Hi
Would like some help on managed vs selected modes in the a320neo.
Im just trying work out what each of these do.
If say I have a flight plan created from the world map, when I activate autopilot on the a320 will the plane ascend and descend automatically if altitude is in managed mode though.
Im not sure but last time I had a flight plan I seemed to have to increase/ decrease altitude manually when atc requested any altitude change, perhaps I wasn’t in managed mode.
Thanks for any help.
In managed mode, I think the AP will go to altitude of waypoints in flightplan. Selected mode and you can set the altitude. If you are going by ATC they will often send you to altitudes different from flightplan so selected mode is best for entering that altitude.
I fly Neo in managed mode for speed & heading and selected for altitude because of ATC controlling the flight levels.
If you change speed and heading to selected mode then that means you set the speed and heading too. So for example if you want to take off with no flightplan at all, just take off, engage AP and set speed, heading and altitude all in selected mode.
Also note for AP to work autothrottle should be ON and the physical throttle should be set to CL setting (or less if you want to constrsin it) or autothrottle won’t work properly.
Thank you, that’s exactly how I have been changing the altitude, going by atc and using selected mode, I just thought there may be a bug if its not changing on its own in managed mode, not a big deal though its easy enough.
As for the throttle, yep I learned about that the other week.
So many things to learn but when you get the basics it’s so much fun.
Cheers
Even in managed mode you must set the correct altitude in the FCU.
The AP can’t climb/descend above/below the set altitude.
You are welcome. I’ve spent a good few hours learning A320Neo. The user “320 Sim Pilot” on YuoTube has some excellent FS2020 A320Neo tutorials on AP/ILS/autothrust etc. Watching one right now. He has a whole series. He’s an actual A320 pilot so it’s interesting to hear what the differences are between sim A320 and reality A320. A must watch really.
I’m proficient enough now to set off around various unknown places & airports now. All these circa 1hr flights of course, but that’s what gives you plently of takeoff/nav/landing practice.
I now do RNAV approach to just about every destination then manually tune ILS freq in (if availalble , usually from an internet search) and land with it. Seems to save a lot of weird approaches from choosing ‘ILS’ approach in the FS2020 default flightplan section.
That is interesting. So what is purpose of managed mode for Alt if it goes by manual settings? Curious as I’m still learning all this.
In managed mod, the AP follows the constraints set in the FMC and it climbs/descends according to its profile.
In selected mode you are responsible for the climb rate and to mind the constraints.
The paramount FCU altitude must always be set manually.
It would be bad if the A320 would e.g. start to descend on its own without ATC clearance.
But these constraints are the ones you see on the flightplan for each waypoint no? They show up on the PFD2 when you toggle ‘constraint’. So my waypoint might say 4000ft for a constraint but ATC has me at 3500 or 5500 or something like that. So managed mode won’t just aim for 4000ft? It still requires a manual input? Sorry, just confused.
It’s easy to get confused. Even IRL!
Example1: FCU altitude = 5000ft, constraint = 4000ft.
Managed climb > the AP will stop at 4000ft.
Selected climb > AP will climb to 5000ft
Example2: FCU altitude = 3000ft, constraint = 4000ft.
Managed climb > the AP will stop at 3000ft.
Selected climb > AP will climb to 3000ft
Hope this helps (just to make sure, that’s how it works IRL. Haven’t tested in MSFS)
Thank you. It’s all a huge learning curve. Will need to test that out. Very confusing though.
PZL104 accurately describes the behaviour and it’s a good example of Airbus philosophy pertaining to Autoflight; The Pilot sets the commanded Altitude and the MCDU flies the aircraft to that Alt - whether in Managed or Select and then HOLDS.
Perfect harmony 'twixt man and machine code.
BragRaindrop - a little reading for you as you go deeper in to the aircraft systems;
Thank you, will delve deeper.
So just to be clear, what does FCU stand for, is that the a manually entered altitude on flight computer?
So providing the constraint button is activated no matter what I input auto pilot will stop at whatever is in the flight plan.
Thanks
FlightControlUnit
The constraint, waypoint etc. buttons are doing nothing, they aren’t activating anything.
They only display the selected info.
The constraints are defined, modified etc. via the MCDU (MultiPurposeControlandDisplayUnit)
on the pedestal.
Example1: FCU altitude = 5000ft, constraint = 4000ft.
Managed climb > the AP will stop at 4000ft.
Selected climb > AP will climb to 5000ft
Example2: FCU altitude = 3000ft, constraint = 4000ft.
Managed climb > the AP will stop at 3000ft.
Selected climb > AP will climb to 3000ft
FCU Info here;
(sorry about the robot voice but it’s concise information)
Is een t possible to add 100ft because i Can only select thuislanden of feet when You manually change the altitude
Maybe turn your Dutch autocorrect off 
Oh dear… Just noticed this know 
You should be able to switch between 1000 ft and 100 ft increments. The outer ring of the altitude select knob can be used to select between the two.
Yeah, I found the small inner circle… thanks for the help