ATC climb instructions are much better - please do the same for descent (Top of Descent, STARs, etc)

Bug Reporting Hub ATC, Traffic & NAVAIDs
, , ,
1

:wave: Thank you using the Bug section, using templates provided will greatly help the team reproducing the issue and ease the process of fixing it.

Are you using Developer Mode or made changes in it?

Xbox

Which aircraft are you using that experiences this issue?

All (787, Longitude, etc)

Brief description of the issue:

ATC is now providing much better instructions for climbing to Cruise altitude (eg, “Climb to 6000, expect FL370”, then proactively giving climb instructions 2000 feet in advance).

However, in order to follow flight plan and auto pilot Top of Descent, I must still request descent in 10,000 foot increments, often with busy ATC and missing the opportunity to request the next leg down before passing ToD


Provide Screenshot(s)/video(s) of the issue encountered:

Detailed steps to reproduce the issue encountered:

Any IFR flight plan, with the FMC showing top of descent.

PC specs and peripheral set up:

Xbox

Are you using DX11 or DX12?

Xbox

Are you using DLSS?

Xbox

:loudspeaker: For anyone who wants to contribute to this issue, Click on the button below to use this template:

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:

Are you using DX11 or DX12?

Are you using DLSS?

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:

2

Interesting to see that I’m not the only one that uses this method for following a STAR’s VNAV.
Anyway, agree with your suggestion, but I’m guessing it’s not in the cards for a while. Long while


3

I also do the request cruise altitude change by decrease of 10K feet increments. I wish there was just a “request descent” option to start descending prior to the ATC calculated descent. It has cleared me to my requested altitude 2000 ft prior to previous clearance most of the time, but sometimes not until the old 200ft prior, which is too late in descend. This is usually when there’s other AI traffic. I wish it could just descend “via STAR” and not the small steps. I guess we will need add on for that.

4

I wish there was a “
request lower” option. Frequently when I request a specific descent it is granted but then ATC will change it to some other altitude. I sometimes feel a request for a specific altitude messes ATC up.

5

or
“Request descent
”

7

Come here to report the same issue:
now, we have a kind of “descent terror”.
Get “descent to alt XY” every few seconds countless times

1 Like
8

That also happens in SU13


9

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?

Yes

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:

Are you using DX11 or DX12?

DX 11

Are you using DLSS?

No

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:

10

I think yesterday’s beta release has improved this considerably. Anyone else?

11

No, descent is still broken. I can’t understand why anyone would change the 250ft level threshold to 2000ft for climb and then not do the same for descent, it’s frankly bizarre, but that is what happened.

The late ATC changes are much worse on descent than they ever were for ascent. During climb it just meant a short levelling off, but on descent the late call if you wait for it means you become high on profile, sometimes by a few thousand feet, and this can really mess up the approach. As a result I simply ignore ATC and bust through the level on descent if the 250ft threshold makes the call late. Sometimes I get away with this but other times ATC has a tantrum and just constantly tells me to climb before it will even let me join the approach, in this case ATC is stuck in a rut and I end up just ignoring it. Really frustrating.

There are several fixes required for ATC level change on descent:

  1. Change the 250ft level change threshold to 2000ft as was done for climb. This is critical and should be simple as the other half of this change was already done.

  2. Remove the 10000ft limit on descent clearance steps. Again this was already done for climb.

  3. Fix the bug that requires you to climb in order to get a descent instruction. If plane is lower than cleared altitude but either by request or procedure should be cleared even lower, then just clear it immediately. It makes no sense to force user to climb just to get given a descent, and it causes user to be way too high on profile which ruins the approach.

  4. Provide a ‘request descent’ option to initiate the descent when ATC doesn’t do this proactively.

  5. Stop demanding random and nonsensical climbs while following STAR or approach. eg. flying at 3,000ft and suddenly told to climb to 15,000ft.

4 Likes
12

Wait, you said ATC is giving you clearance to your cruise level. How?
I tried everything with the C700, but they only give me clearance to at max 10.000ft.

13

Did you create your flight plan in the world map planner?
If so, did you set your desired cruise altitude in Nav Log (top right)?

1 Like
14

I think the sim’s ATC only knows your desired cruise altitude if it part of a flight plan that “the sim” can read - either set in the world map, or, in the FMC of a plane that is capable of communicating the plan to “the sim”. For example, when you set up a flight plan in the FMC in the 787 or 747 directly (bypassing the world map), the planned flight level is set as part of that process - and that gets communicated to “the sim” and ATC will clear you.

I haven’t tried in the Longitude, but will see if manually setting a cruise level for one of the legs in the flight plan will trigger it or not. I hope MSFS 2024 will brind a refresh to the existing legacy system.