FlightFactor A320 Part 3 - Vectors, Go Around, Autoland [X-Plane]

[@paddyredmond3039]

Just 20 minutes for Go Around - just a couple of hours to try and digest all that. :) Another great tutorial - the whole series now firmly placed in My Favourites. Superb series - thank you so much.

[@pdeswardt]

Best XP11 Airbus Tuts ever !

[@batman1701able]

Thank you so much for creating these videos - Your time and effort is appreciated. Since you are a real life pilot these videos are priceless and are a massive help to me. Please keep them coming.

[@peterallen7528]

Excellent set of videos - much appreciate your time, precision and the style of delivery. I'm making pages of notes.

[@michaelfontenay]

By far the best tutorials of the Airbus on the tube. Thanks for your great work here. Keep it up.

[@Chris_Hetherington]

Thanks for making such a great series of tutorials. I really enjoy flying this aircraft in the sim, and I have learned a lot from your videos.

[@philipabercrombie6694]

Brilliant series of video's for the FFA320. Learnt so much. In fact, I realised I know so little even after flying in X-Plane for over a year. Please keep them coming Graham. Subscribed immediately.

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Thanks Philip, It’s always a learning experience, even flying the real aircraft! Glad you’re enjoying the videos.

[@CaptSyedAwais]

I watched many videos but your stuff is mind blowing and close to real life and very professional

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Thanks for your nice comment.

[@CaptSyedAwais]

Welcome... looking forward to your future videos I am also planning to launch KZbin channel... I have got a role model and quality bench mark.. have a great evening

[@neverwinter5869]

Hi Graham, Please return to making videos on the airbus 320.Your tutorials are absolutely fantastic. Sorry for my English . Best regards from Italy

[@jankin880]

Just great....as a simmer .....I can only guess how all the varied flight paths are done in reality .....your input as a real pilot is invaluable

[@johnbeale4901]

Hi Graham, What a great series of Lessons your FF A3200 are, I have really learned a lot. In fact, I have now sat and gone though them taking procedure notes all the way though Videos 1 and 2. Learning form a real Pilot makes a lot of difference it highlights all those bad habit I had, so its back to basics and taking a “let’s do this properly” stance…hence me having to write a lot of notes. I am pretty comfortable with everything in video 1 and 2, but I would like a bit more on how you would move from a rejected Autoland situation though vectors to an RNAV approach (I am not even sure if that would happen in the real world, but expect it could it if you were diverted to another airport/RWY), as I have never got to grips with them. Perhaps I need to start by running a few missed approaches and getting in and out of Hold and before going for the more complex stuff. Some info on cross wind landing would be good..as I am not sure how best to set up for those. Also, what about an emergency situation en-route, that mean finding a suitable close by airport to put down. Great work, and thanks for all the efforts you are going to.

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

​Hello John, Thanks very much for your feedback, and I’m glad you’re finding the videos useful. Sorry for the delay replying. Regarding managing the second approach after a go around, it helps to remember you will need to reactivate the approach phase. Prior to doing that have a look at the F-PLN page to check the approach has been reloaded correctly. If you need to do a different approach you can use this opportunity to change the loaded approach. Only activate the approach once you’ve made sure what is loaded is what is needed. When going from an ILS approach to RNAV remember to switch of the LS pushbutton. Vectors to an RNAV will usually conclude with the controller giving you a direct to the waypoint before the final approach fix, but you can do it using the “radial in” method demonstrated in the videos. Once on the final vector push the Hdg knob in to get Nav blue. I’ve not looked at crosswind handling so far, but in principle fly the aircraft as normal until the flare where you apply rudder to straighten the aircraft up with the centre line. Keep the wings level or a very slight bank angle towards the wind. For a diversion from cruise remember that the diversion airfield doesn’t need to be that close by. You will cover about 130 nautical miles by the time you have descended from cruise altitude so imaging drawing a circle 130 NM radius around the aircraft and you have those airfield available. You will have at least 20 minutes to load and brief the approach. Hope this helps.

[@dmarques1973]

Awesome work, great videos, saw the 3 FF videos straight, without taking a break for a piss! Already saw tons of videos about flight simulation but these ones are on the top, nothing like having a professional explaining things. Please do more... Approaches, emergency situations, etc. Channel subscribed.

[@GavinCook194]

I'm running out of superlatives to describe the quality of these videos. I'm yet to come across another channel that even comes close to explaining things with the level of precision you do. Even as a complete amateur I find myself marvelling at how well the systems are modelled on the FF, with silly little things like plotting curved entries into very sharp turns to keep the aircraft within the confines of the FBW - the sort of situation where the JAR would plot an unachievable turn and throw the aircraft into a wild bank. Looking forward to the next one!

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Yes the FlightFactor model does a lot of things very well. When I first got the JAR model I offered to work with the developers to try and get the automation working even slightly closer to the real thing, but to be honest they didn’t really seem interested.

[@GavinCook194]

It’s a shame they never took you up on your offer. With the BSS sound pack the JAR looks lovely and sounds lovely, but I really don’t like the way it flies. That would have been easy enough for them to rectify with the help of people like yourself.

