Pre-flight operations for a 767
This page details the tasks you have to perform before you can take off. Don't think you can jump into a heavy jet and fly away as if it were a car...
First we will have a look at the Weather.
Setting up the Weather
The actual weather is available at VATSIM servers and we are going to connect to that and let ActiveSky Evolution (ASE) control the weather in our simulator. Hence we can fly in real weather conditions!
Start ASE, wait till it has initialised, and do not start FSX yet ...
Okay, we're ready to load our Aircraft.
Loading a Boeing 767
For a heavy jet you need to plan very precisely. How many passengers will be on board, how many tons cargo and how many tons of Fuel? All this, together with the winds and the runway condition determine at what speed you may expect lift-off (Vr) and how far you can fly...
The 767-300 Configuration Manager tool is part of the Level-D package. I use it to select the configuration I normally fly; Short Haul, fully packed with passengers (264) and a lot of cargo.
The reason for choosing this configuration is that I now have rather long take off rolls (higher Vr speeds) even on short haul flights, which is more fun!
Here is a screen shot of my Short Haul Flight configuration:
Important numbers are:
- The Total Zero Fuel Weight (ZFW) of 129 Kg tons, which is needed by the FMC, and
- The Passenger/Cargo Weight or Payload of 40.5 Kg tons, which is needed by the Flight planner program.
The Proposed Fuel entry is still empty, because it is not known at this moment in time. The amount of Fuel needed will be calculated later depending on the Flight we are planning and the actual Weather (winds aloft data coming from ActiveSky Evolution (ASE).
Hence, the %MAC (18) and T. O. Trim settings (4.0) are not yet set up correctly; they are also needed by the FMC, but can only be filled in later.
The 767-300 Configuration manager updates the aircraft.cfg file of the LVLD_B763. If you have a look at it, you will find these numbers in the [fltsim.0] section:
description=Boeing 767-300ER, configured for a short haul flight\n\nDry Operating Weight -\t196000 lb (88905 kg)\nMax Allowable TO Weight -\t408000 lb (185068 kg)\nTotal Zero Fuel Weight -\t285288 lb (129406 kg)\nMax Allowable Fuel Weight -\t122712 lb (55662 kg)
Okay, we have Weather and we know the Load of our 767. We are now ready to start with our Flight Planning.
Setting up a Flight Plan
Civil aircrafts cannot fly from point A to B in a straight line, they have to follow "Airways" under strict Air Traffic Control. Several sources exist at the Internet for getting real world flight plans; a free source for Europe is VATroute.
Flight Plans are based on Navigational data, such as Way Points, Airways, Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and Standard Arrivals (STARs). Navigraph NAVData-Service provides up-to-date so-called AIRAC cycles each Month (as a paid service).
What SID and STAR to use can be found at Airport charts. Navigraph nDac 3.0 provides up-to-date Charts (as a paid service).
In this example I fly from Amsterdam to Frankfurt; VATroute tells me:
I will fly at level FL230 so I have to take the second Fligh Plan using the Upper airway UZ738. Note that SIDs and STARs are not part of a Flight Plan filed to VATSIM; we only need these in the FMC.
The Flight Plans (Routes) you use often can be stored in the FSBUILD flight planner for easy retrieval, but watch out waypoints and airways may change...
Now we have a Flight Plan, we are going to calculate the amount of Fuel we need under the current Weather and Load conditions, and the MAC and TO-TRIM settings ...
Calculating Fuel, MAC and Trim
For this task I use FSBuild, a program for very realistic flight planning.
One of the advantages of this program is that it is able to import weather information data (winds aloft) from the Weather program ASE. Note that because FSBUILD was developed before ASE you have to pretend you are using AS6 but point to the weather directory used by ASE. Make sure you have a line like this (but then with your user appdata path) in fsbuild2.cfg:
[MS-FLIGHTSIMULATOR]
AS6=C:\USERS\ADMIN\APPDATA\ROAMING\HIFI\ASE\WEATHER
Another advantage of FSBUILD is its capability to generate Flight Plans in different formats, such as:
- in Level-D format, as a .rte file, stored into the Flight Plans folder of \Flight Simulator X\Level-D Simulations\navdata;
- as a .sfp file in a directory that can be used by SquawkBox4 to file a flight plan at the VATSIM network, and
- as a .PLN file in a directory that can be used by ASE (Briefing, Change Flight pan), for the purpose of processing of the weather along the route.
