Pre-Flight Checks & Start-up

This lesson tells you how to get started and describes the various things you are
supposed to check before initializing the MCDU.

Note: If you are only interested in the MCDU, you can skip ahead to page 5...
everything else is included for purists, and for the sake of providing a complete
overview of the process.

Receive crew briefing @ AOC

Before you go to your aircraft, you will normally have to participate in at least a
minimal briefing. This provides METAR info, applicable NOTAMs, the MEL, and
and any other information that you need to know to do your job.

You will receive from your AOC dispatcher a copy of your filed flight plan. This
document contains important information you will need once you're inside the
aircraft.

Pre-flight Check

External Inspection - Port Fuselage Fwd

 Ensure the parking brake is on.

 Inspect port fuselage:

Item Check Check

lights condition working

AOA probe condition

static ports condtion clear

ASI valve condition

avionics door (L) closed

External Inspection - Forward Zone

Item Check Check

pitot probes condition

 Item Check Check

TAT probes condition

crew O2 discharge indicator green

radome & latches condition closed

static ports condtion clear

avionics door (F) closed

ice detection probes condition

ground elec pwr door closed

External Inspection - Nose Gear

Item Check Check

taxi light condition

chocks in place

wheels & tires condition

superstructure condition

hydraulics & electrical condition

wheel well check clear

shock absorber condition

safety pin removed

External Inspection - Stbd Fuselage Fwd

Item Check Check

AOA probes condition

TAT probes condition

 Item Check Check

pitot probes condition

static ports condtion clear

cargo loading operation access door closed

cargo operation access door closed

cargo door closed

lights condition working

avionics doors (R1 & R2) closed

avionic vent outlet valve condition

External Inspection - Lwr Ctr Fuselage

Item Check Check

LP ground connection door closed

antennas condition

drain mast condition

anti-collision light check

pack air intakes & outlets clear

HP ground connection door closed

ground hydraulic connection (blue) closed

L/G ground access door (L) closed

L/G ground access door (R) closed

ground hydraulic connection (yellow) closed

External Inspection - Stbd Ctr Wing

 Item Check Check

inner-tank magnetic fuel levels flush

fuel water drain valves (inner tank) no leaks

refuel panel closed

landing light condition working

slats condition

External Inspection - Left Side of Engine

Item Check Check

engine oil fill access door closed

master magnetic chip detector access door closed

thrust reversers cowl door closed

pressure relief doors closed

fan cowl door closed

drain masts condition no leaks

access door to reversers latches closed

engine inlet and fan blades check

External Inspection - Right Side of Engine

Item Check Check

thrust reversers cowl door closed

pressure relief door closed

fan cowl door closed

access to starter valve manual override closed

 Item Check Check

turbine exhaust clear

External Inspection - Leading Edge of Wing

Item Check Check

refuel coupling door closed

magnetic fuel levels flush

fuel water drain valves (outer tank) no leaks

slats condition

External Inspection - Wing Tip

Item Check Check

fuel ventilation overpressure disc intact

wing fence condition

magnetic fuel levels flush

fuel water drain valves (surge tank) no leaks

surge tank air inlet clear

slats condition

nav lights condition working

antennas (top) condition

External Inspection - Trailing Edge of Wing

Item Check Check

control surfaces condition

flaps & fairings condition

 Item Check Check

static dischargers check

static discharge eliminators check

External Inspection - Landing Gear

Item Check Check

chocks removed

wheels & tires condition

brakes & brake wear indicators condition

superstructure condition

hydraulics & electrical condtion

downlock springs check

safety pin removed

External Inspection - Stdb Aft Fuselage

Item Check Check

refuel electric control panel closed

APU fuel drain condition no leaks

ground hydraulic connection (green) closed

antennas condition

drain mast condtion

cargo loading operation access door closed

cargo operation access door closed

cargo door closed

 Item Check Check

bulk door closed

waste service panel closed

outflow valve condition

External Inspection - Tail Zone

Item Check Check

stabilizer, elevator, fin & rudder condition

static dischargers check

lower surface check

flight records access door closed

The main thing to be looking for here is any evidence of a previous tail-strike.

External Inspection - APU

Item Check Check

access door closed

air intake condition

exhaust clear

nav light condition working

fire ext overpressure disc in place

External Inspection - Port Aft Fuselage

Item Check Check

stabilizer, elevator, fin & rudder condition

water service panel closed

External Inspection - Landing Gear

Item Check Check

chocks removed

wheels & tires condition

brakes & brake wear indicators condition

superstructure condition

hydraulics & electrical condtion

downlock springs check

safety pin removed

External Inspection - Trailing Edge of Wing

Item Check Check

control surfaces condition

flaps & fairings condition

static dischargers check

static discharge eliminators check

External Inspection - Wing Tip

Item Check Check

fuel ventilation overpressure disc intact

wing fence condition

magnetic fuel levels flush

fuel water drain valves (surge tank) no leaks

surge tank air inlet clear

 Item Check Check

slats condition

nav lights condition working

antennas (top) condition

External Inspection - Leading Edge of Wing

Item Check Check

refuel coupling door closed

magnetic fuel levels flush

fuel water drain valves (outer tank) no leaks

slats condition

External Inspection - Right Side of Engine

Item Check Check

thrust reversers cowl door closed

pressure relief door closed

fan cowl door closed

access to starter valve manual override closed

turbine exhaust clear

External Inspection - Left Side of Engine

Item Check Check

engine oil fill access door closed

master magnetic chip detector access door closed

thrust reversers cowl door closed

 Item Check Check

pressure relief doors closed

fan cowl door closed

drain masts condition no leaks

access door to reversers latches closed

engine inlet and fan blades check

Start APU

The Auxillary Power Unit provides power to various systems inside the aircraft
before the engines are started.

1. Locate the APU Master Switch, in the center of the APU & Lighting
Panel on the overhead (ctr/fwd).
2. Push in the button (Master Switch) and it will light up (blue)
3. Now push in the APU Start button located directly below the APU
Master Switch
4. When the APU is ready, the start light will change from blue to green
5. Now push in the APU Bleed button.
Watch Out: The button is (confusingly) located on the airconditioning
panel!
6. APU should now be working

Start MCDU

Now you need to switch on the MCDU with the brightness control. On some
models of MCDU this control is two push buttons with DIM and BRT on them,
otherwise it might be a rocker swich, or a knob switch that you rotate to
increase brightness.

Use your pointer to click on the BRT button to activate the MCDU. If you
are successful, the RDY light will go out and you will see the MCDU Menu
appear on the screen.

ring up Data Index A

The Data Index pages are primarily there to provide information to you. Used
mainly in preflight checks, they also can provide data that can help you
troubleshoot problems.

Use your pointer to click on the DATA key on the MCDU device. If you are
successful, you should see the DATA INDEX 1/2 page displayed.

heck A/C Status

On either side of the MCDU screen you can see a series of small keys like this
— called "Line Select Keys".

Note: The abbreviation for Line Select Key is LSK, and each LSK is numbered
according to its vertical position. The 3rd key from the top on the left side is
called "LSK3" (and it can also be correctly written as LSK3-L). The key directly
opposite LSK3 is LSK3-R.

Push LSK4 to display the A/C Status page.

Check active DB is current

Here we can see that we are flying the A320-211 and it has CFM engines fitted.
Really, we should know this before we enter the airplane!

If today's date is not covered by the active database, press LSK3 or LSK4
to swap the databases.

Note: The code that says GL70806001 is a unique identifier for the aircraft.
You can use it to make sure you're not on the wrong bus!

Note: Don't worry for the moment about the "CHG Code" or "IDLE/PERF" fields
for the moment. These will be covered later in a more advanced lesson.

Check GPS

Before entering any navigation data, we should make sure the navigation
instruments are working.

Our airplane is on the ground at KMSP, 42°52.9N / 093°13.3W, elev 841ft.

Push the DATA key and then press LSK3.

GPS Shows Wrong Information

Sometimes this is just a temporary problem, for example loss of connetion with
SATNAV, but if it is a real fault, the GPS may have frozen. You may be able to
correct it by rebooting the FMGC.

