How to - Pause at TOD / Auto Step Climb / Time Compression - Setup & Operation

[Eddie]

The A350 Airliner comes with a variety of quality of life features such as Pause at Top of Descent (TOD), Auto Step-Climbs and Time Compression to make long haul / away-from-keyboard (AFK) flying more accessible for simmers.

SETUP - OIS SIMULATION SETTINGS

All of these features can be set up via the On-board Information System (OIS) simulation options page, which is accessed from FLT OPS MENU > OPTIONS > SIMULATION. 

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PAUSE AT TOD

The  Pause at Top of Descent (TOD) pauses your simulator at a set distance before the FMS computed TOD point. 

To enable the feature,

• PAUSE AT T.O.D: Select YES to arm this function
• PAUSE TOD DIST (nm): Enter the desired value for where you want the pause to engage (Default 30 nm, Max 100 nm)

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Note: This option is saved between sessions and active for all variants. 

To unpause the simulator, 

• Click the RESUME FLIGHT button on the OIS notification

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AUTO STEP CLIMB

The Auto Step Climb feature automatically climbs your aircraft at the pre-defined steps that you have setup on the MFD FMS.

The Auto Import Step Climb feature automatically uplinks the planned steps from your Simbrief OFP for validation against FMS calculations. The step alts which are deemed valid are then input automatically on the F-PLN / VERT REV / STEP ALTS page. 

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TIME COMPRESSION

The Time Compression feature allows you to shorten your flight time by increasing the simulation rate by upto 4x. This is useful for completing longer flights in a shorter time. 

The TIME COMPRESSION option when set to,

• AUTO: Automatically manages the simulation rate (up to the MAX COMPRESSION rate set)
• OFF: Resets the simulation rate to 1x. 
   

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Note: This feature can adjust the simulation rate, but it cannot completely disable on its own. As such should manually be turned OFF from the OIS when not required.

It is recommended to monitor your flight whilst Time Compression is in use as the autopilot can still disconnect due to excessive turbulence or abrupt weather changes for example. 

The MAX COMPRESSION option when set to,

• UP TO 2X: Limits the simulation rate to a maximum of 2x.
• UP TO 4X: Limits the simulation rate to a maximum of 4x.
   

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Note: The actual simulation rate achieved will depend on factors such as your system hardware and present aircraft position. All systems and their calculations are run at the set simulation rate, leading to an increased demand of system resources. 

If the current FPS falls below the minimum required threshold, the simulation rate is dynamically reduced to improve stability. When more system resources become available, the simulation rate will again dynamically increase up to the set MAX COMPRESSION rate.

 The active simulation rate is shown via a green notification at the top of the OIS. 

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Note: While the simulation rate changes, the simulator time still remains synced to real UTC time and will not advance at a higher rate currently (sim limitation)