Welcome to Bergamo, Italy! This is my birthplace and you should absolutely visit it if you ever get a chance because it is gorgeous and most people on their way to Milano miss this absolute gem. It looks like this:

Don’t have the Europe Scenery installed?

Unfortunately in X-Plane 12, runways are only displayed at airports where you have your scenery installed. If you have no scenery, the runways are still there, however they are not visible, because they are under the 3D water.

We recommend that you install the Europe Region scenery, however if you can’t, you’ll still be able to complete most of the demo flight. You’ll just have to take off from the water and the landing and ILS might not be possible, due to the airport suddenly being at sea level and in fact under the water (So a bit Sully-like), but you will learn everything just the same.

Initial information

Although learning how to fly a new airliner can be daunting, the E-Jets are very intuitive and straightforward planes. Many systems are automated, and the autopilot will take care of a lot of the things you’d normally have to deal with manually.

Disclaimer: This demo flight assumes that you have a basic knowledge of FMS programming. As a minimum, you should know what SIDs, STARs, and airways are.

1. Cockpit Introduction

Let’s start with an overview of the cockpit. Below is a video in which we will introduce how to interact with most of the cockpit features.

2. Engine Startup

Airplane Power Up & Engine Startup

To learn how to power up the airplane and start the engines, we made two videos that you can watch.

3. Demo Flight Videos

Below are our two full-flight demo flights. Part one shows the entire demo flight, beginning after you’ve started the engines. Part 2 explains how to use new features added in September 2024 like FMS Speed or ILS Autotune. Follow along and watch us fly the full flight with detailed explanations.

Demo Flight Start

Flight Plan

In X-Plane, load the jet at LIME, RWY 28. Our flight today is going to take us from Bergamo, Italy across the Alps to Vienna, Austria.

Our flight plan is:

LIME/28 LEGL1V.OSK1F OSKOR M985 MALUG DCT VP011 DCT EVAXI DCT ABTAN ABTA2W LOWW/BAL4N.I34

FMS General Information

Please read the FMS manual, for a comprehensive explanation of the FMS operation. This Demo flight will only cover the exact steps to get you through the flight without going too deep into detail.

Direct Keyboard Entry

• DKE (Direct Keyboard Entry) is only used for the FMS, not for the EFB or Avitab.

• Pressing TAB (you can change this to CAPS LOCK in the settings) of clicking on the FMS scratchpad activates DKE, which allows you to type directly into the FMS scratchpad.

• If DKE is active, you will see a small circle in the top left corner of the FMS and you will also hear beeping sounds for every keystroke. This is to make you aware you are in DKE.

• If you want to exit the DKE mode, press TAB or ESC or click on the scratchpad section of the FMS screen until the indicator on the FMS screens disappears.

MOD Mode

Every time you will want to modify the flight plan, by making any additions or changes to the flight plan, the FMS will go into the MOD mode. You then need to ACTIVATE the flight plan for the changes to take effect. This is the equivalent of EXEC on other FMS’.

Map PLAN mode

Click on PLAN on top of the MFD (second screen from the left). Here’s where we will watch the route being built. The PLAN mode view is always centered on waypoints and it allows you to cycle through the flight plan.

Note: The MAP mode is centered on the aircraft and doesn’t allow you to cycle through the flight plan.

Side Soft Keys

There are left and right soft keys (LSK and RSK) on the side of the FMS. These are used to select options on the screen.

1. Selecting Departure

NAV Identification

1. Click in the middle of the left FMS screen, to open the FMS in the pop-up view.

2. When the initial Radio page is loaded, pressing any of the buttons right underneath the screen will take you to the NAV IDENT page. This is where you will verify that your Nav Data is up to date.

3. Next, we’ll go to the RTE (ROUTE) page by pressing RSK6 (right soft key next to the screen, 6th from the top).

Departure

1. Hit TAB on your keyboard. This will toggle the DKE (Direct Keyboard Entry, indicated by a blue circle on the top left corner of the FMS screen) which allows you to type into the scratchpad using your keyboard.

2. The ORIGIN airport will already be populated as LIME.

3. Type “LOWW” into the scratchpad and then press RSK1 to enter it as your DESTINATION

4. CO ROUTE should be left empty, it will be populated automatically by LIME-LOWW.

5. (Optional) You can enter the Flight ID as well. This will then be displayed on the RADIO page as well as the STATUS page on the MFD.

