I set up an IFR flight for the first time yesterday.
Set it up in littlenavmap, with an ILS approach, and imported to MSFS and P2ATC.
Flightpath looked correct, and I had the TOD marker, and subsequent waypoints on a nice descent profile.
When I got there I got yelled at by Center to keep my assigned altitude, and it held me at cruising altitude until I divebombed the airfield at 7nm and ignored the calls.
I’m trying to figure out what went wrong. Where’s the trick?
I was also never handed over from center to the airport tower.
If you look carefully at the LNM-generated flight plan, it probably doesn’t contain any waypoint altitude restrictions need by ATC to guide you to your landing. I think LNM puts these into Remarks or Notes as additional information for your flight plan which isn’t communicated to ATC. It is up to the pilot to request from ATC the correct descent altitudes according to the STAR and approach being used. If there are no waypoint crossing altitude restrictions in the flight plan, ATC uses altitudes for waypoints up to the flight plan cruising altitude.
I have used flight plans generated by the World Map flight planner and waypoint crossing altitudes are included in the flight plan used by ATC. I haven’t had problems with wrong ATC guidance using World Map generated flight plans.
Build your flight plan in P2A and export then load in the sim.
Also be sure you get ‘Radar Contact’ acknowledgment from ATC.
Even when you open your plan through Clearance Delivery, be sure you get ‘Readback correct’.
I’ve found that P2A can get confused with your status.
Also, as you enter the approach area, ATC may clear you to the FAF or another within the STAR. Listen carefully. At that point, they will stop issuing altitude changes. You are cleared to desend within the parameters of the approach.
I tried descending, but got yelled at to return to cruise altitude.
I made another flight plan the day after, and got the correct (but felt a bit late) instructions to descend, and made a textbook ILS approach and landing… I’ll make sure to lower my descent rate in the performance file next time, to give myself a bit more time to set up the descent.
I think P2A might have gotten confused or something, but I’ll keep monitoring it for a few flights to see if I can spot what I did wrong.
There’s always the option to request an ‘enroute descent’ from ATC. I’m flying the DC-6 and always need to descend way earlier than the planned TOD, and so far ATC always accommodated it…
Yep, you can specifically ask to start your descent early. ATC will then give you a ‘Descend to xxx ft at pilot discretion’, which works perfectly for me in the DC-6