General EFIS and A320-specific questions

[Check Airman]

Originally Posted by FlightDetent

If the vertical profile guidance before FAF/P was not such crap, perhaps people would be inclined to using the DES mode without intervening all the time?

But it is not.

I hear even the 787 guys aren’t impressed with the VNAV. That’s a good thing right? It means our jobs are still safe. Right?

[pineteam]

Originally Posted by Check Airman

Thanks guys. My airline has an odd sop where we change altitudes by putting the new altitude into the FCU, and pointing to the FCU. The last operator had us point to the PFD, which made more sense.

I’m told that this is the newest, best way of doing things, so I guess I’ll point to the FCU

We have the same procedure. it's actually an AIRBUS, ICAO and IATA recommended procedure. The aim is to confirm the selected altitude before engaging the climb/ descend mode to prevent altitude burst. If anyone interested I can Email the Airbus document.

Edit: Found the one from Airbus online: https://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/194.pdf

[FlightDetent]

I am quite convinced that when saying "altitude window" in the FOBN, Airbus is just copying the regulatory guidance verbatim.

What they mean, and define in the generic SOP of FCOM, is to set the value silently and then verbalise the readout from FMA - in their particular installation.

[pineteam]

The procedure is pretty clear in our SOP; It's really pointing to the FCU first. it might look ridiculous at first but it's actually not that bad. I guess this procedure is more adequate for operators flying daily into China when you get a lot of step climbs and step descents in meters where we need to do the conversion all the time in feet. Altitude burst is a serious event in that part of the world.

[Citation2]

Airbus recommends to select the FCU altitude to the next constraint altitude during climb

Quote from FCOM system related procedure / climb / monitoring the climb phase :

RECOMMENDATION:To ensure that you will not miss the next constraint, it is recommended to select the FCU altitude to the next constraint as described above.