B O M B A R D I E R

CHALLENGER 300
FOR XPLANE 9.50+
QUICK FLIGHT TUTORIAL
Written by IAN,
Challenger 300 pilot
design by ddenn












































The following is a little guide to get you started flying the Challenger 300. Legal disclaimer - All
instructions and charts in this guide are provided for entertainment purposes only and not intended for
use in actual airplanes.





I'm going to assume you are starting on the runway
with the airplane shutdown and you used the Fast
Start menu to get the airplane ready. The more
adventurous can always do the full pre-flight and follow
the checklist to get to the same point as the Fast Start
option.

Once you have the airplane up and running, you should
have three CAS (Crew Alerting System) messages:
XBLEED OPEN, PARK/EMER BRAKE ON, and YAW
DAMPER OFF (all white or Status messages). We
will take care of them in a few minutes. Before we get
too far however, we need to understand some basic
terminology. The screen on the left, directly in front of
the pilot is called the PFD (Primary Flight Display). The screen to the right is called the MFD (Multi
Function Display). Selecting the Challenger 300 menu on the left side of screen allows you to select
Instruments. This brings up a small box giving you access to the EICAS (Engine Indication and
Crew Alerting System), the CKLST (Checklist), and the MFDCTL (MFD Control Panel). As the name
implies, the MFDCTL panel lets you cycle through the different systems and functions of the MFD and
cycle through the Checklist. Most of the items on the PFD are inputted through the buttons and knobs
on the glare-shield.

Now would be a good time set up the radios. The buttons and knobs on the glare-shield are how you
set frequencies, change NAV sources, set V speeds and control the autopilot. You will need to be very
familiar with these if you want to be successful flying the Challenger 300.

To tune a NAV radio, press the RADIO button to the right of the TUNE knob. Notice the small blue
box that appears around the COM frequency in the lower left corner of the MFD. Since we want to
tune a NAV radio, we need to move the blue box over to the NAV1 position. This is done by
manipulating the MENU/DATA knob to the right of the TUNE knob. Once you have moved the blue
box over to the NAV1 standby position, use the TUNE knob to set the frequency. When you have it
set, press the center of the TUNE knob to move that frequency to the active position. Manipulating
all of the items in this lower section of the MFD is accomplished this way.

You should set up the Flight Director (FD) for takeoff. Press the button above the HDG knob to bring
up the FD in the HDG mode. Press the center of the HDG button to center the HDG bug on the
airplanes (and therefore the runways) heading. Select the Vertical Speed (VS) button. Use the pitch
wheel just to the right of the VS button to set about 2000fpm up. This is just a starting point and will
set the FD about 10 degrees nose up.




It would also be a good time to check your V (or Velocity) speeds. V speeds are set using the REFS
button to the right of the MENU/DATA knob. Pressing it multiple times allows you cycle through
takeoff and landing speeds as well as setting the approach minimums. Speeds are adjusted the same
way frequencies are changed use the MENU/DATA knob to move the box around and the TUNE
knob to adjust the speed. Multiple charts exist as a reference for setting V speeds but including all of
them is beyond the scope of this guide. For simplicity, I've included a Sea Level, Standard Day, Flaps
10 chart to use as a reference.

Sea Level, ISA, Flaps 10 Vfto = 170 kts
Weight 28000 30000 32000 34000 36000 38000 38850
V1 116 116 117 122 127 132 134
Vr 116 116 120 124 129 133 135
V2 126 125 127 131 135 139 140
TOFL 3370 3480 3630 4100 4510 5090 5320

Once you have set the speeds, it's time to go fly! Remember those three messages on the CAS? We
need to get rid of two of them before we are ready. Over to the right of the V/S wheel on the autopilot
control panel is the Yaw Damper (YD). Press that button to turn on the Yaw Damper. Now just release
the brakes and you are ready to go! The XBLEED OPEN message will stay there until we shut down
the APU.

As you push up the power levers, you will see a blue N1 target appear above the N1 gauges. These
power levers have detents and you need push the power up just far enough to see the number
followed by the letters TO (for Take Off). When you see the TO, you are in the proper detent.



If you've followed my instructions correctly, you just
got a red CAS message (CONFIG FLAPS) and voice
saying Configuration. I did that intentionally to
show you that the airplane is looking out for you. If
you don't have things set right, it will let you know.
Go ahead and set the flaps to 10 and try again.

As you reach Vr, smoothly rotate the nose up to
about 15 degrees nose up. At a positive rate, raise
the landing gear. As you pass through 400 feet
above the ground, retract the flaps and pull the
power back to the CLB detent. You will note the
engine SYNC comes on automatically in the CLB
detent. Accelerate to 250 knots and hold on the
airplane really climbs!


We will use the autopilot for this flight. Go ahead and press the VS button twice (to turn it off and then
back on). This will sync it to your current climb rate. Press the AP button above and to the right of the
ALT knob to turn on the autopilot. To track a FMS route, press the NAVSRC button above and to
the left of the MENU/DATA knob until it says FMS1 on the PFD. Now just press the NAV button
above and to the left of the HDG knob to let the autopilot tack the FMS course.


