OnCourse Software

This flight went pretty awry. I just disconnected the sim eventually... will try the same flight again later. PF3 did not ask me to climb any further than the initial FL220 and did not ask me to descend at all - not until I checked in, which I did just to see if I was still connected, at which point I was asked to descend to 4000'. By then I had overflown my destination airport though so I gave up.

Is there an obvious reason for this from the log? I double-checked the COM log onscreen and nothing was there, so I didn't miss an instruction.

I do sometimes, when I check in (if something looks not quite right), get the pilot reporting 'out of flight level XXX for flight level YYY', when no instruction to climb or descend has been received from ATC. Happened here too, as you can see no doubt. Is that a known issue?

Thank you.

Martin

martinlest wrote: *

Tue Sep 08, 2020 3:42 pm

not until I checked in

I think that is the main problem: You need to check in, otherwise Departure doesn't know you're listening.

Improvements that could be made in PF3:
- If you don't check in, someone should try to contact you on the old and new frequency.
- If you don't check in, they shouldn't send "Allegiant 319 Hotel resume own navigation".

Martin,

The problem was due to you not being handed off to Center. I've been checking the log for the past hour or so but as yet haven't found the cause or reason why. I will obviously be adding this to our internal bug list so it will be investigated further, but as yet I don't have a satisfactory answer for you, Please let us know if it happens again and of course provide the log file.

Thank you both. I will probably make the same flight again tonight, or tomorrow if I fall asleep in the meantime (very likely), so will obviously let you know (+ log file) how it goes.

Seemed to go just fine second attempt. Same flight plan.

Don't know if you want the log, to compare perhaps - might help see what happened before? I attach it just in case.

Thanks.

Thank you Martin that will certainly help

Hi Martin,

An eagle eyed beta tester has just pointed out to me the problem with your original flight is you didn't actual make contact with Departure when instructed to do so. You, or your VCP, changed to the correct frequency but you never hit the 'initial contact' hotkey.

Hopefully we will have something in place for the next release to handle such situations as forgetful pilots!

But I set myself into Mode 2 from just before takeoff... the VCP should be taking care of such things, shouldn't it? Once I set into Mode 2 I do not always monitor every single interaction with ATC, especially on long flights - I assume the VCP will manage all that when in Mode 2. The VCR will have changed the frequency and then not contacte3d Departure.

I did not contact departure 'manually' in the second flight either, and that went just fine. All requests that appeared on the COM log window were addressed, either by me or by the VCP. If there were others that were not dealt with, they didn't appear on the log screen, nor vocally. The error is surely with the VCP, not with a 'forgetful pilot'?

martinlest wrote: *

Thu Sep 10, 2020 12:35 pm

But I set myself into Mode 2 from just before takeoff... the VCP should be taking care of such things, shouldn't it?

You're absolutely right, I didn't notice this with the eagle eyes Dave said I have

Edit:
You should see a message "Virtual Co-Pilot is now in COMM Plus Mode (handles all comms)." on your screen to confirm the change. I see in the log that you pressed the correct hotkey and it was certainly early enough, but the message was not sent by PF3.

Edit2:
In your second log you do everything in the same way (first VCP mode 2, then few seconds later ready for take-off) and the message appears, so it seems to be a timing issue. If this fails more than once, you need to make sure the "Virtual Co-Pilot is now in ..." message appears, which is an "almost" perfect (though unwanted) simulation of the "You have ATC" - "I have ATC" that is done in real aircraft to make sure the other pilot knows that it is now his turn to do this.
Dave, do you have an idea why this happens?

Hi Thomas,

Quote:

You should see a message "Virtual Co-Pilot is now in COMM Plus Mode (handles all comms)." on your screen to confirm the change. I see in the log that you pressed the correct hotkey and it was certainly early enough, but the message was not sent by PF3.

I did see the message both times - I always look out for it in fact before carrying on - and it must have gone into effect both times, despite what you see in the log (I'll say why below!). In fact I have a keypad which is set up so that, when I press one key there, a command is set to PF3 first to engage Mode 2 and then, after a pause, to request takeoff clearance. I use it (every flight) when I am at the hold short line, ready to take off, of course. It works 90% of the time. About 10% of the time, the switching to Mode 2 part of the macro doesn't work (and then I have another key which repeats that request alone). The upshot is that I always know if PF3 has switched to Mode 2 because if it hasn't, I don't get any reply from the pilot to the ATC takeoff clearance. I never take off in Mode 1. In both flights of which I uploaded the log, Mode 2 was definitely working from takeoff onwards.

I am always very aware of which mode I am in, throughout the flight, because of the lack or presence of automatic pilot/VCP answers to ATC.

Thanks!