777 tutorial question

  • Just found out about the 777 tutorial: I didn't look at the 77 before but it seemed a nice challenge so I decided to go for it. But I am stuck immediately. ;) I can't enter runway 25 into the CDU. I entered KDEN on the POS INIT page, went to the RTE page and it showed this already:

    So I didn't have to enter KDEN at all as the tutorial says. But anyway, I tried to overwrite the default 16R with 25 but I just can't get it done. It doesn't work. So I am stuck after about 2 steps already LOL

    Any idea how to get this done? According to the tutorial I simply should be able to enter 25...?

    EDIT

    I tried to select the runway from the DEP/ARR page but it's completely empty... no runways to select from at all.

    EDIT 2

    In order to not waste timing waiting for the answer I decided to skip the CDU part and set up the flight on the AFS2 Navigation page. I noticed the tutorial says: 'Click on San Francisco on the map, select ILS 26L for the arrival.' That should be 'Click on San Francisco on the map, select ILS 28L for the arrival.'

    EDIT 3

    When the tutorial tells you to turn on the LAV and VNAV, shouldn't you also turn on the A/T...? The tutorial seems to be missing that step...? Further on the tutorial seems to indicate the A/T should have been on ('Monitor how the autothrottle advances the thrust').

    EDIT 4

    How do you actually turn on A/T...? I teleported my plane as described in the tutorial and noticed speed went up higher and higher during descent. I then by accident pressed the IAS button and the A/T light went on. But speeds are going higher and higher and the IAS window shows 750...? BTW During take off I already thought something was wrong because I had to move the throttle manually. I only ARMED the A/T, apparently. Any info on how to actually and properly put A/T on would be appreciated. ;)

    EDIT 4

    Okay, speeds went too high, flight aborted. I really can't figure out how to work with the A/T... It seems the tutorial misses a few steps regarding A/T? Back to the Q400 or Arrow it is for now.

    Edited 8 times, last by Flamingpie (January 17, 2020 at 3:49 PM).

  • Ah, you didn't read my blog entry.

    Some of the CDU features are not yet available but will be soon.

    Please use the Aerofly navigation dialog for now.

    Ah, so the tutorial was a bit premature. ;) Maybe post that in the tutorial too...? I didn't read any blog, no.

    But anyway, the A/T should work, right...?

    EDIT

    Finished the fligh! :) I had to give it another try to get it done though because I followed the tutorial to the letter and went all the way to flaps 15 but by that time it was too late already to turn APP on... ;) So I tried the second part of the flight again and this time turn on AP on time.

    BTW When I teleport the plane VNAV doesn't turn on automatically: something to be aware off.

    All in all a great flight, a great experience and a great plane. Also like the checklist option: nice!

    EDIT 2 or 3 or 4: BTW Where can I check that the right ILS has been tuned and the right course has been set (before it all displays on the screens)?

    I just started another flight (Amsterdam to Zurich) and can't find out where to see the desired cruising altitude I should enter in the ALT window? (Sorry for asking all these questions... ;) )

    Edited 3 times, last by Flamingpie (January 17, 2020 at 8:12 PM).

  • The description of the A/T would be part of the cockpit introduction.

    When you set the aircraft into the cruise position the autothrottle is already on in my steam version. Did you move the thrust lever during the load process or after the aircraft was loaded? This can deactivate the autothrottle.

    To set it on:

    Switch to arm and then press the A/T button or the FLCH button or the VNAV button. It should show the state of the autothrottle as SPD or THR REF in the top left corner of the primary flight display.

    Thanks for the other notes, I've corrected them.

  • Thanks for the information! I am doing my second flight now and so far things are going rather okay. It could well be I touched my controls Indeed during my first flight (because speeds didn’t seem right). I will keep a close eye one what the PFD shows!


    And you’re very welcome. ;)


    BTW I haven’t finished my second flight yet but this 777 seems to be a nice addition to the fleet! So far I only flew the Q400 and lately the Arrow and every now and then the Airbus, but I think I will add this one to my (short) list of planes to fly regularly. Specially once I can edit things in the CDU. ;) Seems like a nice plane to fly long flights with and watch a movie during cruise.


    O, nice, while typing this speed went from 290 to 240 all by itself when getting to 10.000 ft So... I think I have A/T under control now. ;)

  • Next question! Did another flight and this time the plane totally overshot (or how do you call it) the ILS LOC: on the screenshot below the plane is trying to get back on the right line (I approach from the right side but am on the left side now!) but it totally missed it and the landing failed completely. I noticed other instances where the plane overshot a waypoint. Anything I can do to prevent this? Speeds were all good etc. and the plane was setup completely for the approach.

    BTW It also seemed the plane didn't start the descent all by itself at the T/D, as the tutorial describes: I had to press the ALT knob (and use the speed brake) to get things done. I'll check this again during my next flight.

  • The B777 is beautiful I tried it. But it’s prehistoric when you come from A320.
    Thanks Aerofly for new planes

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  • Please let me know if you can reproduce this and what exact steps have to be taken.

