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:

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.

Watch a video of this demo flight

Here’s a video of the full demo flight. You can follow along and watch the entire flight with detailed explanations.

Demo Flight Start

1. 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. If you don’t have the European scenery installed, you’ll still be able to fly this flight, you’ll just have oceans all around you instead of the Alps.

Our flight plan today is as follows:

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

Before the flight

2. Airplane Power Up & Engine Startup

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

1. Switch to the PLAN mode of the map by clicking on the PLAN on top of the MFD screen. The PLAN mode view is always centered on waypoints and it allows you to cycle through the flight plan.
   
   Note: The MAP mode that is centered on the aircraft and it doesn’t allow you to cycle through the flight plan.
   

2. You have two ways of cycling through the flight plan:
   

   A. Either using the inner knob on the pedestal that is located just below the left FMS (below).
   
   Note: The outer ring of the knob is used to zoom in and out on the map.

   
   For more details, please check the Manuals and the MFD section.
   

3. CHANGING THE MAP RANGE

• This number shows the range of the white circle (half range). In this particular case, it is 20 miles.

• This is also a hidden manipulator! You can use it to zoom in or out on the map. The official way of doing that is by rotating the knob on the pedestal under the FMS, which is also possible, but we found the manipulator on the screen much more convenient for a sim use.

• Displays waypoint name, destination, distance-to-go, ETA/ETE, and fuel remaining based on calculations received from the FMS.

4. CYCLE THROUGH THE FLIGHT PLAN IN PLAN MODE

• This is another hidden manipulator. When you are in the PLAN MODE, click here (left or right, or scroll with your mouse wheel) to center on the previous/next waypoint.

B. The second and more user-friendly way is by using our custom commands which you can assign to any key on your keyboard or hardware in order to easily cycle through the flight plan.

Go to the X-Plane Keyboard settings, and in the command field, search for “xcrafts” and then in the FMS section, you’ll see two commands:

1. Center the plan map on the next waypoint

2. Center the plan map on the last waypoint
   
   

6. Clearing a Discontinuity

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

This is because the FMS doesn’t know how to connect the last waypoint if the route and the beginning of the STAR, this is called a discontinuity and the map shows this as a gap.

All you need to do is delete the Discontinuity:

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

2. Then press LSK1 next to the discontinuity to delete it
   
   

3. The discontinuity will disappear and you can press RSK6 to ACTIVATE the route.
   
   
   Note: This is also how you would delete any unwanted waypoints.
   

7. Flight plan page

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.
   
   Procedures will also be displayed as individual waypoints, as opposed to the RTE page where procedures are displayed with the procedure designation.
   

   You’ll see that we won’t see any data on the right side yet. This is because we didn’t enter the Performance data. To do that, let’s jump to the EFB for a moment.

4. EFB: Weight & Balance and Takeoff Performance calculations

1. Weight & Balance

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!)

Click here 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 15600lb and Block Fuel 7600lb
   
   
   

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 PERF

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

1. Fill out the input fields like this:

   • Airport: LIME

   • T/O Weight: 71 280lb
     
     (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

3. 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.

• You’ll then be able to load those V-Speeds directly in the FMS in the next step

• You can enter HPA or IN values for QNH, and the tablet will use the correct units based on your format

• You can use the same process for landing speeds from the Landing perf page on the EFB.

5. FMS: Performance pages

1. PERFORMANCE INIT

1. Back on the FMS we’ll still be on the FPL page. Now press RSK6 for PERF INIT.
   
   
   

2. On the first page of PERF INIT, 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 FL250 or 25000 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: 63680lb (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!

Takeoff

6. Taxi

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

7. Before Takeoff

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

   
   
   
   

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

3. Increase the ALT bug up to 10 000ft.
   
   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.
   
   

4. We have already set the correct flaps and trim pitch settings. Press the TO CCONFIG 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.
   
   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!

8. Climb

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.
   
   From this point onward, you can sit back and watch the plane climb up.
   
   

4. At 6000ft, we will change to the standard pressure setting of 29.92inHg. 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).
   
