PMDG Boeing 747-400 Type Rating Course [lesson 3] by Thamer Alahaimer

PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering 3 - 1

PMDG 747-400 Type Rating Course Introduction

What is the PMDG Type Course?: This type course is designed to help you learn and explore various aspects of the PMDG 747-400 that you might not otherwise have discovered after reading the supplied documentation. Please note that this type course will assume that you have read the documentation we supplied with the airplane. This course will also assume that you have printed the Chapter 5 Normal Procedures checklists, and the Flight Use Checklist to use and follow during the type course. The entire type course will consist of several lessons broken into pieces. These pieces will roughly reconstruct the entire type rating maneuver evaluation conducted for certification in the 747-400 type aircraft. Please note that this type course is written very generally for the learning and interest of our flight simulator customers and does not reflect the actual operating procedure of any specific carrier or training techniques taught by any specific training facility. This type course may contain errors and omissions which we may correct from time to time at our discretion. Additionally it stands to reason that no aspects of this course should be used for any purpose other than the enjoyment of our PMDG 747-400/400F simulation products. Lesson Plan Overview: The PMDG Type Course will begin at KBFI, where you will learn to power up the PMDG 747 from a parked and de-powered state. You will be taken through programming of the FMC for a flight from Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, (KBFI) to Moses Lake, Washington (KMWH) where you will learn to conduct various visual and instrument approaches in order to improve your proficiency with the PMDG 747-400. Along the way some lessons may require repetition in order to help you learn specific tasks. To help with this repetition process, we will provide specific saved flights that you should load and run in order to ensure that your experience matches the teaching materials for the course. Please remember at all times that in the complex field of aviation there are many different regulatory bodies, corporate policies and personal operating procedures that vary from others, and sometimes they even conflict with one another. Do not be intimidated by different techniques, as it is always valuable to expand your skills as a pilot but we recommend that you use the techniques we teach in this course at least initially until your grain comfort with the airplane. Our hope is that upon completion of this Type Course, you will have gained sufficient experience with the operation of the PMDG 747-400 to dramatically increase your enjoyment of this simulation. It has been our experience that many customers never take the time to really learn the depths of this simulation and subsequently miss out on the true simulation value and learning experience of this product. We hope that this type course will help you to experience just how complex this PMDG 747-400 simulation truly is!

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

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PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering

PMDG 747-400 Type Rating Course Lesson Three: Maneuvering Lesson Three Overview: For this exercise we are going to depart from our planned flight for some “hands on” maneuvering through some basic climbs, descents, turns, steep turns and stalls. I have provided a series of saved flights. These flights are designed to work with specific sections of this lesson, and you will be prompted which saved flight to load during each phase of the lesson. Each saved flight will be used to demonstrate a different technique for takeoff. Some of the saved flights will be reused a few times in order to demonstrate different techniques. This lesson picks up where Lesson Two ended, so you will notice that the aircraft/FMS setup is familiar! This lesson will take you through a normal takeoff using one of the takeoff profiles that you have already used. You will then hand fly a climb profile that includes an intermediate level-off in order to give you some practice controlling the pitch and power of this magnificent aircraft. When we have reached a safe altitude for maneuvering, you will conduct some basic turns, followed by steep turns, and approach/recovery from aerodynamic stalls. We will then conduct a short series of climbs and descents using a few hand flying techniques that will help you when it comes time to visualize what the airplane is doing when it is being controlled by the autopilot during similar climbs and descents. Practicing these maneuvers will give you greater competence and confidence to fly some of the approach/landing maneuvers by hand by teaching you how to fly the airplane rather than simply monitoring the autopilot. Although 99% of your flying in this airplane will likely take place on the autopilot, one of the true joys of being an airline pilot comes from the smooth manual control of your aircraft through all regimes of flight. What you will need: The following items are needed in order for you to gain the most benefit from this course: • • •

You must have a copy of the Type Course source files. (You should have them if you are reading this!) You should print ALL of Chapter 5: Normal Procedures and keep it nearby for reference. (Hint: Windows START menu, ALL PROGRAMS, then PMDG Simulations, PMDG 747400 Operating Manuals.) You will also need to print the CHECKLIST located in the PMDG Simulations, PMDG 747-400 menu as well.