6. Press TAB or ESC again to disable DKE, or just click on the scratchpad section of the screen with your mouse, which also toggles DKE on/off.

7. Press RKS6 to ACTIVATE and then RSK6 again for DEPARTURE
   
   Quick Tip: The FMS was designed to naturally flow through the entire FMS setup. Most of the time, we will always be pressing RSK6 to progress to the next step.
   
   

8. On the DEPARTURE page, press RSK1 to select the RUNWAY
   

9. Select runway 28. You’ll then be taken to the SIDs page (Standard Instrument Departure)
   
   

10. Press the NEXT button, to get to the next screen and select the LEGL1V SID, and the OSK1F SID transition.
    
    Tip: If you have DKE active, you can also press the left/right arrows to navigate between pages. You can also use SHIFT + LEFT or RIGHT arrows for LSK6 / RSK6 to take you to the next (different) page.
    
    

11. Once back on the DEPARTURE page, press RSK6 to APPLY the departure.

How to load a flight plan from Simbrief or Navigraph

1. Download the flight plan file in the X-Plane 11/12 (No SID/STAR) format and then save it as X-Plane/Output/FMS Plans.

2. Then start X-Plane, and you will be able to load the flight plan from the RTE page in the FPL LIST option (LSK6)

2. Entering Route (RTE page)

1. You should now be on the second RTE (route) page. This is where you’ll build your route.
   
   Waypoints will be inserted into the right column labeled TO on top, by pressing the RIGHT soft keys below the previous waypoint.
   
   Airways will be inserted into the left column labeled VIA by pressing the LEFT soft keys below the previous waypoint and then adding the exit Waypoint to the RIGHT side on the same row.
   

   Note: Please note that the real FMS also gives you the ability to add airways in a shorter format by typing the airway designation followed by a dot, followed by the exit waypoint, for example, “M985.MALUG”. This functionality is not currently implemented but we are working on adding it because it will definitely make things easier!
   

2. Type in M985 (airway) into the scratchpad and press LSK2

3. Type in MALUG (airway exit waypoint) and press RSK2.

4. Type in VP011 (waypoint) and press RSK3. Because there are many waypoints around the world with the identifier “VP011”, you will be taken to a new page where you need to pick the one you want.
   
   The list is sorted based on the distance from the preceding waypoint. We know that our waypoint is in Austria, so select the first one that says “AUSTR”. 
   
   Please note that the VP011 is not an IFR waypoint, meaning it wouldn’t be used for a real-world route, however, we are only loading it so that we can demonstrate how to select a waypoint with multiple occurrences of the same ID, and we will also use it to demonstrate how to delete a waypoint later.
   

5. Now we’ve entered the full route.  Press RSK6 to ACTIVATE and in the next step, we will enter the arrival. 

Tip: If you ever reach the end of your RTE page when building your route and you want to add more waypoints, simply press the NEXT button to go to the next RTE page.

3. Selecting Arrival

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight tutorial video

1. Now press LSK6 to go to the ARRIVAL page.

2. To select a STAR (Standard Terminal Arrival), press LSK3 and select the STAR called ABTA2W

3. Back on the ARRIVAL page, select:

   1. Runway: 34

   2. Approach: ILS 34

   3. Approach Transition: BAL4N
      

4. Back on the ARRIVAL page, press RSK6 to APPLY the arrival and RSK6 again to ACTIVATE.

4. Reviewing your flight plan

Congrats! You have now entered the whole flight plan. Next, you’ll want to check the flight plan on the map to make sure you have a nice continuous route and that all waypoints were loaded correctly. 

5. Clearing a Discontinuity

While cycling through the plan, you’ll notice that after VP011, the route disappears, and reappears only after ABTAN. You’ll also notice that on page 3 of the RTE, there is a >> DISCONTINUITY <<.

All you need to do is delete the Discontinuity:

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight tutorial video

1. Press the DEL key, you’ll see *DELETE* on the scratchpad.
   

2. Then press LSK1 next to the discontinuity to delete it
   
   Tip: This is also how you would delete any unwanted waypoints.
   

3. The discontinuity will disappear and we will see that the two waypoints are now connected on the map.

4. Press RSK6 to ACTIVATE the route.

Discontinuities explained

Discontinuities happen when the ROUTE section ends with a different waypoint than the first waypoint of the arrival procedure. A discontinuity is also visible on the map as a gap between two waypoints.

In our case, the route ends with VP011, and the ARRIVAL (STAR) begins with ABTAN, so the FMS doesn’t know how to connect these two waypoints.

