Well, I don't know how to make an approach.

I know how to start the plane, take off, follow the waypoints with VNAV and LNAV.

Could someone explain how to pilot the plane from the top of descent to the touchdown ?

When must I press on "SPD" ?
Why do we have to enter the altitude in the glareshield , enven if it is written in the legs page of the FMS ?

Could someone make a little tutorial about how to make a good approach and landing ?
That would help me a lot, and I guess that I'm not the only one !

(It can be a tutorial with text only, or text + screenshots (better) or even a video)

Please, help me , my passengers will panic if the learn that I don't know how to land correctly ! ::)

Check it out. This video shows 757, but both planes share similar procedures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJtSzkO7yAQ&feature=related

Have fun

Thanks, but I always know that video.

But I have problem when I am on descent, and that's the reason why I'd like to have another tutorial.

I must miss something.
I well understand the tutorial from startup to T/D, but after TD I'm lost !

Greg,

From Top Of Descent, you need to get to somewhere 12 - 20 miles from the threshold of the runway on an intercept course to the extended centerline at about 2500 feet, or at any rate below the glide slope, and at a reasonable speed, say no greater than 210 knots.  How you do that is up to you.

You can follow ATC.  FSX has it, or you can use a superior third-party program like Radar Contact.  Either one will get you to where you need to go.  Or you can use a procedure chart.  That is a STAR picked from your arrival page in the FMC.  You will want a seamless transition from your route to your approach.  It will have a transition, which should be the very last waypoint on your route.  (It helps a lot if you have the latest Navigraph nav data and charts.)

You are wanting to intercept the localizer at something less than a 45 degree angle and below the glide slope at a speed of VREF 30 + 40 knots.  (You find your Vref 30 speed on your approach page of your FMC, then just add 40.  It will probably be somewhere around 180 knots.)  I have my flaps at 15 at that point, ready to go to 20 once the glide slope is intercepted and the gear goes down.

You will probably be controlling your direction of flight by the heading knob.  That's fine.  If you have LOC pushed, it will automatically override it and steer you toward the runway.

It will do that if, that is, you are tuned into the localizer and have the proper course dialed in.  You can get the information from your approach page on the FMC.  Actually, it should tune your nav radio automatically, but you'll want to check it on the console to make sure.  (There is no law against manually doing this, either.)

Now, imagine you are just before the point described above.  You are coming in at 180 knots, at 2500 feet, well below the glide slope, on an intercept course for the localizer.  You have heading engaged, the LOC button pushed.  Flaps are at 15.  You have previously checked to make sure your nav radio is tuned to the localizer.

Just before you cross the extended centerline, the autopilot should start doing its magic and the airplane will turn toward the runway.  At this point you are still well below the glideslope.  If not, you should have started further out!  Once you are established on the localizer, hit the APP button.  This will allow the glide slope to be captured.  Eventually you will see the glide slope indicator start to creep down.  When it is approaching the middle, go ahead and add 20 flaps and put your gear down.  Keep your speed steady at this point.  You SHOULD begin to follow the glide slope down now.  

Now lower your speed to your VREF + 5 and extend to full flaps, making sure your approach is stable.

Typical gotchas are coming in TOO HIGH, or TOO FAST or, most likely BOTH TOO HIGH and TOO FAST!

Thanks for your answer Tim :)

Yes, I am using navigraph data for my approaches.(Airac 1007, the last one)
-------------
Questions :

1/So when I arrive on the T/D (STAR already selected), I've seen on the video that I must set the altitude of the next WP in the glareshield. Is it really necessary ? Because at this time, I am still in VNAV and LNAV, so I shouldn't need it, no ? Why do I have to enter the altitude of each WP ? Wouldn't it be better to directly enter an altitude of around 2500ft for the loc intercept ?

2/Must I tune the frequency of the ILS manually when approaching, or is it automatic ?

3/How do I know when the LOC/GLIDE are intercepted by my plane ?

-------------
So, if I understand what you said (I'm French and bad in English so I want to be sure to understand well), when approaching the runway, to intercept the ILS (LOC first),I must : reduce my speed to Vref+30 (with spd button on the glareshield, is that correct ?), set flaps around 15,and have an altitude of 2500ft(Altitude hold of 2500 in the Glareshield, is that correct ?).Then, I must push on LOC and the plane will automatically align with the runway.Then, flying towards the runway, I must push on "Appr" button, the plane should capture the glide path of ILS, and all I have is slow down to Vref+5, set flaps in landing configuration (as given in FMC), lower the gear, arm spoilers and that's all.Is that it ? Am I wrong somewhere ?


