Frequently Asked Questions

 

Here are the most frequently asked questions, please read them through if you have any issue. Most questions are asked over and over again and this will be the quickest way for you to find the answers to your problems! 

 
 

FMS


I can’t access the arrival page

How do I reset the FMS?



cockpit

WHY CAN I NOT SELECT 18° FLAPS?

The 18° Flaps position on the ERJs is not used in real life, therefore it is disabled in the sim.

THE APU is not starting

After turning the switch to RUN, you need to wait for about 5 seconds for the yellow box on the EICAS to stop flashing, after which you can start the APU.

THE ENGINES are not starting

Make sure you follow the checklist exactly. The most common mistake is that people forget to turn on the BLEED APU or that they don’t hold the starter switches long enough. Make sure you hold them on START for at least 5 seconds.

WHY IS THE COCKPIT WINDOW NOT OPENING MORE?

The windows only open a bit to allow the pilots to hand documents to the ground crew.

In emergency the windows have to be removed completely.

THE COCKPIT IS GETTING SLOWLY DARKER UNTIL IT TURNS BLACK AND I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING.

You most likely forgot to turn on your bleed air! Make sure your engine bleeds are on - the buttons should be dark. The cockpit gets black because you don't have enough oxygen and X-Plane is simulating hypoxia. You can also turn this effect off in X-Plane's settings.

WHY IS SPD AND FLCH NOT DOING WHAT I EXPECT IT TO BE DOING?

SPD and FLCH are both climb and descend functions. The ERJs dont have autothrottle.

  • SPD is the same as FLCH (in other aircraft) – flight level change – where the AP will use pitch to maintain the airspeed during a climb or descent.

  • FLC scheduled climbs operate as in the real aircraft, using variable speeds for a level change climb, and variable VS rates for descents.

  • Going up: The aircraft controls airspeed by pitch and you climb at 240 knots from 0 to 10,000 feet. Then the airspeed request is gradually and automatically increased to 270 KIAS while climbing to 12,000 feet. This speed stays the same until FL180, where we change to Mach automatically, and climb continues at .56 Mach.

  • The more you add throttle, the faster you will climb.

  • Going down: the aircraft will descend using a vertical speed of 2000 fpm

  • through 12,000 feet, and this is slowly adjusted to 1000 fpm by 10,000 feet.

Autopilot



Is there an Autothrottle?

I actually added and hid the autothrottle function in case you are lazy like me. Just click on the top left screw of the AP panel. It will illuminate green if on.

THE FLC CLIMB MODE IS ENABLED BUT THE PLANE IS NOT CLIMBING!

Make sure that your throttles are pushed forward to assure sufficient thrust.

ARE SWITCHES ON WHEN THE LIGHT IS ILLUMINATED OR WHEN IT IS NOT?

All Embraer cockpits follow the “Dark & Quiet” convention. That means that if something is dark, it is ON or in the normal state during the flight. If something is illuminated, it means it is OFF or in a state that is not normal during the flight.


The purpose of the light is to bring attention to the function so that the pilot and copilot know that the function is not currently in the normal flight state.

Note: The BLEED APU, APU GEN and the GPU GEN are the only switches on the overhead panel that are illuminated if they are ON. Because they would normally not be used in flight.

Instruments

What does the "DFDR FAIL" EICAS MESSAGE mean?

DFDR stands for Digital Flight Data Recorder, which starts recording when the beacon light is turned on. So to clear this message, turn the beacon lights on.

What does the “SHED BUS 1-2 OFF” mean?

This comes off any time there aren't at least 3 generators on. The airplane therefore doesn't have enough power, and it turns the SHED busses off. The shed busses power non essential devices like the cabin lighting, taxi lights or the coffeemaker. You can override this by selecting the SHED BUSES switch to OVRD.

Is there a VSD?

The first-generation ERJ Family featured a Vertical Situation Display provided by the Terrain Radar plugin. Since we now have fully authentic avionics, this feature hasn’t been included since it isn’t there on the real aircraft.

TERR IS NOT WORKING

The planes are compatible with the Terrain Radar plugin, but it is not included in the package as we are not responsible for it. Just search for Terrain Radar by Dr. Gluck and you’ll find it! It is really cool so you should get it:)

HOW DO I CHANGE THE UNITS FROM IMPERIAL TO METRIC, OR VICE VERSA?

You can change it on the Settings page of the EFB.