AIRBUS X

Volume 7 MCDU Guide

Version 07-01-XX

RECORD OF REVISIONS Revision n

001

Issue date
28-Aug-2010

Description
Release

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-1 30 August 2010

CONTENTS
BEFORE FLIGHT ................................................................................................................................................. 2 IN FLIGHT ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 SETTING THE NAVIGATION RADIOS.................................................................................................................. 13

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-2 30 August 2010

BEFORE FLIGHT
Please note that it is possible to use the default FSX flight planner (or any 3rd party flight planner software that can export to the default FSX flight planner) and avoid the complex entering of waypoints using the MCDU. But do so before starting on the guide below. When you get to the flight planning stage you will see the flight plan already inserted. Select the main page by pressing the MCDU MENU button. Press the INIT button to show the INIT A page.

Now enter your Departure and Arrival airports using the ICAO codes. This is not needed if you started with an FSX flight plan loaded. Enter the date in one line like this: ****/**** With the shown entry in the scratchpad (lower part of the MCDU), press LSK1R to enter and activate it.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-3 30 August 2010

In the same manner insert your flight number (use LSK3L to enter the data in the correct location). In order to align the IRS navigation system press LSK3R (the button beside ALIGN IRS).

Enter cost index (a number stating how economical or uneconomical the flight should be) numbers go from 10-200 with 80 being a normal value.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-4 30 August 2010

Then enter your planned cruise altitude. Ignore the temperature here.

When entering the cruise level your options depend on the transition altitude (that is set on the PERF TAKEOFF page). When the altitude is below the transition altitude (default is at 18,000 as thats what FSX ATC uses) entering 1200, 120 or 0120 will be interpreted as 12,000 feet. If the cruise altitude is above the transition altitude entering 24000, 0240, 240 will be interpreted as flight level 240 or 24,000 feet.

INIT A page is now finished. Press the right arrow button in order to get to INIT B page.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-5 30 August 2010

Now enter Zero Fuel Weight (ZFW) and Block Fuel (BLOCK), i.e. the fuel that has been loaded. This can be done by typing the amount into the scratchpad for each figure and then press the LSK beside them, or with an empty scratchpad you simply press the LSK and the value will be calculated and inserted.

After inserting ZFW and Block fuel you can insert the predicted fuel burn for taxi as well as the fuel amount for route reserve and final time. Takeoff and Landing Weight (TOW and LW) will be calculated automatically. Note: Fuel quantity can be found on the lower ECAM FUEL page.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-6 30 August 2010

INIT B page is now finished and we can move on to the actual flight plan. Press F-PLN and you will see this page

Enter the enroute waypoints into the scratchpad and press the LSK at the point where the waypoint needs to be inserted.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-7 30 August 2010

If there are more waypoints with the same name the DUPLICATE NAMES page will show. Most likely the one you need is the one nearest. In this case ODN 56N / 011E EK (country code). Press the LSK beside the waypoint and you will return to the F_PLN page.

Continue inserting the required waypoints until the flight plan is completed. If there are more waypoints than fit on the screen you can use the arrow keys to scroll up and down. The flight plan should now be completed.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-8 30 August 2010

Press the PERF button in order to get to the PERF Take off page and enter your flaps setting for takeoff (1 is a common setting).

Insert your V-speeds. You can either enter the values manually or (with an empty scratchpad) press the LSKs beside each number and they will be calculated and entered automatically.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-9 30 August 2010

You can also enter a different transition altitude. Transition altitude differs from country to country. It is optional to enter a FLEX temperature. Here 36 degrees Celsius is inserted. Flex temperature can be calculated using the Load Manager / Takeoff tool.

Pressing LSK6R, you can scroll through the other PERF pages until you reach the APPR page.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-10 30 August 2010

Wind is entered as WIND DIRECTION / WIND SPEED. You can enter either MDA (Minimum Decision Altitude) or DH (decision height), which will trigger the minimums call during approach. Final flaps setting for landing can be entered by typing the flap value into the scratchpad and pressing LSK4R or if full flaps will be used (most common) by pressing LSK5R with no scratchpad entry.

The setup of the MCDU is now complete and the flight plan can be seen on the Navigation Display (ND).

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-11 30 August 2010

IN FLIGHT
The MCDU is used in flight to monitor several aspects of the systems and navigation. In flight you can see the PROG (Progress) page by pressing the PROG button to get information on navigation and altitude. The FUEL PRED (Fuel Prediction) page shown with the FUEL PRED button, shows information about fuel.

When the DATA button is pressed a submenu will show.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-12 30 August 2010

The POSITION Monitor shows the position of the aircraft as calculated by the different systems. Slight variations are normal. The GPS Monitor shows the positions as calculated by the separate GPS receivers. Slight variations are normal.

The IRS Monitor shows the calculated drift of the IRS position system. The Closest Airports page shows which 4 airports (with suitable runways) are close by.

Aerosoft Airbus X

The Airbus X In FSX MCDU guide

Vol 7

01-01-13 30 August 2010

SETTING THE NAVIGATION RADIOS

The MCDU is used to set the navigation radio frequencies and courses.

After pressing RAD/NAV the RADIO Navigation page allows you to tune your Navigation radios for VOR/ILS and NDB. You can either enter the frequency of the station or its name. If entering the name, the nearest station with that name will be tuned. You can also enter the course for the VOR /ILS. Note like everywhere in the MCDU the grey items are ignored and not used. Only VOR1, VOR2, ADF1 and ADF2 are available.

The RADIO NAV page with all possible data inserted.