1. Go to the MCDU Menu page.

2. Press LSK1, line should change to <FMGC (SEL) and the warning lights
should come on.
3. Press LSK1 again, it should change to <FMGC (OFF)
4. Press LSK1 again, it should change to <FMGC (REQ)
5. Wait for the system to come online. Now line should say <FMGC
But if it fails you will get the warning SYSTEM NOT AVAILABLE in the
scratchpad.

Note: We didn't think you'd want to wait for the system to boot realistically, so
in the emulator you can skip waiting by pressing LSK1 again.

MCDU Initialization - Part 1

We now know what type of plane we have, what engines are installed, what
airline we are flying for, that the active database is current, and where the
heck we are... but now what?

This lesson will introduce the process known as "INIT A", the first step in
initializing the MCDU in preflight mode.

Bring up INIT A page

This step is obviously self-explanatory. Press the INIT button on the MCDU
keypad.

It is assumed, of course, that the MCDU is switched on, and you have completed
the NAV DB check and GPS check.

Enter Company Route

When the INIT A page first opens, you will see some amber colored boxes. To
add data to these fields, you need to input via the MCDU keypad (if you don't
have a touch screen, you may find it easiest to simply type on your computer
keyboard).

When you enter data it appears on the "scratch line", the lowest line of the
MCDU screen, below LSK6.

You lock in the data to a field by pressing the LSK next to that field.

Enter data for CO-RTE field by typing a valid code (see green button,
below) and pressing LSK1 to lock it in.

Valid "Company Route" codes

Currently available routes in this version:

 GLKMSPKSFO — Minneapolis-St Paul(KMSP) to San Francisco(KSFO), via

LEINY2/MODESTO3

Planned for future version:

 GLKSFOKMSP — San Francisco(KSFO) to Minneapolis-St Paul(KMSP)

 GLKMSPKLAX — Minneapolis-St Paul(KMSP) to Los Angeles(KLAX)
 GLKLAXKMSP — Los Angeles(KLAX) to Minneapolis-St Paul(KMSP)
 GLKMSPKAMA — Minneapolis-St Paul(KMSP) to Amarillo(KAMA)
 GLKAMAKMSP — Amarillo(KAMA) to Minneapolis-St Paul(KMSP)

Planned for desktop version:

 All major US routes, plus direct FROM/TO entry

Note: This feature can't be included in the online version due to the amount of
data that has to be loaded. Even this version you are viewing now, which is
incomplete, contains more than 10,000 lines of code. The full version could be a
million lines.

Why use "Company Routes"?

If you only enter FROM/TO data directly, then you are only telling the MDCU
where you want to go, but not how you want to get there.

That means a lot more work for you, because you will have to manually enter
every waypoint, psuedo waypoint, and other information. So boring!

Stored company routes (Co-Rtes), on the other hand, have most of that data
already preset, so all you need to do is check it and make minor modifcations.

Normally you would only use FROM/TO if you are flying some place your airline
doesn't normally go. In every other case, you definitely want to be using Co-
Rtes. They save you so much time and effort!

Enter Flight Number

Here you can just enter any valid flight number, for example: GL123.

Note: Some of the MCDU systems built for use in simulator games allow you to
skip entering a flight number because for home use, flying in a virtual world,
this is not considered essential information.

In the real world, however, it is vital information for the ACARS, so you are not
permitted to skip this field on a real MCDU.

In fact, all amber boxed fields must be completed before starting the port
engine, or the system will malfunction.

Your AOC will not be happy with you if you have to shut down the engines,
reprogram the MCDU, and then restart the engines again. Plus you'll scare the
passengers when they hear the engines shut off!

Enter a flight number and press LSK3.

Enter Cost Index

Cost Index is a number between 1 and 999. Low numbers mean high speed and
short range, while high numbers mean long range and low speed. Typically the
value will be around 30, but it can change depending on whether your airline is on
an economy drive, or something like that.

To lock in a Cost Index, just type a valid number and press LSK5.

Enter CRZ/FL TEMP

This is the Flight Level for the Cruise phase of your flight, and the expected
outide air temperature at that altitude.

Typing 300/-55 will give you FL300 and minus 55 degrees C. Press LSK6 to
lock in the value.

Flight Levels

The term "Flight Level" is used to divide airspace above 9,999ft into vertical
sections of 100ft.

For MCDU purposes, any altitude above 9,999ft is referred to by its flight level
(eg FL100 for 10,000 feet). So when you are looking at the flight plan, it will
always use FL for higher altitudes.

Be aware that, depending on what country you are flying in, local ATC may not
necessarily adhere to the proper use of the term "Flight Level" (but they should
always understand it).

Thus in some parts of Europe it is not unsual to hear references to Flight Levels
below 100 (the correct minimum altitude for FL), while in the US it is rare to
hear FL used for altitudes below FL180.

The important thing to remember is that the MCDU normally reports all
altitudes over 9,999ft as FL, although there are some exceptions (for example,
the Tropo value on INIT A).

Cruise Phase

The "Cruise" phase of your flight (abbreviated to CRZ in MCDU terms), is

supposed to be the portion of it where you are obtaining maximum travel at
maximum economy. Usually this means flying at higher altitudes where you can
get a high rate of knots with less engine power (fuel flow).

How altitude affects outside air temperature

In general, for every 1000ft increase in altitude below tropopause, you can
expect the outside air temperature (OAT) to drop by about 2°C (actually if you
want to be really precise, it's closer to 1.98°).

Rounding the value up to 2 just makes calculations more simple, because now you
can work out that it is approximately a difference of 10° for every 5000ft.
That formula is not 100% accurate because there are a few different factors
such as humidity, wind, and even the curve of the Earth, that affect the result.

It is important to understand that this effect of temperature decreasing with

altitude is only true until you reach tropopause. After that point, the air begins
to get warm again.

Going Tropo?

By now, if you've been reading through all the information, you will know that
tropopause is a tipping point where air temperature stops getting colder with
increased altitude and actually starts getting warmer.

It's more accurate to describe it as the border between two different

atmospheric regions: the troposphere and the stratosphere.

I don't want to get overly technical here, so the thing to understand (and help
you remember) about the difference between these two atmospheric regions is
that the troposphere is low and moist, and the stratosphere is high and dry.

Still in over-simplification mode, the quickest answer for why that moist air is
colder than the dry air above it, is that adding unheated water to something
tends to have a cooling effect.

Too simple? Well if you're really interested, keep reading. But this knowledge
isn't really essential for what you came here to learn.

As you already would know, air is a mixture of different gases such as nitrogen,
oxygen, and hydrogen. There are many other gases mixed in there too, as well as
isotopes of these gases.

At the lower atmospheric level (the troposphere), there is also a lot of water
vapor cluttering up the air. That water is being pulled up from ground level due
to evaporation.

As water molecules are on their upward journey, they don't travel in straight
lines. They are affected by all kinds of forces. This causes them to bump into
each other a lot. And when they do that, there is a potential for them to form
hydrogen bonds with each other.

When enough of these molecules have bonded, they become heavier than the
gas molecules around them (a lone water molecule is a fraction lighter than a
lone oxygen molecule, but when the water molecule is fully bonded with 4
others, it will weigh 3.125 times as much as the oxygen molecule).

Because the bonded water molecules are heavier, it means they are being pulled
towards the Earth at a faster rate by gravity than the gas molecules are.

So they tend to reach a maximum altitude of between FL360 and FL380. And of
course they are still flying around and banging into each other.

As they do that, due to their high surface tension they have a tendency to cling
together, condensing, and thus become even heavier, until they eventually find
their way back to ground level again in the form of rain or snow.

And that is why water molecules don't typically make it into the stratosphere.

A few claim to have done it, but their stories haven't been verified yet.

How you can get air temperature information

You need to refer to the national weather service for the country you will be
flying in. Our tutorial bases you in the US, so that is the example I will provide.

When you click on the green button below (not the blue one!), the site will open
in a new tab or window. You will see a map dividing the country into 9 regions.

You would select the region you were interested in getting information for, and
then scroll down the list of fixes until you find the IATA code for the place you
want to know about.

The chart will actually show full "winds aloft" information, and it's all in code. It
is divided into rows and columns with the left side column showing the IATA
codes, the top row showing altitude in feet, and the remaining columns have
coded data.

Those complex-looking codes are actually quite easy to decipher if you

understand them. The first 4 digits tell you the wind direction (crs × 10) and
speed (kts × 1), and the last two digits are the air temperature (normally temp°C
× −1).