You will find it most helpful to print this Lesson Plan before commencing. Additionally, we find that it is helpful if you keep your checklists nearby in printed format as you will reference them continually during your first few starts. You can use any PMDG 747-400/400F livery for the purpose of this course as it may suite your taste. The images within the documentation will be from the new PMDG 747-400F.

Installing This Type Course Lesson: The ZIP file that contains the lesson plan should be unzipped to your main Flight Simulator directory. We have structured the zip file so that all of the required files will be appropriately

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering 3 - 3

placed in the correct directories for you provided that you have “use directories” selected in WinZip. If you have problems, just copy the following files to the correct locations: PMDG-744-TRC-<lesson name>.sav -> <Flight Sim Root Directory>\PMDG\747400\PanelState\ PMDG-744-TRC-<lesson name>.FLT -> <Flight Sim Root Directory>\Flights\PMDG\ PMDG-744-TRC<lesson name>.WX -> <Flight Sim Root Directory>\Flights\PMDG\ PART ONE: It’s Deja-Vu All Over Again!: Note: At this point, please stop your simulation and use the FLIGHTS, Select A Flight menu in MSFS to load the saved flight PMDG_744_TRC_Lesson_3_Part_1. Goal: The point of this lesson section is to take you through a normal takeoff and climb out including a level off at intermediate altitudes. THIS LESSON SHOULD BE FLOWN BY HAND WITHOUT THE FLIGHT DIRECTOR. The auto throttle will control power for you during the initial climb. Takeoff. You’ve done this a few dozen times by now, it should seem. After completing the PMDG 747-400 Type Rating Course 2, you should feel very comfortable lifting this massive airplane into the sky as if she really was meant to leave the ground gently from her tip-toes. We are going to repeat a generic light weight takeoff, but this time with a twist: We are going to turn off the flight director, and you will fly her entirely be reference to the instruments. How hard can it be? It might take a few repeats to get “smooth” with the controls- but you are ready. Trust me! Start Flight Simulator 2004 and use the SELECT FLIGHT option to load PMDG-744-TCLesson3_Part_One from within the PMDG folder. Your aircraft will appear sitting on the runway at Boeing Field. This is an exact replica of a setup from one of the previous lessons. This flight picks up with the aircraft ready for takeoff, and all checklists completed! The only thing left for you to do is to set the Autobrake to RTO (remember- this is one switch that just won’t save it’s position….) Now the one “minor” difference between this takeoff and the previous training exercises is that I do not want you to use the autopilot during these lessons unless instructed to do so. We will use the flight director today as an aid to help you become comfortable hand flying the airplane. You should take mental not of the pitch required for climbs and descents, as these values will become representative for you to conduct climbs with and without the flight director in use. For takeoff, you may use the auto throttle, but we’ll turn that off a bit later in this lesson too! The first step in our exercise today is to conduct a normal four engine takeoff with an initial climb speed of 166 knots, followed by a normal acceleration through flap retraction and a level off at 5,000’ MSL initially. To commence your takeoff roll, bring your throttles up to approximately 70% of N1, and pause for a moment to let the engines stabilize. (This note applies only to customers who have installed both the 400 and 400F: A quick rule of thumb to help you reach 70% like a professional, is to bring the throttle thrust index lines up until

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

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PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering

they are just level with the bottom of the blue N1 indication on the upper EICAS. This will give you approximately 70% of N1.)

