I’m just a month into MSFS2024, so am very much in learning mode. Running through the flight school tutorials. The last couple days on the 737 Max…. I finally got a fairly decent landing.
I’m curious to how the the landing systems automations work. There is not much given in terms of guidance from the co-pilot/FI… It seems as long as you stay on the glide slope, the plane will adjust the thrust and flaps to “make the landing happen”. How do these systems actually work? Is it sensing the speed/pitch and distance AGL and adjusting thrust and flaps to settle on the ground in the safest way?
Not sure what context you’re coming from, but IRL, the MAX is like any other 737. You - the pilot flying - adjust flaps as you decelerate to land, lower gear along the way, and adjust power by hand. Boeing’s SOPs are to disconnect AP and autothrottle by between 1,000’ and about 750’ AGL and land the plane manually. By that time you should be fully established on the glideslope, fully configured (usually Flaps 30 or 40), gear down and at your Vapp.
Begin your flare at around the 30’ callout and slowly reduce power to idle as you settle in, touching down at Vref speed. Your flare should only be 2-3 degrees above your approach attitude.
Maybe its a bug in the training? I’ve run the landing several times… it starts by saying the throttle does NOT need to be used (“auto-throttle manages this”). The scenario starts about 7nm from runway, flaps 40% and 14% trim. The instructor tells you you only need to control pitch and roll… and put it on glide path and watch the PAPI lights. If I follow this guidance I land successfully.. but if I’m off the glidepath, its nearly impossible to land… the thrust and flaps change and basically force a go-around.
Or perhaps the level of training? I write perhaps because I have not taken this lesson. Could be that after that first or second time through the trainee is ready for a different lesson, one with more complexity of pilotage? Just a thought, as the first time a flight sim gamer takes on landing an airliner, well, they are going to need a lot of stuff done for them in advance, and in a not so realistic way, which might have been the intent of the lesson/flight plan described above? Cheers!