If you entered ABTAN as another route waypoint after VP011, there would be no discontinuity, because the route would end with with the same waypoint (ABTAN) as the arrival first waypoint of the arrival so the FMS could connect these two together and there wouldn’t be any discontinuity.

6. Flight plan (FPL) page

Ok, now we’ve got our whole flight plan entered and checked. 

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight tutorial video

1. Press the FPL button. This will bring you to the FPL (Flight Plan) page which shows a detailed view of the flight plan with additional information, like speeds or altitudes for each waypoint.
   
   On the FPL page, procedures will also be displayed as individual waypoints, as opposed to the RTE page where procedures are displayed with the procedure designation. Notice that we won’t see any data on the right side yet. This is because we didn’t enter the Performance data.

   Let’s jump to the EFB for a moment to get the right data for our flight.

EFB:

1. Weight & Balance

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight tutorial video

Go to the EFB and click on the Weight & Balance tab. Here you’ll have to enter some initial data so that the EFB can calculate the performance for you.

Option 1: Fetch this data directly from your last generated Simbiref flight plan. (Make sure you have generated a flight in Simbrief before the flight!)

Check out our EFB tutorial to learn how to do that.

Option 2: If you don’t use Simbrief, you can also enter it manually. From the first dropdown, select if you’d like to enter Payload or Zero Fuel Weight and enter the corresponding value.

For the purpose of this demo flight, we will enter it manually.

1. Select Payload from the dropdown menu and enter Payload 18800lb and Block Fuel 8000lb
   

2. After that enter the Fuel Weight and then press REQUEST LOADSHEET.
   

3. You'll be presented with the Loadsheet which you can accept by pressing LOAD PLANE. This will actually change the X-Plane weights in the plane.
   

2. Takeoff Performance calculations

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight tutorial video

Go to the Takeoff perf tab. This page is used to calculate Takeoff & Landing Performance data and even allows you to send the data directly to the FMS.

1. Fill out the input fields like this:

   • Airport: LIME

   • T/O Weight: 74 880lb
     
     (This is with the E175. If you are flying any other plane, find your TO weight on the Weight & Balance Loadsheet)
     

   • Runway: 28

   • Thrust: TO-2

   • Condition: DRY

   • Flaps: F2
     
     

   Enter the weather parameters based on your weather conditions.
   
   You can open the X-Plane Weather Configurator and review the wind on the ground, temperature, and Altimeter Setting (QNH). In my case it was my case, the wind was 7 knots at 357°, so we’ll enter it in the degrees/speed format as 357/7

   • Wind: 357/7

   • Temp: 18°C

   • QNH: 29.90inHg
     

2. Press COMPUTE
   
   Note: The same process is used to calculate your landing speeds from the Landing perf page on the EFB.
   

3. You will now be presented with the Takeoff data.

   You can then enter the Vspeeds manually into the FMS, or you can send the VSpeeds to the FMS by pressing Send to FMS in the top right corner.

• In the next step, you’ll learn how to load the VSpeeds in the FMS.
  
  Tip: You can enter HPA or IN values for QNH, and the tablet will use the correct units based on your format

FMS:

1. Performance INIT

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight tutorial video

1. Back on the FMS we’ll still be on the FPL page. Now press RSK6 for PERF INIT. 
   
   Note: Starting with v1.1.0, you can go to PERF INIT Directly from the RTE page.
   
   

2. On the first page of PERF INIT (Performance Initialization), you can change any of the parameters, or add fuel for an Alternate Airport. We will leave it all at the default values.
   
   

3. Press NEXT to go to PERF INIT 2/3. This is the most important page. The values entered here will calculate the vertical profile of the flight.
   
   

   1. Type in “310” or “FL31000” or “31000” (all entries are possible) into the scratchpad and insert it into CRZ ALT.
      
      

   2. Enter cruize winds based on your current values. We’ll enter CRZ WINDS: 253/68.
      
      This setting will not have a major effect on the flight plan calculations even if left at zero.
      
      

   3. Enter ZFW: 66880lb (This is with the E175. If you are flying any other plane, find your ZFW on the Weight & Balance Loadsheet)
      
      
      

   4. TO CG: 18.9% (This is with the E175. If you are flying any other plane, find your ZFW on the Weight & Balance Loadsheet)
      
      
      You can use the same process for landing speeds from the Landing perf page on the EFB, and PERF 3 on the TFMS.
      