After your engines have stabilized at around 70% of N1, press your TOGA button (on the joystick, remember?) and the auto throttle will set takeoff power for you! When your first officer calls out “Vee One!” you are committed to flight! When he calls “Rotate” bring your nose up so that in 3 seconds you reach 8 degrees of pitch, then wait for the airplane to fly from the runway! Once your airplane has left the ground, and you know that the tail is clear of danger, you will pitch the nose up firmly in order to stop the increase in airspeed precisely when it reaches 166 knots, thus converting all of the airplane’s energy into the climb. Remember that you should use the green airspeed trend vector arrow on your airspeed indicator to help you smoothly adjust the pitch in order slow the rate of acceleration and finally arrest acceleration just as you reach 166 knots. (Your passengers don’t want to feel you herking the nose up and down while you true to capture that speed…. Be smooth!) If you happen to accelerate beyond 166 knots during the initial pitch up, don’t panic- but DON’T SLOW DOWN either. If you miss 166, just keep pulling the nose up until the acceleration stopsthen hold that speed for the initial climb. (Note: This is an all engines operating maneuver and we are focusing on technique and smoothness- if you lost an engine, disregard this advice!) You should retract the gear on schedule and hold your airspeed until reaching 1000 AGL. (NoteI said AGL, since we are concerned about ground clearance primarily during the initial takeoff climb.) As you pass 1000’ AGL, lower the nose by approximately half of your current pitch angle, and allow the airplane to accelerate in the climb. Since we are light weight for this climb we do not need to accelerate beyond 250 knots for the climb, so set your speed bug to 250 knots and press the SPD button to instruct the auto throttles to maintain this speed once you reach it. As you accelerate, you will begin retracting the flaps according to the green Flap Maneuvering Speed indications on the left side of the airspeed indicator. As you pass each indicator, retract the flaps accordingly, ensuring that your speed will be more than 10 knots higher than the Flap Maneuvering Speed marker with the flaps in any given position. You will find that about 10 degrees of nose up pitch works just fine for climb and acceleration. Using a smooth technique, slowly decrease your rate of climb as you approach 5,000 MSL, as this is to be our initial level off altitude for the climb. When you reach 5,000 MSL, run your After Takeoff Checklist to ensure we haven’t missed any important items during the climb out.

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering 3 - 5

Playing Yo-Yo: This next exercise is designed to help you â&#x20AC;&#x153;get your head insideâ&#x20AC;? the process of climbs and descents. At first we will conduct them allowing the auto throttle to control engine thrust, then you will conduct the same exercise while manually adjusting the throttles. (If you pay close attention to the relationship between the throttles and pitch while doing the exercises on auto throttle, you will find that your manual throttle behavior should mimic the auto throttle!) Okay- check to ensure the MCP SPD is 250 knots and that your airplane is correctly trimmed to maintain level flight at this speed. To commence our climb, reach up and set 10,000 into the MCP ALT window. Remember that the goal here is to maintain 250 knots precisely during the climb, so in just a moment I am going to have you press the Flight Level Change (FLCH) button to initiate the climb. Now lets picture what is about to happen: Pressing FLCH is going to command the flight director to have you initiate a climb, and the auto throttles will select maximum available climb thrust. In other words, the airplane is going to give you every ounce of thrust it has available in order to boost you up to 10,000 MSL. As you pitch up and thrust increases, the airplane is going to want to accelerate above 250 knots since you are in level flight. Rather than allowing this acceleration, you will use pitch to control speed. From our previous lesson you will recall that when an airplane has excess thrust, it wants to climb, and since we have excess thrust in this scenario, you will immediately enter a climb if you pitch up to maintain 250 knots of speed. Use the green speed trend arrow on the airspeed indicator to make smooth adjustments so that you can maintain the proper pitch angle for the climb, and you should find that it is quite easy to hold your speed constant, thus converting all of the available excess engine thrust into climb performance. Your PFD should look similar to this image during your climb:

In ALL of the climbs to follow, you should re-trim the airplane to maintain your climb once you have established it by setting your pitch. There is no heroism in holding your pitch precisely by hand on the yoke, (and it gets tiring too!) so just re-trim the airplane for every climb/descent to follow! When you are approaching 10,000 MSL, use a smooth but firm reduction in pitch to stop your climb and re-trim the airplane for level flight.

