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!
The airplane is not showing up in the X-Plane 12 Configuration Menu
Simply tick this box below saying “Show aircraft for older versions of X-Plane”
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.
HIDDEN 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.
THE SCREENS ARE INVISIBLE (NOT PRESENT AT ALL)
This is likely because you are running XP in a virtual Windows enviroment on a Mac. You need to use the Mac version of X-Plane.
HOW DO I TUNE IN NAV1 NAV2 OR FMS?
Press the NAV button on the Display Control Panel (DCP) located right above the MFD.
Pressing it again will alternate between NAV1 and NAV2.
Press FMS to select the FMS as the AP source
THE PLANE IS FLYING UP AND DOWN WITH AP ON!
That is likely because you are flying too fast and the AP is trying to slow the aircraft down. Reduce thrust!
“CABIN ALT HI” MESSAGE ON EICAS
Same as above
WHY CAN I NOT SELECT 18° FLAPS?
The 18° Flaps position on the ERJs is not used in real life, therefore it is disabled.
HOW CAN I OPEN THE POP UP PANELS?
Click in the following click spots to the left of the PFD. Check picture below.
I CAN’T START THE APU!
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.
I CAN’T START THE ENGINES!
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.
WHY DO I HEAR "TRIM"?
This aural warning is triggered if the trim has been continuously adjusted for more than 3 seconds.
THE REFLECTIONS ON THE SCREENS LOOK HORRIBLE!
This is most likely because your reflection detail in the XP settings is set too low!
You can also disable the reflections completely. Read below.
HOW CAN I DISABLE THE REFLECTIONS ON SCREENS AND FROM WINDSHIELD?
There is a click spot in the lower corner of the windshield. Pressing it will toggle the reflections.
"DFDR FAIL" MESSAGE ON EICAS
This is simply saying that your beacon light is off.
RADAR, TERR AND VSD 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:)
WHERE IS THE PUSHBACK PLUGIN?
After seeing that most users are using the Better pushback, I decided it’s not worth for us to try and develop something that might not even be used. Better pushback is free and really cool so go ahead and download it.
ENGINES ARE RUNNING EVEN IF I RELOAD PLANE COLD & DARK!
This is an X-Plane bug and we will have to wait for Laminar to fix it!
F M S R E L A T E D F A Q
“CUSTOM AVIONICS NAVDATA NOT FOUND MESSAGE ON THE FMS”. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
You need navigation data in order to use the FMS which is usually acquired from the commercial sources such as Aerosoft or Navigraph. As a courtesy, if you don’t have your own data, a zip file with a sample version of such data is included in the product. You will need to unzip this folder into the root of the aircraft folder.
I PRESSED EXEC AFTER SELECTING MY SID'S AND STARS AND LOADED MY FLIGHT PLAN FILE, BUT NOW THE MAGENTA LINE IS GOING ALL OVER THE PLACE, INCLUDING BACK TO THE AIRPORT. WHAT DID I DO WRONG?
If you're using SID's and STAR's (departure and terminal procedures) you must not load a flight plan file for your ROUTE that has waypoints for your departure and arrival airports. The ROUTE must go from the end of your SID to the beginning of your STAR.
I HAVE A FLIGHT PLAN SUCCESSFULLY LOADED, BUT WHY ISN'T THE AIRCRAFT FOLLOWING THE WAYPOINTS?
You must select FMS for your navigation mode and have the autopilot engaged. You must also make sure that you followed all of the steps in your checklists to make certain that the autopilot has power.
WHERE IS THE VNAV BUTTON IN THIS AIRCRAFT?
There is no VNAV function in the ERJ 135, 140 or 145. You would normally use FLC or SPD to climb, and VS to descend. Enroute you remain in ALT (hold).
WHY CAN'T I ACTIVATE DIRECT KEYBOARD ENTRY (DKE) BY CLICKING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FMS CDU SCREEN?
You must click only on the SCRATCHPAD line now. The center of the screen is reserved for popping up the 2D FMS CDU window.
WHERE DID THE LOAD AND SAVE FLIGHT PLAN FILE FUNCTIONS GO?
These are now on the INIT page. LOAD is the same as CO ROUTE - for "company route," a more authentic way of referring to this function.
HOW CAN I CHANGE MY RADIO CALL SIGN?
The RADIO CALL function allows you to enter a callsign appropriate for your flight on the INIT page.
HOW CAN I CONFIRM WHAT AIRAC DATA IS LOADED?
Go to INIT, and then to STATUS. The cycle and dates are listed there.
HOW DO I CHANGE THE UNITS FROM IMPERIAL TO METRIC, OR VICE VERSA?
Go to PERF page 3 and press the fifth key down on the right.
WHERE IS THE ROTARY CONTROLLER NOW? HOW DO I SELECT DIFFERENT ROWS?
Use the up and down arrow keys just under the MCDU screen.