More VNAV problems--probably my fault again. Anyway, with just about fifty nautical miles to go to my destination (Chicago O'Hare), my aircraft was still at its cruising altitude of FL380 and showed no signs of descent. It did descend when I pressed "Des Now", but even then it was a slow descent and I would have ended up 20,000 over the airport.

Thanks,
boeing247

Ah, no. Thanks. I should have thought of that, as I had a similar problem with climbing. Do I change the altitude right after I reach cruising altitude? And do I change it to the landing altitude or zero? (sorry for all the questions--I'm used to ATC directing me so I don't know much about VNAV)

boeing247 wrote on Dec 12^th, 2011 at 12:20am:

You can change it any time you like after reaching TOC. If you are going long haul and need to do Step Climb(s), then don't chamge it until you see that there will not be another S/C and/or the VNAV (CRZ Page) shows the distance to the TOD.

On short hops where I know I won't be doing a S/C, I put the enter the first Transitional altitude (that I will reach after the TOD) in the Altitude Indicator. I'm doubt that this is how real pilots do it, but it is how I do it.

The other method is to wait until the FMS tells you to reset the MCP altitude, as theguz said.

Mark

mbucholski wrote on Dec 12^th, 2011 at 2:20pm:

If using FSX ATC, you will need to add a new lower altitude at about 150nm to go to the destination so you can descend as soon as the ATC asks you too (then set the altitude to the ATC FL given to you). I have noticed that in the heavies, ATC will ask you to descend when you are somewhere around the 3x rule (e.g. 90nm when at FL300, 110nm @ FL360).

Mark

The only flights I load that will already include a SID and STAR/TRANS are those I make with the 757/767 FMS. Have a look in the the LEGS pages to see if the STAR/TRANS has the enforced speeds/altitudes in it. If not, add the START/TRANS using the onboard FMS.
When using other programs (like FSC9) to create a plan, I take note of the STAR and TRANS that I will use on arrival, but I do not save the plan with them already in it. I add them when I'm in the cockpit getting ready for a flight (preflight).

Mark

boeing247 wrote on Dec 18^th, 2011 at 1:24am:

Have you tried it to see if it works?

I use Autoland with ILS and land manually if there is no ILS.

If landing manually, make sure you turn the Autothrottle OFF brfore landing or it will try to maintain the Vref speed entered in the IAS/MACH Indicator. Not good for the you, the plane or your passengers!

wims wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 5:40pm:


the obsession comes where there's no visibility, and that plane simply Su on autoland...I hate to get to the alternate just for the reason that the plane is not able to autoland!