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

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PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering

Next we are going to repeat the maneuver at 280 knots, so reset your MCP SPD to 280 and allow the airplane to accelerate in level flight. Re-trim the airplane as required for level flight. Now, once you have the airplane trimmed in level flight at 10,000 MSL, take a note of your thrust setting. It should be hovering around 75%. Keep this in mind, because we are going to level out at 10,000 MSL again in the near future, and 75% will be your target thrust again! To commence this climb, set 15,000 in the MCP ALT window, and press FLCH to initiate the climb. Begin the process of pitching the nose up to follow the flight director and note that the thrust comes up to the maximum available thrust, and you must pitch up to maintain 280 knots. Use your speed trend vector to smoothly maintain 280 knots, then level the airplane at 15,000. Did you notice that the auto throttles selected around 90-92% thrust for this climb? Did you notice that your pitch for the climb was around 7.5 degrees nose up? Remember these numbersbecause in a few minutes you will be flying this profile by hand without any flight director or auto throttle, and these settings will help you tremendously! You should be getting a feel for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;pitch to maintain speedâ&#x20AC;? technique by now, so reset your MCP ALT to 20,000 and conduct the climb again, maintaining 280 knots in the climb!

Driving Down Stairs: This next exercise is going to be the identical process in reverse. Instead of climbing, we are going to descent in steps back down, using the same pitch techniques to maintain airspeed, only this time our thrust will be at or near idle power instead of climb thrust! This descent will be conducted in the following manner: Set 15000 in your MCP ALT window, then press FLCH. The auto throttles will begin reducing power, and the aircraft is going to have a tendency to want to slow down. You will prevent this by lowering the nose as needed to maintain 280 knots in the descent. Again, use your speed trend vector to help you. If you see the trend arrow, pitch the airplane in the direction of the arrow until it diminishes and finally disappears with your speed constant at 280 knots. You will find during this descent that holding the nose perfectly level on the horizon with the thrust at idle will give you a 280 knot descent at 2000 fpm. This is a very normal descent for airline transports. Use this pitch/power setting in the future if flying by hand! During this portion of the descent, your PFD should look like this:

As you approach 15000, pitch smoothly to capture your altitude, but do not let the airplane stray from 280 knots!

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering 3 - 7

How was that? Pretty easy, huh? Did you notice that the airplane required a much smaller pitch change for the descent than the climb? Many pilots when learning to fly find it easier to grasp the pitch changes required to maintain speed in a descent than they do in a climb, so you may have noticed that this exercise was easier than the climbs. So lets practice a few more! Reset your MCP ALT to 10,000 and press FLCH. Use your pitch and the speed trend vector to maintain 280 knots all the way down to 10,000 MSL. When you are level at 10,000 MSL, reset your MCP SPD to 250 knots, allow the airplane to slow and then re-trim for level flight at this altitude. Now lets practice a slightly slower descent to 5,000 using pitch and the speed trend vector to maintain 250 knots. Ready? Go!

Is There a Manual for This?: Alright- now some self-checking is involved here. How did you do during those climbs and descents? Okay? Or just barely okay? It is extremely important that you be completely comfortable with this process, or the next section will be a bit more of a struggle because you are going to have to manage your throttles manually as well! Okay, ready to get started? Our goal now is to conduct the same series of climbs/descents using none of the automation that the 747-400 brochure advertises. We are learning new hand-flying skills, so while maintaining 5,000 MSL, take a look at your joystick throttle position, and look at the engine thrust being provided by the auto throttles. Match as approximately as you can the position of your joystick throttles and the auto throttle thrust currently being provided to the airplane in level flight. (You are doing this to prevent the throttles from changing wildly when you turn the auto throttle off….) Next, I want you to disconnect the autopilot, the auto throttle and turn off the flight director. This will cancel all of the pitch/roll/thrust modes displayed on your PFD, and return the airplane to your control. You should get a aural and visual warning that you have disconnected the automation, which is normal. If the airplane tries to accelerate or decelerate, maintain level flight, and adjust your throttles slightly to recapture and hold 250 knots. (Use your speed trend vector arrow to help you! If the arrow shows acceleration, then reduce thrust slightly until you can maintain 250 knots. If the arrow shows deceleration, add thrust and return to 250 knots!) Okay- you should now be set to commence the exercise~ The process is going to be nearly identical to our last climb sequence: Reach up and set 10000 into the MCP ALT window, only this time, rather than pressing the FLCH button, you are going to smoothly advance the throttles to full thrust. (In this case, use a thrust setting as close to 100% as you can get it without going over…. Don’t jockey the throttles around- just bring them up using the white thrust setting cues and leave them there.)

