VasFMC User's Guide - 1st Flight

30.04.
2016 vasFMC User's Guide 1st Flight
First Flight
vasFMC can operate either as a standalone program or as MS FS9 gauges in your cockpit panel. We recommend that you run vasFMC as a
standalone program initially to acquaint yourself with all the functions. This example is written from that perspective, however you can also
fly this tutorial with the gauge version, provided you use the Project Airbus FS9 model within MS FS2004 with the default vasFMC panel. You
can also use XPlane for your first flight this tutorial will point out the critical differences between the simulators.
When you run vasFMC as a standalone program the vasFMC console window will appear:
The console lets you set some programwide options from the menu bar and has pushbuttons which toggle the dfferent windows.
Important: This first flight description starts with the following assumptions:
Flying with MS FS9 or FSX Flying with XPlane 9.4+
You are flying with the Project Airbus A320 model which can be You are flying with Samen's A330200 model, v1.1
found on the VAS download site here. which can be downloaded here.
The following options on the vasFMC MCDU MENU SETTINGS page It is strongly recommended that you first familiarize
(MENU page number 2, use the vertical arrow buttons to get there) yourself with this first flight tutorial. However, if you
are set as shown by the following picture: later want to use the "GlidingKiwi Full FBW Airbus",
please see the note at the end of this tutorial.
The following options on the vasFMC MCDU MENU
SETTINGS page (MENU page number 2, use the
vertical arrow buttons to get there) are set as shown
file:///C:/FSXSteam/steamapps/common/FSX/vasfmc/docs/html/firstflight.htm 1/60
30.04.2016 vasFMC User's Guide 1st Flight
by the following picture:

Important for Fly By Wire: If you are using MS Flight Simulator
and use FSUIPC to set up your joystick, it is critical that you use
very particular settings on the "Axis Assignments" page, otherwise
the flybywire controls will not work correctly. See the section
"Setting up integration in MS Flight Simulator" on the Overview
page. In addition, for all simulators, it is important that the joystick
is calibrated correctly and that the null zone is wide enough.
When using another airplane, please note that some parts of this tutorial may differ from your results.
Position the aircraft in your simulator somewhere on the apron of Vienna Airport (LOWW).
Push the window visibility buttons in the vasFMC console that you have the left MCDU, left ND, left PFD, both ECAMs and FCU
windows visible.
On the vasFMC console menu bar you can select two styles of display for some of the windows. Style A is shown here and is the
default.
Make sure that MSFS is selected via the flightsim menu in Make sure that XPlane is selected via the flightsim menu in
the vasFMC console. the vasFMC console.
We are going to fly from Vienna (LOWW) to Hamburg (EDDH).
We will leave LOWW on runway 29 using the LANUX1C SID and arrive at EDDH on runway 23 using the RATIP1A STAR with the
RATIP23 transition.
We will be cruising at an altitude of 36,000 feet.
The complete route is: LANUX UL858 OKF UM725 HDO UM748 BKD T902 RATIP
SIDs and STARs change occasionally. This example is based on the 0609 AIRAC which comes with vasFMC.
The specific SID/STAR which is current when you read this may be different. The method of entering them in the MCDU is the
same, however.
Start the flight simulator and load the Project Airbus A320 Start XPlane and load the Airbus A330243 Rolls Royce
model. model.
Do not set any special weather. Wind direction affects which runways are in use and for the sake of this example we want calm
winds on the ground so you can use the runways described here.
Start vasFMC.
vasFMC depends on the Battery and Avionics being turned on from your cockpit panel, and the windows/gauges will be blank until
they are both on. This means they will be very likely be blank while you are selecting an aircraft and airport on the "Create A Flight"
screen of MSFS. If the Battery and Avionics switches come on automatically when you see the cockpit, the vasFMC windows/gauges
will also come on. Otherwise ensure those switches are turned on in your cockpit panel.
Initialize the FMC
The MCDU display is organized as two columns (left & right), each with six rows. The six buttons on each side of the display are called Line
Select Keys, abbreviated as LSK and are numbered from 1 to 6 from top to bottom. Thus e.g. LLSK6 denotes the 6th LSK on the left side (on
the left bottom), RLSK1 denotes the 1st LSK on the right side (on the right top).
Changing parameters in the MCDU consists of entering the data and pressing one of the LSKs to store it. The data may be entered from your
computer keyboard or from the alphanumeric pad on the MCDU itself. Use only lowercase letters when using your computer keyboard (they
will be displayed as uppercase). You can use the MCDU CLR key or the backspace key on your computer keyboard to make corrections. The
line showing the written text is called scratchpad and is located at the bottom of the MCDU display.
The first MCDU page shown by vasFMC after program startup is always the A/C STATUS screen, you can get there again later by clicking the
MCDU DATA button and clicking the LLSK4 next to A/C STATUS.
This page is very important as it shows the following details:
The installed navdata (AIRAC) cycle version and dates.
The FMC version.
The vasFMC uptodate message (only when connected to the internet).