So for example the code 123456 would mean wind from 120 degrees at 34
knots, and OAT of −56°C.
A code of 090909 would mean wind from 9 degrees at 9 knots, and OAT of
−9°C. Very simple when you know how to read it!

Effects of PAT on engine performance and economy

PAT just means "Pressure, Altitude, and Temperature". These are the main
factors that affect how well your engines work.

We have already covered temperature, so that just leaves pressure and

altitude, and these are so closely related that it's not worth dealing with them
separately.

There's a lot of technical stuff we could get into on this subject but the
important thing to know is that as you climb, the air gets thinner and has lower
pressure.

Now you probably already know that high density air creates more lift than low
density air, so how can climbing to high altitudes be an advantage?

The explanation is probably not what you're expecting.

This is going to sound strange, but it's because there is less air in the air. In
other words, because the air is thin.

That is a factor because air and fuel have to mix in the engines at a very precise
ratio to produce optimal combustion.

Now because there are fewer air particles actually getting into the engine, then
to get the same optimal combustion you have to maintain the ratio of fuel to air,
which means that you have to decrease the amount of fuel in the engine so that
the amount of fuel is not too high compared with the amount of air.

So now you're actually using less fuel and still getting optimal engine
performance.

Review tropopause

Typically the higher you fly, the colder the air gets. "Tropopause" is the
altitude at which it stops getting colder and starts getting warmer if you climb
beyond that point.

Tropopause always defaults to a value of 36090. You can reset it to some other
value if you want to.
Try changing the value by typing 37000 on the keypad, then push LSK6-R.

Align IRS

To do this correctly, there are additional things that you will have to do outside
of the MCDU interface.

For the MCDU part of IRS Alignment, however, all you need to do is push LSK3-
R.

Wind Request

In a more advanced lesson, the difficult task of manual wind entry will be
discussed, but in general you won' want to do that.

Instead, it is a lot easier, if the link is available, to have that information

uploaded to you by the AOC.

To initiate a wind request, first click LSK5-R to go to the Climb Wind page, then
press LSK3-R to make the request. It can take a bit of time for all that data to
transfer from the AOC to your MCDU so you need to be patient while it
transfers.

F-PLN and Lateral Revisions

This lesson will show you how to understand the F-PLN page and teach you how
to perform a LatRev.

The F-PLN page shows the flight plan for the currently selected route. If you
try to access this page before selecting a route, then the MCDU will display a
warning on the scratchpad —

ERROR: INITIALIZE ROUTE

You should complete all of the steps for INIT A before accessing F-PLN.

Reading the Display

The F-PLN page is divided into 3 columns as shown:

FROM TIME SPD/ALT

KMSP 0000 160/7000
BOTNE 0011 240/7000
The column to the left has a bad name, "FROM" instead of "WPT" which would
be more intuitive, because that is what it is: the name of the waypoint.

The next column is "TIME" and it shows the time that you enter that waypoint
boundary as measured from the start of the flight.

So what that means is that time shown is not the flight time between two
waypoints, but the time from the start of the flight when you are scheduled to
cross from one waypoint to the next.

In military terms this is "Time Over Station" and obviously in military aviation
TOS is really important to maintain.

TOS isn't a normal term of reference in civil aviation, but it is a handy way to
think about these waypoint times, so that term will be used in these lessons
whenever appropriate.

The third column shows speed and altitude limits. It is so important to

understand that the F-PLN is not recommending the speed and altitude
combination, but showing that you should not exceed those speed and altitude
limits if you want to maintain your TOS schedule.

Note: Another thing you should know is that there are actually 2 F-PLN pages
(F-PLN A & F-PLN B), but we have not implemented the B page yet. That page is
not needed for preflight phase so it's temporary absence won't affect your
learning for the moment.

In normal operation, there will be more waypoints in the F-PLN than will fit on
the screen, which can display a maximum of 6 waypoints at a time. That is
managed by scrolling up or down with the "vertical slew" keys ( ↑ ↓ ) to scroll
the display and show other way points.

The last waypoint, shown in white and labeled "DEST" is always shown, as only
the green waypoints on the list are scrolled. This waypoint also has one
additional column: "DIST", which shows the distance in NM for the entire route.

Lateral Revision (LATREV)

Using company routes saves a lot of time because most of the waypoint
information is already provided for us. But not all of the information is known in
advance, and sometimes things change.
Lateral revisions (and vertical revisions, which we will deal with in a separate
lesson) allow you to edit the F-PLN waypoint information. You perform lateral
revisions by using the LSK next to a waypoint.

Note: The word "lateral" does not mean exactly the same thing as "horizontal"
even though horizontal would be a more appropriate word to use in this context.
Lateral actually means "sideways" which is not quite right for what we are doing.
But somebody obviously decided that it's a whole lot easier to say "latrev" than
"hor-rev".

Pointless Trivia: The word lateral is derived from the Latin word "latus", which
means "side". The word horizontal is derived from another Latin word, "horizon".
Horizontal actually means "in line with the horizon", which of course is possible
in any direction except up or down.

Thus, technically it is only possible to move horizontally on an astral body large

enough to have a horizon (such as, for example, a planet). Despite this, people
sometimes talk about moving horizontally in outer space, where there are no
horizons. Technically this is wrong, and now that you know, you can make people
hate you by pointing it out to them.

Over the next 3 pages of the tutorial, we will attempt a LATREV to set the
departure runway and SID for our flight.

Select Departure Runway

The first step is to make sure that you have the F-PLN page open and that you
have the first waypoint showing at the top of the screen. If you have been
following the tutorial correctly, this should show as "KMSP".

If some other waypoint is displayed at the top, you may need to scroll the page
using the vertical slew keys until the correct waypoint is in line with LSK1.

Then you want to click LSK1 to commence the lateral revision.

If you have done this correctly, you should see a new screen with LAT REV
FROM KMSP showing at the top.

Note: The reason for the waypoint showing in green text is to indicate that you
cannot change the value directly. If it was a value you could modify directly,
then it would be colored cyan. If there was something seriously alarming about
the value it would be colored amber.
The first waypoint is a special one, and when you do a lateral revision on it, you
get a pair of special values you can modify that are unique to the first waypoint.
These are the departure runway and the SID that will be used. You access
these values via the <DEPARTURE prompt at LSK1.

When you do this, you will be presented with a screen showing a list of available
runways at the departure airport, with all the values colored cyan (because they
are options that when selected will result in a modification of some data). You
select the runway you want by pressing the LSK that is next to that runway in
the list.

Since the flight for the tutorial scenario is from MSP to SFO, this flight would
normally take off via the LEINY2 departure from RWY 22. So if you want to be
totally realistic, you should choose RWY 22 from the list.

Hint: Maybe you already noticed that you can't see that runway on the screen
yet, and I am sure you have worked out all by yourself that you can see more
available runways by scrolling with the vertical slew keys exactly the same way
that you could scroll the F-PLN page.

Find RWY 22, and select it. Then proceed to the next page (5) to continue
the tutorial.

Watch Out: the center "available runways" column shows you the runway length
and beacon type (LOC / DME / ILS etc). If you are taking off "heavy" then you
may need more runway length than the standard choice for your departure
provides, in which case you should request a different runway in the MCDU and
from Ground Control or the TMC.

If you just select something in the MCDU, but you don't inform what you are
doing, then nobody in the ATC chain will know your intentions... and that is very
bad!

You may have heard that if you are IFR then you don't need to communicate
with GC/CD but this is not correct for a heavy jet making a deviation from SOP
due to a situational factor.

The column on the right shows the exact course bearing of the runway (for
RWY 22 it is 223, for RWY 30L it is 229, etc) and the Tower(T) frequency. If
tower provides ground control for the runway then frequency displays as T/G.

It is a good idea to write this information down if you have not memorized it, so
you can quickly access it without having to refer to the MCDU.
Select SID

Selecting a departure runway automatically calls up the SID page. It is very

similar to the runway list page, as you can see.

Something else you may have noticed is that the text at the top of the MCDU
screen has changed color and a runway is shown under the heading "RWY". Your
screen probably looks like this:

DEPARTURE FROM KMSP

RWY SID TRANS
22 ----- -----

Now, the significance of yellow text is that in the MCDU it stands for
"temporary". The departure we chose for the tutorial scenario is LEINY2.

