Example flight

From the request of several users about the complex of the instruments manual for read and to understand, and understanding us that this plane needs a series of very precise procedures for flight, we believe that the best thing is to describe the above mentioned procedures of a way easy to understand for the raw pilot. Something like explanation type "SESAME STREET".  Nevertheless we warn that the explanations that we will give WILL NOT BE TECHNICAL, since we understand that who really know the plane or understand the habitual procedures, will be able to spend for high place some of the explanations of this example, to facilitate understanding of the procedures for the raw pilots.

 

BEFORE THE FLIGHT

As other flights, both in the real life and in the flight simulator, you must follow some steps that allow you an excellent flight and without mishaps. For this aicraft this part not only is INDISPENSABLE but OBLIGATORY, since otherwise the airplane will not work correctly.

First: Creating a Flight Planner

Open your flight simulator (FS2004 o FSX), select the airplane wished and next create a flight planner. We will use of example the flight BOGOTA (SKBO) - BUCARAMANGA (SKBG) in Colombia.

To create a plan of flight is very simple, select first the departure airport, remember not to place the plane on the runway but in platform. Then select the airport of destination, Choose the option of flight with rules IFR or instruments flight rules, and select FIND ROUTE to look the waypoints. Or if you had already kept previously a flight, select LOAD and find the file and finally accept place your airplane in position.

With our plane in position, modify fuel and the payload values.

 

Second: Fuel, payloand and weight of the aircraft

To calculate the fuel, it exist procedures that the real pilots carry out. For a beginner, a simple option is to use the same information that the flight planner of the flight simulator generates us, where it informs us about a best calculation of fuel. Nevertheless this alone calculation estimates the flight without mishaps, but since it can happen the flight has a delay in the landing for traffic before to takeoff or to land at destination or change of airport for the unforeseen one as low visibility, bad weather, etc. Always calculates 45 extra minutes of fuel, which is the best to come to the most nearby airport. The recommended is to have on hand the information of the alternate airport that receives us without mishaps and the distance do not be superior to 30 minutes.

Why is important the weight? Here you can find some tables of speed references. This tables allows to you determine the ideal speed for take off and landing and based on it, the best configuration for every procedure.  For this reason it is important to establish the weight of the plane, also it will allow to verify if the weight is bigger than the authorized one, because if the weight is major to authorized our plane will not take off and if it achieves it, we will have a difficult flight.  To gain access to the table of speed reference, do click here and you will open a new window without getting lost of this place.

 

Third: checklist and preparation for start engines

With the flight plan ready and the fuel loaded with correct form, we proceed to realize the cross-check of the flight deck and ignition. It is important to realize well this checkup, since otherwise, the plane might not to operate appropriately in the flight. If we want to avoid shutoffs in the air and emergencies, it is better to continue the indications step by step.

1. - Flight deck preparation

Open the checklists of the plane (if you don't have them printed), pressing F10 in the keyboard or click on the icon showed below and there will appear the KNEEBOARD, which contains other information also, like the checklist and the flight plan. Select the first list: FLIGHT DECK PREPARATION.

In the following image we indicate to you with red lines, which it must verify in the list. In the cases of AIR CONDITIONING and PRESSURIZATION, one will have to send the OVERHEAD and in case of the TRIM to the panel of the THROTTLE.

Next we indicate in every panel that you must do: In AIR CONDITIONING select all the packs of air and oxygen like open and the option ECONOMY also. Also you will be able to observe the temperature of cockpit and passengers cabin.

For the PRESSURIZATION you must establish the altitude of the airport of destination. This will allow the system to simulate the same atmospheric conditions of the airport of arrival and the pressurization will activate automatically once the plane be in flight. To select the altitude, use the knob indicated with value of thousand in thousand feet. The indicator will show the altitude selected.

 

2. - Before of start engines

Select checklist BEFORE STARTING CHECK, previously we verify step by step: Battery in ON, exterior power (generator), we have verified the fuel for the flight, set the emergency lights in AUTO and push to ON and after OFF on the buttons IGNITION of left side to right hand. On having finished this checkup and before to the ignition, both must be off.

