
We've been very busy over the past months and added adjustable fuel and payload masses to all of our airliners and several smaller aircraft. You'll be able to change the current weight of the aircraft in the new dedicated "Fuel and Load" menu all the way from operating empty weight (OEW) to maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or even maximum taxi weight (MTW).
Increasing the mass directly affects the performance of the the aircraft, takeoff acceleration will be slower, stall speeds higher, maximum achievable altitude lower. Suddenly a 4500m long runway at high elevation like in Denver will seem short with a fully loaded A380. If you decrease the weight and don't select a high engine thrust de-rate the aircraft climbs like a rocket.
Additionally we've added new optional "FMS preflight" assistance functions that checks if the correct weights have been inserted correctly in the FMS. The assistance computes the v-speeds (V1, VR, V2, VREF), flexible takeoff temperature or assumed temperature, takeoff flaps, trim and other values and inserts them into the FMS if necessary. Even with the assistance disabled the correct values are still available by double-clicking the line select key or textbox in the (M)CDUs, just as before.
The "Flight assistant" menu was overhauled and now describes each function in more detail.
The assistance "Auto cockpit" has now been split into the respective categories: Propeller, Mixture, Spoilers, Altimeter, Pressurization, FMS preflight and Autopilot assistant.
Change-Log Summary
- Adjustable fuel and load weights in all airliners and several small aircraft
- New flight assistant that checks values affected by changes in fuel & load
- Overhauled flight assistant menu and "Auto cockpit" split into categories