Airbus A320 Landing - throttle problem

[renze_gert]

When I'm landing the Airbus A320, somehow it always goes full throttle when I'm close to touchdown. By pushing the red button on the throttle I then cancel this, but of course then the landing is already screwed. This keeps happening every time. Anybody an idea what I'm doing wrong?

[flitzpiepe0815]

Have you tried pulling the throttle lever(s) to "idle" (=0)?

[renze_gert]

Originally posted by flitzpiepe0815:

Have you tried pulling the throttle lever(s) to "idle" (=0)?

No at that stage it doesn't matter anymore what I do with the throttle. It seems like the autopilot has somehow totally taken it over.

[flitzpiepe0815]

Well it shouldn‘t. Pulling throttle to zero should also disconnect the AP. Shortly before touchdown is also usually the point where you disconnect the AP if you don‘t whant to trust autoland.

[Nhyrra]

I have the same problem. I deactivate all automatic functions before landing and every time I'm to close to the floor level, auto-throttle activates again.

[Neo King Arthur]

Your throttle should be in CL mode the whole time during approach. your auto-thrust should be using Managed so that the airspeed is managed by the approach speed set in the Approach phase in the FMC.

Note that you don't fly an Airbus the same way as a Boeing, where the throttle is a scaled power level between 0 %- 100%. The throttle is set in "modes": Idle, Auto-thrust, Climb (CL), FLX MCT, and Take off/Go Around (TOGA). You don't 'fly' an Airbus. she 'flies' you.

Push all the way forward to TO/GA mode for take off, then pull back to CL mode in your thrust for climbing. Pull it back again to Auto-thrust mode when cruising. When descending, push it forward to CL mode again, until you're on final when the computer calls out "Re-ta-rd", pull the throttle back to idle.

If you are controlling your thrust manually during approach, chances are you're on Auto-thrust mode, which has limits set to what's the maximum thrust you allow the computer to generate based on your position in your throttle.

For example: if you approach the airport using 10% throttle, the computer can only give 0% - 10% thrust. At this stage, chances are you're too slow in your approach, and you're about to stall. When that happens the Airbus computer will detect that you're about to stall and engage the Alpha Floor (A.FLOOR) mode which essentially gives it a 100% full thrust to the engine.

This is why you need to use the CL mode in your throttle to tell the airbus computer that you're on approach and descend phase. Let the computer do its thing.

Refer to this guide when it comes to the A320 landing: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2211536969