I’m new to this - I did not event get my new computer yet…LOL
In the meantime…I have a lot of X-plane experience and now I’m moving to the MSFS and Fenix A320 is my first choice (I love this plane). I have studied a lot of videos (like " Fenix A320 Full Setup Guide with a Real Airbus Pilot! Beginner Friendly!"). I have also downloaded several checklists (e.g the one from JayDee and other google-sources) - just to prepare myself.
When I study the videos and compare it the different checklist and the different checklists to each other - they are all slightly different. I know all of them can get the plane in the air, but which one to follow - it you would like to do it right? So do you guys just pick one that works, follow the one from the EFB or…
I usually just pick one that works. It depends on how realism you want it to be. For me, I’m not a casual simmer, nor am I a serious one. I’m just somewhere in between.
I don’t use Fenix, but with the FBW A32NX, I just followed the most common checklist, but also skipped a few things because I don’t need to check them (since I have failures turned off anyway). Things like APU and Engine fire test and stuff. While they are important step to do in real life. It’s just a waste of valuable time for me seeing as I will never experience an APU or Engine fire anyway.
So I follow the proper procedure as a foundation, and as I understand the steps a lot more and how the aircraft behaves, I start optimising my own checklist to have the minimum steps I need to do to get myself up in the air as quickly as possible. I know it’s unorthodox, and definitely not a good habit to get into. But hey, I’m not a pilot in real life and I probably never will be. So I’m pretty free to have a bad habit or two. But different people might see it differently, and that’s okay.
And then, I also use a tool called FS2Crew, which runs as if I have a copilot with me, and she helped me with going through the proper checklist anyway, and allow us to split the workload, leaving me with more authority to handle my own flow as pilot flying, and the copilot doing the pilot monitoring responsibility.
So to answer your question, follow whichever one you feel is best for you.
Thanx @NeoKingRthur For me stuff like the APU and Engine fire is very important. For me, flying is less important than he preparation and the understanding. That is why I prefer the complicated airplanes
Hi, a lot of “Checklists” are espacially made for Simulation Purposes and therefore some authors (including me) change some things or just leave some out. Also what in Sim often is called Checklist are in Reallife the “normal procedures”. And there is only one source of the 100% correct procedures and that would be the original flight manual. And than you wil find, that these proceuderes are covered in a LOT of pages. That what in Reallife is called Checklist are just very small safety checks in different stages, where the Pilot and Co-Pilot verbally work through a handfull of items. So these Real Life Checklists are not very helpfull for beginners to learn to setup the aircraft. And even these real life Checklists can vary a little bit from airline to airline.
On my Fenix “Checklist & Procedures” you can find nearly the entire full normal procedures from on original manual - but shortend to get it on a few A4 pages.
I have read you checklists and after studying a A320 normal procedures, I must say you did a very good job. I understand that checklist for sims must leave out som specialities to make them practical in use. I just wunder where the order of procedures are so diffent. Yours are definitely the best I have seen. But let me give an example. In your, you set fuel pump ON before you load fuel. In one of the Youtube videos a “real pilot” say that you must not activate fuel pumps before fueling has complete. I can find other examples. I’m in no way saying that you are wrong, because if I listen to “real airbus pilor” he does not perform the tasks in the same order as the “nomal procedures” I found.
Perhaps I should just ignore my OCD and accepts that there is no real truth Thanx for you effort.
Fuel Pumps are an example of FlightSimulation simplification. The procedure for ordering fuel in the SIM is just klicking something in the Tablett or FMS. No Danger here. Despite that you are right - Fuel Pumps are off, until refueling would be finished.
And btw I know what you mean (OCD) - but like with a lot of other stuff in real life - there is the theory (flight manuals) and the practice (what pilots are doing). And sometimes things might be better done different than in the theory. But if you try to be to perfect in the sim you go nuts, because in the sim it is just NOT possible to fly like the real thing - at least not at the current state of the msfs. Too much is not working or implemented.
LemonMiol, it just amazes me on how people can have the exact same thoughts. Now trust me when I am having the exact same problem as you. So I have read over this forum and decided to do the same thing as you. Relax and enjoy. I tell myself that when I actually become a real pilot, then I will start using real in depth normal procedures (checklists). Thank you all for your answer.
Hey an A320 authentic checklist that is awesome! Thank you very much
In theory looking up and seeing every light in the overhead panel off while the engines are running and no ECAM warning is enough so no checklist is needed to perfectly fly the Fenix.
But I love the real authentic stuff - authentic like the Fenix Airbus is - that´s why such PDF files are always highly interesting because this is also a great way to check how authentic the Fenix cockpit systems are simulated compared to real Airbus procedures.
This is a good PDF to bring authenticity to the next level.
I am wondering though, does anyone know about a checklist that has real world procedures for the fenix a320 that is under 40 pages? If anyone finds anything like I described, please reply to me with a link. Thanks
If the real world procedure checklist is copied and pasted to a separate word document with the font size reduced by half. It could cut down the pages by half as well. Would that work?
Agree and disagree. Depends on the aircraft type. There are different checklist types.
You are referring more to the airliners. There, you often have the the normal procedures, which is what you do and the checklists are challenge and respond and only check the most important statuses after you finished your procedures.
In GA for small aircraft you often have read and do checklists. Thats like a combination of the normal procedures and checklist. So nothing related to Sims but actually like that in real life. For the airliners I think this is untypical for normal ops. Read and do can often be found in the abnormals.
Memory items are in both worlds mostly the emergency checklists.
But as this topic is about Fenix, I agree with you, the AFM gives instructions what to do and the checklist are typically short of the challenge and respond type. It‘s not like following the checklist covers everything you need to do but you do your workflows and check with your checklist, that you covered the most important things.
Regarding the single source of truth in the AFM: I fly historic aircraft IRL where checklists don‘t exist at all in the handbook an normal ops is more like reading a novel, so even there it‘s not like there‘s one single truth in general. We have Checklists that are developed by our own because at the time the handbook was written, checklists were not a topic
