 airport on the maneuvering area at a time! :O

Not aimed at you Kyle! Meant it more as a reference for where I got the numbers from!

VIS is very rarely not reported. At that point as a PIC I'd reference the hourly VIS and make a decision based on that as to CAT I II or III. OVC 001 shouldn't prevent a CAT II or III landing, and as mentionned above may or may not prevent a CAT I. as Vernon said - the runway lights are very very bright and could pierce through thinner coulds

Hey, I recently saw a post on here where everyone was debating through their ears about what's what in a takeoff. Now granted that the various jurisdictions have varying rules and standards, take-offs are pretty darn similar from one country to another. Here's a quick guide to takeoffs, and what goes into getting the plane into the air from a performance standpoint (not hitting things): All-Engines Operative Take-Off (stupid simple): Cross the Threshold of the runway at at least 35 feet Don't turn below 400ft AGL Climb at 200ft/nm, (3.3% gradient), or at a gradient that's listed in the SID for obstacle clearance requirements. One-Engine-Inoperative (OEI): (for an EOSID) Basics: V1: Takeoff decision speed: the speed higher than which you're taking your emergency in the air V2: The speed you target when first in the air with that aforementionned emergency. Designed to get you above obstacles in a pinch. Vlof: Speed your tires come off the ground. TORA: The chunk of ground where your tires are allowed to be for take-off. Usually the length of the runway from where you enter it. TODA: The point at which you need to be at least 35 feet in the air and at V2, assessed with gear down or transitioning upwards. This distance = TORA + Clearway LEVEL OFF: The altitude at which it is safe to begin your acceleration and transition to the enroute phase of your climb. (Flaps up, Bleed air on, etc). At this altitude required to have cleared a close-by obstacle. Higher of 400' or obstacle clearance altitude. Now, The five parts: GROUND ROLL, SEGMENT 1, SEGMENT 2, ACCELERATION, and SEGMENT 3. GROUND ROLL begins with application of Take-Off power/thrust, and ends when your wheels come off the ground. Here you'll find V1, Vr, Vmu, Vle, Vlof, Vmcg, and an engine failure. Also hydroplaning speed. SEGMENT ONE begins when your wheels come off the ground and ends when your gear is fully retracted. Somewhere in here you'll probably find the end of your TODA, and that 35' requirement mentioned above (in some countries this drops to 15' with wet runways). Applicable speeds from here on are V2, V3, Vxse, Vmca, Vle, Vlo. This segment exists because of the decreased climb performance when the landing gear extended. Not usually restrictive because it's so short time-wise. SEGMENT TWO begins when your gear is fully retracted and ends when you reach your assessed Level Off altitude. Commonly the most restrictive segment in one-engine-inoperative climb calculations because of the reduced power/higher drag/low terrain&obstacle clearance. The goal of this segment is something like: "Let's not hit that close by tree/building/hill" ACCELERATION begins at Level Off, and ends when you've reached the next applicable climb speed. It is a LEVEL segment (no climb). In this phase, you feather your engine (for you prop types), clean up your flaps, and get to a more appropriate speed (Climb speed, Best Rate One-Engine-Inop, etc - depends on the plane) Here you typically calculate the distance it will take to complete all of this from the end of the runway to the point where you start SEGMENT 3. in order to see if you clear the obstacles in SEGMENT 3 SEGMENT THREE begins when you reach the speed mentioned in ACCELERATION and ends when you reach the altitude where you're considered in the enroute portion of your climb. This means either 1500 above the ground, the Minimum Safe Altitude, Minimum Vectoring Altitude, far out Obstacle Clearance Altitude, etc.... After this point you're no longer considered taking off, but rather climbing enroute. If you've been paying attention, you'll notice the 3 main segments all pertain to different configurations of aircraft: Segment 1: Flaps T/O, Gear down, (+ prop unfeathered / auto-feathering) Segment 2: Flaps T/O, Gear up, (+ prop unfeathered / auto-feathering) Segment 3: Flaps up, Gear up. (+ prop feathered) For performance calculations, airlines need to prove that they can clear the obstacles that fall within the lateral distance of all this with an engine out. In the absence of any obstacles, there are minimum climb gradients that must be achieved in each particular segment. These gradients vary if you have 2,3,or 4 engines on a normal day, and are subject to a variety of penalties. For example: SEGMENT 2 usually has for required gradient 2.4%, 2.7%, and 3.0% GROSS for 2, 3, and 4 engines respectively. On top of that, a 0.8%,0.9%, and 1.0% buffer is required to allow for sucky flying. SEGMENT 3: 1.2%, 1.5%, and 1.7% GROSS. SEGMENT 1: "Positive climb" So like, 1 inch per million nautical miles or something. GOOD NEWS: The charts take all this into account (for the most part). the programs all know these rules. So: If your plane has "Certified Engine Out Performance" - the chart will show the 2.4/2.7/3.0% GROSS gradient (perfect flying). Take off the applicable buffer and you get a NET take-off path of 1.6,1.8, and 2.0% (crummy flying). This NET path must clear things by 35'. Punch in your numbers, and come up with your figures, be it your derates, your TODR, your ASDR, or whether or not that runway works at all! Hope this has instructed at least 3 of you, to have made it worth my time EDIT: Check your PAN-OPS, FARs, CARs, JARs, etc: You'll find it all matches courtesy of ICAO. And let's not get picky about what's called what - every country might name it differently!!