    Well, the plane not starting descent most probably was a user's error. I think I mainly kept my eye on the T/D on the ND and when I passed that point I probably started pushing related buttons because the plane didn't descend... But now, during my current flight, I kept an eye on the deviation bar instead and noticed the plane doesn't descent right at the T/D point but a bit later: at a certain moment I saw the deviation bar beginning to move down and when the diamond was in the middle (making sure I didn't touch anything!) the plane started the descent automatically indeed. So no problem here: just a newbie user error, sorry. ;)

    I will now see what happens during approach. I do notice (while typing this) that I am deviating from the descent profile quite a bit and need to use the speedbrake. During my previous flight I didn't check that deviation bar all the time and hence I needed to descent quite steep close to the FAF: maybe the plane overshot the FAF simply because of the speed...! (Although the speed on the screenshot was quite okay, I think.)

    I will keep the plane near to the profile path now. (And again while typing this I need to use the speed brake...! Apparently you need to use it a lot?!) Stay tumed for my approach and landing report. ;)

    EDIT

    Okay, I had to use the speedbrake A LOT up to 10.000 ft. From there on, at 240 kts, the deviation bar was perfect. I think my previous landing went bad because I was still trying to get down low enough while flying below 10.000 ft already. Anyway, this time the plane didn't really overshoot the FAF although the turn was quite steep: see the screenshow below. Way better then the previous approach. The (auto)landing was PERFECT.

    I will redo the failed flight later on and use my new knowledge for the approach. Apparently a plane this big really needs to be on the correct speed and profile to approach well! Another tip: as stated in the tutorial, do not forget to lower the speed manually as soon as the G/S has been intercepted or the plane will come in too fast (since the A/T won't work anymore at that stage).

    Edited once, last by Flamingpie (January 18, 2020 at 2:32 PM).

  • EDIT 2 or 3 or 4: BTW Where can I check that the right ILS has been tuned and the right course has been set (before it all displays on the screens)?

    Let me reply my own answer: set the ND map to approach (turn the CTR knob from MAP to APP) and you will see the ILS (name, not the freq), course and DME in the top right corner of the ND! :)

    BTW Maybe this has been mentioned before but the ND has a little bug, I think: when you go from MAP to VOR or APP mode everything moves right 1 degree. Even the TRK changes 1 degree (from for instance 90 to 89). Doesn't seem right to me?

  • I recently made a change to the descent profile and the drag of the airplane so that it's easier to follow a calculated descent. It could be that this change is not public yet either, so you probably need a bit of speedbrake at the moment.

    Make that 'bit' a lot, I'd say. But anyway, I finished my retry of the failed flight and everything went perfectly fine this time! See proof below. 8) So it's just me learning to fly this plane that made things go wrong. Well, hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes... ;)

    And again, this 777 is a great plane! :)

  • Another tip: as stated in the tutorial, do not forget to lower the speed manually as soon as the G/S has been intercepted or the plane will come in too fast (since the A/T won't work anymore at that stage).

    The a/t still works but you're no longer in VNAV and because of that the speed is now manually selected. But A/T still controls the throttles to get you to that speed ;)

  • The a/t still works but you're no longer in VNAV and because of that the speed is now manually selected. But A/T still controls the throttles to get you to that speed ;)

    Ah! Got it!

  • What do you mean prehistoric?

    The B777 is the newer airplane IRL :)

    Your work about this plane is gorgeous. But handling this plane when you are used to handling the A320 is like an other time. B777 is not for a childish game.
    I love Aerofly. And believe me I lost money with the other FS.
    And I have not finished yet with the A320. A pilot friend (all Airbus to be simple) is helping me with. And all details, tips and tricks work at 100%. So your plane are the best ever :love::love::love:

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  • I still don't understand what exactly you mean.

    The A320 has a complex fly by wire that makes it super easy to fly. I have to do a quite a bit of computation in the flight control computers to "undo" the physics and make it as easy to fly as in the real world. It automatically compensates the additional lift you need in a turn, it pitches up as you slow down, there are many corrections happening in the yaw damper and the roll control is also really complex to allow a totally hands off stable flight path. You can basically put the a320 into any attitude and it will keep it as long as you're within a safe envelope.

    The B777 doesn't have nearly as much complexity, just like in the real world. It does have pitch compensations for turns but other than that it's a completely different goal that Boeing wants to achieve. The B777 is speed stable, which means you can trim it for 250kts, then pull up and let go and the aircraft will "naturally" pitch back down and resume the trimmed airspeed. On roll it's pretty much just a direct link from yoke to aileron/spoilers. But the B777 won't keep the same bank angle if you let go. And it only has a "basic" bank angle protection. Nothing nearly as complicated as the A320 that actually prevents you from doing a roll.

  • Exactly. I meant A320 is easier as it was at the top of evolution. I like it like this. You can feel its physics behind the iPad. “Orgasmic”.
    By the way. I’ve just read the article about setting A320 engines on or off. I really can’t wait. Will you update the wiki doc of the A320 with start and stop engines?

    MacBook Pro | M1 Pro | Thrustmaster Captain Airbus Edition | DualSense (for travel)
    X-Plane 12 | ToLiSS A320neo | BetterPushback
    iPad | Navigraph | WebFMC