      

4. Press NEXT to go to PERF INIT 3/3. Here is where you can change the speeds for each phase of the flight. The speeds need to follow the correct format.

   • Changing the knots and mach values should be done like this: 265/0.73

   • Changing the knots only should be done like this: 265

   • Changing the mach values only should be done like this: /0.73

     In our case, we will leave them at the default values.
     
     

2. TAKEOFF PERFORMANCE

1. Press RSK6 to go to TO DATASET which is where you can configure some extra takeoff settings. Usually, each operator has their defaults and preferences.
   
   We will leave them all at the default value.
   
   

2. Press RSK6 to do to FMS TAKEOFF. This will take you to TAKEOFF INIT 2/2 which is where you can review the previous TO settings or change the flaps setting.
   
   We will leave everything as it is.
   
   

3. Press RSK6 to go to TAKEOFF. Here’s where we will enter the VSpeeds which we have previously calculated using the EFB.

   You can either insert the speeds manually or you can load them through the FMS datalink. We will load them directly:
   
   

   1. Make sure that you have previously clicked on “Send to FMS” on the EFB Takeoff perf page.
      
      

   2. Press the DLK (datalink) button.
      
      

   3. If you have previously clicked on “Send to FMS” on the EFB Takeoff perf page, you will now see the landing speeds option highlighted green.
      
      

   4. Press RSK1 next to the highlighted text, which will load the vspeeds
      
      

   5. To go back, press the PERF button, and then RSK1 for TAKEOFF. You’ll now see the vspeeds populated.

      
      

4. Set the correct flap setting based on the TAKEOFF page: FLAPS 2
   
   

5. Adjust the airplane pitch to the PITCH TRIM setting. In my case with the E175, the PITCH TRIM was 3.5 UP. Look at the EICAS trim section, and make sure the trim also says 3.5 UP.
   
   Note: The TO PITCH shows what the Flight Director will show as a Takeoff Pitch. This is not what your trim setting should be.
   
   

3. DEPARTURE LIMITS

1. Press RSK6 for DEP LIM. These settings can be left on the default values. Refer to the manual for a detailed explanation.
   
   

2. Press RSK6 for FLT PLAN. This will bring us back to the FPL page, and we will see that all the data on the right is now populated and we can also see that the VSD (Vertical Situation Display) on the MFD shows the flight profile.
   
   We’re ready to take off!

Autopilot Takeoff Settings

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight tutorial video

Before you takeoff, you must set the correct speed and altitude.

Since we are using the Manual speeds in this demo flight, you’ll need to set the speed using the dial knob located below the A/T button on the Guidance panel.

1. Using the SPEED knob, set the speed to 180 kts

2. Using the ALT SEL knob, set the altitude on the PFD to 10000ft
   
   Technically, you could just set it to our cruise altitude, but we will pretend that ATC told us to level off at 10000ft before reaching the LEGLO waypoint for the sake of demonstration.

Speed Management

Managing your speeds correctly is crucial. Overspeeding can cause the AP to go into Overspeed mode, which will pitch the plane up to slow down. This will cause oscillation (flying up and down). Similarly, if you fly too slow, you will be close to your stall speeds which may disconnect the Autopilot or cause many other issues.

There are two ways in which you can manage the speeds. You can either do it manually by setting the correct speed using the speed knob on the glare shield panel, or you can use the FMS Speed function, which will manage the speeds for you automatically.

Manual Speed Management Guidelines

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

We have created a chart that will provide some general guidelines that you should follow on your flights. You can download this image for your reference.

Please familiarize yourself with the chart below for manual speed management. Learning how to do it without any automation will greatly benefit your knowledge of the correct operation of these aircraft, should anything go wrong with FMS Speed.

Manual Speeds schematic

FMS Speed is a function of the FMS that controls the speeds for the autothrottle automatically throughout the flight, from the takeoff to the landing, so that you don’t have to! 

This function follows specific speed schedules (on PERF INIT 3/3 in the FMS) and restrictions. It adjusts speeds as needed, follows takeoff and climb procedures, and transitions to descent and approach speeds as required.

For you as the pilot, this makes speed management extremely easy, as you essentially only need to calculate the takeoff and landing speeds, enter them into the FMS, and then control the flaps throughout your flight, but that’s it!

Below you will find a simplified chart and a table that will explain what criteria will trigger each speed. To see FMS Speed used in action, please watch the tutorial above. To find a detailed description of all the criteria that FMS Speed uses, please refer to the aircraft manual.