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

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PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering

You will notice again that the airplane wants to accelerate since it now has excess thrust, but you are going to pitch up smoothly to keep your speed at precisely 250 knots! This will initiate the climb, and you should use the speed trend vector and pitch to maintain this speed for your climb. So that you can plan ahead mentally- you are going to need about 12 degrees of nose up pitch to maintain 250 knots with 100% thrust. Your rate of climb will be around 3700 feet per minute in the climb. (Pretty impressive climb rates when this airplane is lightly loaded!) As you approach 10,000 MSL, you will want to VERY slowly begin creeping the throttles back in order to reduce your rate of climb, but hold your pitch angle where it was. From the time you pass through 9200â&#x20AC;&#x2122; MSL, you should take around 15 seconds bring the power back to 80%, and then begin lowering the nose and simultaneously making a single, SMOOTH power adjustment back to 75% power, which will yield 250 knots at 10,000 MSL. Re-trim the airplane for level flight and make any minor adjustments you need to keep the speed steady at 250 knots. (Your final thrust setting should be approximately 75%, now wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that easy?) Okay- lets set the MCP SPD bug to 280 knots, and add power gently to accelerate the airplane to 280 knots. Make a mental note of the thrust required (should be slightly higher than 75%) to maintain 280 knots in level flight at 10,000 MSL. Now, lets set the MCP ALT selector to 15000, and smoothly advance the throttles to 90% thrust again in one single SMOOTH power application. Pitch the airplane up to maintain 280 knots, and use the speed trend vector to help you. Your pitch will be about 9 degrees nose up to maintain 280 knots and will give you a climb rate of around 2500 fpm. As you approach 15000, repeat the same process as you used to level at 10,000 MSL. When passing through 14,200 MSL, slowly reduce thrust while maintaining your pitch angle and plan to reach around 80% thrust about 15 seconds later. Then smoothly lower the nose and in one SMOOTH power reduction gently bring the thrust back to your hold your 280 knot speed. (Should be around 77%) Re-trim the airplane for level flight, and make any minor power adjustments that are needed to maintain precisely 280 knots. Getting a bit better at this yet? Okay- lets do one more: Note your power setting, set 20000 in the MCP ALT window, and smoothly bring your thrust up to 95% while pitching up to maintain 280 knots. You will find that around 7 degrees of nose up is required to maintain 280 knots with 95% thrust and yields a rate of climb around 2400 feet per minute. As you approach 20,000 MSL, repeat the thrust reduction and level off technique that you have used on the previous two level-offs. When you are ready to level off, gently lower the nose to capture your altitude and adjust your power gently to SMOOTHLY reduce power to approximately 80%. Re-trim the airplane for level flight, and make any minor adjustments as needed to the throttles to maintain precisely 280 knots.

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering 3 - 9

What Goes Up, etc, etc, etc.: Okay, now lets repeat our descent steps, this time using manual thrust control. The descent process is relatively straight forward: Reduce power to idle, and use pitch to maintain airspeed. The airplane will gently enter a descent, and you should find it very easy to control speed during the descent. So lets get started! Note the thrust setting that is required to maintain level flight and 280 knots. Reach up and reset your MCP ALT to 15000 and smoothly reduce your thrust to idle power. Using pitch and your speed trend vector, maintain precisely 280 knots during the descent. As you approach 15000 feet, smoothly bring the power (slowly!) up to your estimated thrust setting from 20,000 feet, and re-trim the airplane for level flight while making small adjustments to the power setting in order to maintain precisely 280 knots. Repeat this descent to 10,000 and when level at 10,000, reduce your speed to 250 knots. Use your speed trend vector to help you make a single, smooth power application to capture 250 knots. Doesn’t that feel nice when you do it smoothly and correctly? Next, set your MCP ALT to 5000 and reduce power to idle for a descent to 5,000 MSL. When you are level and trimmed at 250 knots, take a moment to assess how you are feeling about hand flying these climbs and descents. If you feel you need more practice, then by all means repeat some of these exercises until you are completely comfortable. Some Tips to Make Life Easier: Remember during Lesson Two when we focused on the Flight Path Vector? Go ahead and use it. This is a great tool for helping you to manage the airplane’s energy, so make use of it when needed! You will notice that during idle power descents at 280 knots if you put the aircraft into a 0 pitch attitude the FPV will show that you have a 3 degree descent path. Pretty cool, huh? Did you notice anything about the power settings? They were pretty much the same throughout this exercise for 250 knots and 280 knots! Having an idea what power settings to use is a big part of hand flying an airplane smoothly. For fun, try selecting a power setting for 300 knots, and for 200 knots. You will find that knowing these power settings by heart dramatically simplifies your hand flying because you can select an approximate power setting, then adjust it until it meets your needs.