The currently aircraft and engine model used by the FMS module (shown at the top and at LLSK1).
The currently loaded vasFMC FMS aircraft profile.
The last item is the most important one, as the aircraft profile loaded within vasFMC must match to your aircraft loaded in the flight
simulator!
For this first flight, press the 6th left LSK (LLSK6) and select the For this first flight, scroll down and select the A332
A320 FS Project Airbus profile. Make also sure that this aircraft is profile. Make also sure that this aircraft is loaded in
loaded in your flight simulator. XPlane.
By selecting the right profile, the respective performance, engine and speed data are used by the FMS calculations.
Make sure that the your aircraft is located on the ground and the engines are turned off (N1 = 0%), otherwise you can not fully
initialize the FMC.
Press the INIT key to initialize the FMC, press the backspace key on your keyboard or the CLR key on the MCDU keypad (CLR will be
shown at the bottom left of the screen).
Then press the RLSK1 next to the FROM/TO line. This will clear any previous flight plan and reset the FMC.
Enter LOWW/EDDH using either your computer keyboard or the keys in the MCDU window and press the RLSK1 next to the FROM/TO
menu item. This will set the departure and arrival airports and should always be the first step you do before a flight.
If you like you may enter an alternate airport (e.g. EDDV) to be used in case the planned destination is unreachable e.g. due to bad
weather and press the LLSK2 next to ALTN.
Enter your radio callsign or flight number (e.g. AUA123) and press the LLSK3 next to FLT NBR.
Use any number from 1 to 999 and press the LLSK5 next to COST INDEX. This will tell the FMC if you want to do an economic flight
or a fast flight, the higher the number, the faster you will go. For this flight enter 600 for the cost index.
Enter 360 and press the LLSK6 next to CRZ FL/TEMP. This is our cruising altitude in "flight level" terms. (FLs are given in hundreds
of feet, so 360=36,000ft)
Click onto RLSK3 to simulate the IRS alignment.
Finally you should end up like shown in the following image:
Now, there are several ways to enter a flightplan into vasFMC:
You can use the INIT REQUEST feature on the INIT page at RLSK2 in order to switch to the vasFMC VROUTE.net interface page
and look if an online flightplan for your route is available.
Attention: When doing so, you will switch vasFMC from the FMGC to the ACARS subsystem. In order to get back to the FMGC
you may either load a flight plan route on the VROUTE.net page, or click onto the MCDU MENU button and select the FMGC
subsystem at LLSK1. Just pressing e.g. the INIT button will give you the message "FMGC NOT ACTIVE".
You can enter a flightplan in ICAO format on the MCDU MENU ACARS ICAO RTE page. To use this, copy the route you want to
add to vasFMC in ICAO format (e.g. SNU L903 STO Z543 GRZ ...) to the clipboard of your operating system and press the
MCDU PASTE button when on the ICAO RTE page. This will copy the route from the clipboard to the vasFMC scratchpad.
Thereafter press the LLSK1 on the ICAO RTE page to let vasFMC analyse and add the route.
You can load the flight plan from a previously saved vasFMC flightplan file.
Important: vasFMC will search for matching flightplan files as soon as you enter your departure and arrival airport on the
INIT page at RLSK1. E.g. if you enter LOWW/EDDH and there would be one or more matching vasFMC flightplan files, vasFMC
will instantly switch to the flight plan file loading page where you can choose to load a vasFMC flight plan file.
You can enter the name of the vasFMC flight plan file at LLSK1 on the INIT page. This will switch to the flight plan loading
page where you can choose to load the vasFMC flight plan file, if a file with the given name exists.
You can enter the route manually on the FPLN page, this is what we will do today as shown below.
Enter the Flight Plan Route
Press the MCDU FPLN button to switch to the Flight Plan page.
First we will enter the SID (Standard Instrument Departure Route).
Press the LSK left to the departure airport LOWW.
Press the LSK next to DEPARTURE
Scroll down (if needed) to runway 29 and press the LSK next to it.
You can either use the mouse wheel to scroll the display or the up & down arrow keys on the MCDU.
Some SIDs are runway specific, so the list of SIDs on the next page will depend on your runway choice.
Scroll down to the LANU1C (LANUX1C SID) entry and press the LSK for it.
Press the INSERT* LSK to insert this departure into our flight plan.
The MCDU will change back to the flight plan page and show the waypoints along the departure route.
Use the mouse wheel or the up/down cursors to scroll through the inserted waypoints.
Now we will insert today's route from LOWW to EDDH: LANUX UL858 OKF UM725 HDO UM748 BKD T902 RATIP
Scroll the waypoints on the FPLN page until you see the entry LANUX.
Click the LSK left to the waypoint LANUX.
The first section of our route starting at waypoint LANUX will be along airway UL858 until we reach waypoint OKF.
Enter UL858/OKF into the scratchpad and press the RLSK3 next to VIA/GO TO to enter this section.
This will automatically add all waypoints along the given airway from LANUX to OKF.
Press the LSK left to OKF.
Enter UM725/HDO into the scratchpad and again press RLSK3.