Hey, I recently saw a post on here where everyone was debating through their ears about what's what in a takeoff. Now granted that the various jurisdictions have varying rules and standards, take-offs are pretty darn similar from one country to another. Here's a quick guide to takeoffs, and what goes into getting the plane into the air from a performance standpoint (not hitting things): All-Engines Operative Take-Off (stupid simple): Cross the Threshold of the runway at at least 35 feet Don't turn below 400ft AGL Climb at 200ft/nm, (3.3% gradient), or at a gradient that's listed in the SID for obstacle clearance requirements. One-Engine-Inoperative (OEI): (for an EOSID) Basics: V1: Takeoff decision speed: the speed higher than which you're taking your emergency in the air V2: The speed you target when first in the air with that aforementionned emergency. Designed to get you above obstacles in a pinch. Vlof: Speed your tires come off the ground. TORA: The chunk of ground where your tires are allowed to be for take-off. Usually the length of the runway from where you enter it. TODA: The point at which you need to be at least 35 feet in the air and at V2, assessed with gear down or transitioning upwards. This distance = TORA + Clearway LEVEL OFF: The altitude at which it is safe to begin your acceleration and transition to the enroute phase of your climb. (Flaps up, Bleed air on, etc). At this altitude required to have cleared a close-by obstacle. Higher of 400' or obstacle clearance altitude. Now, The five parts: GROUND ROLL, SEGMENT 1, SEGMENT 2, ACCELERATION, and SEGMENT 3. GROUND ROLL begins with application of Take-Off power/thrust, and ends when your wheels come off the ground. Here you'll find V1, Vr, Vmu, Vle, Vlof, Vmcg, and an engine failure. Also hydroplaning speed. SEGMENT ONE begins when your wheels come off the ground and ends when your gear is fully retracted. Somewhere in here you'll probably find the end of your TODA, and that 35' requirement mentioned above (in some countries this drops to 15' with wet runways). Applicable speeds from here on are V2, V3, Vxse, Vmca, Vle, Vlo. This segment exists because of the decreased climb performance when the landing gear extended. Not usually restrictive because it's so short time-wise. SEGMENT TWO begins when your gear is fully retracted and ends when you reach your assessed Level Off altitude. Commonly the most restrictive segment in one-engine-inoperative climb calculations because of the reduced power/higher drag/low terrain&obstacle clearance. The goal of this segment is something like: "Let's not hit that close by tree/building/hill" ACCELERATION begins at Level Off, and ends when you've reached the next applicable climb speed. It is a LEVEL segment (no climb). In this phase, you feather your engine (for you prop types), clean up your flaps, and get to a more appropriate speed (Climb speed, Best Rate One-Engine-Inop, etc - depends on the plane) Here you typically calculate the distance it will take to complete all of this from the end of the runway to the point where you start SEGMENT 3. in order to see if you clear the obstacles in SEGMENT 3 SEGMENT THREE begins when you reach the speed mentioned in ACCELERATION and ends when you reach the altitude where you're considered in the enroute portion of your climb. This means either 1500 above the ground, the Minimum Safe Altitude, Minimum Vectoring Altitude, far out Obstacle Clearance Altitude, etc.... After this point you're no longer considered taking off, but rather climbing enroute. If you've been paying attention, you'll notice the 3 main segments all pertain to different configurations of aircraft: Segment 1: Flaps T/O, Gear down, (+ prop unfeathered / auto-feathering) Segment 2: Flaps T/O, Gear up, (+ prop unfeathered / auto-feathering) Segment 3: Flaps up, Gear up. (+ prop feathered) For performance calculations, airlines need to prove that they can clear the obstacles that fall within the lateral distance of all this with an engine out. In the absence of any obstacles, there are minimum climb gradients that must be achieved in each particular segment. These gradients vary if you have 2,3,or 4 engines on a normal day, and are subject to a variety of penalties. For example: SEGMENT 2 usually has for required gradient 2.4%, 2.7%, and 3.0% GROSS for 2, 3, and 4 engines respectively. On top of that, a 0.8%,0.9%, and 1.0% buffer is required to allow for sucky flying. SEGMENT 3: 1.2%, 1.5%, and 1.7% GROSS. SEGMENT 1: "Positive climb" So like, 1 inch per million nautical miles or something. GOOD NEWS: The charts take all this into account (for the most part). the programs all know these rules. So: If your plane has "Certified Engine Out Performance" - the chart will show the 2.4/2.7/3.0% GROSS gradient (perfect flying). Take off the applicable buffer and you get a NET take-off path of 1.6,1.8, and 2.0% (crummy flying). This NET path must clear things by 35'. Punch in your numbers, and come up with your figures, be it your derates, your TODR, your ASDR, or whether or not that runway works at all! Hope this has instructed at least 3 of you, to have made it worth my time