SquawkBox4 was also developed after FSBUILD, so again pretend that you are using SB3 and point to your folder by adding a line like this to your fsbuild2.cfg file:
[MS-FLIGHTSIMULATOR]
SB3_FP=C:\USERS\ADMIN\DOCUMENTS\FLIGHT SIMULATOR X FILES
Last but not least, FSBUILD can be configured completely according to the specs of my aircraft. Michael Bevington has produced configuration and performance files for the Level-D 767-300. I have adapted the configuration file to KGS (more common in Europe). I have also adapted the settings to my usual flight configuration (short haul, fully packed with a lot of cargo) as defined by the 767-300 Configuration Manager.
This is how it looks like:
[B767-300 Level-D] -- (M.Bevington) adapted by Nico Kaan to KGS ---
WeightUnit=KGS
// set to KGS
CallSign=KLM1771 // set to my favorate callsign
PayloadWeight=40501 // match 767-300 Config Manager,
ReserveFuel=:45 // set as required (minutes or actual)
;AlternateFuel (below) can be forced in minutes or weight
AlternateFuel=
HoldFuel=:15 // set as required (minutes or actual)
ExtraFuel=:20 // set as required (minutes or actual)
TaxiFuel=82/min // 140 (lbs) per min at idle, 180 (lbs) is good average
ApproachFuel=644 // added after last waypoint
OperEmptyWeight=88905 // match Config manager
MaxTakeoffWeight=185068 // match
Config Manager
MaxZeroFuelWeight=133942 // do NOT change
MaxLandingWeight=140616 // do NOT change
MaxFuelWeight=55662 // match Config manager
PerformanceData=B763_LDS_Lbs.PRF // do NOT change
ToldData=B763.tld // do NOT change
DefaultTOFlaps=5 // company SOP
DefaultLDGFlaps=30 // company SOP
ImageFile=LDS767.jpg // do NOT change
MaxCruise=41000 // do NOT change
ClimbFuelbias=0.0 // adjusted for LDS model 330,000 GRWT
CruiseFuelbias=2.4 // adjusted for LDS model at Mach 8.0
DescentFuelbias=0.0 // requires large change to see any effect
This file is called fsb_Aircraft.cfg and has to be put in the FSBUILD directory. I have no need for other aircraft config definitions since I do not fly other types of aircraft ...
Based on this configuration file FSBUILD calculates a short haul flight from EHAM to EDDF. The upper part of the Navlog shows:
From this log we conclude that the amount of Fuel needed is 13.9 Kg tons.
Check that FSBUILD uses the same Payload and ZFW values as defined by the 767-300 Configuration Manager.
With these results we go back to the 767-300 Configuration manager and Fill in the proposed Fuel, here is a screen shot:
Based on the proposed fuel (13.6 Kg tons, more specific is not possible and not needed) and the still present ZFW and Payload, the %MAC and TO Trim Settings are now 18 and 4.6. Note that this small amount of Fuel has not changed %MAC.
We type these values into the FMC.
Update the Weather
Now that we have planned our flight we have to let ASE process the flight plan. The reason for this is that, if there is no actual weather information at a certain way point, ASE will gradually adapt the weather according to neighboring stations that are available. Hence we will never face a sudden change in weather or that clouds suddenly disappear by lack of information. This processing has to be done before you start your flight, so do not start FSX yet!
Click the Change Flight plan button in the ASE Briefing window and you will get this window:
Click the Import button, and choose from one of the .PLN files that were generated by FSBUILD. Then click Process...
After that start FSX.
Load Fuel
Don't forget this part ;-)
We know the amount needed (is calculated by FSBUILD), we now have to call the Fuel Truck...
Use the FSX menu item for fuel settings.
Finally ...
We have finished our pre-flight tasks!
Wait till boarding has completed. Close all doors. Request push-and-start clearance from ATC. Run through the pre-start checklist, and then ... we are (finally) ready to go!
Don't miss your slot ;-)
