B O M B A R D I E R
CHALLENGER 300 CHALLENGER 300 FOR XPLANE 9.50+
QUICK FLIGHT TUTORIAL Written by IAN, Challenger 300 pilot design by ‘ddenn’
The following is a little guide to get you started flying the Challenger 300. Legal disclaimer - All instructions and charts in this guide are provided for entertainment purposes only and not intended for use in actual airplanes.
I'm going to assume you are starting on the runway with the airplane shutdown and you used the “Fast Start” menu to get the airplane ready. The more adventurous can always do the full pre-flight and follow the checklist to get to the same point as the “Fast Start” option. Once you have the airplane up and running, you should have three CAS (Crew Alerting System) messages: XBLEED OPEN, PARK/EMER BRAKE ON, and YAW DAMPER OFF (all white or “Status” messages). We will take care of them in a few minutes. Before we get too far however, we need to understand some basic terminology. The screen on the left, directly in front of the pilot is called the PFD (Primary Flight Display). The screen to the right is called the MFD (Multi Function Display). Selecting the Challenger 300 menu on the left side of screen allows you to select “Instruments.” This brings up a small box giving you access to the EICAS (Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System), the CKLST (Checklist), and the MFDCTL (MFD Control Panel). As the name implies, the MFDCTL panel lets you cycle through the different systems and functions of the MFD and cycle through the Checklist. Most of the items on the PFD are inputted through the buttons and knobs on the glare-shield. Now would be a good time set up the radios. The buttons and knobs on the glare-shield are how you set frequencies, change NAV sources, set V speeds and control the autopilot. You will need to be very familiar with these if you want to be successful flying the Challenger 300. To tune a NAV radio, press the “RADIO” button to the right of the “TUNE” knob. Notice the small blue box that appears around the COM frequency in the lower left corner of the MFD. Since we want to tune a NAV radio, we need to move the blue box over to the NAV1 position. This is done by manipulating the “MENU/DATA” knob to the right of the “TUNE” knob. Once you have moved the blue box over to the NAV1 standby position, use the “TUNE” knob to set the frequency. When you have it set, press the center of the “TUNE” knob to move that frequency to the active position. Manipulating all of the items in this lower section of the MFD is accomplished this way. You should set up the Flight Director (FD) for takeoff. Press the button above the “HDG” knob to bring up the FD in the HDG mode. Press the center of the HDG button to center the HDG bug on the airplane’s (and therefore the runway’s) heading. Select the Vertical Speed (VS) button. Use the pitch wheel just to the right of the VS button to set about 2000fpm up. This is just a starting point and will set the FD about 10 degrees nose up.
It would also be a good time to check your V (or Velocity) speeds. V speeds are set using the “REFS” button to the right of the “MENU/DATA” knob. Pressing it multiple times allows you cycle through takeoff and landing speeds as well as setting the approach minimums. Speeds are adjusted the same way frequencies are changed – use the “MENU/DATA” knob to move the box around and the “TUNE” knob to adjust the speed. Multiple charts exist as a reference for setting V speeds but including all of them is beyond the scope of this guide. For simplicity, I've included a Sea Level, Standard Day, Flaps 10 chart to use as a reference. Sea Level, ISA, Flaps 10 Weight 28000 30000
32000
34000
36000
Vfto = 170 kts 38000 38850
V1
116
116
117
122
127
132
134
Vr
116
116
120
124
129
133
135
V2
126
125
127
131
135
139
140
TOFL
3370
3480
3630
4100
4510
5090
5320
Once you have set the speeds, it's time to go fly! Remember those three messages on the CAS? We need to get rid of two of them before we are ready. Over to the right of the V/S wheel on the autopilot control panel is the Yaw Damper (YD). Press that button to turn on the Yaw Damper. Now just release the brakes and you are ready to go! The XBLEED OPEN message will stay there until we shut down the APU. As you push up the power levers, you will see a blue N1 target appear above the N1 gauges. These power levers have “detents” and you need push the power up just far enough to see the number followed by the letters TO (for Take Off). When you see the TO, you are in the proper detent.
If you've followed my instructions correctly, you just got a red CAS message (CONFIG FLAPS) and voice saying “Configuration.” I did that intentionally to show you that the airplane is looking out for you. If you don't have things set right, it will let you know. Go ahead and set the flaps to 10 and try again. As you reach Vr, smoothly rotate the nose up to about 15 degrees nose up. At a positive rate, raise the landing gear. As you pass through 400 feet above the ground, retract the flaps and pull the power back to the CLB detent. You will note the engine “SYNC” comes on automatically in the CLB detent. Accelerate to 250 knots and hold on – the airplane really climbs!
We will use the autopilot for this flight. Go ahead and press the VS button twice (to turn it off and then back on). This will sync it to your current climb rate. Press the AP button above and to the right of the “ALT” knob to turn on the autopilot. To track a FMS route, press the “NAVSRC” button above and to the left of the “MENU/DATA” knob until it says “FMS1” on the PFD. Now just press the “NAV” button above and to the left of the “HDG” knob to let the autopilot tack the FMS course.
