A320 Tips & Tricks

yes, there is a problem just when the wheels touch the runway. We hope it will be fixed in a next release.

What you have to do to stop the aircraft :

  • at the touch, cut the power, switch the “reverses” button (you have to define a “reverses” button on your joystick in the Comands window) and push the throttle to the max. Obviously you have to use the brakes in the same time and to keep (if possible :wink:) the center line of the runway.
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In the 320 you have to cut the engine to idle when 30 to 50 feet above the ground. If you do that, the plane will not accelerate. The reason it accelerates is that it’s entering a “Go around” mode if the throttle is not put to idle. I can recommend the YT channel “320 Sim Pilot”. He is a real world A320 pilot with a lot of good stuff.

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I have definitely experienced this silly bug where you get turned around to the last waypoint before starting the approach fresh. But today I wanted to change the runway before I started the approach.

I went into the Legs tab and changed the runway and approach after clicking on the arrival airport. Weirdly, it did say “ILS 23” in magenta, which was my new runway, but the waypoints from the approach still led me to the old runway. Was I supposed to delete all the waypoints of the old approach in the MCDU? Or is this a bug too? I’m not sure how to change the runway/approach in flight.

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Slight correction: the power should already be idle before touchdown. When you hear the call “retard” around 20 feet above ground, that’s when you cut power.

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Yes, it’s an excellent reminder. “You forgot to cut the power, do it NOW… ‘retard’”. :grin:

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Tip for you Keyboard Fliers: Apparently… while the autopilot sets the pitch trim, it DOESN’T set the elevator trim. Uhh… :crazy_face:

So I just figured out how to “fix” it. Once you get to your cruising altitude, hit the “Level Off” button (top of VS button) and see if it reads 0. If you used the keyboard to takeoff, I bet it doesn’t read 0. Use the numkeys 8 and 2 (mostly likely 8, since you used 2 to takeoff) to null the VS rate.

This should make the A320 behave itself when at cruising altitude. It also makes landings easier. Imagine that! :astonished:

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Thank you very much, it helped me a lot. I didn’t put the throttle on idle. It costs me a lot to land the same. I have landed the planes without problems, but the 320 is too complicated for me.
I also happened to be about to land, the plane shuts down completely, and I can’t turn it on again. Is it a gambling problem, or is it something that could happen?

I know the initial approach setup is 250 KIAS at 10000 feet, approx. 30 nm from the airport.
6 miles out is gear-down and full flaps.
I’d like a few more in-between figures. The usual decelerate distance and speed, if someone can post the usual procedure?

When I fly the A320 I only use the stick at take-off and the last 500feet before landing (turning off the auto pilot). The rest is done adjusting the autopilot/fmc. The A320 is really not that complicated, but you need to spend some time to understand (by watching a couple of YT videos) how the fly-by-wire works. Then you discover what a great system Airbus has created and how easy it is to fly even without using the autopilot. Good luck

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Well, normally you’d follow the appropriate approach plate and/or ATC instructions. You don’t have to worry about speed as long as you keep the throttle at the CL detent (but remembering to cut power at the “retard” call 20 feet above the tarmac). Activate the approach autopilot when the ILS system comes to life and deactivate when you’re comfortable; I switch to manual at 500ft in good visibility.

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I can confirm thay approach waypoints are untouchable at the moment. So does a320 pilot.

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I had a quick try of this aeroplane over Oshkosh in manual flying mode and found that the autothrottle kept re-engaging. The same happened during a couple of landing challenges making them almost impossible to do. I hope it isn’t something that happens in real life !

I don‘t disengage autothrottle but set it to idle (F1) when the computer tells me I‘m a retard or a bit earlier. Don’t know if this is the standard procedure but it always works.

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My last landing (ILS procedure) : at the RETARD message,

  • I stop the AP
  • I cut the power
  • I switch the reverse button (on the Saitek 52 Pro)
  • Ipush the power to the max
  • I brake
    When the speed is low, I decrease the power and switch the reverse button.

After that, all is OK

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Yes that’s correct. Leave the throttle at CL until the RETARD callout at 20ft. Then bring throttle to idle. Unless using the autoland system you should disconnect the autopilot earlier than this. Usually I disconnect at 500ft.

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You can delete some, but not others.

press the CLR button, so it says CLR in the bottom of the window, then click the button next to the one you want to remove.

It should come up with orange writing at the bottom, with remove on the left and insert on the right. If not, you probably cannot delete that waypoint.

Don’t waste your time trying to delete waypoints as of today’s version. Generally, adding an approach once ATC gives you the runway will cause the most headaches since most times the plane will turn around for a waypoint behind you.

To mitigate this, I switch to selected heading mode and adjust the heading to intercept the 2nd waypoint in the ILS approach (usually 1000 feet below the first waypoint) and descend to that 2nd waypoint altitude. I adjust the heading en route to it and intercept it at a 10-20 angle. Make sure your LS button is selected and make sure the correct ILS approach is showing up in the MFD. Press the LOC button when the localizer is aligned (or you can use APPR and the system for some reason will be locked in to LOC and G/S mode) and now the plane will be navigating using the ILS instead of NAV - which basically takes the buggy FMC waypoints out of the equation.

This saves a lot of time trying to delete/modify waypoints - at least until a patch.

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  • Disengage AP around 500ft (although lower is acceptable)
  • Switch reverse button and throttle up only when aircraft is on the roll-out, so with all wheels on the ground
  • When you’ve setup Autobrake (as you should as part of the approach checklist) you don’t have to break yourself
  • Don’t forget to auto-arm spoilers after setting auto-break
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AP gets me to 50 ft ok , why disengage it at 500 ft?

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For me, the easiest thing to do, is when ATC give me a late approach change, I pause (REAL pause) the game, go to the INIT page, and re-enter the origin/dest airport pair. This deletes all the in-between waypoints. Then I enter the assigned approach and un-pause. Works great! I understand this isn’t realistic, but it’s not realistic to get a different assigned approach so close to the airport, either. So it’s a way to offset. :grin:

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