Find LEINY2 on the SID list and select it.

Insert TMPY data to F-PLN

Now you have selected a RWY and SID, the only thing left to do is insert the
temporary data into the active F-PLN.

The last line of the MCDU screen shows the commands:

TMPY TMPY
← ERASE INSERT*

Press LSK6-R to insert the selections.

If everything worked correctly, you will be returned to the F-PLN page and
first waypoint will now have the runway number showing, eg. KMSP22

Clear discontinuity line

Well done if you have made it this far. All that remains for you to do now is
remove any discontinuity (this exists for you to insert extra waypoints, which
we are not going to do for the moment).

To clear discontinuity:
 1. Push the CLR key on the keypad (DEL on your keyboard, if you are using a
PC).
2. You should see the word CLR appear on the scratchline.
3. Press the LSK next to the line where the discontinuity is showing.

Be careful, because you can erase other waypoints (not emulated in this
version!). If you do, they are gone forever and you have to put in all the data
again manually.

F-PLN is now completed. Ready for RADNAV input.

Radio Navigation (RADNAV)

Now that we have GPS, universally acknowledged as vastly superior to any of the
Radio Navigation methods developed during the 20th Century, it seems strange
that we are still stuck with having to use the old methods.

Unfortunately it looks like it will remain that way for some time.

The good news is that it is not that difficult to input the minimum data and you
should be able to get it done fairly quickly.

As you would have already realized, the first step is to push the RAD NAV
key.

Enter a station or frequency

Here on the RAD NAV page you have many different choices, including VOR,
ILS, ADF, and MLS.

But you don't have to fill them all in (as a matter of fact, in the US you simply
can't fill them all in because there are no US-based MLS stations inside the US
for civil aviation use).

The only thing is you must fill at least one type, but it can be any (except MLS
in the USA).

Entering the data just means typing either the name of the station or the
frequency. Airports use IATA identification for RADNAV (not ICAO).

It is recommended to use the station name rather than the frequency.

Type RAP on the scratchline and then push LSK1 to nominate that station
as VOR1

List of available RADNAV stations in NavDB

VOR
RAP - 112.30 | MBW - 111.60 | MTU - 112.70 | OAL - 117.70 | MOD - 114.60 |
SAC - 115.20 | FMG - 117.90 | LLC - 116.50 | BAM - 112.20 | MLD - 117.40 | BPI
- 116.50 | DDY - 116.20 | FSD - 115.00 | RWF - 113.30 | MSP - 115.30 | SFO -
115.80 | FCM - 117.70 | FGT - 115.70 | GEP - 117.30 | RZN - 109.40 |

ILS
MSP - 110.70 | SFO - 111.70 | AMA - 110.30 | ATL - 109.30 | AUS - 110.50 |
BOS - 110.30 | DAL - 111.50 | DEN - 111.90 | DET - 111.30 | DFW - 110.30 |
DTW - 111.50 | FLG - 110.50 | JFK - 109.50 | LAS - 111.75 | LAX - 108.50 | LIT
- 110.30 | MCO - 110.50 | MDW - 109.90 | MIA - 109.10 | MSY - 109.90 | OAK -
108.70 | ORD - 111.75 | PHX - 111.75 | SAN - 111.55 | SAT - 110.10 | SDF -
109.35 | SLC - 111.90 | SMF - 111.10 | HOU - 109.90 | TPA - 108.90 | TUS -
111.70 | UMP - 111.55 |

ADF
AIT - 397.00 | AJW - 281.00 | AQP - 356.00 | BA - 385.00 | BBB - 239.00 |
FOZ - 345.00 | SBU - 332.00 | MD - 371.00 | CHU - 209.00 | CBG - 350.00 |
COQ - 335.00 | CQM - 233.00 | CKC - 358.00 | CKN - 400.00 | DXX - 341.00 |
FSE - 224.00 | GP - 272.00 | GYL - 407.00 | GHW - 346.00 | PPI - 400.00 | ST
- 342.00 | HCD - 209.00 | MJQ - 353.00 | BR - 251.00 | LXL - 359.00 | RS -
329.00 | MZH - 362.00 | JMR - 327.00 | ULM - 272.00 | ORB - 341.00 | VVV -
332.00 | PWC - 330.00 |
Enter course

Now enter 223 and push LSK2 to lock that in as the course value for RAP
on LEINY2 from RWY 22.

And that's it — it really is that simple, and all the other fields wrok the same
way.

Obviously you don't need to enter a CRS for ADF waypoints because that would
make the "A" in "ADF" redundant!

MCDU Initialization - Part 2

This lesson will show you how to complete the INIT B page.

To get started, push INIT and then use a horizontal slew key (← or →) to
move from INIT A to INIT B.

Enter ZFWCZG/ZFW value

ZFW means "Zero Fuel Weight", and is the total weight of the aircraft and
everything on it except fuel. CG is an abbreviation for "Center of Gravity", so
ZFWCG is the center of gravity for the aircraft before fuel is taken into
consideration. It defaults to 25.

The calculations required are complex. See:

When you are thoroughly familiar with the correct procedure for calculating
ZFWCG/ZFW, you are ready for data entry.

If you just want to use the default CG of 25, then you can just type something
like the following example on the scratchline:

/57.7

To tip the CG back by 1%, you could type:

26/57.7

Or for a really precise CG measurement:

26.4/57.7

And of course you lock in your data by pressing LSK1-R

Hint: keep in mind that higher CG values up to 35% provide greater efficiency in
the cruise phase of flight. However if the CG is not accurate relative to the
actual distribution of the load, your trim settings for takeoff will be incorrect
and could cause something to go very wrong, such as a tailstrike, for example.

How to calculate ZFWCG/ZFW

The first thing we need to factor is the "empty weight" of the aircraft (in the
case of the A320-211 this is 42,300kg). Each passenger is assumed to be just
70kg and carrying 5kg of cabin baggage (total = 75kg/pax).

Note: That is something that will need to be reviewed in the near future for
safety reasons. It's obviously absurd to think we can average out the weight per
pax to just 75kg, because it does not take into account the increasing rate of
obesity, or that many pax try to cheat the cabin bag allowance. From a safety
point-of-view, it would be much better to assume average weight per pax at
about 100kg, but so far nobody seems to want to face up to that inconvenient
truth.

For tutorial purposes, we will stick with the "official" weight per pax figure
(75kg), and assume there is a full load of 150 pax (the aircraft in the tutorial is
an 320-211) plus 8 crew, this gives us a subtotal figure of 158 × 75 = 11,850.

Now we need to add that to the 42,300kg of empty weight, giving a new
subtotal of 54,150.

Our ZFW limit is 60,500kg so we need to hope that cargo does not exceed
6,350kg. For now, let's assume that we have about 3,500kg of cargo. This means
our total ZFW is now 57,650kg. We must round this total up to 57,700 and this
is our final ZFW total.

That was the easy part!

Now we need to explore the even more complex problem of Center of Gravity,
or "CG".

First thing to understand is that the CG is expressed as a percentage of the

aircraft body relative to the center. "Forward CG" is CG where the balance is
closer to the nose of the aircraft, and "Aft CG" is NOT the opposite of Forward
CG!!!
CG greater than 50% would be abnormal and have a severe effect on
performance. This would result from something dramatic happening, such as
something breaking loose during the flight, or all the passengers running
towards the tail of the aircraft and stopping there.

So true Aft CG is not something you'd normally have to think about. For most
pilots, the term Aft CG refers to CG values greater than 25%, and Forward CG
refers to CG values below 25%. Obviously the default CG of 25% is simply a
point of reference and not necessarily the ideal CG, as some people erroneously
think.

The concept of ideal CG is way too complex to give it a fixed value. The ideal CG
will vary for each flight depending on the conditions for that flight. It also
depends on who is making the decision about what is ideal. For the airline, it is
about what gives the most efficiency. Other people with different values will
not necessarily agree. But the CG is not decided by the pilots, it is merely
reported by them to the MCDU.

Other people do their best to distribute the load according to airline policy of
"load profile", which is effectively a managerial decision rather than operational.
Operational factors should always take priority over managerial policy (and if
they don't then you work for a bad airline!), so everyone on the operational side
of things will be making decisions constantly right up until the moment the doors
are closed. That also includes cabin crew redistributing passengers if necessary.