We’re Turning The Corner: Next we are going to conduct a series of turning maneuvers while hand flying the airplane. Again we will conduct these maneuvers with the auto throttle engaged first, then we’ll do them using manual thrust. Climb to 15,000 MSL and re-engage the auto throttle for 280 knots. Re-trim the airplane for level flight, and you will be ready to continue. If not already there, select a heading of 180 degrees, and set the heading but to match. Remain level at 15,000.

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

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PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering

This first series is going to be a single 360 degree turn to the right, using a bank angle of approximately 20 degrees. We will then turn back to the left using the same bank angle. When you are ready, first note your current thrust setting as selected by the auto throttles, then roll the airplane smoothly to 20 degrees of bank, and use your Flight Path Vector to adjust the pitch of the airplane as required to maintain level flight. Notice how easy it is to maintain level flight by just keeping the FPV on the horizon? Piece of cake! Your PFD should look like this:

Once you are established in the turn, note that your auto throttle has increased thrust to approximately 79% in order to maintain speed while you are in the turn? Remember this adjustment, because Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going to make you do this by hand in just a moment! Complete the 360 degree turn by rolling out smoothly on your 180 degree heading, and note that the auto throttle returns the thrust to itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s previous setting for 280 knots. Now repeat the turn, but this time to the left, observing that you do not deviate from your altitude (use the FPV) and monitor the auto throttle adjusting power to maintain your speed. Okay- those were easy. Now lets make it a bit more complex! This time, I want you to roll the airplane to 45 degrees of bank. Note your thrust setting, then smoothly and firmly roll the airplane to 45 degrees of bank. You can quickly reach the correct bank angle by using the marks provided on the primary flight display. During the turn, your PFD should look like this:

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering 3 - 11

Note in this image how I have lined the 45 degree bank marker up directly over the top of the white “dog house” roll index on the top of the PFD? All I have to do is hold that bank angle, adjust pitch to maintain level flight, and watch the thrust setting that was selected by the auto throttles to maintain speed in this much tighter turn! Also not that in this turn I have the nose pegged at 5 degrees nose up? If you pitch the airplane to that 5 degree mark when you reach 45 degrees of bank, you’ll be right in the ballpark for maintaining your altitude buy making small adjustments using the FPV! It is important to note that you do NOT have enough elevator authority to maintain this bank angle without aggressive use of nose up trim. Start trimming the moment you begin banking into the turn, and work aggressively to hold the FPV on the horizon line in order to make this turn work easily. (This might seem challenging, and it is supposed to be! Remember- we are trying to improve your airplane handling skills by forcing you to work for perfection!) During a 45 banked turn, you will notice that your thrust should come out around 88% in order to maintain level flight. That is a significant increase in thrust over your 20 degree banked turn, and this pitch/turn rate would be very uncomfortable for passengers on your airplane, so it is not something you would do in normal maneuvering. Remember these two thrust numbers: 75% for level flight at 280 knots and 88% for 280 knots during a steep turn!) Roll out smoothly when you have completed a full 360 turn, and note that your auto throttle has returned your thrust to it’s original setting! Repeat this maneuver going the other way, and you’ll see that it really is pretty easy if you use the flight path vector and the auto throttles! (Hint: Roll into the turn to the right and trim and pitch as needed to hold your altitude in the turn, then when your turn is complete, simply roll to a 45 degree left turn without stopping in the middle. This will prevent you from having to re-trim the airplane multiple times during the maneuver! You should not deviate from your assigned altitude of 15000 during either of these turns. Repeat these turns until you feel you have the hang of them. Then you will be ready to do them fully by hand! Ready? Reach up and turn off the auto throttle. You will get a visual and aural alert to advise you that the throttles are now yours to control. Adjust your joystick throttle so that you are level at 15000 feet and steady at 280 knots. (Hint: Remember the thrust setting that the auto throttle used? Use that one!) Okay- enter a 20 degree right bank and adjust your pitch to maintain level flight. Once you reach 20 degrees of bank, adjust your throttles gently to the same power setting that was used by the auto throttle, and maintain level flight during the turn. Wasn’t that easy? Roll out on your 180 degree heading and gently return the throttles to the original thrust setting! Okay- now repeat the exercise, turning to the left this time. Ready for hand-flown steep turns?

