FMS fundamentals for millennials

Roger Roger

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Are there any good resources besides the manufacturer manuals for someone or a group of someone’s who’ve spent their careers flying newer, more user-friendly GPS and FMS systems to transition to an old-school FMS? I know they’re not totally rocket surgery, but I’ve also seen enough on here from airline guys to understand there are some definite weird quirks involved that have been engineered out on some of the newer systems. Universal with all the latest upgrades if that matters.
 
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Came across this for the Airbus the other day...


Most training departments have some sort of FMS simulator either in classrooms or available on dare I say...a disk!
This is the best solution, I’ve got the bosses on buying the simulator for desktop for us. Hopefully they come through. I’m really more looking for the real world hints and tricks to watch for “if you’re used to GA stuff, this is what’s going to require a different way of thinking” or “this is where people get themselves tied in knots”. We’ve got the full user manual but it’s really hard to tease out from there what’s important and what functionality was put in by a computer nerd who had a vague idea what an airplane is.
 
I was going to say also that “Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot” has a one pager on old FMS logic. But every time I open that book I feel like I’m having a seizure (formatting :p).

Another good option with a very short 13 page or so chapter on FMS logic is “The turbine pilots flight manual”. Not a substitute for your individual airplanes FMS or the trainer software, but definitely breaks the pages up into which you use in which phases of flight.


Finally MSFS2020 actually does a decent job modeling an A320 MCDU, Boeing style FMS and universal style FMS. With some mods (for example the Flybywire A32X for the A320) it’s becoming a pretty much study level procedures trainer. It’s not a substitute for actual training, but you can put yourself in more useful hands on situations than reading a book.

Final caveat, I don’t fly anything with an FMS, but you may still find some of that useful. :)
 
I've got about 3000 hours with UNS-1s. I flew a turboprop in the northeast and I liked using the box, but with anything use it enough and you get very comfortable with it.


Select where you want to type, then type.
Anything with a boxed M at the top of the page has a menu that you can access with the MENU key.
NAV page for what is the active leg. We treated it like the home screen..always came back to it.
It's a box that is all about where it's coming from.
The FROM section on the NAV page is helpful when you get a heading to intercept.
PVOR is helpful for drawing an extended center line. Found on the NAV page, then MNVR
To insert airways, FPL page, select the waypoint that the airway will be coming out FROM, then LIST, then AIRWAYS on the right. Select the airway with the number keys, then select the airway end point.
FPL->MENU->CLEARANCE to view the condensed version of your flight plan. Will be in the format of your routing (ex: KIAD 01C.CAP9 MRB V501 HGR KUNV). Good way to verify that your ATC clearance is in the box.
I found that VNAV was pretty useful, but I was in a turboprop so YMMV on that one.
Vertical Direct to was helpful for descend now to cross clearances.
 
I've got about 3000 hours with UNS-1s. I flew a turboprop in the northeast and I liked using the box, but with anything use it enough and you get very comfortable with it.


Select where you want to type, then type.
Anything with a boxed M at the top of the page has a menu that you can access with the MENU key.
NAV page for what is the active leg. We treated it like the home screen..always came back to it.
It's a box that is all about where it's coming from.
The FROM section on the NAV page is helpful when you get a heading to intercept.
PVOR is helpful for drawing an extended center line. Found on the NAV page, then MNVR
To insert airways, FPL page, select the waypoint that the airway will be coming out FROM, then LIST, then AIRWAYS on the right. Select the airway with the number keys, then select the airway end point.
FPL->MENU->CLEARANCE to view the condensed version of your flight plan. Will be in the format of your routing (ex: KIAD 01C.CAP9 MRB V501 HGR KUNV). Good way to verify that your ATC clearance is in the box.
I found that VNAV was pretty useful, but I was in a turboprop so YMMV on that one.
Vertical Direct to was helpful for descend now to cross clearances.
A pilot that currently flies was walking us through a demo and rambled something about setting up a PVOR for a missed approach which I completely didn’t understand.
 
If you want some materials on the GNS XLS, I think I have something lying around.
 
Are there any good resources besides the manufacturer manuals for someone or a group of someone’s who’ve spent their careers flying newer, more user-friendly GPS and FMS systems to transition to an old-school FMS? I know they’re not totally rocket surgery, but I’ve also seen enough on here from airline guys to understand there are some definite weird quirks involved that have been engineered out on some of the newer systems. Universal with all the latest upgrades if that matters.
IMHO, the important thing with an FMS is kinda the same as learning the critical key-command shortcuts for your go-to computer apps. In other words, know by heart and in the dark the correct lateral and vertical modes for each type of approach.

The other big "gotcha" is that in the older FMSs you have a kind of reverse polish notation going on. If you've never heard of reverse polish notation, you've probably never used an old Universal or Collins box, either. That's why it's important. It's the way you get the data into the box. If you're used to a newer FMS and reverting to an older one, this issue can take a little getting used to.
 
The single best part of the UNS-1 was that the VNAV was separate from the nav page- and it would stay in VNAV while you were plugging around on headings. If you were getting vectored to final and given an altitude close to the FAF ALT, plug it in and VNAV to it. Then as ATC turns you the airplane would modify the descent rate. The rate would change, but, you’d have a nice constant rate of descent to the FAF with no level offs etc. made for a smooth ride in.


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How many PVORs did you use on the EWR7 or whatever number - with all the climbs?


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never...loaded it from the database and flew it in NAV. Typically in the Dash 8 we were peeled off the departure before we could worry about the the crossing restrictions. When I did fly the full procedure, the TEB-R214 westbound at or above 2500 (how did I remember that) was never a problem even in the Dash 8. Never had to mess with pVORs...only used them really for extended centerlines.
 
never...loaded it from the database and flew it in NAV. Typically in the Dash 8 we were peeled off the departure before we could worry about the the crossing restrictions. When I did fly the full procedure, the TEB-R214 westbound at or above 2500 (how did I remember that) was never a problem even in the Dash 8. Never had to mess with pVORs...only used them really for extended centerlines.

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Not sure which Dash you were in, but, in the Q400 we always got white, none of the stuff past the headings were in the nav database, so, nearly every southbound departure you had to build the col350.

BIGGY, WHITE,COATE we’re the normal ones for us.


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6c3a1191a3634f0226ca381e62e612e3.png

Not sure which Dash you were in, but, in the Q400 we always got white, none of the stuff past the headings were in the nav database, so, nearly every southbound departure you had to build the col350.

BIGGY, WHITE,COATE we’re the normal ones for us.


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It's been 5 plus years since I left the Dash but I flew the 200/300. For those departure fixes, we put in SBJ for BIGGY, SAX for COATE and ELVAE then COL for WHITE. I can't recall a time that NY Approach ever told us to intercept a radial, we always got direct. It wasn't a thing at my company to draw a PVOR for those in anticipation, but if we ever got that instruction, certainly that's how we would do it.
 
We always got a heading to join… to the point that a lot of people built pilot defined waypoints some 50 miles out etc.

They tended to treat us like the jets down low however. It may have changed, I left the Dash in 2012.


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