How to Use FMS Speed

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

SHORT EXPLANATION

It's good to understand why FMS Speed will do certain things, but in short, you mainly need to remember to control the flaps, and enter your Takeoff and Landing V-Speeds. The rest is done automatically.

Proper explanation

To activate FMS Speed, rotate the switch below the Speed Knob on the glare shield panel. This can only be done after entering your flight plan.

The following explains the same but in a table:

AP vertical modes during the flight

Below is an overview of the vertical AP modes you should be using during your flight.

Departure

Taxi

Depending on the load, sometimes the engines generate enough idle thrust to get the plane moving. This is normal and in real life, the pilots have to apply brakes just to keep the speed within limits.

Takeoff

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

1. Press TOGA on the throttles (very important). This will activate the Takeoff/Go Around autopilot modes and it will arm the lateral (LNAV) and vertical (VNAV) autopilot modes which will get engaged automatically after takeoff.

   
   

2. Arm the Autothrottle by pressing AT on the guidance panel.
   
   

3. We have already set the correct flaps (Flaps 2) and trim pitch settings. Press the TO CONFIG button (on top of the pedestal in front of the throttles).
   
   If your flap and trim settings were correct, you should hear: “DING DING DING, NO TAKOFF - BRAKES”. Indicating that the brakes are the only thing that is not configured for takeoff correctly.
   
   

4. Release the brakes, and press the button again to check that you can hear: “TAKEOFF OK”
   
   

5. Push the throttles forward. Once they are near the TOGA position, the autothrottle will get engaged and you can let go of the throttles.
   
   

6. Take off!
   
   

7. At 1000ft, engage the autopilot
   
   Note:

   You can engage the AP any time between 400ft AGL, up to 10,000ft. But the general SOP says autopilot should be turned on at Acceleration Altitude, which is 1000ft AGL.

   The AP must always be engaged, above 10,000ft.

Climb

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

1. Take off, gear up, and engage AP
   
   

2. At 400ft, LNAV will engage automatically. You will now see a magenta LNAV on top of the PFD
   
   

3. At 1200ft, VNAV will engage automatically. You will now see a magenta FLCH on top of the PFD.
   
   Note: VNAV will never display as “VNAV” on the PFD. VNAV will always be associated with magenta FLCH (climb), magenta ALT (leveled off ), or magenta PTH (descent). Please refer to the airplane manuals for a detailed description of the autopilot mode indications.
   
   

4. At 6000ft, press the STD button in the middle of the BARO SET knob on the guidance panel.
   
   
   Pressing STD will change to the standard pressure setting of 29.92inHg and it will switch the altitude indications on the PFD to the FL format.
   
   In the US, the transition altitude is always 18000ft, however in Europe, the transition altitude varies and can be as low as 3,000 ft (910 m).
   
   

5. Although the cruise altitude was set as 31000ft, we have set our altitude setting on the PFD to 10000ft (now shown as FL100), let’s say because the ATC told us to.
   
   When VNAV is engaged, the ALT setting acts as a ceiling above which the plane will not climb even if the flight plan says it should. Instead, the autopilot will go into the ALT mode and it will level off at that altitude.
   
   To continue the climb above 12000ft, just adjust the altitude setting to 31000ft and then press FLCH to resume the VNAV climb again.
   
   🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

Cruise

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

You will notice that as the airplane reaches the cruise altitude, the TRS mode will automatically change from CLB (climb) to CRZ (cruise). At this point, increase the speed to 0.78M.

Editing your flight plan

Delete a waypoint

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

You might want to delete a waypoint from your flight plan. We recommend that you do this on the FPL page, since that is where we see all individual waypoints.

1. Press the DEL button, you will see *DELETE* on the scratchpad.

2. Let’s delete the waypoint called VP011. Simply press the left soft key next to that waypoint on the FPL page.

3. Next, press RSK6 to ACTIVATE the modified flight plan.

Adding a waypoint

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

Adding a waypoint is done in the same way as when we were first entering a route by typing it in and inserting it after the preceding waypoint.

1. Go to the FPL page

2. Type EVAXI into the scratchpad

3. Insert it after MALUG

Direct to

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

To skip the next waypoint and fly to any of the following waypoints, you can do a DIRECT to:

1. Press the LSK next to the waypoint that you want to fly to, in our case ABTAN.
   
   The name of that waypoint will now appear in the scratchpad.