Thanks for your answers , that's nice  :)

greg765 wrote on Jul 14^th, 2010 at 2:25pm:

Thanks for your answer Tim :) Yes, I am using navigraph data for my approaches.(Airac 1007, the last one) ------------- Questions : 1/So when I arrive on the T/D (STAR already selected), I've seen on the video that I must set the altitude of the next WP in the glareshield. Is it really necessary ? Because at this time, I am still in VNAV and LNAV, so I shouldn't need it, no ? Why do I have to enter the altitude of each WP ? Wouldn't it be better to directly enter an altitude of around 2500ft for the loc intercept ? 2/Must I tune the frequency of the ILS manually when approaching, or is it automatic ? 3/How do I know when the LOC/GLIDE are intercepted by my plane ? ------------- So, if I understand what you said (I'm French and bad in English so I want to be sure to understand well), when approaching the runway, to intercept the ILS (LOC first),I must : reduce my speed to Vref+30 (with spd button on the glareshield, is that correct ?), set flaps around 15,and have an altitude of 2500ft(Altitude hold of 2500 in the Glareshield, is that correct ?).Then, I must push on LOC and the plane will automatically align with the runway.Then, flying towards the runway, I must push on "Appr" button, the plane should capture the glide path of ILS, and all I have is slow down to Vref+5, set flaps in landing configuration (as given in FMC), lower the gear, arm spoilers and that's all.Is that it ? Am I wrong somewhere ? Thanks for your answers , that's nice  :)

Setting the next altitude on the MCP provides a "hard floor" if you want to make sure you don't blow through altitude constraints.  But your autopilot should descend properly and respect altitude constaints of the STAR, so it is not absolutely necessary.  I usually dial down to 10,000 feet because that is where a lot is going to happen and I wouldn't want to miss it.  

After that, if you want to be sure you don't blow through altitude constratins, you can add the safety measure of putting the next one into your MCP, although the autopilot should handle them properly.

The ILS should tune automatically.  I go to the nav radio page and select it, then put it back in the line so that it is displayed bigger.  Just make sure it is correctly displaying in the windows on your console: frequency and course.

There are a couple of ways you will know when you intercept the localizer and the glide slope.  The most obvious is that your airplane will turn by itself, and start to lose altitude by itself.  You will also see -- I think -- LOC and G/S display in green in your PFD once captured.

Reduce your speed to VREF 30 + 40 knots, not VREF + 30.  VREF 30 is the speed you should be going at 30 flaps, which may or may not be your VREF.  That value is found on the very handy approach page.  (You enter your flaps and speed in the vacant line, btw.)

The biggest "gotcha" with glide slope is not intercepting from below.  If you are above the glide slope you have little chance of interceptping it.

Let me know if you nail your next instrument approach.

One more thing: at 30 nm from your destination airport you need to be at 10,000 and going 250 knots.  To make sure you do this, you can use this trick:

Create a fix at your destination with no bearing, just distance, like this:

KDFW
/30

You should see a dashed ring around Dallas Fort Worth Airport -- it will be 30 nm in radius.  This is a big help to get you down low and slow enough.  Make sure you are at 10,000 and 250 before you cross that line.

Very nice stuff there, Tim.  Make sure you save it for a future tutorial that I'm sure you will be writing on day.  :D

RayM

Another question :

Do I have to disengage AP when I'm very close from the runway, or will the plane make the flare by itself, an pilot the plane to touch-down ?

You do not have to disengage autopilot if you are making an autoland approach (three AP buttons illuminated).  As long as you have done everything properly it will fly right down to the runway.  Many report a near absence of flare and in any event you can expect a -400+ FPM touchdown on fully automatic.  I make nearly all of mine autoland though.

Ok, thanks for the answer :)

When I fly, I push on one AP button, so when landing, do I have to push the two others or is it automatic ?

It is "automagic"  :)

Ok, thanks a lot !  ;)

Tim Capps wrote on Jul 15^th, 2010 at 1:25pm:

You do not have to disengage autopilot if you are making an autoland approach (three AP buttons illuminated).  As long as you have done everything properly it will fly right down to the runway.  Many report a near absence of flare and in any event you can expect a -400+ FPM touchdown on fully automatic.  I make nearly all of mine autoland though.

Even though ths is a simulation I still can't bring myself around to letting a computer land my machine for me.

Cappy wrote on Jul 15^th, 2010 at 2:44pm:

Tim Capps wrote on Jul 15th, 2010 at 1:25pm: You do not have to disengage autopilot if you are making an autoland approach (three AP buttons illuminated).  As long as you have done everything properly it will fly right down to the runway.  Many report a near absence of flare and in any event you can expect a -400+ FPM touchdown on fully automatic.  I make nearly all of mine autoland though. Even though ths is a simulation I still can't bring myself around to letting a computer land my machine for me.

I know what you mean, but I have other airplanes I like to land myself.  There's just something really cool about watching the airplane do an automated landing.  

All right, thanks everybody, today I've made my first autoland, without any crash, with my 767-300 !

Thanks a lot for your help, thanks to you the landing was wonderful !

I just noticed one problem : the touchdown was very violent, the plane doesn't seems to flare, all the gears touched the runway at the same time ! Think to the passengers ! :D

So, what was wrong with the flare ?  :-?
Have I missed something ??

hi there! i have a problem, and I don´t know whats going on, I hope that someone can help me!

