KLM 747-400 Maiden Flight   6. Landing

Programming the FMC for landing


When we have flown past our last waypoint (GORLO) we see a few things happening:
On the EICAS a yellow message appears >FMC MESSAGE and on the CDU we see NO ACTIVE ROUTE.
On the PFD the middle block (horizontal navigation) changes to HDG HOLD and on the MCP we see the HOLD button switch on.
This means that the FMC has told the MCP to maintain the current course (241, see ND).
The MCP HOLD has no relation to the value that is filled in above at HDG (004).
On the ND we see at the top right that the FMC knows that we want to go to EHAM, but not yet how.
We are going to arrange that now.




On the CDU, go to the DEP/ARR screen and choose the arrival just like we did for departure:
Choose ILS06 on the right as runway.
Choose REDF1A on the left as Standard Arrival (STAR).
Activate with the yellow illuminated EXEC button.
On the ND we see the new route with starting point REDFA, but it is not yet connected to our current position.
We still have gaps in our route. Just look at LEGS.




We see 2 ROUTE DISCONTINUITIES:
Click L1 to copy REDFA to the bottom edit line and then L1 again to put it back.
Click L5 to copy EH609 to the bottom edit line and then L4 to place EH609 in the blocks.
By moving waypoints up in this way, you can also skip/remove a waypoint during flight.
On the ND we now see the route nicely connecting again. Press the yellow EXEC to make the dotted line purple.
Now turn on LNAV on the MCP again. If we wait too long, we will have flown off the line and we will have to put the aircraft on a course that will intersect our route on the MCP
with HDG and pressing SEL before we can turn on LNAV!




The landing


If you have flown a bit further after GORLO, you may have sufficient distance to REDFA to descend below FL230 (see LEGS)
In the case above, we must immediately get to work to descend quickly:
Set the altitude on the MCP to 2000 (remember: this is the limit value for the FMC, the FMC always picks up the intermediate altitudes of the waypoints)
and click on the ALT knob to pass the limit value to the FMC.
To descend faster, we open the spoilers with '/'. You can see the handle on the Throttle panel (Ctrl+Shift+T).
As soon as FL240 is achievable at REDFA, retract the spoilers back in with '/' (otherwise an EICAS message will automatically follow).




When descending, let's set the Transition Level (TL) properly as it should be:
On the CDU, go to VNAV and select FORECAST on the descent page with R5
On the CDU, enter '40' and then L1.




On the LEGS screen we can have the ND display the route:
If we set the CTR knob to PLN while the CDU is set to LEGS, the ND screen changes to a route overview.
With the TFC knob you can adjust the scale of the ND.
Now we can walk through the route on the LEGS screen with STEP (R6) whereby the ND 'slides along'.
On the LEGS screen we can also see (and change) which speed/height restriction applies per waypoint:
The large numbers are hard rules, the small intermediate values ??calculated by the FMC.
At SUGOL the FMC will ensure that we fly 240Kn and are below 10,000ft.




At 10,000ft (approximately at SUGOL) we need to perform the following actions:
On the 'Overhead panel' (Ctrl+Shift+O) turn on the landing lights (4x)
On the 'Communications panel' (Ctrl+Shift+C) set the Autobrakes to 2 and the smoke/seat belts ON
On the MCP press the IAS knob to manually control the speed and turn the speed to 240 if it is not already there.
On the CDU press INIT REF and indicate with R1 and then R4 that we want to land with flaps 25.




For fun, let's see how we can temporarily take over the lateral navigation of the FMC.
In this case, there is an aircraft in front of us that we want to avoid to the right.
On the MCP, we use SEL to turn the HDG to 161 and then click SEL to make the heading of the MCP leading.
If we later see that we can return to our old route, we must first cross our course with that route.
So on the MCP, we use SEL to turn the HDG to 115 and now we can click LNAV to leave the lateral control to the FMC again.




In the meantime, we have manually set the speed to 178 on the MCP and followed the numbers for the flaps (F7) on the speed strip (Up to 1, 1 to 5, etc.).

We approach the glide slope and see from the purple wheel to the right of the artificial horizon that we are above the glide slope (G/S).
Because this is less than ideal, we decide to pick up the G/S earlier (higher), so we take over the lateral navigation of the FMC and steer 150.




Near our Transition Level (TL) of 4,000ft the baro setting on the MCP lights up yellow and we need to press STD to switch to local baro.




As we approach the glidepath we set the heading to 104 to pick up the localizer at an angle of about 45 degrees.
We also arm the spoilers with Shift+/ (check 'Throttle panel') so that they automatically open at touchdown.




Now we arm the localizer with LOC to automatically pick it up whn crossing.




As soon as the localizer is locked we arm the glideslope with APP
and when both localizer and glideslope are locked we lower the gear (G).




Now we set the speed to REF+10
and once the landing gear is completely out we set the flaps to 25.




When all looks good at 5Nm out we put the speed on the REF-value.




As soon as we touch the ground, the spoilers come out and the Autobrakes engage.
We now close the throttle completely with 'PgDn' or 'F2' and hold until EICAS shows maximum reverse thrust.




Now we can turn off the Autopilot with DISENGAGE or 'Z'. We DISENGAGE or 'Z' again to silence the alarm.
We also turn off the Autothrottle and the Flight Director.
At 80Kts the reverse thrusters must be off, then press 'F1'.
At 40Kts we turn off the brakes and spoilers by pressing the period (.).




When our speed is below 30Kts we slowly accelerate to avoid stalling on the runway.
Aircraft behind us and Schiphol Tower appreciate a quick exit from the runway.




Save as Flight

This is a good moment to save the current setup/situation as Default Flight.
Then you don't need to do all of this setup again next time.
In the menu go to 'File'>'Save Flight...' and call it for example 'KLM 747-400 at EHAM Landed'

ATTENTION: Check if all switches are in the correct positions. Sometimes these are not saved correctly!
Especially MCP and lighting switches go wrong sometimes.

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