2. Then insert that waypoint into LSK1 which will be the first and amber field.

Arrival

Descent

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

1. One minute before TOD (Top of Descent - which is the start of descent), a vertical deviation scale will show on the PFD followed by an aural chime.

2. At this point, you must lower the ALT setting. In our case, we will lower it to 3000ft, so that the plane levels off at 3000ft and captures the glideslope from below. However, you could lower the altitude to whatever ATC tells you.
   
   If you do not lower your altitude bug, VNAV will not start the descent!
   

3. When you reach TOD  (also visible on the map), VNAV will go into PTH mode and the plane will start descending automatically.

4. When you start to descend, reduce your speed to 0.78/280kts and keep that speed until you reach 10 000ft.

Landing performance calculations:

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

Go to the Landing perf tab on the EFB. You will calculate the Landing Performance data the same way you did for Takeoff.

1. Fill out the input fields like this:

   • Airport: LOWW

   • Landing Weight: 70 000lb
     
     Note: (This is with the E175 landing weight and in X-Plane 12. If you are flying any other plane or in X-Plane 11, your landing weight will be different. You can see your current gross weight on the Status Page on the MFD)

   • Runway: 34

   • Flaps: F5

   • Condition: DRY

   • Reverse: ALL OP

   • Icing: NO

   • Wind: 124/6 (Again, check your weather) 

   • Temp: 14°C

   • QNH: 29.90
     

2. Press COMPUTE

3. Press Send to FMS in the top right corner

4. Back in the FMS, press the DLK button

Approach

Let’s continue with our flight. You have now descended to 3000ft and the plane should level off, because that is what the altitude setting was set to. Up until now, the FMS was the source of the autopilot. This is indicated by a magenta FMS indication on the mid-left section of the PFD. So now we have to setup the approach.

You can set up the approach manually, or let the plane do it for you using ILS Autotune. Most of the time, you’ll be using ILS Autotune as it literally requires one press of a button. But sometimes, you might want to setup a quick flight just for the approach, when you don’t enter a flight plan and you then need to set up the approach manually.

Short Version:

Full Description:

Manual Approach

⚠️ These instructions apply to our original demo flight video, when FMS Speed and ILS autotune were not available yet. It’s a good idea for you to try to set the approach up manually, that’s why we’ll first cover the manual approach, but most of the time you will likely just enjoy ILS Autotune doing most of the work for you.

What is ILS Autotune?

ILS Autotune is a real feature that will automatically load the correct NAV frequency based on the ILS approach that you selected in the FMS.

Additionally, ILS Autotune will also trigger the approach Preview as soon as the new frequency has been loaded and once you’re aligned with the runway, ILS Autotune will automatically switch from LNAV & VNAV to LOC & GS ensuring a smooth transition.

This essentially means that to fly an ILS approach, you only need to enter your flight plan and then press one button - APP. In the earlier versions, all those things had to be done manually, but no more!

Please refer to the video below or the aircraft manual for more information.

Landing

🡕 Click here to watch this demonstrated in our demo flight video

Ok, now you’ve captured the localizer and glideslope, and you’ve set your flaps and landing speed. Now you just need to wait and monitor that the aircraft is stable and everything is in order.

MINIMUMS

You will also see APPR1 or APPR2 on top of the PFD. These depend on the BARO minimums type that you are using:

• APPR 1: If barometric minimums is used for ILS CAT I Approaches

• APPR 2: If radio altimeter minimums is used for ILS CAT II Approaches
  
  Refer to the manual for more information

AT which point should you disengage the autopilot before landing?

On approach, you should generally disengage the AP based on the approach minimums. This is something that can be found on the charts.

On our demo flight, that is 200ft AGL, when you hear the “Minimums” aural message

If you don’t have access to the charts or if you are not familiar with reading these charts, use these guidelines:

• For precision approaches (ILS landings)

  • You can disengage the AP at the approach minimums (200ft AGL), to get a better feeling for the aircraft before you land, but you can leave AP on all the way down to 50ft if you want.

• For non-precision approaches (so if you are not using ILS, but you are using PTH, FPA or VS instead)

  • You should disengage the AP at the (Decision Height - DH) which can be 500ft AGL)

Congratulations!

Now Share a Screenshot!

You have now completed your first flight in the E-Jets!

Now make sure to celebrate this by taking a screenshot of your landing and posting it in our Screenshots topic!

We hope that this guide was useful and that you now have a good sense of how to fly the E-Jets. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us in our tech support forum.