 

 

Now we verify in the panel FMS the TEST PANEL. This it allows us to verify the functioning of the Autofeather and the configuration previous to take off. DO NOT LEAVE any of the test options activated, it might interfere with the instruments in flight. When you select for example AUTOFEATHER LH and RH test you will have see like the torques raise 50 % and go down when the buttons are deactivated again. Also, if you select TEST PROP OVERSPD, you will observe in the overhead the pumps of the feather are activated. Press again this button to off them. The function TO CONFIG only press it when you are hold on the line to take off to verify if the configuration is ideal.

 

 

Verify the signals of SEAT BELT and NO SMOKE for the passengers, the frequencies of navigation 1 and 2 and select TO (Take-off config) in the ERP.

 

When you try to seletc the ERP, a window will be opened with a ZOOM of the panel, select there TO and closing again.

 

3. - Start engines

For start engines, the aircraft must be connected to ground power unit still. Therefore it cannot be pushback yet behind. In general these planes do not need from this service, but come the case, it will be pushback only behind when the engines are started and disconnected the GPU in ground. Finally proceed to start engines. First select the button START, it must be in ON.

 

 

When the engines are started, select the white knob and turn to left (engine 1) and close the overhead panel.

Verify NH1 indicator comes up to 20 or at least over 19. When this happens, open the panel THROTTLE and move the condition lever up to START.

Below it showed when the condition lever (fuel lever) is set in the START mode (1), When the NH1 comes up to 60%, take the fuel lever and set in the position 2 (OPEN).  Do not remember select the option YAW DUMPER, indicated below  in blue.

Now open again OVERHEAD panel and do same step for the engine 2.   Cutoff the button START in the overhead and disconnect the button GPU (or Ground Power unit) before taxi to the runway.  Verify the buttons PITOT HEAD are active, same condition for the generators.

WARNING: If you mantin the button START in ON might generate a shutdown of the engines when take off.  Dejar encendido el botón START podría generar un apagado de motores al despegar. SIEMPRE verifique que este botón esté apagado antes de iniciar el decolaje al igual que el ERP debe estar seleccionado en TO pues también es una de las causas de apagado de los motores al momento de colocar máxima potencia.

Verificamos que la lista AFTER STARTING CHECK se cumpla y procedemos a llevar el avión atrás e iniciamos el taxeo a la pista que nos han indicado.

 

Fourth: Take-off, climb and cruise

When you are ready on the runway, select ASEL (it will appear in the PFD) and accelerates to the maximum power. You will see that the white bar of flow will come up to the red stated ceiling of the Torque in every engine. The ERP is configurated to establish the best yield in take-off as the altitude of the airport and the temperature. By effects of complexity to simulate this in the flight simulator of Microsoft ® the status of temperature is established superficially or below 12ºC in Take-off config, MCT config and GA config and below zero or superior to this one in Climb config or Cruise config. Do not forget to consult the speeds of take-off in the Speeds reference tables.

 

 

1. - In Climb

The normal climb is realized to 160 Kts (IAS). Continue the routines of take-off indicated in the following graph:

When the GEAR up, you can see the wheel on the gear lever will be blue color while it up. Also it will happen when gear down. 

 

When your aircraft is in climb, change direction looking for the route to the VOR and establishes from there the route to use FMS or VOR LOC. DO NOT MOVE or TRY TO MOVE THE THROTTLES, these must be always to the top. If you have moved them, deactive and re-active the chosen button of configuration again (CLB or CRZ). Only we recommend to move them in approach and with the option GA selected in the ERP.

In the next example, turn with located VOR. Activate AUTOPILOT (1), ASEL (altitude selected) was activated but like complement select VS or IAS (for Vertical speed or speed constant climb) and ASEL in yellow will appear in the PFD (2), next select NAV until it appears on the display (PFD)  LOC NAV (3) and finally change to CLB in the ERP (4). you will see that the torques will change position to less percentage.

The cockpit of the FOKKER 50 Virtual, as the reality, has better vision in PFD display than the HSI. In the real plane because the rudder of the plane blocks the sight of the same one. For this reason, the plane has the control DU-XFR in the overhead. This button will allow to change the position of the displays PFD with HSI and vice versa. The reason for this is simple: only the top display has option to be extended, only click on it and this one will go out bigger.

