Flightradar24 Thread Part III

At a guess, there was some sort of check being done of the quality of the radar returns (primary and or SSR) at low level.

smurfjed wrote: »

Our Honeywell FMS had the ability to fly a radius around a point, so you basically entered the point and the required distance and off it goes.

Growler!!! wrote: »

Defiantly not hand flown! Would have been set up in the FMS or Coupled GPS.

I thought I'd left DME arcs behind when I qualified but ended up doing them for 2 different operators into EIWF. One hand flown the other was coupled, using the NDB needle for reference was always easier than changing the VOR course bar and Heading. Unless you switched the "rabbit ears" over. The hardest part of the arc was alway the entry! Took a bit of experience and skill to turn 90 degrees and be exactly on the arc without significant correction.

Thanks, I was expecting that the newer systems were more capable, I still remember trying very hard not to rock the cabin of the (then relatively new) Aer Lingus 320 sim too much when flying an arc, as there were about 10 (academic) visitors standing behind us, so it was important not to do anything too sudden, the plan was to demonstrate some of the warning systems, so we were flying at low level towards the Wicklow hills in order to trigger a GPWS terrain warning, but at that time, the automation didn't have any arc flying capability.

The PA39 was more tricky, the DME was old, and had rotating distance indicators, which were prone to some stiction, so they'd not always move as smoothly as was needed, so it was very easy to be half a mile out of position very easily, simply because the distance indicated was slow to change, and it was buried somewhere down around my left knee, so seeing the distance information accurately, (especially at night) was "interesting".

And yes, in different circumstances, if I could, I'd do it again at the blink of an eye.