Press the LSK left to HDO.
Enter UM748/BKD into the scratchpad and again press RLSK3.
Now we enter the last section of our route, press the LSK left to BKD.
Enter T902/RATIP into the scratchpad and again press RLSK3.
We have completed to enter the route and will now enter the STAR (Standard Arrival Route).
Press the LSK next to the destination airport EDDH at the bottom of the FPLN page.
Press the LSK next to ARRIVAL. This will bring up the page of runways for our destination.
As with SIDs, some STARs are restricted to certain runways.
Press the LSK next to runway ILS23. Note that the ILS frequency and course are also listed.
The next page shows the arrivals we can choose from for this runway.
Scroll down to the entry RATI1A (RATIP1A) and press the LSK for it.
There will be a list of transitions for the arrival on the right side of the display.
Scroll down and select RAT23. This will bring us onto runway 23 from the south east.
Press the INSERT key to add this arrival to our flight plan.
The screen will change back to the flight plan page where you can now see all the waypoints of our planned flight route.
INIT B Initialize the FMS
Now we have to tell the FMS module of the FMC some performance details of our flight.
Press the MCDU INIT button and use the horizontal arrow buttons of the MCDU to switch to the INIT B page (which is only available
on the ground with engines off).
This second INIT page is important for the FMS to calculate the correct speed, thrust and fuel values.
The Zero Fuel Weightt (ZFW) of the aircraft can be entered at RLSK1. As long as no value is entered, the ZFW of the current
aircraft will be shown in small green numbers.
You can either use the shown value by simply clicking onto RLSK1 without entering a value (empty scratchpad), or enter you own
ZFW value into the scratchpad first and press RLSK1 thereafter. As soon as the ZFW is set, the current ZFW shown in small green
numbers disappears.
The next step is to tell the FMS about the expected winds aloft for its fuel calculations. You can enter the expected winds in knots on
the RLSK6 position, where 000 is shown as default. For our flight today we assume an average headwind of 100kts, thus we enter
the value 100 into the scratchpad and press RLSK6. If you should expect a tailwind in future flights, you can enter a negative value
at RLSK6 to tell the FMS.
Before calculating the fuel to load, you could enter preselected fuel values on the left side of the INIT B page.
For this flight we are using the default values and will leave the left side of the INIT B page blank as it is.
To calculate the fuel to load we now press the RLSK3 button next to FUEL PLANNING.
After a few seconds (be patient) the FMS has calculated the block fuel and estimated FOB (fuel on board) values which are shown at
positions RLSK2 and RLSK5.
Also our estimated TOW (Takeoff Weight) and LW (Landing Weight) are shown at RLSK4.
Note: Your values may differ from the ones shown below!
Confirm the FMS calculation by hitting RLSK3 again.
Now change to the fuel setup dialog of your flight simulator and load the amount of BLOCK fuel (RLSK2) calculated by the FMS.
Alternatively: You can repeat the fuel calculation process by pressing RLSK3 once more and start all over on the INIT B page.
Initialize the Performance Pages
Now that the FMS is initialized, we can go through the MCDU performance pages.
Press the MCDU PERF button to access the PERF TAKE OFF page.
We have to tell the FMS which flap and takeoff trim setting we will use for takeoff. For today's flight we enter 1/1 at RLSK3, thus
we will use flap setting 1 and a takeoff elevator trim of 1 degree. The current elevator trim setting of the aircraft will be set
instantly by vasFMC when entering the takeoff trim value at the MCDU, you can crosscheck this on the lower ECAM display.
Now that we have set the flaps, the V1, Vr and V2 speeds suggested by the FMS are shown on the left side of the PERF TAKEOFF
page as small geen numbers.
We can either accept this values just be clicking onto the LLSK buttons without entering any values (empty scratchpad), or set our
own values by entering them into the scratchpad and pressing the respective LLSK buttons.
We enter 5000 as the transition altitude for Vienna at LLSK4.
Finally we can tell the FMS if we would like to use derated or flexible thrust for takeoff.
To use flex(ible) thrust, e.g. enter a Flex temperature of 27°C as "F27" into the scratchpad and press RLSK4. To use derated thrust,
e.g. enter "D08" which reduces the thrust by 8 percent.
Flex temperatures can vary between 10 and 57, allowed derate values are: 04, 08, 12, 16, 20, 24.
When using derated thrust you have to acknowledge the selected value at RLSK4.
Note: The only possible derate values are: D04, D08, D12, D16, D20 and D24!
For today's flight we will use a flex thrust setting of 45°C, thus we enter F45 at RLSK4.
At LLSK5 you can change the thrust reduction and acceleration altitudes used for the transition to the climb phase after takeoff.
These values are automatically set to 1000ft above the departure airport's altitude and don't need to be modified most of the time.
Further items shown on this page are:
The departure runway at RLSK1.
The estimated flap and slat retration speeds and the clean speed, all shown in the middle of the page.
Press RLSK6 on the PERF TAKEOFF page to get to the PERF CLIMB (CLB) page.