Also you will be able to observe the route that continues your airplane (only if you have loaded the flight plan previously) selecting MAP in the EFIS buttons. The map of the route will appear in the HSI, also you will be able to click on the display and will observe better since this one is extended.

Another point of bearing in mind: When you should select the mode VS (Vertical Speed) for the climb or indicates speed (IAS), the button PITCH in the throttle will allow you to select the vertical speed to climb/descent or the speed indicated to maintain, as it appears in the following example:

 

 

2.- FMS navegation

While you reach the flight level of cruise for this flight that will be 19.000 feet, change to navigation for FMS, NAV1 or NAV2, like you chiose. In this example we explain the navigation for FMS, which is taken of the flight plan previously loaded when the flight began and verified in the FMS selecting FPL option.

Before start the FMS navigation, DEACTIVATE the NAV mode (or VOR LOC) before change to FMS. If you do not it, could to cause a bug in the active navigation panel. Disconnect the button NAV and then press FMS in the EFIS Panel, later activate it pressing LNAV. This will activate the flight plan of the FMS previously loaded when the flight began. (remember the first part).

 

In this example, we change VOR LOC (NAV1) to take from the VOR BUVIS. Please see the list of the plan of flight. The flight plan shows us the following point of contact, the distance in nautical miles, the estimate time and the flight level in which the aircraft must be. This flight level is only a reference because the Fokker 50 does not allow vertical navigation, and we will be able to modify it to calculate the vertical speed needed. In the following example, observe that the FMS navigation is active and the aircraft is in climb to FL190, which will be the cruising flight level for this flight.

 

If you want to modify the flight plan, flying directly to VOR, NDB or FIX without pass for the others waypoints, you can do it easily. Press the button that we indicate next, this will activate the function DIRECT TO.  For this example we take the decision to skip the cruising waypoints and go direct to the PIEDECUESTA (PIE) NDB. To active the procedure, FIRST select the button nearby left of stated DIRECT next.

Later select the button of the left side corresponding to the waypoint that you want to go (PIE in this case) and finally we select again the button next to DIRECT. This activates automatically the flight plan to fly directly to the chosen point deleting automatically the other ones.

 

At this mode you can also:

 

DELETE WAYPOINTS:

If you only want to delete a waypoint, select first the key DEL in the FMS text keyboard and later the left button of the side to the waypoint that you want to delete. This will erase this one of the flight plan and it will calculate again all the flight information.

 

ADD WAYPOINTS:

If you want to add a new waypoint, write the ICAO code of the waypoint using the FMS keyboard (not of your computer) and nearby right selects if it is a VOR, NDB, or FIX. Later select the button on the waypoint where you will have to insert.

 

3.- In cruise.

When the aircraft reach the cruising flight level established in the flight plan, change to CRZ (Cruise config) in the ERP. This will activate the ideal configuration of engines for the altitude and temperature of ambience.

 

4.- When descent.

On having started the descent, you can select the new descent altitude and later select ASEL and IAS (if you want to keep the speed of descent) or select VS (if you want keep a vertical speed). You can do the descent out keeping CRZ config still connected, and when reach the speed of approach change to GA in the ERP. (Go Arround config).  This option will prepare the engine in case of approach aborting, and also on having landed will change it automatically for TO if it is necessary to begin the take-off again.

 

5.- When approach.

We recommend you open the checklist BEFORE APPROACH CHECK. Next we show you how make it:

When you ready to landing, follow the checklist BEFORE LANDING.

 

 

Start the descent, continue the instructions of the following picture if it is an approach (Visual) VFR:

 

If the approach is to an airport with ILS (Precision landing):

 

 

6.- When you need change to "Go arround" or abort the approach.

If on the approach you wish abort landing and your altitude over ground is below to 500ft, press MCT button in ERP to apply maximum power without affect the engines.  Climb or maximum power in the engiones without TO, CLB or MCT modes active in the ERP, might generate a shutoff the engines in flight.  Remember that if the system ASC was activated, it will have to deactivate it before touching ground to allow the free maneuverability of the throttles.

 

7.- Taxiing and final parking

Continue with the check list for parking and final of flight.

 

Remember active the fuction WINGFOLD/UNFOLD WINGS in the menu OPTIONS > CONTROLS > ASSIGNAMENTS and you can see animations.