Pilots will be given information about how the load is distributed relative to the
CG and they can then make decisions taking this value into account. CG isn't
even a fixed value. We actually should think of it as a "CG Envelope", because
things happen in flight that can momentarily shift the CG slightly.

Your job will be to examine all the data you are provided with and then give an
appropriate CG value to the MCDU so that the correct information is fed to the
FMGC and all of the calculations are based on actual operating conditions and
not just the default value.

Certainly for use in home simulator games such as Microsoft Flight Siumlator,
Flight Gear, or X-Plane, you don't have to worry about the CG factor in a
realistic way, but in any real world aviation your figures need to be based on
actual conditions and not just estimates in this case.

We will cover the topic of the effect of CG on performance in more detail in

the book, as it just requires too much detail for the online learning environment.
Remember when you were learning math in school and you thought it was
probably all just going to be a waste of time and effort? You were probably
right. But that's beside the point.

Enter Block Value

The "BLOCK" field means "Fuel at Blocks" and it is used to specify how much
fuel you are taking.

This is the first time in the whole process — maybe the only time — where you
have to do any real thinking.

Try to take too much fuel and you will either get a warning that you are
exceeding the maximum capacity of the fuel tanks or that you are exceeding
the weight limits. Try not taking enough and the MCDU will warn you about that
too.

What you need is some way to make it easy to figure out how to calculate the
quantity you need to take. Luckily there is a button right here that you can click
to find out what to do:

Calculating the block value is not really difficult provided that you understand a
few basic rules.

The first thing to be aware of is that the estimate is not based on what you
expect to burn, but the maximum burn if you ran your engines at full power for
the entire duration of the flight.

This, you will probably realize, means you will always have more fuel than you are
likely to use. That's not such a bad thing when you think about it.

If you look at your F-PLN page, you will see that the distance of this flight is
1426NM (about 2640km) and the expected duration is 3 hours 30 minutes.
Maximum fuel burn with these engines is approximately 3000kg/hr, so this
means your starting point for the calculation is 3000 × 3.5 = 10,500kg.
FAA regulations (Tile 14, Part 121.645(c)) require that for a flight such as the
one in our demo flight (KMSP/KSFO), where no alternate airport is listed, that
we must carry at least enough fuel for 2 more hours of continuous flight at
maximum burn (so at least another 6000kg).

Total is now 16,500kg. You need to add 200kg for taxi time, so now you have
16,700kg. Finally, you are supposed to allow an extra 5% for special purposes, so
you can add another 835kg for a total of 17,535kg.

So after all that, you end up with 17.5 as the block value.

About the Init Fuel Prediction

The fields for the INIT B / INIT FUEL PREDICTION page tend to cause the
most confusion (notwithstanding that this page changes its name after you
complete the data for it).

Hopefully this quick guide will help to clarify what all those strange looking
fields are for.

TAXI: This is the amount of fuel used for moving the airplane on the ground.

TRIP/TIME: This is the calculated total fuel burn for the trip and duration of
trip.

RTE RSV/%: This is a percentage of fuel used for "special purposes", normally
fixed at 5%.

ALTN/TIME: Only active if there is an ALTN RTE set up.

FINAL/TIME: This is an estimate of the amount of fuel used while holding for
final approach.

EXTRA/TIME: Actual fuel reserves for emergency use, in case you have to
divert, etc.

TOW: Calculated take off weight (ZFW+Block). Must not exceed MOTW.

LW: Estimated weight on landing (ZFW+EFOB@Dest). Must not exceed MLW.

Lose 1000s of unsightly pounds instantly!

At last — the secret to instant weight-loss, revealed right here for you on this
very page!

After calculating block value, you may find you are still not happy with the TOW
and LW factors, even if the MCDU accepts them and they are within
regulations. But don't worry — you can solve this problem easily.

You already know that the minimum fuel you can have on board at the final
waypoint is 6.0T, so all you need to do is hit the AIRPORT key and look at the
EFOB number in the bottom-right corner.

Subtract 6 from that number, and this will give you the amount you can
(somewhat) safely adjust your block value by. Then just go back to INIT-B and
enter the new value.

PERF - Introduction

This lesson will teach you how to set the performance factors for your aircraft
in the MCDU.

If you have made it this far into the tutorial, you should already know that you
can access the PERF page by pressing the PERF key on the device.

Review THR RED/ACC

This value is the altitude at which the climb phase activates, with the altitude
measured from MSL, and you need to adjust it for runway elevation.

This value is input as a 4 digit number, or two 4 digit numbers separated by a

slash.

The minimum value for this is 0400 above runway elevation (so that would be
1241 for KMSP). If you enter the value as a straight 4 digit number, it will be
duplicated for both parts of the field. If you enter it as nnnn/nnnn (where "n" is
a digit) then it will set each value independently.

To learn more about these values and why they are used, please see:

THR RED/ACC
This is really a two part field, but in many cases the value of both parts is going
to be the same. The exception is when noise abatement takeoff is required, in
which case you may use different values.

THR RED = Thrust Reduction Altitude. It is the point where the pilot can move
the thrust lever from the TOGA or FLX/MCT positions to the CL position.

THR ACC = Thrust Acceleration Altitude. Always at least equal to THR RED.
This is a phase transition point between Takeoff and Climb.

Set TO Shift if required

If for some reason you do not have the full length of the runway available for
your use, you need to enter a shift value (the amount less than the full length,
eg. RWY is 3355m and you can only use 3000m, you need to put 355 for the
shift value).

You may expect it would be easy to switch measurement units between Meters
or Feet with just a press of a button, but actually it is not.

The units of measurement are defined in something called the OPC file, which
contains configuration data along with the AMI file. We will tell you how all that
works in a future lesson.

For now, just accept your AOC wants the values for ground distances to show in
meters (this is different to navigation distances, which are shown in nautical
miles). The semantics involved here is that one is considered to be a
measurement of length and the other of distance.

Meters are better because the numbers will be smaller and easier to work with
in calculations.

Set FLAPS/THS if required

You can set the setting for flaps and THS by entering the values you need.

Possible flap positions are:

0 1 1+F 2 3 F

The trim setting will be either UP or DN followed by a number.

Some examples of settings for the FLAPS/THS field:

2/UP0.4

1+F/DN0.1

3/UP0.6

Rules:

 First digit must be a number or the letter F.

 Items to be separated by "/".
 After the "/", the only valid options are UP or DN
 Whatever follows UP or DN must be a number.

Some things to know about flap settings

When possible, it is recommended to use Flaps 2, because this will normally give
you the best performance. If you use setting 1+F then the takeoff may be
slightly less efficient, but this does have the advantage of providing automatic
flap retraction.

You should not use Flaps 1 for takeoff. If you want position 1, then you should
use 1+F. Flaps 1 is rated 15kt higher than 1+F, and a full 30kt higher than Flaps
2.

Of course the actual setting will depend on the operating conditions.

The 1+F setting gives you a reduced margin for error on VR, so if you get
something freaky happening, such as a wind shear, at the exact moment you
reach VR, it is likely to have greater effect when on Flaps 1+F than on Flaps 2.

Set FLEX if required

FLEX is a reduced thrust setting for takeoff that decreases wear on the
engines and prolongs engine life. It is achieved by telling the FMGC to behave as
though the outside air temperature is higher than it really is.

Sometimes it is not a good idea to do this, for example if the OAT is really high,
you have a short runway, very high elevation, or high weight. All of these things
suggest that you should use full power (TOGA).

FLEX is calculated by adjusting ISA (15°C) for elevation (remember that you
subtract 1.98°C for every 1000ft) and then adding the result to the actual OAT.
So for example:
ISA − ((elev ÷ 1000) × (1.98 × −1))
15° − ((0.84) × (1.98 × −1))
15° − −1.66 = 16.66
OAT is 27°C
FLEX = 27 + 16.66 ≡ 43.66°C

Flex value is entered as an integer, so in this case round the 43.66 down to 43
and that is what you would enter on the keypad before pressing LSK4-R.

Set ENG OUT ACC

This is the engine out acceleration altitude, used only as a reference. The field
accepts a straight 4 digit number and it does not warn you if the number you
enter is ridiculous.