On the CLIMB page the manged climb speed and mach values calulated by the FMS are shown. The managed speeds can not be
altered directly as they are bound to the cost index value you entered on the INIT page before. However, the cost index can be
changed on the PERF pages during the flight which will influence the managed speeds.
If for whatever reason you would like to use your own selected climb speed (instead of the FMS calculated managed speed), you
may enter (preselect) it at LLSK4. If you do so, the following will happen:
The entered preselected climb speed will be shown in the upper left part of the PFD as soon as takeoff thrust is applied.
The autothrottle will change automatically from managed mode to selected SPEED hold mode when entering the climb phase
after takeoff.
If you want to clear a previously entered preselected speed, just press LLSK3.
Note: When airborne you can switch between managed and selected speeds using the speed button on the FCU. "Pushing" the button
(left mouse button click) activates the managed speed mode (shown by a magenta arrow at the PFD speed tape), "pulling" the
button (right mouse button click) activates the selected speed mode (shown by a cyan arrow at the PFD speed tape). See also here.
The estimated arrival time at the destination when airborne.
The estimated fuel at the destination at RLSK1.
Press RLSK6 on the PERF CLIMB page to get to the PERF CRUISE page.
On the CRUISE page the manged cruise mach value calulated by the FMS is shown. The managed speeds can not be altered directly
as they are bound to the cost index value you entered on the INIT page before. However, the cost index can be changed on the PERF
pages during the flight which will influence the managed speeds.
If for whatever reason you would like to use your own selected cruise mach (instead of the FMS calculated managed mach), you
may enter (preselect) it at LLSK4. If you do so, the following will happen:
The preselected cruise mach will be shown in the upper left part of the PFD as soon as the climb phase is entered after
takeoff.
The autothrottle will change automatically from managed mode to selected mach hold mode when entering the cruise phase.
If you want to clear a previously entered preselected cruise mach, just press LLSK3.
Press RLSK6 on the PERF CRUISE page to get to the PERF DESCENT (DES) page.
On the DESCENT page the manged descent mach and speed values calulated by the FMS are shown. Opposite to the managed climb
and cruise values, the managed descent speed and mach values can directly be altered by the pilot, as long as the descent phase is
not active however it is recommended to leave them to the values suggested by the FMS.
Press RLSK6 on the PERF DESCENT page to get to the PERF APPROACH (APPR) page.
This page is normally left as it is until you start the approach to your destination airport. We will come back here later during the
flight to tell the FMS about the destination airport's weather, etc.
Note: The next page PERF GO AROUND is not yet used by vasFMC and will be helpful in a future version.
Now the FMC is fully set up for our flight and we can save our flight plan for reuse later. Press the DATA button on the MCDU and press a
horizontal arrow button (left or right arrow) to get to the 2nd DATA page. Then select RLSK2 (SAVE ROUTE) and thereafter LLSK1 (SAVE
ACTIVE ROUTE) to save the current flight to a vasFMC flight plan file on the disk.
Press CLR to acknowledge the FMC save message shown in the scratchpad after successfully saving the flight. After doing this, the next time
(at the next flight) we enter LOWW/EDDH at the INIT page (at RLSK1), vasFMC will instantly show us the saved flight route for loading. Also
note, that the name of the flight plan file will be shown at LLSK1 (CO RTE company route) on the INIT page after saving.
Set the Navigation Display (ND)
The ND is versatile and is where most of your attention (besides the PFD) will be focused during the flight. The features it displays are
selectable in the ND (EFIS) part of the FCU window as shown in the highlighted area below.
Take a moment to left and right click on the knobs to see how they affect the ND window. Left clicking (or clicking the hotspot area left of a
knob) rotates it counterclockwise, and right clicking (or clicking the hotspot area to the right of a knob) moves it clockwise. You can also
use the mouse wheel on a button to change it.
Left or right click on the left knob (mode knob) until it points to PLAN.
Left or right click on the right knob (range knob) until it points to 10.
In the MCDU window, select the FPLN page.
Scroll through the waypoints (using either the arrow keys or the mouse wheel) and notice how the ND changes with it. This is an
easy way to check that the flight path doesn't have any waypoints that backtrack or go into the wrong direction or off the planned
route. You should always check the entered flight plan this way before departure.
When switching on the CSTR button on the FCU, any waypoint constraints like altitude and/or speeds will be shown in magenta
letters beneath the waypoint names in the ND. Note: Waypoints with constraints will always be shown with magenta circles on the
ND, even if the CSTR button is off.
In the FCU window, select the ARC mode for the ND and select range 10. In this mode the ND always points into the direction the
aircraft nose is facing to, so the compass will move with the aircraft during turns.
Note that the flight plan is shown as a green line. If you can't see the flight plan line you may be on the wrong runway or at the
wrong airport.
In the FCU window, click the VOR button above the knobs in the ND area. You may need to expand the ND range to see any VOR
stations on the ND at this point in time.
Similarly you can display NDBs (NDB) and airports (ARPT).