Just looking what's being written here, I think both Kyle and Vernon have correct statements, and are citing correct sources, but are interpreting things differently (which seems to be the primary reason of existence of the training department of my little commuter airline - interpretation of the rules. Kyle and Vernon: I think you're both correct in saying that TORA + clearway = TODA. The end of the TODA is when you need to be 35' in the air. I think Vernon's interpretation of TORA is a bit unclear. TORA is not neccesarily the full length of the runway, but more importantly, declared available. If some part of the runway isn't good enough to meet fancy legal criteria, then it may not be suitable, although this is most commonly seen with LDA and displaced thresholds. And the point about intersecting taxiway is important to. You can't take performance credit for 11,000 ft of runway if you start your takeoff run from the halfway mark! I'm pretty sure you understand it correctly Vernon, I think that perhaps the way you wrote the original example was ambiguous and unclear. It's good to see people discussing the segments of the climb here, because it is critical to understand the different components of a takeoff when you're actually crunching takeoff numbers. Thankfully tools like Topcat and TOPER make those calculations for you!

Micheal, if i understand correctly you've tumbled on an issue that I ran into in my flight school. The Ceiling and the Vis measure separate things, but both can impede your ability to see a runway at the DA/DH. With the weather posted above - OVC 001, VIS 4000, on an ILS, there's a definite possibility that you won't see the runway environment. The visibility is definitely good enough to continue an approach, as Dan mentioned (from a legal perspective), but with the ceiling at 100 feet, and the DA/DH at 210 feet, you're probably not out of the cloud yet to see the 4000+ Vis anyways (your plane would still be approx 110 feet into the cloud, measure from the bottom) This is usually more common on Non-Precision approaches where there is more room between your (higher) MDA and the ground for the cloud ceiling to lie in. And if you're descending to Cirling minima, you're even more likely to run into this issue.

I'd like to add that the no space registration email worked for me when nothing else did! Thanks!

Well that settles it, you should start up a "Line Maintenance Simulator" for the rising market of people who want to know all the microscopic details of maintenance. These aircraft can be flown by one person (as in our sims), but can't be maintained by one guy. Heck, where I work a dash 8 usually uses a team of 4 for elementary fixes in line maintenance. I personally feel that a MAT would be overkill, and with FSX's limitations would prove pointless. You think OOMs are troublesome now? Imagine the issues you'd have tossing in even circuit breakers to PMDG's modeling.

Known bug, one of the first known bugs that popped up back in September. Use a different panel load state to temporarily correct the issue until SP1 comes out

Thanks Kyle! Yeah if i'm not mistaken the LOC mode is there to allow for a different vertical guidance to be used while still flying the localizer. VNAV + LOC would keep a nice SCDA approach to an MDA in lieu on an ILS. But if the ILS is the approach you want, then APP is the button you push!

I'm surprised Kyle didn't point it out in a beautiful RTFM post, but the approach diagrams in the FCTM say to arm APP directly. Either HDG or LNAV is used for lateral guidance to the intercept, and prior to intercepting the localizer you arm the APP mode. To toss in my 5 cents, this seems like a pretty straightforward thing as it reduces tasks required in what can become a very busy cockpit at a critical time in a flight, especially if you're trying to get down to CAT II or III minimums. Why in any aircraft someone would needlessly burden themselves with extra button pushing is beyond me! However, individual airlines will have their own SOPs regarding this, all to be approved by the national regulatory body. And the approach diagrams are something that are required in company SOP's (at least in Canada), so I'm going to run with the Boeing approach diagram on this one, it being the only one available to me. (FCTM 5.11 and FCOM NP.21.43) And those both say to arm APP from HDG or LNAV mode for ILS approaches. Need anything more clearcut? As my line indoc capt would tell me - why push LOC if you're not flying a LOC approach? Safety is simplicity. Pushing two buttons when only one would suffice is making things less simple! Luc

I acknowledge that the INOP sticker would be a little tricky to implement, but i'm sure that the little sticker not being there in the sim wouldn't upset anyone. I'm curious if the procedure in the 777 is to just pull the circuit breaker... Can anyone confirm that?

With the the 777's (and every aircraft for that matter) MMEL publicly available, and the detail that's gone into system failures in the 777, I wonder if it would be possible to implement some sort of deferred defect and MEL items into the PMDG. We can fail them already, the difference is only that a MEL item just has it's warning system disabled. Seeing as so many failures are already implemented, I wonder how feasible it would be to chose to disable a system or component without having the warning messages pop up continuously, simulating an MEL issue for flying? Conceptually, it seems easy, (disconnect the sirens/warnings on the EICAS) and it would add a level or realism to the day-to-day operations. Despite not having the INOP stickers to place everywhere in the cockpit, I think it would still make for a fun addition! Anyone else want to pitch in on this idea?

Hey everyone the livery is up and ready for some mean flying!! http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?DLID=181566&Name=&FileName=&Author=&CatID=root enjoy it!!!