I have an IFR rating and have taking it on as a challenge to AP a flight hands off using VNAV from take-off, to cruise, to descent finally to a CAT III ILS approach.
I am not sure if it is my lack of expertise with the Boeing systems or if the AP is just buggy but the VNAV seem unreliable to me. Sometimes it seems to transition between fixes OK while others not so OK, and the transition to the ILS/GS is also hit or miss.
I do not seem to be able to set altitude limits on the Flight Planner for different way-points. Maybe you can do this in the cockpit and save?
As an ex B777/ 737 test pilot I could tell that VNAV implementation is not a piece of cake ( I had access to the design documents from Boeing and the code of the different systems). For now I just read the charts and check at the constraints on the SID and STAR. CAT III requires two autopilots, same baro settings on both sides, both FD (…) on Boeing at least. The merit of the game here (due to the imperfection), is that the pilot has to assume in full his responsibility: Monitor the aircraft systems. Curious to see if someone found a solution in the next responses.
I havent had any issues following VNAV/LNAV in the B738M, but the stab trim seems to be really bad (unintentionally modeled the mcas issue?), and coupled with some buggy weight management in the EFB it can be a challenge sometimes.
I havent tried cat III autoland yet because I dont trust the current implementation of the stab trim.
Instrument rated PP here with a lot of sim Boeing experience. The Asobo 787-10 works great in 24 right now, both LNAV and VNAV, even adjusting descent profiles for winds aloft. It is one of two aircraft that I will fly IFR in IMC in 24, the other being the FFX version of the VisionJet.
With all that I have read about the Max 8 in 24, I have not attempted it as yet. With the PMDG 737s in 2020 to enjoy, I feel no need to early adopt the Max, although it is one of the models I am looking forward to flying one day in 24!
Yes, most of the VNAV entries are “Above:” a certain altitude which implies you are going to hit that altitude and hand fly above the next one. I have been flying around my home turf in California and there are nice stepped approaches to SFO… It seems I almost have to hand fly the step downs.
I have been flying a route between Reno and Fresno over the High Sierra that is very picturesque and it has an incredible approach dropping down off the mountains to the low lands. This definitely needs attention by hand but the LNAV does the procedure turns perfectly.
Since I do not know the AP system in the B-787 hard to tell where Boeing capabilities drop off into simulator programing errors.
EDIT: From the other comments seems it should fly the step downs correctly.
EDIT2: It does fly the CAT III approaches perfectly in the 787 including the autoland-rollout-autobreaking. Once you capture the GS you are golden. You do have to manually transition from the VNAV as the APP button will not activate until you are within range of the LOC and GS. You get the LOC first like reality.
Here is the other reason I like the 787 and the Sierra
Why are you relying on an old video from a year ago? It’s much better to test 787 performance yourself rather than watching outdated Youtube videos that might not reflect the current state of the aircraft.
Spent hours trying to get it to work and checked out every video and post. I need to walk away from this and come back in a couple months. I have an IRF rating and a Commercial license. I thought I had it working in 2020 in the 787 but I must have been mistaken since this fellow has to use various tricks to get it to work… and this seems his FT job.
Turns out there is a tutorial for the 787 that includes details instructions on the AP and VNAV:
I am going to go down it step by step and reproduce their flight from ORD to IAD that used VNAV for the whole flight.
I am optimistic that this worked for them as they have screen shots… much much more complex than the C-172.
EDIT: So I spent 2h laboriously putting in the FL and saving it two different ways and after TO I paused the flight to read the instructions, and when I restarted the plane immediately crashed… neither of the saved plans had the hand typed route in it. What a POS.
I am not going to retype this, but after lunch I guess I can try the flight planner.
Well, the flight planner worked 90%. For some reason the climb out on VNAV would not work but the Cruise and Descent worked like a charm. I think it was not clear that I needed to be in VNAV mode when I came up on the T/C point (Top of Descent) and to have the lowest altitude set in on the descent… prior to the ILS.
This was for ORD to IAD. I now have to try it on my High Sierra signtseeing flight between Reno and Fresno.
There is also this guide:
In which when I read the VNAV section I discovered the climb out was INOP… thank god I did not waste time on that… but that is the least on my problems… it is the descent.
I would say that if people want to practice this, use the tutorial into Dulles (IAD), since it must hit 10 steps on the way down and it hit them all…
