Good FSX Teachings?

[Skybird]

I don't win a graphics award for this, but okay:



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In black, there is the runway and localiser, and in black, dash the extension of the runway plus range marks at 10, 20 and 30 nm. In black dash at range 30, there is also a 30nm circle lineIn red spolid there is the flightpath of your plane, and red dashed line separate the whole into three sectors or phases, I, II, and III.

In phase I you have established con tact with tower, and probably still need to loose altitude. If you are an airliner, here you slow down from those 250 knots to 200-220 knots. Likely that you already get the localiser signal somehwere in this phase, but do not activate NAV too early, while still being too far away< from the runway'S extended centreline.

In phase two, you closed in to the centreline, you have reached an altitude of around 4000 or so, you are not moving too fast anymore, and yoiu have turned the HDG to some smooth angle intercepting the localiser. You activate NAV. The plane will automatically intercept it and enter into phase III when it has.

In III, you slow down more, and at 5 miles to the runway you should have achieved landing configuration: desired touch down speed, flaps, and now lowering gear also. You set the HDG marker on the HSI to the runway heading - but do not go back to HDG on the AP! - (in case of go around the plane then will accelerate at that direction without trying steep banks close to the ground). Somewhere during III, the GS should become active, and be above you. You then activate APP, and where necessary in an airliner, engage the second autopilot also. From then on, you only monitor the speed, which is Vref + 5 kn. With the default airplanes, you probably do not get an idea what your Vref is, which is depending on weight. Try something around 130-145 for an airliner, and
use the speedmter in the cockpits of small airplanes, there are coloured bands, with green indicating the safe speed range for flying operations, yellow maximum speed for calm air, and white safe speed rage for flaps operation. The end of that white speed range roughly gives an idea of what you minimum landing speed should be, it doies not hurt to stay away from that minimum by 5-10 knots.

Airliner: after touch down, switch of AP but leave autothrust active. Once you manually engage wheel brakes, disengage autothrust also.

Try to have your throttle setting in congruence with what the AP has set thrust to, so that when you switch off autothrust the speed does not drop or rocket upwards due to your throttle having a different setting. The past dozens of feet in altitude you do in idle, called FLARE! Usually, airliner switch off autopilot here at the latest, landing manually.

Actually that makes plenty of sense. So its okay for me to deviate from the course theyre giving me to make my intercept a bit smoother of an angle. What would you say is a good deviation from the Runway heading to be an intercept? +/- 15* to 30*??

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by USNSRCaseySmith

Actually that makes plenty of sense. So its okay for me to deviate from the course theyre giving me to make my intercept a bit smoother of an angle. What would you say is a good deviation from the Runway heading to be an intercept? +/- 15* to 30*??

Some airliners' inbuild AP systems have inbuild limits and MUST intercept at not more than 30 or 40° deviation. Carrier policies also play a role here. Others are not limited that way, so it depends. 30-60° should be okay in most cases, I think. But I see it from an addon's perspective: how the default planes react, I do not know. Maybe stay with 30-45°. Keep in mind that the smoother you chose the angle for LOC intercept, the closer to the runway you end up when finally intercepting it. That is a potential problem, if your AP runs by the necessity that LOC always must be captured BEFORE the GS. Because if you are too close to the runway, you may be too high for safe GS interception.

As my leaf of paper shows you, try to complete LOC interception not later than 12-15 nm. At least for now.

As I said above, ignore the tower for a while, fly without radio comms and just practice it until you feel you now have inhaled the basics. Control often gives you very stupid orders. I have been handed around between different control centres and told to change frequency up to 8 times in one minute.

Thjat is why many peoploe prefer online flying via VatSim where TraCon is handled by real people not demanding you to do such stupid stuff. - Don'T ask me about it, I don'T do online.

P.S. Sorry for my han dwriting, I know it looks like a terrible mess by an 8 year old. My handwriting always has been a mess. Typing exclusively now for the past 25 years or so has not helped to improve it.

Originally Posted by Skybird

Some airliners' inbuild AP systems have inbuild limits and MUST intercept at not more than 30 or 40° deviation. Carrier policies also play a role here. Others are not limited that way, so it depends. 30-60° should be okay in most cases, I think. But I see it from an addon's perspective: how the default planes react, I do not know. Maybe stay with 30-45°. Keep in mind that the smoother you chose the angle for LOC intercept, the closer to the runway you end up when finally intercepting it. That is a potential problem, if your AP runs by the necessity that LOC always must be captured BEFORE the GS. Because if you are too close to the runway, you may be too high for safe GS interception.

