I need some opinions

Anonymous wrote:

Could someone please tell me the way that it's done in real life or how you do it when you are playing?

Thanks

I think herein lies your answer.

You really have to decide whether you want to simulate a flight as realistically as possible in FS or whether you want to play around and just have fun.

In the latter case obviously you can do just anything you like. Disengage your Autothrottle and then deploy your spoilers - using HOTAS while observing how your a/c reacts.
I'm saying this because you'll see that in this situation different a/c will behave very differently in FS.
Once you've reached your desired altitude and speed, retract your spoilers and (after you've adjusted your KIAS) engage Auto throttle again.

If you want realism instead, there's plenty of literature available for free.
First decide on the a/c you want to fly and then do a search for the proper procedures.
Keep in mind though, that 'proper procedures' is a two-edged sword as FS can only simulate within its own capabilities.

Basically I would say there are two types of 'proper procedures': those applied and adhered to in real life and those used in FS.

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you both for your answers. I never thought of looking in the manual for the correct procedure so that is something I'll do.

Also, in the second response, you said you descend at 190 miles out. I have never been given clearance by ATC to start down that far out. It's usually 120-90 miles out or even closer just depending on how high I am.

Which is why I don't use ATC for IFR flight. From FL350, it is very hard to descend at 90 miles out whilst not increasing your speed, especially if you are in an aircraft with a lot of velocity inertia such as a 747. I find you end up with a pitch down attitude in some cases, which rarely happens in the real world. You often don't notice that you are descending in the real world so descent is close to level.

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Which is why I don't use ATC for IFR flight. From FL350, it is very hard to descend at 90 miles out whilst not increasing your speed, especially if you are in an aircraft with a lot of velocity inertia such as a 747.

...at that point I'm flying at M2.04

crosscheck9 wrote:

Hmm - Either I'm doing something wrong, or just following another procedure, however, the following is a summary of my descent ideals..

Lets say I'm at 30,000ft, I begin my descent at about 100nm out. I generally set my A/T to 270kts, and can usually start my descent at 2200fpm. As I progress through FL240, I reduce to 1800fpm, then as I progress through 14000, I reduce to 1500fpm, at which point I set the A/T to 230kts. When I get to 12000, I reduce to 1300fpm. At 11000, if I'm not already below 250kts, I deploy the spoilers briefly, until I'm below 250kts. If I find my speed is increasing, I just reduce my rate of descent to 1000-1200 fpm, and eventually I'll reach localizer altitude without any problems.

Interesting. It sounds as though that would suit a smaller aircraft, but if you aren't below 250KIAS in a heavy aircraft at 11,000ft then the chances are small of you losing sufficient speed by 10,000ft and you are forcing yourself to use your spoilers. I don't like to overcomplicate things that much - from cruise height, I set my speed to around 240KIAS and then descend at a reasonable rate. With my throttles near idling (high N1 due to airspeed) at around 40% my speed bleeds off slowly and I don't reach 240KIAS until around 12,000ft. The idea of constantly changing my descent speed and airspeed doesn't appeal to me.

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99jolegg wrote:

Interesting. It sounds as though that would suit a smaller aircraft, but if you aren't below 250KIAS in a heavy aircraft at 11,000ft then the chances are small of you losing sufficient speed by 10,000ft and you are forcing yourself to use your spoilers. I don't like to overcomplicate things that much - from cruise height, I set my speed to around 240KIAS and then descend at a reasonable rate. With my throttles near idling (high N1 due to airspeed) at around 40% my speed bleeds off slowly and I don't reach 240KIAS until around 12,000ft. The idea of constantly changing my descent speed and airspeed doesn't appeal to me.

I use procedures of the similar foundation for almost all the aircraft I fly. Its similar to the climb, however all the procedures are reversed.
As far as getting my speed down below 250kts at 11,000...As I said above, the procedures aren't concrete, and are subject to change in a larger aircraft. In that case, I would begin slowing down below 250 kts at around 15000 --

This method has worked for me for as long as I remember, and it seems to get the aircraft at its airfield safely, and on time.

That said, the above procedure is only a result of my prior experience, and by no means, professional advice. In the sim, it works for me, and I try to replicate flights as accurately as possible, for realism purposes. I'll try to find some more information on this subject for clarification.

Have you ever had that feeling, where everything just seems right, and you have no cares in the world..As if heaven smiled down upon you, and told you everything was going to be ok?




Yea, neither have I