Vertical Situation Display

[JaneRachel 530]

Hey Gang,I wanted to share some imagery with you from another beta flight this afternoon. Now, one thing that I find to be a really silly comment is when someone tells you that glass cockpit simming (or real glass flying) is all push button, no skill required. My response used to be that the glass cockpit aircraft still have exactly the same systems as the old school analogues and require just as much piloting skill, with the only difference being the presentation of data to the pilots of those systems. Well, I need to revise that response as with new tools now available the glass cockpit aircraft has tools that the old schoolers can only dream about! These new tools require the pilot to be fully versed in their operation, just like any other feature of the aircraft. Don't let the "push button" detractors get to you, as Ryan pointed out earlier today, to learn every feature of this NGX inside and out will take you years if you really want to go into depth!A case in point is the vertical situation display. This is a fantastic tool and is available as a cockpit option when you guys take delivery of your shiny NGX! I have tested this tool today on a flight from San Francisco to Reno, as Reno is rather renowned for its unforgiving terrain! The VSD gives the pilot fantastic situational awareness of terrain around the aircraft. To be absolutely precise, the VSD gives you a terrain overview in a 1 mile corridor - 0.5 miles either side of the aircraft path. (This actually widens in a turn into a cone shape for obvious reasons)There is also plenty of symbology and lots going on within the display, so without further ado let me share with you. Please note, I have popped up the Navigation Display and stretched it beyond normal size, so you can see these pics better.Here I am climbing out of San Francisco towards Sacramento. A few things to point out here:-That little triangle symbol is your aircraft, the base of the triangle is your current altitude. That is the altitude scale to the left.That little green dot ahead of the nose is where in space your target airspeed will be achieved and moves through the profile based on your targets. The bottom scale is in nautical miles.The green display is the terrain below the aircraft. Right now everything is green, so no worries there, we are going to be more than 2000ft above any terrain for the foreseeable future. If terrain is going to be an issue you will see amber and red terrain if your aircraft is going to be scraping those hillsides during your flight!You can also see the target waypoint in magenta and the waypoint beyond it at this scale of zoomHere we are, running flat along the magenta line as we are at our chosen cruise altitude - that magenta line reflects the altitude you have dialled into the autopilot window. Terrain is slowly starting to raise as we push on towards Lake TahoeNow we really see terrain as we are close to Reno. You can see from the descent vector if we continue at this rate of descent we will be getting up close and personal with the mountains around Tahoe! Don't worry, the VNAV flying the aircraft will keep us safe as all the constraints in the FMC have been confirmed as valid for the approach. You see the little white triangles over each waypoint. That is where VNAV is planning to put us. The solo UP arrow at the first waypoint shows us that VNAV plans to have the aircraft above that point in space (it is an ABOVE restriction). The following waypoint you see the arrows pointing towards each other but not actually touching. Here we have an above and below waypoint, and VNAV is going to be flying in that narrow altitude window between those markers. The third waypoint is a restriction we must achieve precisely, hence both the arrows touching each other at the required restriction altitude.Notice also in these shots the RNP and ANP varying as we get closer into the approach. The required lateral precision of VNAV gets much tighter! You can just make out to the right of the display two little chevrons. Boeing call these "decision gates", denoting when the aircraft should be at 1000 and 500ft respectively where the pilot can confirm a stable approach.A bit of a lump at APINE just after we turn onto the final approach course. No biggie in daylight, but if you are flying this approach in the dark and have no VNAV guidance (for instance if being directed down by ATC and you are using level change or VS) this terrain awareness can literally be a life saver! Use the cunning plan of avoiding all the lumps and you will not be scratching the paintwork of your shiny new NGX!The magenta line here extending towards the runway is another helpful aid. It is the glideslope for the ILS at RWY 34L at Reno. If we were off the glideslope you would see another line here, the white line of the aircraft path. We are established on the glideslope. We only see the one line as we are on that line, so life is good! A bit of a tail wind here, but the APP mode of the autopilot is managing just fine. The forecast winds are expected to be calm passing through 1500ft from the airport elevation, so we are good to continue the approach to this runway. The blue line on the main display, either side of the aircraft and magenta route line shows you the coverage corridor for the terrain.Getting close to touchdown now. At this altitude we see some yellow warnings. What you are seeing is high ground beyond the runway, which you can just make out in the distance. This yellow warning tells us that at this altitude we would collide with that terrain, but we are capable of climbing above it with a proper missed approach profile.On the ground now, you can clearly see the elevation of the runway here. You can also see all of the high ground ahead of us which is in yellow.I personally think that the VSD is a fantastic tool to aid your situational awareness. I am totally thrilled that we have a very accurate rendition in the NGX as one of the gadgets that can be equipped! The next time someone tells you that jet simming is pushing buttons and nothing to learn, politely point out their folly. There are a range of fantastic tools on the NGX for you to get your teeth into and really enjoy!JaneRachel

[Wizz84 4]

Thank you Jane for posting these wonderfull pictures!

[wisefox7524 9]

Thank you so much! Your post are awesome, please keep them coming!!!

[Jeff_B 8]

NICE. Excellent and very informative. Great images, means a lot.

[AirbusCG 52]

Nice, I'm going to love this display when approaching LOWI, Innsbruck.

[JaneRachel 530]

Gang,It would be remiss of me not to show you this way of viewing terrain also, for those who are not aware of this feature. Yes, the terrain detail is precise and not just pretty graphics in this mode too!JaneRachel Whittaker

[RudiJG1 172]

Great stuff, Jane, and thanks for sharing and teaching.

[belach 0]

Cool, the VSD looks hot.A little off topic maybe, but Jane how do you find the 2D panel?

[Shane 0]

Very cool update Jane, thanks!

[Guest]

I love that womanThx Jane Mark Fosseth

[Cras 6]

You are awesome Jane. Another great post.

[PGBosak 4]

thx for the VSD demonstration,but i sadly miss the frame around the panels in your pics, which does even make the zoomed panels looking "solid":As seen in the MD-11 and in earlier NGX screenshots (attached):...cause no-frame-surrounding at that panels looks so non PMDG like! :(

[JaneRachel 530]

Cool, the VSD looks hot.A little off topic maybe, but Jane how do you find the 2D panel?

to be honest I rarely use 2D in FSX, unless doing demo screenshots. That said, I think the guys have recreated the feel of the NG really well in the 2D panels. It is hard to do, to get all that stuff onto a 2D screen and still not look out of proportion and still look right. So to me it looks great, but that is a response tempered by the fact I pretty much only use the VC in FSX as the sense of immersion is fantastic.JR

[pager94 4]

Outstanding post JR!We all appreciate your contributions.Best,BB

[andysim 0]

Brilliant!