As my leaf of paper shows you, try to complete LOC interception not later than 12-15 nm. At least for now.

As I said above, ignore the tower for a while, fly without radio comms and just practice it until you feel you now have inhaled the basics. Control often gives you very stupid orders. I have been handed around between different control centres and told to change frequency up to 8 times in one minute.

Thjat is why many peoploe prefer online flying via VatSim where TraCon is handled by real people not demanding you to do such stupid stuff. - Don'T ask me about it, I don'T do online.

P.S. Sorry for my han dwriting, I know it looks like a terrible mess by an 8 year old. My handwriting always has been a mess. Typing exclusively now for the past 25 years or so has not helped to improve it.

Maybe it would be worth it partnering up with someone online who will be ATC for one game session and one person or two people who fly for it and then switch off every once and a while. Could nice and interesting.

PS: You mentioned multiplayer and I know in multi it is possible to have two people in a plane with 1 of them "In control" can the other person work the Comms and NAV and flaps and stuff or can they not do anything? It would be kinda cool if when I get PMDG 737 and learn it well maybe we could do a flight with it while some one does ATC. Have some real flight crew like interaction

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by USNSRCaseySmith

PS: You mentioned multiplayer and I know in multi it is possible to have two people in a plane with 1 of them "In control" can the other person work the Comms and NAV and flaps and stuff or can they not do anything? It would be kinda cool if when I get PMDG 737 and learn it well maybe we could do a flight with it while some one does ATC. Have some real flight crew like interaction

I do not know if splitting the cockpit work and have each person assigned its proper share of the socalled "flows" via online connectvity is possible. What I do know is that via Vatsim you can go online, fly yourself in an environment shared with the global flyer comunity in real time, and all control done by real people who do not fly by enjoy controlling instead. There are also virtual airlines that assign to you virtual obligations to fulfill virtual flightplans at a minimum rate per month. I think they have a rankling system and a career system as well.

Be advised that when you consider a complex airliner addon, as you said, I tell you that that is a very wise choice - but I also tell you that then you need to relearn quite some things for sure, unlearning the stuff that in the default planers you have learned "wrong". the 737NGX is the most complex, difficult but also the most rewarding, no doubt. But it is a mission for you to learn it, it is a study sim - there is a reasons why all the manuals toegtzehr, lists and tutorials, have I think 3500 pages. I will never go back to any other airliner, but just to say that: the iFly 737 is very good, but less complex, so is the PMDG-747 or the new Airbus Extended by Aerosoft. For a smaller Turboprop, I either recommend the Beechcraft Turbine Duke I mentioned in a separate thread, or if you want a challenge, the commuter Jetstream 41 by PMDG, but that one is a challenge, too.

Fix your system/installation, be sure it is stable, and then we talk again. For IFR: Aircraft first, weather and airport enhancement second, scenery enhancement third. TrackIR is heavily recommended. In the default planes with their grease virtual cockpit textures, it means not that much, but in a solid addon plane, it makes a difference like between night and day.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I can't read what's on the image, could you make it a little bigger, please?

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by USNSRCaseySmith

Maybe it would be worth it partnering up with someone online who will be ATC for one game session and one person or two people who fly for it and then switch off every once and a while. Could nice and interesting.

Master the plane and the basic functions first. If you do not know what to do when to achieve landing configuration and do a safe landing or a safe go around, no radio voice can help you.

Step by step!

P.S. And as said before: with your head be ahead of the present moment. Have a moving map inside your head, always.

Originally Posted by Skybird

Master the plane and the basic functions first. If you do not know what to do when to achieve landing configuration and do a safe landing or a safe go around, no radio voice can help you.

Step by step!

P.S. And as said before: with your head be ahead of the present moment. Have a moving map inside your head, always.

Roger!! Sorry sometimes I get ahead of myself. These were Ideas for when I have mastered my flight routine

Flying basics first, then accelration to upgrade to SP2 then planes and or REX

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by USNSRCaseySmith

Roger!! Sorry sometimes I get ahead of myself. These were Ideas for when I have mastered my flight routine

Flying basics first, then accelration to upgrade to SP2 then planes and or REX

If you have SP2 and SP1, you do not need Acceleration for technical reasons, only for some additional content (two or three more polanes, some cities depoicted in more details, some missions added). If you have Acceleration, you do not need to worry for SP1 and SP2, since they are part of it. FSX Gold is FSX + Acceleration.