Question is the Airbus A320 Broken or not

Hi Can anyone please confirm that the Airbus A320 it working as it should with no problems ,I personally am having big problems AP not working AI co pilot goes wondering lol Altimeter Erratic and speed uncontrollable always goes to overspeed ,I keep wondering if its something I am doing ,but after numerous testing, I don't believe this is the case, if anyone can throw some light on this and i am to blame I will hold my hands up any help or Advice would be very much Appreciated I have a ticket in but in the mean time I thought I would ask the experts lol.

If I cant fix this it will probably mean re-install and as I have the box version quiet along time but I am hoping it doesn't come to that fingers crossed.

 

Andrew

Personally I think it needs a complete rework as I can't get it to work, even with the understanding AP and AT work differently to Boeing equivalent. Then again, there are YT vids from the guy who states he is a real A320 pilot doing circuits around Edinburgh etc. So maybe there is a bit of both - a learning curve that Asobo have created due to no tutorials, but wack job physics which prevent you keeping the speed in check and a VS climb rate NASA would be envious of.

Since the latest update, I cant get the MFDs to work regardless of whether I have fuel in the centre tank, start cold and dark from a gate or fired up at a runway. I have deleted and reinstalled the a32nx files that had previously fixed all the issues. Now I can't fly the 320 at all. Ctrl + E will start the engines but nothing I do makes the MFDs fire up!

Thanks for the reply guys so it looks as though I am not alone ,as I said I put a ticket in ,so if I get any help from them i will share on here.

 

Andrew

Edited October 1, 2020 by Apollo212

Now then, just to offer the counterpoint I decided to sit down last night and have another go with the A320. To my surprise, I actually found things a little better. It definitely still seems overpowered but I took a bit of time to go round all the dials and switches on the Panel. The biggest thing to understand, coming from the "Acme" autopilot of FSX and previous is that the autothrottle is semi automatic, you have to tell it what to do with your throttle control. So all the way forward for TO/GA, pull back slightly for climb then pull back again to cruise. After the initial 5000fpm "launch", I played around with the speed knob, found the V/S knob and was able to set and hold a 1800fpm climb, albeit at 320kn rather than my usual 280kn.

 

Now I had to save the game and come off so I've yet to see if the FMC retains the flightplan and what happens on descent and approach - fun and games to come later.

 

But I will concede some of it at least was user unfamiliarity and maybe pre-conception having read the dismal accounts of flying the thing. Also have to throw one at Asobo and MS, by including an aircraft type that does things quite different to the Boeings and Acme, they should have included some tutorials or at least a PDF to get people up to speed.

Fly by wire updated their files a few days ago (after the latest MSFS patch).

I deleted the old files, installed the new ones and the screens are all illuminated in the cockpit again. Cold and dark starts are back on the agenda again!

Thanks to whoever fixed the fly by wire files.

As previous posts have stated, a lot of the problems I experienced were due to me failing to understand how the A320 systems work. Acquiring that knowledge has enabled me to fly the A320 much more easily (when the bugs are not the problem).

I'm still struggling with the SID and STAR routes not being captured by the auto pilot even when they are visible in the map and within the FMC. I've watched a few YouTube videos that have covered set up of the systems, but can't work out how to get the autopilot to follow SID & STAR routes. I'd also like to get the ILS data entered and used, but haven't found a guide to assist me with this yet.

If anyone has seen videos or guides that cover these aspects, feel free to share the links. Many thanks

Mark L

where can I reload the a320neo?

Much to my surprise and amazement, plus having watched "A320 Sim Pilot" YT clips, I was actually able to complete a full flight in the A320 including bringing it down to a beautiful landing at Kagoshima. Essentially I let the AP and AT do its work, ensuring I used the FMC to trigger the approach phase. The key as noted above is understanding the AT and that you need to use your joystick throttle to engage the various phases. Most important of all, you need to reduce it to idle just before touchdown or the aircraft will try and accelerate down the runway.

 

Now for the bad news, as with the 747 the A320 FMC does not always load with your flight plan when resuming a saved game so there is still a bug there. I had to get round it by just re-entering the departure and arrival airport, then selecting my runway and approach for landing.

 

Oh and another tip - if you want to fly your FMC route and were wondering where the LNAV button is, you actually use the Heading switch/dial but with the Down arrow to select "Managed Heading" mode.

 

So in summary, yes the A320 isn't as bad as its reputation might seem. There are undoubtedly issues with the physics and FMC needing tweaks and we most definitely need some sort of (official) user manual, heck even a PDF sheet. But don't be put off from trying the aircraft as it is quite a pleasant ride.

There's still a couple of issues. The speed Mach/knts changeover does not work. For me the PFD screen blanks every time on approach, it is very reproduceable, as soon as the approach phase is activated it goes blank. Easily turned back on though and seems to stay on now. It's getting there, but still a way to go.

Geoff

1. The AP doesn't always accept the flight plan from the MCDU. Managed heading mode seems to work OK but managed altitude doesn't. Auto throttle appears flakey. Sometimes it takes a couple tries to get it to accept the AT entry.

2. The left hand PFD all of a sudden goes blank right when you need it most for landing.

3. Saving a flight doesn't bring back everything when you reload it.

4. Pause only stops forward motion.

5. On a few occasions the entire app crashes.

 

This app is full of bugs is not ready for prime time. However it's still impressive. I have more fun just hand flying the A320.

