Climb-out/Enroute
3-7
The range of settable VS targets is ±1600 fpm.
The primary location to set the VS bug is via the dedicated VS
knob on the autopilot control head. A secondary method is via a
LSK on the “Bug Select” tab of the PFD page. The knob has a
push-to-sync capability that will sync the target VS to the closest
50 fpm to the current aircraft VS.
The autopilot modes annunciator indication is a green “
VS
”.
There is no armed (cyan) VS mode.
VNAV MODE
Provided three rules are met, Vertical Nav (VNAV) will capture
and track the enroute, arrival, approach, and missed approach
legs of the active flight plan within the FMS400/900w. It can also
be useful with pilot selected vertical waypoints. VNAV mode is
entered by pressing the “VNAV” button on the autopilot control
panel. When VNAV is active, the system will light the control
panel button in green. In enroute and descent operations, VNAV
will hold current altitude until the system reaches the computed
Top of Descent (TOD) point for the active leg, and then will start
the descent when the TOD point has been reached. During
missed approach operations, VNAV will climb to the target
altitude and then level at that altitude until the next waypoint is
crossed.
The three rules that must be met in order to allow VNAV
operations are:
o
Primary Nav LSK must be set to FMS;
o
At least one down-path flight plan waypoint must have an
altitude constraint associated with it;
o
Autopilot must be in NAV mode (engaged or armed) for
the lateral mode.
Selecting a published approach or arrival within the FMS will
automatically fill in any associated altitude constraints in the flight
plan, thereby eliminating any need for pilot input of VNAV altitude
constraints. If a published approach has not been selected within