Set the Navigation Frequencies
On the MCDU press the RAD NAV key to get to the RADIO NAV page. This page displays the frequencies in use by the aircraft's
navigational instruments. Different aircraft will have different configurations of navigational gear. vasFMC provides access for 2
VOR/ILS and 2 ADF tuners, how many of them are active depends on your aircraft and simulator.
Enter SNU (or a specific frequency such as 115.5) into the scratchpad, then press the LLSK1 next to the VOR1/FREQ line. This will
set the VOR1 tuner to the SNU (Sollenau) VOR, which is located south west of Vienna. The VOR1 freq will change automatically to
the SNU frequency. We won't be using this VOR for navigation on this flight but you may want to know where nearby navaids are in
the event you are given new instructions by ATC.
Departure
We have now finished our flight preparations.
Start the engines and taxi and lineup runway 29 in Vienna.
Look at the Primary Flight Display window (PFD).
Notice that many of the autopilot settings are shown here (at the top), along with almost everything else you'll need for instrument
flying:
On the left side: The speed tape showing the current indicated airspeed.
On the right side: The altitude and vertical speed tapes.
On the bottom: The magnetic heading.
In the middle: The artifical horizon showing pitch and bank angles.
The current joystick input is drawn as a white cross (shown in the center of the PFD in the picture below).
Important: Make sure that the white cross is in the middle of the PFD if your joystick centered!
If it is not, your joystick needs to be calibrated before departure!
While taxiing make sure the flight director (FD) is turned on by pressing the respective button on the FCU.
Make also sure the CSTR button on the FCU is pressed to see any waypoint restrictions on the ND.
Set the correct QNH value on the left side of the FCU. The set QNH is also shown at the right bottom corner of the PFD.
Set the initial climb altitude for departure. For Vienna this is usually 5000ft.
Extend the flaps by one notch.
If the FD is on, the text 1FD2 will be shown at the upper right area of the PFD.
When activating the FD on the ground before takeoff, the following happens:
vasFMC will arm the following FD modes:
Vertical: OP CLB (open climb, a mode which will hold the speed in the climb phase by raising or lowering the nose of the
aircraft)
Lateral: NAV (managed navigation mode which will follow the flight plan route after reaching the climb phase)
The V1, Vr and V2 speeds will be set. In the image above, the V1 speed of 145 and the V2 speed of 155 can be seen on the
top of the PFD's speed tape. The Vr speed will be shown by a small cyan circle on the speed tape during takeoff.
The autothrottle target speed changes to managed mode.
Make sure, that after activating the FD, dashes and dots are shown on the FCU at the SPD and the HDG displays as follows:
If the FCU does not look like shown above, deactivate and reactivate the FD by clicking twice onto the FD button on the FCU.
Before departure, always check the upper and lower ECAM displays.
On the upper ECAM, the following information are shown:
Engine values: N1, EGT (Engine Gas Temperature), N2, FF (Fuel Flow).
FOB (Fuel On Board).
Current flap setting.
Current thrust setting (as soon as we will apply thrust for takeoff).
Info (green or magenta) and warning (orange or red) messages.
The flap setting we previously entered at the MCDU PERF TAKEOFF is used by the FMC to tell the pilot if the flaps are set correctly
for takeoff. As shown by the image above, our flap setting is wrong, thus the "T.O CONFIG TEST" is not ok.
After selecting the correct flaps, the upper ECAM looks like this:
On the lower ECAM, vasFMC for now only supports the F/CTL display which gives to following information:
Speed brake (SPD BRK) deflection.
Aileron (AIL), Elevator (ELEV) and Rudder (RUD) deflection.
Pitch trim (as number, e.g. 1.0° DN) and rudder trim (as small cyan line below the rudder display).
Status of the hydraulic system (B, G and Y).
For now the hydraulic system is always ok if at least one engine is running.
TAT (Total Air Temperature) and SAT (Static Air Temperature, aka OAT).
The current time in UTC.
The current GW (Gross Weight) when at least one engine is running.
Now again take a look at the ND window. The green line shown in the picture below shows the flight plan programmed into the
MCDU.
The PFD and ND displays will track your movements in real time and show the current situation and position of your aircraft.
The PFD will shows the active autopilot and autothrottle settings.
The ND shows our ground and true airspeed along with the next waypoint, its distance, and ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).
Now that we have checked all instrumens and we are lined up on runway 29 in LOWW, we are ready for departure.
Important note: If you have followed this tutorial closely you should have enabled the Airbus throttle mode on the MCDU MENU page
at the beginning. By doing so, your joystick throttle is not longer directly connected to the throttle of your simulator, because
vasFMC now simulates an Airbus throttle input.
If you are new to this concept you should do the following dry run when lined up for departure:
Make sure the parking brake is set.
Note: Your aircraft may move during this test altough the brakes are set.
If so make sure you line up correctly again before departure!
By further advancing the thrust lever, you hear two click sounds followed by a callout "flex thrust set".
If you advanced your thrust lever too far, more than two click sounds can be heard.
Lower your throttle again until the flex thrust is set.
