Crossing Restrictions, FIX Modifications, and T/D in v1.32

[Torbinator]

Hi guys,

I have noticed that in flying v1.32, it seems that the depicted crossing restriction on many STARs are not matching what is calculated by default in my CDU, and also if I modify an altitude at an existing fix, the top of descent (T/D) does not seem to reposition like it used to in the past. A few other folks I communicate with who fly this aircraft seem to be experiencing the same thing.

For example, I was flying from KAVL into KMDW, and had loaded in the PANGG3 arrival via the FWA transition.  My cruise was FL330. See the attached image for reference. When I loaded the routing before departure, it showed the altitude over BAGEL as FL330, PANGG at FL326, MEGGZ at FL267, AWSUM at FL241, etc. But as can be seen on the charted STAR, MEGGZ is 11,000, and AWSUM is 10,000.  Also, as I flew the flight I saw the depicted T/D over PANGG.  To remedy the situation, I typed /11000 into the scratchpad and inserted it next to MEGGZ.  However, the T/D never moved back to account for a new descent point. Additionally, the fixes now read BAGEL as FL330, PANGG FL326, MEGGZ at 11000, AWSUM at FL241, etc. 

I feel as though earlier versions (including v1.30 & 1.31?) more often properly moved the T/D earlier in the route and recalculated the altitudes over the adjacent fixes, but it seems v1.32 is having issues here. I know the VNAV is slated to be improved, but I wanted to point out that either v1.32 has either deteriorated in the calculations when asked to modify arrival fixes, or I have managed to coincidentally choose about 4 - 5 STARs in a row that this plane would have had problems even in the previous versions.

Thanks for reading this!

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by Torbinator

[Litjan]

Hi Torbinator,

Tom has changed (fixed) the way that altitude and speed restrictions are read into the LEGS page, now you often see things like /5000A9000B which previously didn´t happen. He also enabled the user to input all sorts of combinations of speed and altitude restrictions, you can now enter 260B/5000A9000B which previously wasn´t possible.

As far as the FMS actually considering these restrictions it is entirely possible that this got worse, as possibly the new format isn´t read properly by the FMS. So this will be fixed with the VNAV rewrite, but we will take no effort to band-aid fix this any earlier.

I would say that if previously this worked somewhat for you, you got lucky! In general I would state that arrival scenarios with altitude restrictions simply do not work.

Cheers, Jan