[@Noctureal]

BSS is coming to Flight Factor as well. But tbh default sounds are already quite good! And you are correct that FF has done amazing job. Jar was flyable and nice to have but I honestly have uninstalled that on the day I got FF model in last beta batch.

[@liamrey]

This is golden. Thank you for your time Captain.

[@pops2728]

Brilliant tutorial. I was never good at mental arithmetic so have to brush up on that. Learnt a lot from this, many thanks.

[@ola.ljungqvist1966]

Wow. Really good stuff. I haven't found that many tutorials on Go Around and holdings, so this one really helped me a lot. A thousand thanks from Sweden :)

[@djadamkent]

Another great video. Love the FF A320 so very good to have some in depth tutorials from an actual A320 pilot. I found the vectoring in part fascinating, you did some similar pointers with the IXEG 737. Keep them coming:) RNAV approaches in the A320 would be a good topic to cover.

[@simonholt6649]

Another fantastic video Graham! Looking forward to the next one 👍

[@danielh7199]

Thank you very much Graham for these new videos on this marvelous aircraft. Always very instructive, with a real sense of teaching and I know what I mean because I am a teacher in real life... unfortunately not in an airliner ! I am very impatient to see your next videos concerning non precision approaches, and especially the use of the "bird". Friendly yours from France, Daniel.

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Merci Daniel, Part 4 of the series ha snow been published and looks at a non-precision approach and the “bird”. The next video will look at some more non precision with perhaps a great emphasis on the flight path vector.

[@Wizball]

Great video.. Again! Thanks. For approach speed I use this rule of thumb. At ILS DME 8 = 180 knots , DME 7 = 170 knots, DME 6 = 160 knots.. working well also :)

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Yes that’s a really good rue, and with the Airbus should allow the deceleration to Flap 2 F speed with only the gear, flap 3 and full can then be selected at lower speeds. Using 4.5, 5.5 and 6.5 for those speeds means Gear down then Flap 3, Flap Full reasonably quickly, but works well when requested to fly 160 kts or greater to 4 miles.

[@aedale1]

As ever, an excellent presentation. Thank you so much.

[@kgnbrisbane]

I love these videos. Keep them coming

[@MGTOW-nn9ls]

more videos more videos more videos. you are great Sir

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Will do my best! Thanks.

[@ArtFlyer01]

Superb tutorial, thank you.

[@dsstratone]

Thanks Graham, I have to learn my lesson. As I am always watching your videos, this came a bit too late....... I had problems when testing the function of the automatic activation APPR MODE. Reason - I did not know that the speed for restrictions in the approach phase below clean speed (green dot) have to be managed by myself. I expected, the speed will be managed like the altitude and was wondering what's going wrong here.......

[@PhilipposSlicher]

Great video(s)!

[@kolabuzlu]

Hi. Thanks for great videos! Can you please explain what do you mean at 35:34 in a bit more detail? Thanks!

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Sorry for the delay replying. Do you mean checking the waypoint on the nav display? It’s important to always check which waypoint the aircraft thinks is coming next, especially if you’ve been following ATC vectors. If the next waypoint isn’t correct, the aircraft will not be able to follow an RNAV/GOS/Overlay approach or any missed approach correctly so we always check that after a NAV/HDG mode change.

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Sorry for the delay replying. Do you mean checking the waypoint on the nav display? It’s important to always check which waypoint the aircraft thinks is coming next, especially if you’ve been following ATC vectors. If the next waypoint isn’t correct, the aircraft will not be able to follow an RNAV/GPS/Overlay approach or any missed approach correctly so we always check that after a NAV/HDG mode change.

[@Mateyhv1]

Thanks for the excellent tutorials! Very informative. I have a question though, you said that flying the DME arc would be quite easy, but how would you do that? Will that imply flying the arc manualy while watching the VOR/DME needle (at 90 degree relative to the aircraft) and adjusting the distance with the heading selector in gradual increments? I ask because many arcs are not implemented into the MCDU database. Thanks

[@cheddarpig]

Great video! Could you please explain briefly the go around steps for a VOR approach when the AP is disconnected? Is it just hand fly to the hold or how/when to re-engage AP to get it to sequence properly.

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

If we were to go around from a non-precision approach we still use the automation as much as possible. The easy way: Select Autopilot, Go-Around as per the video. It takes a fraction of a second to reengage the AP. When the AP comes in you’ll have HDG and VS, but when the go around is initiated the flight directors will come back, giving SRS and GA TRK (or GA NAV on newer aircraft). If it’s a really last minute go around then push the thrust levers to TOGA as per the video, again you’ll get Flight Directors with SRS and GA TRK. Pitch manually for the flight director, establish i. The go around with the normal calls, engage autopilot. It’s really, really easy with the Airbus. The only time we’d do the whole thing manually is when there is a failure that leaves the AP unavailable.

[@cheddarpig]

@@ReflectedRealitySimulations Thanks for the response and for these awesome videos! Keep em coming!

[@slaytd1]

Excellent Many thanks

[@RobinReiter]

Great series! Where did you get these charts from?

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

I think they are from the Italian CAA/AIP. All the charts I show are available online from official sources.