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

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PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering

First, refresh your memory on the two power settings that the auto throttle used. (You should have the first one set already!) Then roll the airplane smoothly to 45 degrees of bank, keeping yourself level by using the flight path vector or simply using the same pitch that you had observed previously when flying steep turns. Adjust your throttles to 88% power setting, and hold the airplane level as it completes the turn. Roll out smoothly on your 180 degree heading then turn at 45 degrees of bank back to the left. When you have completed that left turn, roll wings level while trimming aggressively down, pitch for level flight and adjust your throttles to your level flight power setting. (note: This rollout takes some practice to make it smooth. When you can do steep turns and roll out level on your altitude and airspeed using no auto throttles, you are truly on the verge of mastering the handling of your airplane!) Easy, wasn’t it? (if it wasn’t- don’t worry. This takes some practice- but the skills developed are worth the time!) Repeat this exercise until you feel you have mastered the technique. I mention this because each of these techniques is a stepping stone to the larger mastery of the airplane, so I want you to be good and proficient with all of these exercises before you continue on to the next one!

Observations: Have you noticed that when setting your thrust for the steep turns that simply selecting a known power setting made the process very simple? No guesswork involved- you just set your power and forget about it! Remember how important this is when we get to flying approaches! Approaches are a busy time- and if you have taken the time to observe and remember your power settings for level flight/descents at various speeds, you will easily master hand flown approaches! Did you notice the pitch angles used during the turns? If you needed to conduct a steep turn at any other weight, you could quickly pick that same pitch angle, then adjust slightly from their until the airplane performs the way you want it to. It’s all about observing what thrust/pitch combinations give you certain performance parametersthen using them when you need them! (For example: Lets assume that your PFD fails, and/or your airspeed indication becomes corrupted. If you wanted to fly level at 20,000 feet at 280 knots- you could set your pitch and power just like you see them now- and the airplane will do precisely what you expect.)

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering 3 - 13

Stalls are for Horses: The last maneuver we are going to focus on today is aerodynamic stalls. Lets get one thing clear about stalls in transport category aircraft before we begin: You don’t wait for the airplane to stall. This is not a Cessna, and stalls are extremely dangerous in swept wing jets. The purpose of this exercise is to teach you to avoid stalling the airplane by showing you the IMMEDIATE actions that you should take upon the first indication of a stall. What do I mean by the first indication of a stall? Easy: If the airplane begins to buffet as a result of a stall onset (not something you’d see/feel in MSFS….sorry…) or if the airplane gives you any indication that it is approaching a stall such as the stick shaker! We will focus on the stick shaker for this exercise and you should assume that this is your indication of an impending stall- and is your cue to recover the airplane! Stall recovery is practiced from a variety of configurations, so I will walk you through a basic stall sequence, and then expect you to try them in each of the configurations described. The stall sequence works like this: -Establish level flight at 15000’ MSL. - Set the configuration for the stall (in this case, 250 knots, flaps up, gear up and wings level) - Disconnect the auto throttle and set thrust just slightly above idle. - Use pitch trim to keep the airplane in level flight while you slow toward stalling speed. - Below 180 knots, do not use any further pitch trim, instead use the yoke to maintain level flight. At the first indication of a stall (stick shaker!) you should: - Push the throttles full forward. (If you have the A/T armed, pressing TOGA will help!) - Adjust your pitch to minimize the loss of altitude. If descending, you should pitch up as much as is required to intermittently activate the stick shaker. Once the aircraft beings to climb, use a stable climb pitch attitude. - Return to your entry altitude and adjust power to maintain 250 knots. You do NOT want to “dump the nose” on this airplane like you can do in many light aircraft. If you do so, the airplane will likely commence a descent that could prove catastrophic if you were to stall the airplane without altitude sufficient for recovery! The proper technique for recovering from a stall in this airplane is to get as much power out of the engines as quickly as you can, while holding pitch stable enough to keep from sinking further until airspeed is sufficient to allow you to climb. Do don’t dump the nose! This is why your PFD should look like as you commence the stall recovery:

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

3 - 14

PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering

Now I want you to practice stalls in each of the following configurations: Gear Up, Flaps Up. Gear Up, Flaps 10. Gear Down, Flaps 25. You will notice a dramatic difference in each of these configurations in terms of pitch, and “feel” as the airplane approaches the stall. Remember- the moment you hear the stick shaker- start your recovery!

Lets Decompress A Little: When you feel you have a handle on those stall procedures (boring, aren’t they? Stalls are always my least favorite maneuver during recurrent training) its time for us to practice another maneuver that you will likely never perform except in the simulator during qualification. For this maneuver, please load PMDG_747_TRC_Lesson3_Part2. (Note: This situation is paused when you load it. I did this because it takes some time for all of the systems in the airplane to initialize, check on their status and commence operation when MSFS loads. Since the sim naturally un-pauses itself before the airplane finishes this process, it can cause some unwanted behaviors in certain autopilot modes. As such, please wait until you see the MCP ALT window display 35000 and the HOLD light illuminate before you un-pause this saved flight. You may need to press the SPD button to activate the auto throttle and use V/S to get the airplane level at 35000 depending upon the speed of your computer.) You will find yourself at FL350, gear and flaps up cruising at Mach 0.84. For this lesson you are going to demonstrate that you can safely conduct an emergency descent to 14,000 feet in a careful, deliberate manner using the appropriate procedure. For this exercise, we are going to simulate a cabin decompression emergency, followed by an emergency decent. (Note: we didn’t include a cabin decompression emergency- and since this is training, we are going to pretend that you just lost the cabin…) At the first indication of a cabin decompression, you will first verify that all three packs are set to NORM, and you will switch the outflow valves to MAN and use the switches to drive the valves closed. (You needn’t do this for this exercise…) The emergency descent is best flown by the autopilot for safety reasons, not the least of which is that rapid decompression can create debilitating pain and disorientation. It’s best to have the

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY

PMDG 747-400/400F TRC 3: Maneuvering 3 - 15

autopilot doing the hard work so that you can focus on monitoring the descent to ensure that the airplane remains in control and the maneuver is effected properly. To commence the descent, select 14000 in the MCP ALT window, and press the FLCH button. This will drive the auto throttles to idle thrust and begin the pitch down for the descent. To improve descent performance, you should bring the spoilers up to the FLIGHT detent, and select Vmo in the MCP SPD window. ( 365 knots or M0.900) This will provide a rather dramatic rate of descent, that will eventually settle in around 5000 fpm. Your PFD will look very unusual to you, since you do not normally see negative pitch angles in a transport category aircraft, and you should expect to see plenty of terrain out the front windows! Your PFD should look very similar to this during the descent:

As you approach 16,000’ MSL, set a speed of 290 knots in the MCP SPD window. This will cause the autopilot to adjust your pitch (and rate of descent) in order to slow the airplane to 290 knots. You should expect to see the rate of descent diminish until the 290 knot speed has been captured, then the descent will continue to 14,000’ at approximately 3000 feet per minute in the descent. As the airplane approaches 14,000 MSL, remember to retract the speed brakes, (the airplane will complain if you forget!) and monitor the autopilot to ensure that you are now level at 14,000 and the auto throttles are maintaining 290 knots. This is a very simple maneuver, but it is critically important that you can accomplish this maneuver even if distracted by noise, air movement, confusion and unpleasant physical sensations. (I had a cabin pressurization outflow valve fail open a few years ago, and I assure you that the rapid change in pressure does horrible things to your sinuses and the sensation is extremely distracting…. So practice this maneuver and make sure it is second nature!)

Okay- that is all for this week! Here Endeth the Lesson! See you next week!

For use with PMDG 747-400/400F ONLY