A319 - Managed Speed Stuck

[linad181 0]

Hey All,

 

Unusual issue I've noticed lately. I don't know the exact conditions, but so far it's happened twice with similar conditions. When I take off and follow a SID that has a manual leg to get to the first waypoint (in this case I've taken off from KMSP using the SCHEP 9 departure, which has a manual leg from the RWY to waypoint HUGIR). I fly the plane using HDG mode to line up with the waypoint, I then delete the MANUAL entry and the associated FLT DISCONTINUITY to make HUGIR the next waypoint, then put the plane in Managed HDG mode to fly the flight plan.

 

The plane flies the flight plan perfectly, but somehow this seems to mess up the Autothrottle system as it will set managed speed to 202 knots and will not change it at all. In fact, once I hit cruising altitude it actually backed the speed off even more and sets it to 100 knots (which, you know, is a little slow to be flying an A319). Forcing me to set the autothrottle system to manual and input the correct mach speed, and it has to stay that way the rest of the flight right up until the APPR phase where, once activated, I can re-engage managed speed mode and speeds are perfectly normal and what would be expected.

 

As far as the FMS is concerned speeds are good. The FLT PLN page shows good mach speeds for waypoints, and the CLB and CRZ pages show acceptable speeds as well. The ONLY reference in the FMS I can find to this mysterious 202 knot managed speed mode entry is on the PERF->DES page. But I have no idea why the autothrottle system would be looking at the DES page when I'm clearly in CLB or CRZ phase.

 

I'm suspecting the way I'm removing the manual entry is probably the issue. I've flown the same departure, BUT before I took off I deleted the MANUAL entry and associated FLT DISCONTINUITY so that the plane is in managed HDG mode the entire flight starting from take off and the autothrottle behaves normally. Would this be anyone else's conclusion? If this is the case, what is the proper procedure to transition from a manual phase of flight to following the flight plan?

 

Thanks for any insight!