All the above problems, and many others, have been fixed by Fly By Wire's A320NX project.

Just copy and paste or drag and drop it into your Community folder:

https://flybywiresim.com/a32nx

Tried it and it crashed my pc lol I got enough on with the planes crashing thanks for the info anyway it will be useful to other users no doubt.

Tried it and it crashed my pc lol I got enough on with the planes crashing thanks for the info anyway it will be useful to other users no doubt.

 

This is the latest version (0.3.1 released on 30 Sept) which is fully compatible with MSFS 1.9.3.0.

Must admit I have left off installing any mods (other than official content) until the sim is more established and stable. Learned the hard way from ETS2 and ProMods (the unofficial hugely expanded Europe map) - every time SCS released an update it broke the map and you had to wait 2 or 3 weeks for the PM guys to catch up then a few more weeks later another official update... You get the drift!

 

I am doing quite well with the old Scarebus now, almost landed at ENBR (Bergen) last night but on finals missus decided it was lights out time! Didn't want to attempt save and load at such a critical point so will resume later today.

Some basics must be remebered when installing Mods

a) low caps dir, best dont rename dir

b) the actuall valid dir is inside sometimes 2 envelope dirs, make sure only the last dir goes into community

d) make sure previous mods are deleted from community

All the above problems, and many others, have been fixed by Fly By Wire's A320NX project.

Just copy and paste or drag and drop it into your Community folder:

https://flybywiresim.com/a32nx

 

Do you think this 3rd party patch could corrupt/conflict with future official MS updates? I'd like to try it but would hate to have to download the whole pgm again.

Do you think this 3rd party patch could corrupt/conflict with future official MS updates? I'd like to try it but would hate to have to download the whole pgm again.

 

No it doesn't affect future updates because it's entirely contained within the Community folder.

After an official update you'll need to download a new version of A320NX from Fly By Wire.

Hi everyone,

 

I am having trouble maneuvering the A320neo with managed heading settings. The aircraft does not seem to respond to my heading settings. If it does respond, it does so very slowly -- even accounting for the fact that this aircraft is after all an airliner. Or the heading does not go to where I set it. Let's say that I put in 180 degrees, just to make up a number, then the aircraft will only go to 177 degrees or to 183 degrees.

 

Incidentally, does the A320neo have a yaw damper? Do I have a yaw damper turned on, and is this possibly causing the problem?

 

Thank you.

 

Stanley

The Managed Heading is the one which is defined in the FMC flightplan. If you're not using a flightplan for part or all of your flight, you shouldn't be in Managed mode for any of the Autopilot controls.

Note that Heading and Course are two different things, depending on cross-wind strength and direction!

None of the Airbus airliners have yaw dampers, the autopilot controls the rudder as well as aileron, elevator and throttle.

Hi Tim and everyone else,

 

Thank you for your response.

 

My first sentence was exactly opposite of what I meant to say. I should have said this:

"I am having trouble maneuvering the A320neo with selected heading settings." For clarity, I will repeat my entire first paragraph here, but instead I will correctly use the word "selected" instead of "managed":

 

"I am having trouble maneuvering the A320neo with selected heading settings. The aircraft does not seem to respond to my heading settings. If it does respond, it does so very slowly -- even accounting for the fact that this aircraft is after all an airliner. Or the heading does not go to where I set it. Let's say that I put in 180 degrees, just to make up a number, then the aircraft will only go to 177 degrees or to 183 degrees."

 

Right, I do know that heading and course and two different things. But even flying with perfect weather, I am encountering this phenomenon.

 

Am I doing something wrong?

 

Thank you.

 

Stanley

Unfortunately, things residing in the Community folder are causing problems, the developers themselves advise to remove them if problems persist. The problem with the Airbus mod is that it is not in sync with the default one so its a case of installing an update then waiting for the mod to be updated. This, for me, caused double the problems.

Geoff

Hi Geoff,

 

Thank you so much. That solved the problem!

 

The only modification that I was using on the A320neo was a different livery, but apparently that was enough to cause difficulties.

 

Following your suggestion I went back to the default model, and now everything handles beautifully and as it should.

 

I really like the A320, in particular the auto-throttle and the quietness of its engines. I am really glad to have the aircraft back running properly.

 

Thanks again.

 

Stanley

I can't get either the standard or new mod A320 (or a320nx) to remain engaged to the autopilot. with the nx version, it will fly under autopilot for a few minutes up to a half hour, but then rolls off to the right.

 

Any ideas???

Are you in managed or selected? If managed, what type of flight plan did you enter?

Hi,

 

I'm running MFS2020 through Steam and install the patches as they become available. I'm having major problems with the A320: It simply won't follow a flight plan that I create from the "World Map". Not sure if it's something I'm doing but I have successfully used the JAR A320 autopilot in XP11 in the past.

 

So all I do is:

1) Generate the flight plan

2) Take off with auto thrust (to me it seems overpowered) at TOGA

3) Climb, gear up, flaps retract from F1, Thrust to Climb

4) Engage auto pilot in managed mode

 

After doing the above the A320 begins to bank, lose altitude and finally crashes.

 

Am I missing something obvious?

Edited December 13, 2020 by gazeb