By looking at the upper ECAM you can see that the A/THR now tries to keep the flex thrust setting which we previously set
during the FMS initialization. This is indicated as "FLX xx.x% xx°C".
The cyan circles at the N1 display show the current max. thrust setting calculated by the FMS.
The thrust setting is also displayed in the upper left corner of the PFD.
By advancing the thrust lever to full, you hear the last of the three click sounds followed by a callout "maximum thrust set".
By looking at the upper ECAM you can see that the A/THR now tries to keep the maximum thrust setting which is calculated by
the FMS and is indicated as "TOGA xx.x%".
The thrust setting is also displayed in the upper left corner of the PFD.
To end the dry run set your thrust lever to idle again.
Reactivate the FD by clicking twice onto the FD button on the FCU.
Before departure, check that your vasFMC displays show data like this:
Now we are ready for departure!
Note: It might help to read the following steps before takeoff to reduce the stress level, however:
Feel free to pause the simulation any time!
Release the brakes and advance the thrust lever to the flex thrust position.
When doing this you should hear two click sound and the "flex thrust set" callout.
When reaching a certain speed, the SRS (speed reference system) AP vertical mode will engage, which aims to hold a speed of V2
to V2 + 10kts after takeoff until reaching the acceleration altitude.
When reaching rotation speed, the "rotate" callout can be heard.
Pull your joystick and aim for a nose up pitch between 15 and 18°.
When stable activate the autopilot immediately so you can concentrate on the vasFMC displays!
Do this by clicking the AP1 button on the FCU.
Raise the gear.
The autopilot (AP) will now aim to keep a speed near V2 until reaching the acceleration altitude and will fly the flight plan route.
The PFD should look like this:
When reaching the acceleration/thrust reduction altitude, the following happens:
The AP switches the vertical mode from SRS to OP CLB mode.
The target speed bug (magenta triangle on the speed tape) changes to the managed climb speed
(or a speed restriction value if appropriate or 250kts below FL100).
The LVR CLB message starts to flash in the upper left corner.
Now you should reduce the thrust lever to the climb thrust notch, thus only a single click and the "climb thrust set" callout shall be
heard.
If you are new to this throttle concept, you will need some practice to master this easily, be patient its worth it.
Important: The thrust lever must now remain on this setting until the final approach at the destination airport!
After setting the climb thrurst, the PFD should look like this:
As you can see, there is a "S" marking on the PFD's speed tape. This marking indicates the speed at which the pilot can retract the
flaps/slats completely. Note: If we would have chosen to take off with a flap setting of 2 or 3, a "F" marking could be seen here
indicating when to retract to the next flap/slat setting.
As we have entered an initial climb altitude of 5000ft on the FCU (which can be seen by the value "5000" on top of the PFD's altitude
tape in the image above), the AP will level out at this altitude (as can be seen below):
As you can see, the A/THR mode automatically changed to SPEED HOLD mode and the AP vertical mode automatically changed to
ALT hold mode.
We assume now that ATC has cleared us for our final level of FL360, thus:
We set an altitude of 36000 at the FCU.
We "pull" the altitude button on the FCU by right clicking onto it.
As you can see above, the A/THR and AP modes changed back to their previous modes and the climb continues.
When passing the transition altitude, the QNH value in the right lower corner of the PFD starts to flash.
"Pull" the altimeter button on the FCU by clicking it with the right mouse button.
Doing so changes the altimeter display to STD, and the target altitude display shows FL360 (= flightlevel 360) instead of 36000 as
before.
When passing 10000ft, the managed target speed automatically changes to the climb speed calculated by the FMS.
You might want to enlarge the range of the ND display during the flight, normally 80nm or 160nm or a good option enroute.
During the climb you will see a cyan arrow on the ND (see below). It shows the estimated TOC (Top Of Climb) point, when the
aircraft will possibly reach the currently selected FCU altitude. It is calculated based on the altitude difference and the current
vertical speed.
We now assume that ATC gives us a direct to a waypoint on our route, lets say to waypoint BKD.
Press the DIR button on the MCDU and scroll down until the waypoint BKD can be seen on the MCDU display.
Press the LSK left to BKD.
Now you have selected BKD as the point you want to go direct to.
By switching between DIRECT TO (RLSK2) and ABEAM PTS (RLSK3) you can chose whether you want to add new waypoints along the
new direct route abeam to the old waypoints which will be passed by the direct.
Press RLSK6 to insert the direct to the current route. By doing so, the AP lateral mode automatically changes to NAV (if it would e.g.
have been HDG before). In our case the AP lateral mode should have been NAV already.
When the direct was inserted with ABEAM PTS selected, you can see the newly inserted abeam waypoints on the ND.
They area all prefixed by "AB", e.g. ABHDO designates the waypoint abeam to HDO, which was part of the route before.
Notice that the wind direction and speed are also displayed in the upper left corner of the ND along with our ground speed (GS) and
true airspeed (TAS).
During the climb, the A/THR automatically switches from SPEED to MACH mode when approriate.