In general it should be at least equal to the highest value for THR RED/ACC

Set V speeds

Enter V1 and press LSK1

Enter VR and press LSK2

Enter V2 and press LSK3

Important: the V speeds should be the last thing you enter for the PERF
TAKEOFF page. Changing values for the other fields after V speeds have been
entered can trigger a warning.

About V speeds

"V speeds" are pre-defined terms of reference for speeds at which certain
events or actions can be expected to occur, depending on the operational
conditions in effect when that speed is reached.

For example, the action associated with V1 only occurs if there is an operational
necessity for that action to occur.

There are a lot of V speeds on the list — nearly 70 in fact — but for now we will
just discuss the 3 main ones associated with the V1, V2, and VR fields on the
MCDU PERF page.

V1 — this is the theoretical "point of no return". Beyond this speed limit, the
pilot is supposed to be committed to take off no matter what. So if all four
engines on a 747 are not working, you are actually expected to take off at that
speed (and I am sure you can see how impractical that is).

VR — sometimes written as VROT, is the "rotation" speed, which really means the
point at which the PF would use physical input to attempt to cause the aircraft
to lift off.

Note: Some aircraft such as the F-16 in clean configuration don't have a
practical VR because they will become airborne without pilot input once they
reach V2 and in fact they will almost fly themselves on takeoff. Unfortunately
the Airbus is not quite as cool as a fighter jet.

V2 — this is the speed at which the nose should leave the ground. In many cases
it may be the same as VR, but sometimes V2 is a little faster because in some
conditions it may take more time for the plane to respond to the input.

Set PRESEL if required

The FMGC will calculate managed speeds for you for each phase of the flight,
however you can select a different speed at any time via the FCU, and you can
also program a pre-selected speed into the MCDU.

The way to do this, if you haven't already done it, is to request "NEXT PHASE"
with LSK6-R, and on the PERF CLB page you can enter a speed value and press
LSK4 to lock it in.

The "act mode" will change from MANAGED to SELECTED if you do this, but
you can switch it back again the same way you switched the active NAVDB on
the A/C STATUS page.

You can do this for any or all of the phases, just cycle through them with LSK6-
R.

End of Preflight stage

Well, that's it. You now know all the really basic and essential steps for setting
up the pre-flight phase in the MCDU.

Of course there is a lot we haven't covered yet and a lot more to learn. We
hope to be able to provide some new lessons very soon. Obviously it takes a lot
of time to prepare everything, especially with the amount of detail that we
provide.
If you'd like to see content produced more quickly, you can help make it happen
by supporting us at the following link

Become a Patron

Also purchasing any items from our recommended list may reward us with some
small amount as well. Most of the time it probably won&39;t, but if they're
products good enough to get our recommendation, then they're most likely
things you will want anyway.

Clicking the "next" button below will take you to the next tutorial in the series,
which deals with FANS and ATC communications.

utorial 2 - FANS/ATC

The Future Air Navigation System (FANS) is essentially a text messaging

service between an aircraft crew and ATC personnel.

It is not intended as a complete replacement for voice communications, but as a

supplement to voice communications, and to help reduce "verbal clutter" so that
ATC operators can manage their workload more effectively and get more done.

When FANS is used correctly, it improves communication by reducing the

chance of misunderstandings.

The problem is that FANS is often used incorrectly.

The number one complaint of ATC operators is that pilots are not being trained
properly by their airlines to use this resource appropriately, and that is why we
have (thanks to those who generously made donations to enable us to make the
time to do it!) written this quick and easy tutorial on using the Future Air
Navigation System.

Important: As always, this guide is a supplement to official training, not a

replacement. When there is any discrepancy between the information
presented here and the official training, it should be assumed that the
official training is more correct.

This tutorial assumes you have already completed the first lesson in this series
on using the MCDU, and that you are already familiar with the concepts. If not,
please return to the previous page and work through the first tutorial before
attempting this one.
NOTE: Throughout this tutorial we will talk about "sending" when pressing
LSK 6R. In reality, pressing this key on the MCDU sends the message to
the DCDU where you can review it and then send it to ATC or cancel it.

Until we get more funding to enable drawing the DCDU, we are just going
to simulate all DCDU functions using a simple JavaScript alert, where you
can review the DCDU message and send it with the OK button, but you
won't have the option to cancel it.

FANS A vs FANS B

FANS comes in assorted flavors to suit different flight types. The differences
between them are not very big, but it is worth mentioning that they exist.

FANS A is normally for Oceanic flights, and so it's found on long-haul aircraft
like the A330 and A340 and used for trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights.
For some reason everyone always forgets about the Indian Ocean, even though
that's a really important one too. You can use FANS A on flights that cross the
Indian Ocean as well! Hello, New Zealand!

FANS A+ is a later version of FANS A that can be used on all Airbus aircraft
including the A320 and A380. All new Airbus aircraft that are to be used in
Oceanic and remote areas will have FANS A+ installed by default. Only older
A330 and A340 aircraft built before 2004 have the older FANS A installed.

FANS B is for what have been classed as "high density continental areas".
Basically what this translates to is that if you are flying from Adelaide to Kuala
Lumpur, you are more likely to have FANS A installed. If you are flying from
Amsterdam to Zürich, you almost certainly have FANS B installed.

FANS B is normally only found on the A320. If an A320 has been fitted with
FANS B, it can not also be simultaneously fitted with FANS A.

There is a lot of boring technical information about how these work, but if you
want to understand all that, you'll need to RTFM or wait until our book gets
published (which is taking a while... not enough donations coming in to give us
time for working on it). For most of you, understanding how it works is not
important. Understanding how to use it is important. So that is what we will
focus on.

Common ATC Complaints

The following are common ATC complaints:

  Improper use of free text
 Messages not complete, or not formated correctly
 Message spamming
 Voice communication does not match text communication
 Illogical requests
 Incorrect message qualification

This information was sourced from anonymously collected ATC operator survey
responses.

With regard to the first item on the list, that particular situation is so bad that
some ground stations are set up to discard free text messages, or they may
accept them but place them really far down in the queue so that they take a
long time to reach the attention of the controller.

Illogical requests are really frequently received too, such as requesting to climb
to a lower altitude.

Calling the ATC MENU page

This is easy. You can just press the ATC COMM key on the MCDU keypad.

Another way to do it (and you may have to on some older A320 that don't have
the new MCDU keypad layout) is to request ATSU from the MCDU MENU
(LSK2) and then select ATC MENU (LSK1).

You should then see the ATC MENU page.

Checking Connection

The first thing you need to do is check the CONNECTION STATUS which is
available at LSK 5R.

If you are connected to an active ATC connection then you will see it named
under "ACTIVE ATC". Otherwise you need to open a connection by notifying
ATC that you want to do that. This is done by pressing LSK 6R, where it says
NOTIFICATION.

Notifying ATC

The jargon for this procedure is that you are making an "ATS Facilities
Notification" or "AFN". So when you see AFN mentioned anywhere in
documentation, it most likely refers to this procedure.
On the notification page, you will see 2 fields. One is for the flight number and
one is for the ATC station you want to connect with.

If you have already initialized the MCDU then the flight number field will
already be filled, but you can edit it if you wish. If you have not initialized yet,
then you will see amber boxes instead. Because you have no flight number in this
case, you can't notify ATC until you do have one. So you will also see a message
in amber stating that notification is unavailable.

As soon as you provide a flight number (type flight number and then lock it in by
pressing LSK1), the warning message will disappear.

Once you have a flight number then you can choose a station to connect to by
typing its 4 letter ICAO code (eg: KORD) and locking it in with LSK2. For the
moment, only major US destinations are in our database.

After you have locked in the ATC, you then have to remember to press LSK 2R
to perform the actual notification. When you do that, the currently selected
ATC will move down to the notified section and the amber boxes will return.

Yes, you are right, they should not return, since technically this means you must
fill them in again, but that break with convention seems to have gotten past the
designers and now it can't be changed.

Disconnecting

Disconnecting an active ATC connection involves returning to the CONNECTION

STATUS page and pressing LSK 1R. You can't miss it... it says DISCONNECT in
really big letters!

ADS ON/OFF

Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS) is used to automatically provide some

situational and strategic information over the datalink. It is ON by default in
FANS A, but you can toggle it on and off with LSK 4.