   Press the STD button in the middle of the BARO SET knob on the guidance panel. This will switch the altitude indications on the PFD to the FL format.
   
   

5. Although the cruise altitude was set as 25000ft, we have set our altitude setting on the PFD to 1200ft (now shown as FL120), 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, it 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 25000ft and then press FLCH to resume the VNAV climb again.
   
   
   

9. Cruise

You will notice that as the airplane reaches the cruise altitude, the TRS mode will change from CLB (climb) to CRZ (cruise). At this point, increase the speed to 0.79M.

If we used the autothrottle in manual mode, we would have to adjust the speed ourselves, but since we are using the autothrottle in FMS mode, this change happens automatically.

1. Editing a flight plan

We might want to edit a flight plan by removing some waypoints from it.

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.

2. Direct to

To skip the next waypoint and fly to any of the following waypoints, we will want to do a DIRECT to.

1. Press the LSK next to the waypoint that you want to fly to, in our case EVAXI.
   
   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.
   

10. Descent

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 where we will later capture the Glide Slope, but you could lower it to whatever ATC tells you or even the approach minimums.
   
   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 it will start descending.
   
   

4. At this point, we will adjust our descent speed to 280kts until we reach 10 000ft.
   

5. Landing performance calculations:

Go to the Landingf perf tab on the EFB. We will calculate the Landing Performance data the same way we did for Takeoff.

1. Fill out the input fields like this:

   • Airport: LOWW

   • Landing Weight: 60 000lb ************************************************
     
     (This is with the rough E175 landing weight 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: 29

   • Flaps: F5

   • Condition: DRY

   • Reverse: ALL OP

   • Wind: ************************************************

   • Icing: NO

   • Temp: ************************************************

   • QNH: ************************************************
     
     

2. Press COMPUTE

3. Press Send to FMS in the top right corner

4. Back in the FMS, press the PERF button CONTINUE HERE

5. 30NM/10000ft, change speed to 250.

   15NM/4500ft change speed to: 210knots

   13NM/3900ft : Call flaps 1, reduce speed to 180 tks

   10NM/3000ft: Set Flaps 2, then reduce speed to 160kts

   8NM/2400ft: Gear Down, Then set flaps 3, then reduce speed to 150kts

   5NM/1500ft: Set Landing Flap (Flap 5 or Full) V APP (calculated)

   
   
   

11. Approach

1. As you descent below 10 000ft, lower the speed to 250kts

2. 30nm outside of the airport, enter the correct ILS frequency to NAV1 on the FMS RADIO page (108.10) or load it through the X-Plane map.

   
   

3. Press PREV on the guidance panel. This will display the ILS course on the HSI along with the lateral and vertical deviation cues while you’re still keeping FMS as the source for the autopilot.
   
   

4. As you make the turn of the approach past the WW973 waypoint, you will be aligned with the approach, which you will also see on the PREVIEW needles.

   Press the APP button, which will arm the LOC (localizer) and GS (glideslope). Notice however that we are still using the FMS as the AP source, so nothing happens at this moment.
   

5. Note: The real plane has the capability to automatically switch from FMS to V/L, depending on several factors. We plan to add this feature in the future.
   

6. At 6000ft, press STD again to switch from the FL format to the digits format for our altitude indicator.
   

7. Adjust the baro setting based on your weather conditions. Mine is at 29.90.
   

8. Up until now, the FMS was the source of the autopilot. This is indicated by a magenta FMS indication on the left side of the PFD.
   
   To fly an ILS landing, the autopilot sourse must be VOR/LOC, in order to follow the NAV1 / NAV2 ILS frequencies.
   
   Switch from FMS to VOR/LOC can be done in two ways:

   1. Manually: Press the V/L button on the guidance panel once you are aligned with the localizer.
      

   2. Automatically: If PREV is displayed, and APP was pressed, the autopilot source will automatically switch from FMS to V/L once the GS deviation is 0.5 points or less.
      

9. Once you capture the LOC and GS, 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