All right, folks, for my Leg 7, I decided to make a little detour by Bangkok to explore a bit while I was in the area.
The planned flight was a short 400 nm from Tan Son Nhat International Airport (VVTS, Chi Minh Ville) to Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok, VTBS).
Now, why did I decide to go from Vietnam to Thailand? The reason was quite simple: to settle a score.
As some of you may remember from my last flight, I had an unfinished business with the Aerosoft/Digital Aviation Bombardier CRJ900. Last flight was downright terrible, my landing was terrible, and my overall experience in this aircraft was terrible due to the different way its autopilot worked, which is with no VNAV and no autothrottle. This time, I wanted to do a flight by-the-book and nail that landing.
I read, read and read some more until I finally figured out the autopilot. During a climb, I can simply set my target cruising altitude and set my vertical speed. The aircraft will change its pitch to meet the V/S-Altitude target. The only thing I need to gauge is the throttle to provide enough power, the autopilot takes care of the rest in terms of pitch and roll.
During a cruise, the altitude-hold mode will automatically engage when I’m in range of my target altitude. Once again, the aircraft will change the pitch and roll to maintain my NAV course (FMC flight plan) and the pitch to maintain the altitude if I have enough thrust. I need to constantly adjust my throttle to control the speed and make sure the autopilot has what it needs to keep me in the parameters I want him to be.
As I cross over Thailand, I see the jungle underneath.
For the descent, I use a similar logic that I used for the climb. Set my target altitude (end of descent, usually), then engage the V/S autopilot to keep me in a steady descent. I will control my airspeed with my throttle. The descent isn’t made at idle; I need to constantly manage my thrust to have a manageable trajectory and attitude.
I follow the STAR to runway 19L of Suvarnabhumi Airport. Strangely enough, I don’t get anything on the ATIS. I double-check real quick; nope, it’s the right frequency, with the right ILS freq and everything. I look around, but I fail to spot the airport from afar. Maybe it’s really small, who knows? Something feels off…
As I line up on the localizer, I realize that I’m heading straight towards… nothing?
What? I do a double-take… what? Where is that darn field? There’s just, nothing!
I ram the throttle in rage, not understanding what the hell just happened. I check my instruments… no, it should be there. Hell, I even see the VTBS icon on my Navigation Display. I put the aircraft in a holding pattern at 4000 ft while I dig up my cell phone to try and figure out why I can’t find that darn runway.
Aaaand there it is. The revelation. The answer to the big mystery of Sherlock Holmes and the Invisible Airport. VTBS isn’t in FSX because that airport didn’t exist when the sim first came out. Suvarnabhumi was officially operational in 2006! I finally go around, wondering where I can land.
I look in my FMC for alternate airports… yes, there’s one! VTBD is available. Phew! I quickly google some Jeppesen charts of Don Mueang International Airport and promptly enter the ILS freq and the ATIS radio frequency. The lovely voice of the ATC rings through my ears. Gotcha! I enter my QNH and program my alternate STAR and approach. I follow the updated flight plan line and eventually line up with the runway.
Localizer is good. I’m a bit high, but the tower clears me for landing.
So far so good!
As I nose down to catch the glide slope, I see a silhouette below. That’s a plane landing right under me! Holy shmollies!
I can already hear the fictional ATC tell me to go around ASAP. I throttle up and climb back up to 3000 ft.
I think I made the right decision; safety first! I enter a holding pattern for 4-5 minutes, and once the runway is vacated I circle around and re-attempt my approach.
The second approach attempt is much better than the first one. I finally feel like I’ve mastered that CRJ! As I capture the localizer and get an ok glide slope, I disconnect the autopilot.
Using the PAPI lights for guidance, I set the aircraft in a better attitude by throttling up and nosing down.
Flaps 20, gear down, thrust reversers armed.
A little windy, but nothing I can’t manage.
I touchdown smoothly, but a bit too much AoA than I’m comfortable with. Yee-haw!
Thrust reversers on!
Slowing down nicely.
Vacating the runway.
And we’re finally home, after tracking an airport that didn’t exist and almost colliding with a landing aircraft. Quite eventful, but I’m glad I was finally able to tame the beast.
I think the moral of this story is that sometimes, when a plane is frustrating to learn, it’s a good idea to take a step back and try another flight but after having done more reading to understand how the aircraft works and how it is operated. Once my brain finally made the connection regarding throttle management during the flight, this seemingly high workload became quite easy to manage once I knew what to do. Once the CRJ started to behave the way I expected it to, I felt an immense sense of satisfaction. I thought… you know what? Maybe the CRJ isn’t so bad after all.