777 beginners tutorial

=Vaerospace X-Plane Boeing 777-200 ER=

Beginner Tutorial
Beginner Boeing 777 Tutorial



=Introduction=

Getting Started
When x-plane opens it opens with the Boeing 747 to change this use the top pull-down menu and click on change aircraft, click heavy metal / 777 / 777.acf. Then Enter Key. Now press the  ' a' ' key on the keyboard for exterior or outside view and use arrows for visual confirmation that the aircraft loaded is the 777 pressing the '  a  ' key again resets the view to where you started ... very handy remember that move, try it a few times to get the feel. + (plus) and  - (minus) keys Zoom you In and Out

Holding down the bottom arrow key " over-zooms " you closer than is possible with the + key alone, try , practice this ... you are going to need to use the outside view to learn how to fly the incredible 777-200ER. Lets get Going with our preparation now ...

Setting the Position, Airport and Runway
First lets go to runway 28 L (left runway) You do this by opening the x-plane program and selecting place me at an airport, a dialog will open in the small left-most textbox beneath the list of installed airports type KSFO, for San Francisco International and press Enter, than again go to the pull-down menu select runway from the same menu , a list of airports will appear, click on San francisco International and a small dialog will apear with a list of runways select 28L. get this right if you intend using "live on-line Air traffic Control such as VATSIM (free membership 5 stars) or IVAO . We wil l get into more realistic Flight Planning in my next Tutorial a City to City Flight KSFO to KLAX here . Once this has loaded press  '  a  ' key for exterior view and use arrow keys to look around the outside ...

+ and - ZOOM VIEW In and Out Now confirm you are positioned on the correct runway
Right... Are we at the correct Airport and on the correct runway ? Great...lets press w key for cockpit view notw and locate the HUD power switch on the panel and switch the cockpit HUD (Heads -Up Display, is the green instrument panel in front of the windscreen , find the swich marked HUD Power and click it off , the Hud should now be gone ....all done ?

Great !
VHF = Very High Frequency

We are nearly ready for a short flight ,about 15-20 mins over the Woodside radio VOR beacon and SAN JOSE VOR ( VHF-Omni-Directional Range-finder Beacon = VOR ) and back at 28L KSFO to land after flying over the Hayward Bridge...a visual marker to help you get the speed hight and distance and heading or course if you like perfect... almost ready to go so lets find out how to set up the left screen to show us where to steer toward the VOR beacon and how far we are away we are from the VOR beacons and the airport ... ready lets find out about the Nav1 and Nav2 Radio Magnetic Indicator ( RMI ) Green Needles ...let's Proceed

Setting Up the Radio...Nav1 Green Needles


The left screen of the two square 'TV type' screens (EFIS) you see on the dashboard is used primarily for navigation and with the TCAS (Terminal Collision Avoidance System) switch on display traffic when on Vatsim or IAVO Air TrafficControl internet Live Simulation (one of 5 buttons below the left sceen that allow you to select which beacon types and, waypoint and traffic to display in the dash graphic the are circled in purple) Switch then all off except the VOR button, you need that... In the help graphic it is lit GREEN for ON

Below the left sceen there is a four position round rotary type dial black in the centre mouse over the inside and the outside on both sides...if you are insure ,select show mouse click regions from the special tag in the top pull-down menu, the left and right halves of the switch click the dial one notch or position forward or backwards and the inner or outer regions by a block inside a block in bright yellow , the yellow guide does not have to be on for the switch to work.

While mouse is on the dial you will see a curved arrow cursor style appear indicating that it can be switched left or right ,just move the mouse slowly over the switch do not move it yet...first check its position now move the mouse so the larger outer curved arrow appears and move the outer part left one left mouse-click. Now move the mouse slightly right side of the switch... so the smaller curved cursor arrow appears and click once, the left screen should now look like the screen in the picture with a round circle dial and two green needles, while you are "tuned into a VOR" on NAV1 or NAV2... the needles will point in the actual direction of the coresponding Radio-Mast on the ground ...very cool.. so you know in which direction to steer...lets set up the needles now >>>>>>