To keep things simple, we decided to use that simple on/off model. But in FANS
A+ there are two extra modes which are ARMED and CONNECTED. When the
ADS is in ARMED mode that means it is working but not connected to any active
connection. When it is in CONNECTED mode then obviously it is connected. The
alternative is OFF.
FANS A does not show anything about the status of ADS on the DCDU, but
FANS A+ does. In the A380 it also shows information in other places too.

Making a Lateral Request

Lateral requests involving requesting some type of position modification in

"horizontal airspace". The important thing to remember is that they reference
direction.

The following links provide information about what you can request:

 DIR TO
 WX DEV
 STAR
 OFFSET
 HEADING
 GROUND TRK
 WHEN CAN WE EXPECT BACK ON ROUTE

See also:

 Using Qualifiers
 Using Free Text

FANS, Lateral Request, Direct To (DIR TO)

The DIR TO request is simple to understand. You are requesting permission to

change course so that you will be enroute to a specific destination, waypoint,
fix, or other recognized navigation point.

To initiate this request, type the code of the required destination and then
press LSK1. For example, on leaving KMSP via the LEINY2 departure, the next
waypoint after reaching the top-of-climb is MBW. If you wanted to skip this
waypoint for some reason and proceed to MTU directly, you'd type MTU and
press LSK1.

The final step in making the request, assuming that you don't wish to qualify it,
is to press LSK6R.

FANS, Lateral Request, Weather Deviation (WX DEV)

WX DEV is a deviation due to weather. You are requesting a deviation of a
certain number of miles left or right of your current ground track to
temporarily deviate around the bad weather.

The request is formed in 2 parts. The first is a numeric value indicating the
number of miles, and the second is a letter value (either L or R) indicating the
direction of the deviation (left or right).

So for example a value of 5L means "5 nautical miles left of track" and a value
of 11R means "11 nautical miles right of track."

You lock in your entry with LSK 1R and send it by pressing LSK6R. There is no
need to qualify a WX DEV request because the reason is implied in the title.

FANS, Lateral Request, STandard ARrival (STAR)

Use this when you want to select a different STAR from the one filed on your
plan.

To initiate the request, type the identification of the STAR and press LSK2,
qualify if necessary (LSK 5R) and then send (LSK 6R).

Don't forget to update STAR in FPLN.

FANS, Lateral Request, Offset (OFFSET)

An offset is similar to a deviation. In this case you also are specifying where
the offset should start from, so for example "5L/LEINY" will generate a DCDU
message similar to:

AT LEINY REQUEST OFFSET 5 NM LEFT OF ROUTE

And the ATC response generated would be (if granted):

AT LEINY OFFSET 5 NM LEFT OF ROUTE

Note that this message could also be sent to you as an instruction, not always as
a result of your own request.

After typing in your request (always in the format shown, eg: 7R/OAL) you
would press LSK 2R to lock it in, and then LSK 6R to send the message to the
DCDU ready for review and sending.
Important: You can specify a time instead of a waypoint for the AT clause.
For example, you could type 5L/2250 and the 2250 will be interpreted as a
time instead of a place. Useful when you're a long way from any waypoint.

FANS, Lateral Request, Heading (HEADING)

This one is really easy because it is specifying an exact heading. You just type a
number between 0 and 360 and press LSK3 to lock it in and LSK 6R to send it to
the DCDU.

When ATC responds, pay attention to the instruction because they will not just
clear you to turn to the heading but also instruct whether they want you to turn
left or right to the new heading.

Also you always need to check because the instruction may not exactly match
what you are expecting to receive. You may in fact be instructed to a different
heading to the one you requested.

Be careful when requesting headings. They are not always the most appropriate
choice. Ground tracks are more accurate from the ATC perspective, because a
ground track is always true.

For example, assume that you are told to fly heading 330 and you turn the
aircraft so that the nose is pointing to 330, but you are moving forward at 240
knots and there is a wind gusting 40 knots at you from the southwest. Your
heading will stay at 330 the entire time, but over time you will be more and
more off course from the 330 radial you were steered onto at the start of the
move due to effect of wind drift and the rotation of the Earth below you.

Ground tracks are useful when your RNAV is tuned to a VOR station and your
autopilot is set to NAV mode. If you don't have a VOR to lock onto, then
autopilot can be set to HDG and you set a heading instead of a ground track.

The AP works differently in these modes. When you are in HDG mode, the
FMGS instructs the AP to keep locked on to the current compass heading. The
compass tape will not move around unless you take a real hammering from wind
or turbulence.

When you are in NAV mode, the FMGS instructs the AP to adjust your heading
in order to remain on the desired ground track. If you have never experienced
this AP effect before, you could be alarmed to see the compass tape moving
about, but this is not a problem as long as the aircraft keeps moving forward
along the correct ground track.
In other words, when in NAV mode, your nose does not necessarily point to
where you are going, but to where it needs to point to in order to ensure you get
to where you are going in the most efficient way.

FANS, Lateral Request, Ground Track (GROUND TRK)

Follow the same procedures involved in requesting a heading, but press LSK 3R
instead of LSK3.

Making a Vertical Request

Use vertical requests for anything related to airspeed and altitude. There are
two subpages for this category, accessed as usual by using the horizontal slew
keys.

The following links provide information about what you can request:

 CLB TO & DES TO

 ALT
 SPD
 Inquire ALT Change
 Inquire SPD Change
 ALT BLOCK
 Request VMC Descent
 CRZ CLIMB
 SPD RANGE

See also:

 Using Qualifiers
 Using Free Text

Making other request

The OTHER REQ page allows you to initiate some miscellaneous requests. They
are:

 Request VOICE CONTACT. Type a valid frequency on the scratchpad and

press LSK 1R (this locks the frequency in). Then press LSK1 to send voice
contact request.
 Request OWN SEPARATION & VMC. This is almost a request to fly VFR.
You are asking to take over responsibility for maintaining separation. You
 will still have to follow any instructions received after making this
request. Simply press LSK2.
 Request CLEARANCE. You're asking for clearance to proceed. Press LSK3
to make the request.

ATC Reports

The previous sections were really simple. This section is going to be much more
complicated and involves a lot more work.

Automatic Position Reports

You can enable Automatic Position Reports by setting them to ON with LSK2.
LSK2 also sets to OFF. Automatic reports are generated when you overfly a
waypoint that is marked on your chart as an automatic (or mandatory) reporting
location.

MPR - Introduction

There are 3 pages of data you can send with a Manual Position Report. You can
also add free text to the MPR, although as noted earlier you should avoid doing
so unless there is a very compelling reason.

This is similar to the "REMARKS" mentioned in section 5-3-2 of the

Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM). But remarks are more welcome in voice
communications than in FANS text.

The minimum information you can send in a position report is the Present
Position (PPOS), Time (UTC), and altitude (ALT). This is evident from the
amber-boxed status of those fields. Even so, you should still at least include the
next waypoint and the next one after that, because that is the minimum
information expected.

See also:

 Difference between verbal position reporting and FANS reporting

MPR - Page 1

The first field on the first page of the MPR is OVHD, and in this field you can
enter the name of the waypoint you are passing over (click for example).
The next field set is mandatory (the only one which is) and requests your
current location co-ordinates. The first character must be N or S, followed by
2 digits, then E or W followed by 2 or 3 digits. Do not worry about fractions
(click for example).

The TO field is the waypoint you are headed to and UTC time that you expect
to arrive at that waypoint (click for example).

Finally the NEXT field is the ID of the next reporting point (click for example).

After doing this, you can use the right horizontal slew key to move to page 2.

MPR - Page 2

The first field on page 2 of the MPR is WIND. You input a direction and speed
(click for example).

At the SAT field, you input the static air temperature and press LSK 1R to lock
it in.

The icing field accepts one character, either T, L, M, or S. These stand for
Trace, Light, Moderate, and Severe. Lock in with LSK2.

The TURB field lets you specify whether there is Light, Moderate, or Severe
turbulence. It's a one character field: L, M, or S. Lock in value with LSK 2R.

ETA is an optional field to update your ETA at ultimate destination. Lock in with
LSK3.

Endurance is the amount of fuel you have (in HHMM). Lock in with LSK 3R.