Cruise and Descent
When reaching the cruise altitude, the AP vertical mode changes to ALT CRZ and the managed target mach changes to the cruise
mach value calculated by the FMS.
Now assume that ATC has given us a temporary heading to fly, e.g. 340°.
To comply "pull" the heading knob on the FCU by clicking it with the right mouse button.
The AP lateral mode will change to HDG (heading) hold and the FCU heading changes from "" to the current heading.
Now change the FCU heading to 340° either by clicking to the hotspot area right or left of the FCU heading button or by using the
mouse wheel on the heading button.
You will notice the changed AP lateral mode on the AP mode display at the top of the PFD and a cyan target heading triangle on the
bottom heading tape of the PFD.
You will also notice that the green route line in the ND got dashed, that means the aircraft is not following the flight plan route
anymore.
To return to your flight plan route you should again make a direct as described before, which will change the FCU heading display
back to "". You could also just change the AP lateral mode back to NAV by "pushing" the FCU heading knob by clicking it with the
left mouse button.
Now still enroute, we want to do some modifications to the approach route to EDDH.
Switch the ND mode to PLAN and the ND range to 40nm.
Then switch to the MCDU FPLN page and scroll down through the waypoints to the get following ND display:
As you can see, the approach route to the final approach of runway 23 in EDDH leads through a so called Scurve or transition.
Let's assume we got a shortcut by ATC to cut off waypoints DH614 to DH656, thus we will go direct from DH613 to DH657.
To do so click on the MCDU LSK left to waypoint DH613.
Enter DH657 into the scratchpad and press RLSK4 (NEXT WPT).
By doing so, vasFMC searches through the remaining route for waypoint DH657.
As the entered waypoint DH657 is part of our route, all waypoints between DH613 and DH657 are removed from the route and you
get the following shortened transition:
When getting closer to your destination, sooner or later you will notice another cyan arrow on the ND:
This arrow shows the TOD (Top Of Descent) point, where we should start the descent to our destination.
You will also hear a "reaching top of descent" callout 20nm before reaching the TOD point.
To initiate the descent do the following:
Set the FCU altitude value to the altitude or flight level you want to descent to, e.g. FL60.
"Pull" the FCU altitude button by clicking it with the right mouse button.
By doing so the following happens:
The A/THR mode changes to IDLE mode.
The vertical AP mode changes to OP DES (Open Descent).
The target mach value changes to the descent mach value which was previously set on the MCDU PERF DESCENT page.
During the descent, the A/THR mode will automatically switch from MACH to SPEED mode when appropriate.
When passing 10000ft the managed target speed will automatically change to 250kts (or less if the FMS descent speed is less than
250kts or a waypoint speed restriction exists).
Now is the time to set values on the MCDU PERF APPROACH page.
Fill in the values of the page as shown below:
Normally you would check the ATIS and/or METAR report of your destination and fill in the appropriate values.
When passing the transition altitude set on the PERF APPROACH page (5000ft in our example) the altimeter value STD in the lower
right corner of the PFD will start to flash. This is the time to "push" the FCU altimeter knob by clicking it with the left mouse button
and to set the correct QNH of our destination (1013 in our example).
Approach
Our arrival route had a speed restriction of 220kts, thus the managed target speed was reduced by vasFMC accordingly just before
reaching the restriction point.
The image below shows our flight on the turn to the downwind leg of the transition.
You will notice a small magenta marking in the PFD's speed tape (two short horizontally aligned lines).
This marking shows the maximum speed of the next higher flaps/slats setting, thus in our example below, we could already lower
the flaps one notch because we are 10kts below the maximum speed of the first flaps/slats setting.
Now it is time to activate the approach phase.
To do so press the PERF button of the MCDU to get to the PERF page according to the current flight phase and press LLSK6
(ACTIVATE APPR PHASE).
Press the LLSK6 a second time to confirm your choice.
By doing so the following happens:
The managed speed target is set to the VAPP (approach speed) entered on the MCDU PER APPROACH at LLSK6 page before.
The target speed held by the A/THR now depends on the current flap/slat setting. With flaps/slats up, the green dot speed is
held (which is the most economical speed in clean configuration), when lowering the flaps/slats, the speed held is reduced
accordingly and reaches the VAPP when the flaps/slats are fully extended.
The NAV1 radio is automatically set to ILS frequency of the previously selected landing runway.
Now activate the ILS button on the FCU, this will enable the ILS display on the PFD.
During the approach lower the flaps/slats step by step.
When turning onto the final segment of the approach, arm the AP APPR mode by pressing the APPR button on the FCU.
This will ARM the AP lateral LOC (localizer) mode and AP vertical G/S (glideslope) mode, which will engage as soon as the aircraft
intercepts the ILS localizer and glideslope beams.
Important note: The G/S mode will not engage unless the LOC or LOC* mode is engaged. Thus it is important to aways intercept the
localizer well before the glideslope!
The following picture shows an abnormal situation where the AP lateral LOC mode is engaged and the AP vertical G/S mode is
armed, but the aircraft is above the glideslope and descents fast enough to catch the glidepath, thus the G/S will sooner or later
engage.