The thin green needle is NAV1 pointing to the Woodside Mountain Top radio antenna / VOR about 8 nautical miles south , and 3000 ft above of your runway position , the thicker double spoked green needle is set to the landing or ILS (Instrument Landing system beacon) and that is because it is still physically in front of you is pointing forward to 12 O' Clock , that is directly in front of you ...so the thick double needle points forward toward it (12 'o Clock)

To get the green needle pointing at 12 o' clock you steer the 777 toward the direction the green needle is pointing

Tuning the Radio
The red text in the dashboard picture point toward the radio, the radio has 3 modes COMM used for voice and ATC (Air Traffic Control) Data Signals like ATIS (Automated Terminal Information Service ) the nav mode allows you to set the beacons that the NAV1 and NAV2 "green needles" will point to when you tune then using the large round dial on the left click Nav1 ,it should light up, then , click on the <-> button between the active and standby frequencies displayed, now use the inner and outer parts of the dial to set the frequency , the outer part is the big numbers and the inner part the small digits , it sets the standby frequency then click the <-> button again to make your '''woodside vor beacon''' on the thin green needle active...make sure you get this right using again the big and small left and right 'CURVED ARROW ' mouse cursor which will appear when you move the mouse over parts of the radio tuning dial shown with red lines and text in the dash picture... okay ready to throttle up those jets ...>>>>>>>>>

The 3rd mode is NDB This tunes to HF (high frequecy) Non-Directional Beacons

Radio systems also recieve data signals networked to the instruments including EFIS GPS and AP

EFIS = Electronic Flight Information System AP = Auto Pilot GPS = global sattelite positioning systems

[http://www.navfltsm.addr.com This is a Great Site to start learning Aerial navigation Basics I Highly Recommend you check it out !]



Brakes...Throttle...Take Off
You are now 275 metric Tons of Rolling Death

The '   b key  ' on your keyboard toggle the brakes parking brakes on and off there is a Red indicator light on the upper left of the dash board make sure you know where it is and practise switching the brakes on and off a few times...once you have done this, pracice using and ...setting... the throttle, the two fat' ish long levers at the right side of the dashboard holding the left mouse key and pushing the mouse up or down moves like a slider control... but better yet use a few taps of the F2 key (function key at top of keyboard ) to increase thrust like the accelerator on a car and F1 key to decrease engine power, you will see the sliders move visually if you are in cockpit or '  w key   ' mode. Right release brakes , one tap of the  '  b   key  ' and tap the F2 key moving the accelerator /thrust levers  right to the top... you should start moving, on the right side of the right 'TV' screen a vertical slider will show your speed the instument in the middle shows the amount of up or down angle (pitch) and tilt (roll), from its center line , at 160 knts lift the nose gently...no nore than 10 degrees, the vertical tape reading on the other side of the HSI /VSI (Horisontal / Vertical Situation Indicator) shows your hight in notches of 100ft as soon as you see you are off the runway tap the  '  g key  ' to lift your landing gear confirm you gear is up by hitting ' a   key ' for a visual check outside and type  ' w key ' to get back into the cockpit ...tap F1 key two or 3 times to set the throttle a bit lower after about 30 seconds in the air say (75-85% power) and level the 777 out around 3500-4000ft... and begin turning left steering th 777 toward the direction the thin green needle on the left screen, tuned to 113.9 on the NAV1 radio is pointing...

On route to Woodside Vor -DME 113.9
Right ...so ...if everything is going well you have worked out... which left screen green needle is which , and have managed to get off the runway and up to 4000ft... we now need to set up the Auto pilot and key in the VOR code into the flight computer.

The Flight Computer
Use the CLR button to correct mistakes

The Flight computer is the square instrument with it's own alphabetical keypad and number keypad it should read segment 1 ... now find the button marked VOR and press it...using the mouse put in the code letters OSI for the 113.9 woodside VOR ...type the letters OSI , using the keys on the flight computer.