MPR - Page 3

Here we can enter airspeed, ground speed, vertical speed, heading, and track
angle. These are all really straightforward. Simply enter the numeric values and
press the corresponding LSK to lock in the value.

When you are satisfied that you have compiled your entire position report,
press LSK 6R to send it to the DCDU.

MSG LOG

You can review all previously received and sent DCDU messages in the Message
Log page, accessed via LSK4 from the ATC MENU.
You can scroll through the pages using slew keys and select individual messages
using the LSK that lines up with the message you want to see more detail for.

Every message in the log shows the time stamp, who sent the message, and a
brief line to summarize the message value.

Emergency

This part of the tutorial has not been completed yet due to insufficient
donations to allow time to work on it. We will be putting it up as quickly as time
allows. More funding will expedite the process. So if you'd

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Become a Patron

You can also support us by purchasing recommended products. We won't

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actually like).

Following the "next" button below will take you to the first article in the
knowledgebase.

A minimum preflight AOC briefing should include:

 Meteo: TAF/METAR/SIGMET for DEP, ARR, & ENR. Preferably printed

copy.
 Printed copy of NOTAMs for DEP, ARR, ENR.
 Printed copy of flight plan showing all relevant data (PERF, Cost Index,
etc).
 Status of any engineering or mechanical matters of which you should be
aware.

On that last point, it is worth pointing out that unless you are taking over the
aircraft "cold", the engineering information may not be completely up-to-date,
because most likely the arriving flight is still in progress during your briefing.

The above, as noted, is a minimal briefing. In general, if the word minimal is

applied to the word briefing, it should be interpreted to mean "bad". Obviously a
briefing is already brief, so minimalizing it probably means being more brief
than you should.
At least some discourse should take place between the dispatcher or crew chief
and the pilots, because every flight should be treated as an important mission.

The printed flight plan will include:

 Aircraft data , call sign, cost index, company route code, alternative
route, ETD.
 ATC filed flight plan showing all waypoints on Co-Rte, and Cruise Altitude
(CRZ FL).
 ALTN flight plan if required.
 Fuel data forecast, listed in reverse chronological order.
 ZFW CG, TOW CG, and trim factor.
 Takeoff PERF data.
 Detailed F-PLN and ALTN data showing waypoints, altitude and airspeed
changes.
 Weather data, including Tropo, Climb Wind, Cruise Wind, Descent Wind.
 ATIS info.

Example: 2 page printed AOC Briefing

Decoding METAR information
by Eric Bradley & Marc Romero, 11 July 2015
 Photo: NOAA [pd]

We are not certain this is a true fact, but it seems that at some point way back
in history the FAA decided that the average American aviator is just too damn
stupid to know what the word meteorological means.

So they redefined the meaning of METAR to "Aviation Routine Weather

Report", even though that is not what the acronym stands for. You can always
trust a government agency to find some way to make anything more complicated
and confusing.

If it was called an AVROWER then the FAA definition would be logical. The
proper definition of METAR is "Meteorological Terminal Air Report". Doesn't
that make a lot more sense? But, what the heck... a weather report is a weather
report!

Like almost every other transmission in aviation communications, the METAR

information is encoded, and it can take a bit of practice to become really
familiar with how to read and understand the information provided.

But fear not — we've provided a handy example below to help you figure out
just what the METAR is trying to tell you.

For the first example, we will look at a US style METAR code:

KMSP 231953Z 25014G20KT 10SM SCT033 BKN300 27/18 A2980 RMK

AO2 SLP084 T02720183
 Data Meaning
KMSP station (Minneapolis-St Paul Intl)
231953Z day of month (eg 23) & time (19:53 Zulu)
25014G20KT wind direction is 250° at 14 knots with gusts up to 20 knots
10SM visibility is 10 statute miles
SCT033 scattered clouds, with the lowest cloud layer at 3300ft.
BKN300 "broken" clouds, with the lowest cloud layer at FL300.
27/18 OAT is 27°C and the dew point is 18°C.
A2980 Altimeter setting is 29.80 in Hg
RMK Everything following this is a remark.
This station is equipped with an automated sensor that can tell
A02
the difference between rain and snow.
SLP084 Sea Level Pressure is 840 hPa
T02720183 Temperature code

That last item, the Temperature Code, also needs some further explanation:

Data Meaning
T Identifies this as a Temperature Code
This means the temperature is above 0°C. A value of 1 means the
0
opposite.
272 OAT is 27.2°C
0 This means the dew point is above 0°C.
183 Dew point is 18.3°C.

Outside the US, the METAR codes are slightly different, but still follow the
same basic pattern. Here is an example of a METAR for Amsterdam
International (Schipol):

EHAM 232000Z 25004MPS 800 R24/0600N R36/0600N +RA OVC040

02/06 Q1019 NOSIG 88290291

Some of the international METAR data is equivalent to the US style. One thing
that is quite different is that there is a lot more runway-specific data included.
Here's the breakdown:

Data Meaning
EHAM station (Schipol Amsterdam Intl)
 Data Meaning
232000Z day of month (eg 23 June) and time (20:00 Zulu)
25004MPS wind from 250° at speed of 4 meters per second
800 prevailing visibility is 800m
visibility on runway 24 is 600m, not expected to change before
R24/0600N
next read.
visibility on runway 36 is 600m, not expected to change before
R36/0600N
next read.
+RA it's raining (RA), heavily (+).
OVC040 overcast cloud cover to height of 4000ft.
02/M01 the OAT is 2°C and the dew point is -1°C.
Q1019 QNH is 1019 hPa (for altimeter setting)
No significant change in conditions is expected before the next
NOSIG
read.
All runways (88) are affected by rain (2) and have up to 2mm of
88290291
surface water (02). Braking conditions are poor (91).

88 is a code used to include all runways, but specific runways could also be
reported in the same way, only the number would be in the range from 01 to 36,
because these are the only valid runway numbers (with L, R, and C variants).
Looking at the above data, there should be no chance you would want to fly into
or out of Schipol with conditions like these.

The above is just a brief introduction to reading and understanding METAR

information, but it is a really big topic, so we may return to it later in a future
update.

How to read NOTAMs

by Eric Bradley, 12 July 2015
 Photo: Fisher (viewology.net) [ccSA]

The great thing about NOTAMs is that they are a lot easier to read than
METARs or TAFs. Usually written in abbreviated English, they warn you about
all the known hazards and special conditions you may encounter.

That means everything from potential terrorist activity, to closed runways, to

wildlife. Here are some examples of NOTAM reports:

!SFO 04/063 (KSFO A0730/11) SFO TWY TAXILANES 5,5A,5B,6,6A,6B

CMSD ASPH/UNLGTD

!SFO 02/067 SFO TWY Z1 NORTHBOUND ENTRANCE CLSD TO RWY 10R

TO JET ACFT AND FOUR ENGINE TURBOPROPS WEF 1302282334-
1308312300

Now these are so obvious they don't really need a lot of explaining. One
interesting feature is the use of IATA identification at the start of the
message instead of the usual ICAO.

Data Meaning
! NOTAM
 Data Meaning
SFO staiond ID (San Francisco International Airport)
63rd NOTAM for this location for 4th month of year
04/063
(April)
KSFO A0730/11 Area affected & FAA file number
SFO TWY Taxiway at San Franscisco Intl Aiport
TAXILANES 5,5A
Obviously refers to the specific taxilanes mentioned
etc
CMSD Commissioned
ASPH/UNLGTD Asphalt unlighted

For the second example:

Data Meaning
! NOTAM
SFO staiond ID (San Francisco International Airport)
02/067 67th NOTAM for this location, 2nd month of year (February)
TWY Z1 Taxiway Zulu One
CLSD Closed
RWY 10R Runway 10 Right
"with effect", which means "effective from/to the following
WEF
dates".
1302282334 28 February 2013 @ 23:34 UTC
1308312300 31 August 2013 @ 23:00 UTC

To understand how the time code works for WEF dates, it is grouped into
sections. The first 2 digits are the year, so in this case 13 = 2013. The next 2
digits are the month, so in this case 08 = August. The next 2 digits are the day,
so 31 = 31. Finally the last 4 digits are the UTC time.

While all these codes and abbreviations may seem intuitive to native speakers of
English, bear in mind that they are much less obvious to non-native speakers. In
a future post we will try to clarify as many of the abbreviations as possible.