Once you have things under control, it’s time to shut down the APU. Since we took off with the BLEEDS set to the APU, we need to transfer them to the engines before we shut the APU down. Under the Landing Gear handle you will find the “AIR COND / BLEED” panel. On it, you will find four buttons. Press each one turning the Engine Bleeds on, shutting off the APU Bleed and closing the XBLEED. Now you are ready to shut down the APU. Toward the back of the pedestal you will find the “APU” control knob. Rotate it to “OFF.” You can watch the APU shut down by looking at the APU data to the left of the CAS on the MFD. The data will disappear after a short time. One feature of the Challenger 300 is that it removes unnecessary information from view to de-clutter the panel.
As you climb, you can use the “FLC” (Flight Level Change) button to have the autopilot follow a selected speed. The speed is changed by turning the “SPEED” knob. At light weights, you can climb at 250 knots until you intercept Mach .75 and then climb at Mach .75. To switch between knots and Mach, press the center of the “SPEED” knob. At heavier weights, it is better to climb at faster indicated speeds. For example, if you are heavy, climb at 270 knots until you intercept Mach .78 and then climb at Mach .78 to your assigned altitude. Never let the airplane get slower than about Mach .75 at high altitude or it will never be able to speed up and you will have to descend to regain proper speed. Once you level off, pull the power levers back to “CRZ”. Any power lever setting below “CLB” is considered “CRZ” so you can use any power setting in that range. Note that if you are climbing to high altitude, the airplane’s performance is directly affected by the ISA (International Standard Atmosphere) deviation. Look at the left side of the PFD. If the number next to the letters “ISA” is much higher then zero, the airplane will have a hard time climbing to high altitude. X-plane holds the same ISA deviation from the ground all the way up, so if you start on a hot day, the ISA deviation will be very positive. This will adversely affect climb performance and fuel burn. If you are having trouble, open the “Weather” menu and set the temperature to 59 def F or 15 deg C (ISA). You should be able to climb to 41,000 feet at heavy weights and up to 45,000 at lighter weights. Ok, so you flew your trip and are ready to start down. Put your new altitude assignment in the altitude selector using the “ALT” knob. Now, select VS and set in about a 2000 fpm decent rate to start. If you need to increase your decent rate, you may need to tap the “3” key a few times to deploy the FLT SPOILERS to prevent the airplane from “over-speeding.”
As you enter the airport traffic area, you may notice that it can be hard to slow down without using the FLT SPOILERS. Go ahead and use them if you need to – that’s why they are there. Set up the approach using the glare-shield. Change the NAV Source to “NAV1”. As you line up with the ILS about 10 or 15 miles out, slow to 180 knots or so. You should be about 2000 feet above the airport elevation. As you slow below 210 knots, you can extend 10 degrees of flaps. If you need more drag, you go ahead and select the flaps to 20. Also note that you can put the gear down at 250 knots if you need to add drag but are too fast to extend the flaps.
Set your landing V speeds by pressing the “REFS” button until you see “VREF” on the PFD. Set the speeds just like you did for takeoff using the following guide: Sea Level, Flaps 30, ISA Weight Vref Vga Landing Distance (Dry) Landing Distance (Wet)
28000 113 119 2290 3120
30000 117 123 2400 3310
Vfto = 170kts 32000 33750 121 124 127 131 2510 2600 3500 3680
Once you are cleared for the approach, arm the approach by pressing the “APPR” button on the glareshield so the autopilot will track the LOC (Localizer) and GS (Glideslope). When you intercept the GS, extend the landing gear if you haven’t already. As you slow below 175 kts, you can select the flaps to 30. Now just set about 65% N1 and adjust as required to maintain Vref plus about 5 knots. The Challenger 300 has a tendency to float if you are fast, so try and hold your speed accurately. Whenever you are comfortable, go ahead and disconnect the autopilot by pressing the AP button on the glare-shield. The Challenger 300 does not have autoland so you are going to have to do it yourself! As you hear the callout for “30 feet,” ease the power back to idle and raise the nose to flare. As you touch down, the GND SPOILERS will deploy automatically. Deploy the Thrust Reversers and go easy on the brakes – they are very effective. As you slow down, stow the Thrust Reversers and exit the runway. The GND SPOILERS will retract automatically. Once you clear the runway, go ahead and run your after landing checklist. Don’t forget to turn off the L and R Probes – they will be damaged if you leave them on too long on the ground!
You have just completed you first Challenger 300 flight! Now you can spend some time learning how all the systems work and interact. When you get proficient, it will be time to test yourself with some failures! Have fun!
A couple of hints: A good decent and approach profile is roughly three degrees (Note most ILS Glide Slopes are set to 3.0 degrees). To follow this decent angle, use the following as a general guide: To determine when to start your decent, drop the last zero from your FL (Flight Level) and multiply that number by three. That is the distance in nautical miles away from your destination you should start down. For example, if you are at FL410 (41,000 feet), multiply “41 x 3” to get 123. You should start down 123 nm from your destination. To maintain that 3x profile, your decent rate should be five times your GROUND SPEED in knots. So if you are traveling 500 kts (with a little tailwind), your decent rate should be 2,500 fpm. If your Ground Speed is 450 kts, your decent rate should be about 2,250 fpm. These rules work all the way to the ground. If you are at 10,000 feet, you should start down 30 nm from the airport. If you are flying an ILS approach at 120 kts GS, you should maintain about 600 fpm decent rate to stay on the 3.0 degree Glide Slope.
2011