Use NEXT and PREV buttons to cycle between VOR's and AIRP (airports) use <-> to enter and activate

Using the 4-way switch to set the left TV navigation display so it looks like the instruction picture ...you will see your distance and you estimated time to reach the VOR beacon at the bottom part of the flight computers display ...when you reach it set the standby frequency on NAV1 on he radio to the next VOR which is San Jose VOR 114.1 ...click the next button on the flight computer and the click VOR button ...then type the code for the San Jose VOR (SJC) using the flight computers keypad and the mouse once you are close to this VOR again click the next key, segment 3 should be showing find the button that read AIRP (airport) and key in KSFO using the mouse and FC keypad

Flight management Computer FMS Instruction Page here>>>>>

Alternate FMS Instructions Emergency Link

Ok ..so take off full throttle nose up no more than 10 degrees... level out at 4000 ft and throttle back to 75 % throttle (make sure your airspeed never exceeds 310 knts and turn the 777 toward the thin nav 1 "green needle" on a course of 128, when you are close ,use the 4-way switch and/or flight computer to check . Frequencies you need to set the radio to are woodside (OSI) 113.9 San Jose (SJC) 114.1 and ksfo runway ILS beacon 111.7.

Setting the Auto Pilot
Turn the inner part of the round dial above the heading key HDG on top of dash in the Autopilot section...Did you set the heading in the little square display the purple OBS line on the "TV Displays" (usually the primus 1000 EFIS) will move accordingly...see that purple line moving ...got it... good set it to 12 and NOW... click HDG button On......should light-up yellow... the 777 will not automatically steer to 128 degrees on the compass Cogratulations ...! it will not steer up or down or control speed but will steer the 777 on the selected course , so let us set the VS dial and switch now to stay straight and level and on course... The VS (vertical speed) button can be pushed to maintain 'current height make sure you are flying level and click key and use the tuner dial directly above it to set the rate to 00, practice doing this on the ground as when you click this while flying it will use your current rate of climb or decent and you will have to set it back to zero even it it was set to zero before you clicked the VS (Vertical Speed) button (very annoying I know)

Autopilot Help here at forums.x-plane.org

San Jose
Once you are close to the San Jose VOR, do a quick exterior visual check San Jose airport should be on your left if so switch back to the cockpit and turn the 777 ont a course of 290 degrees ...you should now be flying toward the hayward bridge, along bridge which spans the San Francisco Bay, as soon as you see it throttle back and lower your airspeed to 220-230 knts and tap the number ' 2   key ' above the letter keys on you keyboard. This will lower you flaps and enable the 777 to fly slower as you descend ,try to be at around 2000ft over the Hayward Bridge, add a bit of throttle if you slow down to much ,watch your height and speed carefully, you should see the runway about 1 minute after over-flying the bridge again tap the ' 2  key  ' noting which lever on the dash moves ( it is near the throttle levers ) For the sake of your sanity I suggest you practice lowering and raising the flaps on the ground before you attempt to fly. The ' 1 key " raises the flaps the ' 2 key  ' lowers the flaps.

=Landing the 777 at KSFO =

Runway 28 Left (ILS 111.7)
Right can you see the runways ...? Good ..line the 777 with the left runway and descend slowly to 1000 ft, airspeed between 170 and 200 knts, make sure flaps are now fully extended and lower your landing gear pressing '  g key  '. A line of four lights called PAPI or VASI tell you if you are too high (more white than red lights) or too Low (more red than white lights) the ideal glide path the VASI lights will show two red and two white lights very handy for the novice pilot on visual approach. steer the 777 nose down never more than 10 -15 degrees on approach and get the airspeed to around 160 knts and come down as slowly as possible onto the runway ,once the wheels are firmly down press ' F1 key ' a few times to throttle off completly and press the '  b  key  ' to slow down .Once you have practiced landing a few times you can press ' del  key ' (delete key) to Reverse thrust to slow down on the runway once you have wheels down on the tarmac and use the ' 5 key  ' (close airbrakes) or  ' 6  key  ' to open airbrakes. Do Not Use... reverse thrust or airbrakes while in the air at this stage , doing so WILL cause you to crash !

Happy Landings Captain Vaeron

vaerospace Homepages links fixed site updated 2011 14 april

=San Francisco to Los Angeles=

===Advanced Tutorial===