If the vertical path of the aircraft would have been shallower than the glidepath of the ILS, the AP vertical mode would have
automatically been reverted to V/S (vertical speed hold mode) because there would have been no chance to intercept the glidepath.
Keep in mind that the ILS shall always be intercepted in a sober way, first the localizer, then the glideslope from below!
Finally, when on the final approach the flaps/slats should have been fully extended and the gear should be lowered.
The PFD should look somehow like the following:
The airraft is fully established on the ILS and the managed speed target is set to the previously entered VAPP (approach speed).
The decision height (DH, shown at top area of the PFD, 200ft in our example) was also set previously on the MCDU PERF APPROACH
page.
The flight director (FD), the autopilot (AP) and the autothrust (A/THR) are all engaged and working.
During the final approach you should also set the FCU selected altitude to the goaround altitude, e.g. 4000ft in our example.
When passing a radio altitude (shown as green numbers on the PFD below 2500ft) of 2000ft on the approach, the landing check on
the upper ECAM appears:
The landing check consists of three items: gear, spoilers and flaps. If the gear is down, the spoilers are armed and the flaps are
extended to the setting previously selected on the MCDU PERF APPROACH page, the landing check will be ok and all green.
Landing
vasFMC does not support autolandings, so if your simulator does not do the trick, an automatic landing will always be some sort of
structural testflight. For this tutorial we assume that we will land manually (as it is done 99% of the time all over the world).
The first thing on the final approach to do is to switch off the A/THR.
Note: This is the first time we will touch and move the thrust lever out of the cimb thrust setting since our departure in Vienna.
In order to get a smooth transition when switching to manual thrust, move the thrust lever (slowly) back until the white circles on
the upper ECAM N1 display reach the current N1 value. By doing so, the A/THR is still engaged and in SPEED hold mode, but the
maximum N1 value of the engine is limited by the current thrust lever setting.
Now turn off the A/THR by clicking onto the A/THR button on the FCU.
Note: If you would leave the thrust lever out of the climb thrust postion without turning off the A/THR, the THR LVR indication would
again appear in the upper left corner of the PFD in the same way it did when we reached the acceleration altitude after the takeoff.
Now the A/THR is fully off and the thrust lever position directly commands the N1 value of the engines.
The PFD and upper ECAM should look like this:
The next thing to do is to switch of the AP, to do so press the AP1 button on the FCU.
If you followed this tutorial closely, you shall have selected Currently there exist no FBW profiles that are tuned for XPlane
the Project Airbus A320 FS9 aircraft profile at the aircraft. So you are now flying fully manual without support
beginning. from vasFMC.
This means that the vasFMC FlyByWire (FBW) feature is
turned on, which was mainly tuned for the MS FS Project
Airbus models.
Thus, when deactivating the AP, nothing dramatically happens, the airplane should keep the attitude it had prior to AP deactivation.
However: Flying with a FBW system is somewhat different from flying with direct controls, one important thing to have in mind is:
It is not a good practise to apply long constant joystick inputs during the approach and landing.
In order to make a good approach and landing, only apply short, impulse like inputs via the joystick and let the aircraft handle
the previous input before applying the next input.
By adhering to this rule, your approaches will be much smoother.
After disengaging the AP, the PFD and the upper ECAM should look like this:
Another thing to keep in mind during a normal 3° ILS approach: The vertical speed shall be kept approximately 5 times the ground
speed to aim for a 3° approach. Thus in our example, this would be approximately 750ft/min.
During the final approach you will hear radar altitude callouts.
When reaching 100ft above the decision height, you will hear the "100 above" callout and the radar altitude display on the PFD will
change to amber.
When reaching the decision height, you will hear the "minimum" callout and the radar altitude display on the PFD will flash.
When passing 50ft, firmly start to flare the aircraft.
Just before passing 20ft, firmly pull back the thrust lever to idle or you will hear the "retard" callout.
Happy landing!
Using Advanced Aircraft in XPlane (GlidingKiwi)
The Airbus A320 by "GlidingKiwi" is an example of an XPlane aircraft that has a custom autopilot. Such aircraft have logic built in that is
incompatible to vasFMC.
To be able to fly advanced aircraft with own autopilots without interference from vasFMC, you must enforce the "default ap" mode of
vasFMC. To do this
Make sure vasFMC is not running
Go to the vasfmc/cfg directory and open the config file fsaccess_scs.cfg.
You will find a line reading:
defaultap=0
Change it to:
defaultap=1
Save the file
Restart vasFMC
Now the AP logic of the XPlane aircraft can work without interference from vasFMC.
Warning
Loading an XPlane aircraft with advanced AP logic without enforcing this setting will lead to unpredicatable results.
© Copyright 2011 by Alex Wemmer. All Rights Reserved.

VasFMC User's Guide - 1st Flight

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What are the steps to initialize the FMC?

What are some tips for a smooth approach and landing?

30.04.

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