First impressions: EGNX to EIDW

[Wiseblood 8]

Hi all,

Well, I've just completed my first flight.  I admit I skimmed the tutorial, and after seeing issues reported on the managed mode I decided to settle for a simple 1/2 hour trip to test this bird.

Ok! BA A320 IAE, Radar Contact 4 at East Midlands airport and off we go.

Taxiing...just great.  35% N1, occasional brakes and we are lined up on RWY09.  RC4 gives me the go ahead and I set ground spoilers and start the roll.  Very smooth on the takeoff.  Making sure the FD is aligned I retract the gear.  At 1000ft AGL I engage AP1, to see how this bird handles automatically.  Now, in managed mode there are known issues so at 6000ft (cleared altitude) I set VS speed 2200ft and 250Kts.  Beautiful.  Slow (it seems to me) but it climbs steadily.  I'm cleared to 15000ft, then 25000ft my cruise altitude.

This aircraft is an absolute delight to look at and listen to, so I spend most of the short cruise admiring this latest acquisition from the outside.

Cleared for descent I set VS to 1800, target speed 290.  This works great, and the aircraft behaves exactly as I would expect in any jetliner under ATC orders,  I note that selected mode seems to handle the descent quite well without need for excessive speed brakes. 

However, I come undone at 11000ft.  Radar Contact commands that I descend to 7000ft, and I find that I'm suddenly back in managed mode.  Not sure how that happened, so I request a visual approach (RWY28, straight in) and disengage Autopilot and auto throttle.  Set thrust to idle and down we go.  Very, very smooth, it holds the turns very well, which is just as well as the runway alignment doesn't appear on the ND.  This to me is the real test of the FBW as doing this in the PMDG 747 is a major headache, what with pitch commands, maintaining altitude etc.  No such problems with the Airbus.

3000ft and the runway is in sight.  I'm a tad high so I retard the throttle slightly, pitch the nose down and hit flaps 2.  The nose dips slightly, but the FBW realigns with no input from me.  After that it is plain sailing.  Very responsive on the final, the FBW is a marvel.  Probably the gentlest touchdown ever from an FSX plane.

So....kudos to Aerosoft for this beauty.  Obviously I didn't attempt an ILS landing, I really just wanted to see how she handled in manual flight, and she handles beautifully.

As an avowed user of heavy duty aircraft such as the PMDG MD-11, 747 etc I think Aerosoft have something of great potential on their hands here.  A model of such beauty, and such great performance...well, I missed the depth of systems complexity but if you decide to go down that route in future with this bird, you have a great foundation to build on.

Many thanks for a very enjoyable first flight.

Richard