Beginner guide to IFR flights

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For small jetliners (A320,B738 etc.)

Firstly this is only a very basic guide and is not to be used with real world flight.The speeds used in this guide are on the cautionary side to avoid getting "Dinged".It is purely to help PILOTS new to FS and Flynet to get a good start and build up some much needed cash.I will keep it very basic so as to enable pilots without a printer to be able to write it down without getting writers cramp,you can then use it as a sort of check list.I would also recomend d/l of B.Barendregt,s pushback and taxi guage which is freely available on Avsim,"extended search" file name(rcbgh-40.zip).This gauge will prevent you from getting "Dinged" whilst taxiing to the runway, and also on landing when speed drops to 40MPH will turn off reverse thrust,raise flaps, drop spoilers and initiate your pre designated taxi speed.If you will be using Time Compression i will add a little tip* at the bottom to enable you to still continue with ATC when you are approaching your Destination.

  1. set up your flightplan using the MSFS Flightplanner,dont turn on the Autopilot yet, but set up your autopilot with your cruise altitude and press the Alt button on the autopilot,set Vertical speed to 1200,now set the speed on the autopilot to 225 but dont turn on yet,also turn the NAV/GPS button to GPS.ask for clearance etc and then taxi to the active runway and SET FLAPS to 5%. When cleared onto runway TURN ON LANDING LIGHTS.
  1. Line up and when cleared to take off turn on the Auto THROTTLE and click the speed button to the on position.When you reach speed 150 gently rotate then raise the gear.When passing thru 500ft turn on AUTOPILOT and click the NAV button on the A/P,Aircraft should now turn towards your flightplan. When speed reaches 190MPH RAISE FLAPS,When you are sure the autopilot is in control you can increase speed to 240MPH and also increase Vertical speed to 1500ft per minute.Press "B" on keyboard every now and then. Press SHIFT+FORWARD SLASH on keyboard,this will set Spoilers for when you land,also if you are using the above mentioned taxi speed guage click on ARM-L.
  1. At 3000ft TURN OFF LANDING LIGHTS.If flying near hills make sure you are above 1000ft of the hills.
  1. On passing 10,000ft increase speed to 280mph and increase VS to 1800mph.
  1. When you pass thru 18000ft press "B".On reaching your cruise Altitude adjust your speed to your desired cruise speed.
  1. Sit back and relax.Get the airport details from the world map.Altitude,ILS frequencies,VOR/DME.You can enter VOR/DME ON nav2 radio.As you dont yet know which runway you will be landing on it is a good idea to make a note of all ILS frequencies.I have lots of them written down so i dont have to look them up.
  1. When you get to 200 miles from Destination ask for descent.If no mountains descend to 12000ft.Set your speed to 230/235 for the descent,descent rate of 1500ft per minute should be ok.As the Sim only lets you ask for descent of 10,000ft at a time you may have to ask two or three times till you have got your desired 12,000ft.From this point on descend as per instruction from ATC.Press "B" every now and then.and when you are instructed to descend below 10,000ft keep an eye on your altitude,once you are thru 10,000 TURN ON LANDING LIGHTS.Set speed to about 220IAS
  1. When ATC starts to give you Vectors(Headings) for your approach TURN THE NAV/GPS SWITCH TO NAV.This is important because you will not be able to lock onto the ILS if it is still switched to GPS.When you are informed of which runway you will be landing on enter the ILS frequency for that runway on NAV1.
  1. Follow ATC instructions and you will be Vectored to an intercept course for the Localiser of your landing runway.Set speed to 190 and Flaps to 5%. When you are cleared for the localiser you can click the APPR switch on your A/P and your aircraft will automatically turn and line-up with the runway and will start to descend when the Glideslope becomes active.If you are not yet recieving the Glideslope signal you can click the NAV switch but remember to click the APPR switch when the Glideslope indicator does start to display on your instruments.Now set speed to 180 and when you begin to descend on the Glideslope LOWER THE GEAR.You can turn off the AUTOTHROTTLE now and as you descend keep adding more flaps and reduce your speed to about 150.Watch the Glideslope indicater and keep adjusting your speed so that the dot is in the centre of the display,if it is below the centre you are too high so reduce speed a little,if it is above the centre you are too low,increase speed a little.When you are about 200/300FT above the runway TURN OFF THE AUTOPILOT and land the Aircraft yourself raising the nose a little just before touchdown,also ease the speed down to idle.Once on the runway lower the nose and apply reverse thrust (F2) key on keyboard.You can also use your brakes,on/off on/off,dont want to burn them out.When your speed drops to about 60 you can brake harder till you get down to taxi speed.Raise flaps,retract the spoilers (/) and taxi of the runway at the next exit.If using the above mentioned taxi speed gauge your Reverse Thrust,Flaps and Spoilers will be canceled automatically when your speed reaches 40mph and your Aircraft will brake till reaching whatever you set as your taxi speed.

Take off and climb observing ATC at all times until you are given clearance to your Cruise Altitude(C/A).When you are cleared to C/A acknowledge the handover but do not contact the next controler.Set your Time Compression 2/4/8/16x.Now,when you are about 200 miles from your Destination contact the controler and he will tell you to turn the wrong way,don,t answer him,count to 5,he will tell you again to turn the wrong way,he will keep doing this until eventually he will tell you to turn the way you want to go. eg.(TURN 150 CONTINUE OWN NAVIGATION). Now you can answer him.If you have been on a longy he could give as many as 15 wrong directions.This is ATC cycling thru all the sectors that you did not talk to them but eventually ATC catches up to your present position.

This was meant to be a brief description but it turned out to be longer than i thought it would.Again i would just like to say that this is intended for complete Newbies and speeds etc are mainly to avoid the dreaded "Ding".

by Stan Brown

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