I have been harping on the 787 autopilot for a while especially the lask of transition between VNAV and the ILS. The good news is this appears fixed in SU5, but I am now losing the GS on the rest of the approach. I saw this on two different ILSs since SU5 came out. Need more testers. Any 787-10 Asobo pilots please test your ILSs . Best to do on a CAT III and also test the autoland… I have would up in the bushes and in San Francisco Bay.
I just quickly tried an ILS approach RW 03 at YPPH (Perth), using FSIPanel to set it up. It intercepted the LOC and GS just fine.
Autoland was pretty horrible, 1,400 FPS.
I did hit active pause about 300 feet AGL (doorbell rang), so maybe that messed things up.
Thanks for looking into this I needed a sanity check. I am still not sure it is OK. I ran two approaches into SFO today at a high target speed (160 knots) and low flaps (15 DEG) and it was OK including autoland. Normal for me was140 knots at 25 DEG flaps.
I am pretty sure the transition from VNAV to GS is OK now.
I did some more testing with this standard route (very short into SFO)![]()
Looks like to slowest I can go is 150 KNOTS at 20 DEG flaps or the plane falls off the GS. With 150 dialed in seems to run at 145. This is with the default loading… they must have changed something along the way. At least it lands OK at higher speed and the VNAV transition seems to work.
On a standard 3-degree glideslope, the VS should never go below 1,000 during the entire approach. IAS ÷ 2, add a “0”. So 144 knots = 720 FPM for a consistent 3-degree path. Unless the airplane went nose-down in the flare, it’s mighty difficult to achieve 1,400 FPM on touchdown
.
Sounds like the 787 ( as modeled and as loaded) is near stalling out when below 145 knots or so and therefore has a high VS.
Yes, it violently oscillated after it flared. Again, i paused the sim right before landing, and that does seem to mess up things, so i wouldn’t put much emphasis on this. I’ll perhaps try again tonight.
Yes, something is wrong here. I have flown this aircraft since 2024 and it was the easiest thing to fly down the GS at 140 knots and 25 DEG flaps to an autoland. I used this scenario at SFO to test other software.
I have to check a few more ILSs to see if this is unique to SFO. I have a good short flight plan into SJC (San Jose). Ignore the mountains… just makes it.
I have run a couple more flights this AM and seems to be safe I need to run at 160 knots and 20 DEG flaps. I generally run out of NUQ (Moffett Field) to other Bay Area airports.
This is to Oakland.
To be honest, I have never looked at the weight and balance. Maybe they have upgraded all that to be “realistic” and the default settings are no good anymore. I did (don’t shoot me) but I asked some AI and got this:
The simulation relies on these parameters for its flight model.
However, you can simplify the process or bypass manual calculations using these methods:
1. Simplify with “Unlimited Fuel”
While it doesn’t disable weight entirely, turning on Unlimited Fuel in the Assistance Options > Realism menu removes the need to manage fuel weight or balance throughout your flight. This prevents the aircraft’s center of gravity (CG) from shifting as fuel is consumed.
2. Automated EFB & FMC Integration
For the Boeing 787-10, you can avoid manual math by letting the built-in systems talk to each other:
-
Automatic Takeoff Performance: In the 787-10’s Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), data from your flight plan can automatically populate takeoff speeds, flap settings, and CG.
-
SimBrief Import: If you use SimBrief, you can import your entire payload and fuel plan directly into the EFB and FMC with one click, bypassing any manual entry. [1, 2, 3]
I looked at all this and am “on” the Unlimited Fuel and the EFB seemed to not be crucial… mostly for planning economy cruise.
I am still watching this closely.
Again on landing at SFO there was funny autothrottle… set to 150 knots ran at 145 and noticed was dropping off GS. Put autothrottle to 155 and it stayed on GS at 150 knots. Flaps were at 25 degrees.
This is subtle but, if the autothrottle is 5 knots off at you try to land at 140 but it is really 135 the normal fluctuations could drop you into stall territory or at least drop you off the GS.