 

 

 

If you have doubtsabout some of the procedures here stated, consult also the section GAUGES where you will be able to clarify other additional functions that you may to use.

*Do not use this information to apply in real flights, only in the flight simulator of Microsoft ® (2004 or FSX).

 

Failures and possible emergencies

The model has some failures tied to the engines of the airplane and the avionic, because this airplane in particular, it controls absolutely the yield, power, consumption and useful life of the power plant.  We have incorporated some fundamental failures to force the user to realize the checkups and procedures like in the reality. Other failures or errors may be basically for the limits that the flight simulator has to fulfill some procedures that this plane incorporates.

When the engines shutoff automatically:

  1. When you select maximum potency and the ERP does not detect configuration of Take-off (TO) for the engines. If the potency reaches the limit allowed for the altitude established and temperature, the engines will shutoff before to take off.

  2. When to the moment to start the engines the button START P/B remains in ON, it will cause shutoff the engines on having reached the top of yield. In general to the take-off.  ALWAYS verify that the button START P/B is in OFF before to take off..

  3. If in the climb is supported the button T/O above to 1000 feets on the ground or if you change to CLB (climb) before reaching 200 feet (as minimum). The stated thing is to change to past CLB 500 feet on ground.

  4. If in descent below 2000 feet on ground the torque reaches 95 % and has not selected any option of administration of the engine as GA, TO, CRZ or MCT.

It is obligatory to fly with the functions of Engine Rating Panel activated (ERP), if this one fails, you will have to keep the values of the table "Rates of engines without ERP panel working"  to control the torque and RPM of the plane and this way to avoid damages in the engine or shutoffs of the same ones possibly.

Failures known in the system of navigation and automatic pilot:

  1. The navegation system does not take the route appropriately if you, before changing navigation mode, not have deactivated the previous one. Verify ALWAYS on the screen PFD if appear there LOC warn when you select some of the modes of navigation. In the opposite case, deactivate the respective button in the panel of the autopilot and reactivate it again until it captures the frequency. Logically it must bear in mind that the frequency is to the scope and is the correct one.

  2. Do not forget also that to activate correctly the system FMS and this one captures the automatic navigation, you must press first FMS option in the panel of the EFIS and later LNAV button in autopilot panel. Verify that in the PFD activated LOC appears. If this does not happen press again FMS and deactivate and activate again LNAV until LOC is activated on the screen PFD.

  3. If you select the navegation mode NAV2 as principal navigation, DOES NOT TOUCH the button NAV in the panel of the autopilot for deactive the function. Only select NAV1 or FMS in the EFIS to change navigation and proceed to select the button NAV (for NAV1) or LNAV (for FMS) as be the case.  If you press the button NAV when it is activated NAV2, the system can disamble and generate failures to capture the navigation in any of the ways selected later.

  4. For approaches VAPP (VOR APPROACH) the plane will continue the approach for radial to the VOR near to the airport but it will never descend. Do not forget to administer the descent manually or with help of ASEL and IAS or VS.

  5. When you select the mode of approach GS (Glide slope) you must be before 11 NM of distance to the ILS. If active this option much on the point of contact, it is possible that the system does not capture well. The failure known is that the plane will start to climb and to going out of the altitude of the localizer or to descending sudden up to crash. If you have near to the ILS, continued manually the approach.

  6. The plane is provided with the possibility of realizing AUTOLAND (basically in Europe), nevertheless so that this is possible, it is necessary to administer the speed of approach. As the plane ALWAYS brings near with the nose below, if the speed of constant approach is supported on 110 Kts, the landing will be on the front train and it can cause damages or an accident. It is necessary that, before touching ground (2 NM as maximum), the plane will have to be on the minimums of approach (90 to 97 Kts, see speed table of descent) to allow that the nose of the plane should rise for if alone and the plane lands automatically. Otherwise, there disconnects the automatic pilot 3 NM before touching ground and continue manually to the runway. (in general it is the stated procedure).

  7. If you select a level of initial flight (ex: 10.000 feet) and nearby, to reaching it, you decide to change at a new level of flight (ex: 15.000 feet), you must disconnect ASEL and re-tune in again so that the system assumes a new level of flight.

 

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