When I am already at the centerline, and with ILS frec. tuned, below glideslope, everything ok to start autoland!, I don´t see any change on the HSI of the glideslope, it does not tell me if i am too up, down, right, left, just like if the ils frec was not tuned.

need heeeelp!!!   :'(

A picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe you could post a screenshot?

You know you are below the glide slope somehow, right?  You should have the little arrow on the right at the top of the PFD.  If you keep going it doesn't eventually start to creep down?

Tim Capps wrote on Jul 16^th, 2010 at 12:10pm:

A picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe you could post a screenshot? You know you are below the glide slope somehow, right?  You should have the little arrow on the right at the top of the PFD.  If you keep going it doesn't eventually start to creep down?

Yep! I know that I am below the glideslope because of the chart, but let me take a picture. and i'll post it in 1 hr.

well i just made 2 flights,

Flight 1: MMAA-MMAA
from the same airport, SID then STAR, and the flight was pretty well with a flawless autoland!.

flight 2: MMMX-MMAA
the flight was pretty fine until STAR begun, the flight route ended, and just go crazy to any way!, and had  to do it manually, and just when I get to the centerline, the same way of flight 1, the ILS frec is not tuned even when i select it from the FMC, and i dont get any arrow, nor loc  or app function.  hope some one help me!

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/9959/39600039.png

Hi,

I have a problem with autoland when I land with ILS catching the localizer and glide slope I see on different forum's that you can select the 3 CMJD button. However it is not working with my 767-300 or 767-200. Is there anything more I need to do to make Auotland/Land3 working?

You do not need to select the three CMD buttons. Only one needs to be ON. Once the ILS is captured and you are about 5 - 7 nm from the runway threshold, all three CMD buttons turn ON and the AUTOLAND 3 light comes on.

Put simply. One CMD button MUST be ON, the others come on AUTOMATICALLY. You don't need to do anything except press the LOC and APP buttons at the appropriate times to capture the ILS and G/S.

Hope this helps.

Mark

Mark thanks for your reply,

I thought this worked like this, however I was flying on KLAS & KLAX and on both approached the 3 cmd didn't start to burn. I already reinstalled the plain but still it is not working. Also setup my ILS frequency and runway heading. I normally use the first ILS do I maybe also set up the second ILS? Any suggestions for the solution or an airport where somebody is certain that the autpilot should work.
Please give me the airport and runway.

Thanks in advance.

I did a perfect ILS approach in the Fair Weather settinging in FSX and a perfect autoland 8-) . I wanted to try it again, because it looked so great! Unfortunatly it did the rocking thing once I made the weather bad :( . So I had to disengage the autopilot.

Alex

Does FSX discern ILS cat?

Probably not, but it's just my guess. You can though.

Richard Brouwer wrote on Jul 17^th, 2010 at 10:03pm:

Hi, I have a problem with autoland when I land with ILS catching the localizer and glide slope I see on different forum's that you can select the 3 CMJD button. However it is not working with my 767-300 or 767-200. Is there anything more I need to do to make Auotland/Land3 working?

hi there! i was having a problem with ILS, that the plane wasn`t tuning ILS frec, so i checked and i notice that was because of AVIONICS was OFF, because of C&D setup, so try to assign a combination to turn on avionics and try again! hope that that works for you, now i can autoland everytime :P

Hi,

I finally autoland after loading the Boeing 767 cleared for take off (KSEA) file provided with the plain. So I did setup the FMC on the runaway of course not the best moment  :D and fly to Vancouver and Guess what I landed with autoland 3.

So I have to learn how to start the 767 following the correct procedure and autoland should work. I had a lot of help from Paul Kawalec to find this out.

So I have to make the next step in simming by learning the proper startup procedures etc ;). I'm working on a written howto, but maybe someone can point me at a good one already made.
I know that on youtube there are some wonderfull video's but a written procedure, with lots of screen shots  is easier to followto perform the startup procedure in FSX

CesarSMX wrote on Jul 26^th, 2010 at 12:34am:

Richard Brouwer wrote on Jul 17th, 2010 at 10:03pm: Hi, I have a problem with autoland when I land with ILS catching the localizer and glide slope I see on different forum's that you can select the 3 CMJD button. However it is not working with my 767-300 or 767-200. Is there anything more I need to do to make Auotland/Land3 working? hi there! i was having a problem with ILS, that the plane wasn`t tuning ILS frec, so i checked and i notice that was because of AVIONICS was OFF, because of C&D setup, so try to assign a combination to turn on avionics and try again! hope that that works for you, now i can autoland everytime :P

The problem I have is the following, I'm not able to activate the middle CMD button only the left and right CMD button can be activated. So the problem lies somewhere here. Because when I load the predefined situation that the 737 is cleared on the runway, I'm able to select the middle CMD button and autoland works without any problem.