[@SmartMoneyReviews]

Can you make a vid on changing runways? I fly on vatsim and they always change my runway, then im scrambling to add/remove waypoints in the fmc to still fly arrival but get ils points changed. - i learned today to select last good waypoint in arrival, then click left button on mcdu for that point, input destination in new destination (same as before), then add new runway. Works well.

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

If there's a risk of a runway change we'd generally load the less likely runway in the secondary flight plan, complete with performance, minima etc. We'd brief the more likely approach, look at the differences for the less likely approach and if we do get the runway switch it's as easy as activating the secondary plan. Remember the acronym FRPP. After a change review the (F)light Plan, (R)adio Aids, (P)erformance page including minima, and finally Next (P)hase - check the Go Around performance page. Hope this helps.

[@flyingpauls5267]

Thanks for doing that! Great.

[@expataviator7107]

Wonderfull! Thank you for these !!

[@bunnyfeng]

Why did you use AP2 on Go around ? Is AP2 fpr secondary Flightplan ?

[@aedale1]

Hello, Could we please have a video on how to deal with an emergency situation in flight, such as an engine failure. Thank you.

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

I’ve not looked at failures so far as to do failure management correctly you need two crews, the full QRH and a lot of training time. I may look at simple failures when the model supports them but remember that the further away from normal operations you get, the less likely the sim model is to behave like the real thing. I can feed back to the developers when the rotation rate or landing doesn’t feel quite right, as I do that every day in the real thing, but thankfully I’ve got a lot less real world experience of engine failures! Obviously we practice them in the sim every few months and it’s really hard work, but to then translate that experience into a recreation desktop sim is a lot more difficult. Hope that makes sense.

[@aedale1]

Reflected Reality Simulations Hello Again, Thank you that makes perfect sense. Really enjoying your videos and learning a lot.

[@eheroi]

respect!!

[@diwang4572]

Are you a real Airbus pilot? Professional!

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Yes, I fly the A320 professionally.

[@diwang4572]

Reflected Reality Simulations Great! Which one? Where do you fly? Maybe some day I will be on your plane😆

[@SaurabhKumar-hr7fn]

Have you stopped making videos on Airbus?

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

The sim model hasn't been updated in quite a while, and to be honest the vast majority of video views were really just the first two videos. If the model receives a proper update to work with Vulkan I may do some more videos, but have nothing planned at the moment.

[@dsstratone]

Hello Graham...... I know, you are a busy man and I appreciate always your effort with your videos. May be then your time allows it, could you take a look to the Org.Forum - FFA320 - Thread "DECEL at OM...."? My username there is stratone...... Problem in short form: During approach (APPR PHASE not activated - I want to test the auto activation); managed speed mode; WP before FAF with 170/2000 constraints - FMGS set target speed above VFE NEXT ( for config 2) and accelerates further (N1 up to 56%). No chance to change to config 2. I would expect target speed is set according to constraint or below VFE NEXT and FMGS limit the speed until config change. Otherwise (my conclusion)- Managed speed mode is not useable and for speed constraints during approach SELECTED SPEED MODE IS REQUIRED. (again: only for - APPR PHASE not activated, waiting for auto) General Airbus procedure?

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

I've not seen the thread, but I believe you're describing a problem with the FF model that I've reported previously to them. I saw it on departure with a 185 kts speed restriction on the FMGC but the aircraft went to green dot speed despite having flap selected. Provided the aircraft has an appropriate configuration it will follow the limit (it wont' fly below Green Dot, S or F speed regardless of FMGC speeds). Airbus documentation is notoriously weak for this sort of thing, and FlightFactor have another pilot telling them that IS how it actually behaves. Now, this is not my experience but it's possible there's some misunderstanding or miscommunication. However, the flip side is this would be an unusual way to operate the Airbus. If there's any doubt about approach phase activation it will be activated manually with speed selected. More than 99% of our approaches have the phase activated manually. Similarly speed restrictions will often be flown selected. Remember we routinely go to the same airfields many times in the month so you have the situation where the crew will know from experience the automation won't perform as expected or will behave in an unusual manner, and will operate the aircraft in a manner to avoid those issues.

[@dsstratone]

Thank you Graham for your response and explanation.... I know, that this was more a theoretical question and far from the praxis. What I had found in the documentation tends for me more to a problem with the FF model. But in no way I complaint about FF and the A320 - the depth in simulation makes it possible to come to questions like this. Thanks again and best regards from a german expat in Thailand

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

No problem, I’ve posted on the forum thread so hopefully they’ll do some more investigation.

[@MauritsVeen]

Autothrust blue is forgotten rip

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

Did I miss an FMA call on the go around? Good spot! That’s why I need another pilot sitting next to me to say “Your FMA!”

[@nimaxwerker]

Could you load in an dme arc and do that approach, and there is a visual approach in Calvi in where you disconect the FD start the timer for 20 sec and turn final. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoWWd42kpLRlnJY could you do a breakdown and explain that approach.

[@ReflectedRealitySimulations]

I'm not familiar with Calvi but the next two videos will feature a visual approach and a circling approach as shown in the video you linked.