This happens in any aircraft i have an FMC in so all Boeing and all airbus .
Ok so i make a flight plan with waypoints between A and B as i get near i go in and set an approach and enter it I don’t usually use a star just an approach and a VIA . This displays in the FMC and on the MFD correctly.
But once it gets to the point it should go to the first waypoint of approach it ignores it and heads to the destination airport and displays that it is doing that on mfd
Now i’ve heard this is a bug and the fix is to go DIR and select first waypoint of the approach
so i did that and it went to the first waypoint
then turned and headed back to the airport ignoring the rest i did that 3 times with each successive waypoint.
i now open gtn 750
my flight plan is there even my approach is entered in
so i press on activate approach and it does it
it turned back to the initial waypoint then followed the entire approach.
But why is the gtn 750 working but not the inbuilt FMC
It sounds like you haven’t executed or inserted the approach completely. Can you provide screenshots of the FMCs and MFDs/map when you’re setting up the approaches?
i have a video and also i found a solution in the video ( not an ideal one) but it was already entered in the fmc at this point it shows it going wrong excuse the flying im not an airliner pilot and was really trying to trouble shoot the issue than fly. i enter the approach by selecting the destination then choosing arrival then approach required and a VIA then insert
What utility is that which you are using to edit the flight plan? It definitely looks like that tool is not integrating correctly with the FMC. Try using the FMC exclusively (it isn’t as daunting as it may seem at first).
That utility is trying to replicate a Garmin unit and I can’t see how that would work well with Airbus or Boeing units. I’m still trying to review more of the video but there is definitely an issue related to that utility and how it attempts to integrate with the aircraft.
Its the gtn 750 im wondering if this is conflicting with the fmc as activating the approach in the 750 the proper approach is followed. iI sometimes have it open simply as it gives an ete to dest and distance to dest which fmc doesn’t really give, don’t usually use it was just an idea i had
i agree but i don’t know what this is the way ive always done it and it used to work. I even watched some videos as i don’t fly airliners often so thought i may have forgotten something but I’m doing it exactly as videos say. I am wondering if the GTN 750 is conflicting as as you can see in the video activating the approach in the 750 the proper approach was followed
That GTN mod is definitely looking like the issue. It’s overriding what the aircraft itself is trying to do, so it’s not surprising that weird things happen with the aircraft.
Also just a note, the Airbus and Boeings do provide ETA and distance to destination, although the location of that information varies by aircraft. The Airbus has useful information during cruise on the CRZ PERF menu as well as the FPLN menu, amongst others. On a Boeing you can see more information on the LEGS menu as well as the CLB, CRZ, DES menus during each phase.
There are a lot of good guides on getting acclimated to the Airbus and Boeing systems, and I’d highly recommend learning how they work (they are very powerful and once you learn the basics, you can apply that to nearly every FMC you’re likely to use).
The airbus gives estimated eta’s but ive found these unreliable it also doesn’t give a total distance to destination. As an alternative i can use the Navigraphs telemetry feature instead of the GTN i will try a flight in a few days deliberately not opening the gtn. But i think you’re right i do think the GTN seems to be overiding the FMC and stopping approach from becoming active
I’m actually quite familiar with the basics of the FMC although I’m no expert and i did search videos for ETA’s and ETE’s but it was said they don’t really have that in the default 320
I’d highly recommend the (free!) FlyByWire A320 if you’re on PC. It’s a huge improvement over the stock A320 and is frequently updated. I’d recommend using the Development branch when installing. I’ll have to go back and look at some point to see what it offers for calculations but I do seem to recall the estimated time of arrival and distance to go are provided. It also will show distance to TOC and TOD.