Once you have things under control, its time to shut down the APU. Since we took off with the
BLEEDS set to the APU, we need to transfer them to the engines before we shut the APU down.
Under the Landing Gear handle you will find the AIR COND / BLEED panel. On it, you will find four
buttons. Press each one turning the Engine Bleeds on, shutting off the APU Bleed and closing the
XBLEED. Now you are ready to shut down the APU. Toward the back of the pedestal you will find the
APU control knob. Rotate it to OFF. You can watch the APU shut down by looking at the APU data
to the left of the CAS on the MFD. The data will disappear after a short time. One feature of the
Challenger 300 is that it removes unnecessary information from view to de-clutter the panel.



As you climb, you can use the FLC (Flight Level
Change) button to have the autopilot follow a selected
speed. The speed is changed by turning the SPEED
knob. At light weights, you can climb at 250 knots until
you intercept Mach .75 and then climb at Mach .75. To
switch between knots and Mach, press the center of
the SPEED knob. At heavier weights, it is better to
climb at faster indicated speeds. For example, if you
are heavy, climb at 270 knots until you intercept Mach
.78 and then climb at Mach .78 to your assigned
altitude. Never let the airplane get slower than about
Mach .75 at high altitude or it will never be able to
speed up and you will have to descend to regain proper
speed. Once you level off, pull the power levers back
to CRZ. Any power lever setting below CLB is considered CRZ so you can use any power setting
in that range.

Note that if you are climbing to high altitude, the airplanes performance is directly affected by the ISA
(International Standard Atmosphere) deviation. Look at the left side of the PFD. If the number next to
the letters ISA is much higher then zero, the airplane will have a hard time climbing to high altitude.
X-plane holds the same ISA deviation from the ground all the way up, so if you start on a hot day, the
ISA deviation will be very positive. This will adversely affect climb performance and fuel burn. If you
are having trouble, open the Weather menu and set the temperature to 59 def F or 15 deg C (ISA).
You should be able to climb to 41,000 feet at heavy weights and up to 45,000 at lighter weights.

Ok, so you flew your trip and are ready to start down. Put your new altitude assignment in the altitude
selector using the ALT knob. Now, select VS and set in about a 2000 fpm decent rate to start. If you
need to increase your decent rate, you may need to tap the 3 key a few times to deploy the FLT
SPOILERS to prevent the airplane from over-speeding.



As you enter the airport traffic area, you may notice that it can be hard to slow down without using the
FLT SPOILERS. Go ahead and use them if you need to thats why they are there.

Set up the approach using the glare-shield. Change the NAV Source to NAV1. As you line up with
the ILS about 10 or 15 miles out, slow to 180 knots or so. You should be about 2000 feet above the
airport elevation. As you slow below 210 knots, you can extend 10 degrees of flaps. If you need more
drag, you go ahead and select the flaps to 20. Also note that you can put the gear down at 250 knots
if you need to add drag but are too fast to extend the flaps.



Set your landing V speeds by pressing the REFS button until you see VREF on the PFD. Set the
speeds just like you did for takeoff using the following guide:

Sea Level, Flaps 30, ISA Vfto = 170kts
Weight 28000 30000 32000 33750
Vref 113 117 121 124
Vga 119 123 127 131
Landing Distance (Dry) 2290 2400 2510 2600
Landing Distance (Wet) 3120 3310 3500 3680

Once you are cleared for the approach, arm the approach by pressing the APPR button on the glare-
shield so the autopilot will track the LOC (Localizer) and GS (Glideslope). When you intercept the GS,
extend the landing gear if you havent already. As you slow below 175 kts, you can select the flaps to
30. Now just set about 65% N1 and adjust as required to maintain Vref plus about 5 knots. The
Challenger 300 has a tendency to float if you are fast, so try and hold your speed accurately.
Whenever you are comfortable, go ahead and disconnect the autopilot by pressing the AP button on
the glare-shield. The Challenger 300 does not have autoland so you are going to have to do it
yourself!

As you hear the callout for 30 feet, ease the power back to idle and raise the nose to flare. As you
touch down, the GND SPOILERS will deploy automatically. Deploy the Thrust Reversers and go easy
on the brakes they are very effective. As you slow down, stow the Thrust Reversers and exit the
runway. The GND SPOILERS will retract automatically.

Once you clear the runway, go ahead and run your after landing checklist. Dont forget to turn off the L
and R Probes they will be damaged if you leave them on too long on the ground!





You have just completed you first Challenger 300 flight! Now you can spend some time learning how
all the systems work and interact. When you get proficient, it will be time to test yourself with some
failures! Have fun!





















A couple of hints:

A good decent and approach profile is roughly three degrees (Note most ILS Glide Slopes are set to
3.0 degrees). To follow this decent angle, use the following as a general guide:

To determine when to start your decent, drop the last zero from your FL (Flight Level) and multiply that
number by three. That is the distance in nautical miles away from your destination you should start
down. For example, if you are at FL410 (41,000 feet), multiply 41 x 3 to get 123. You should start
down 123 nm from your destination.

To maintain that 3x profile, your decent rate should be five times your GROUND SPEED in knots. So if
you are traveling 500 kts (with a little tailwind), your decent rate should be 2,500 fpm. If your Ground
Speed is 450 kts, your decent rate should be about 2,250 fpm.

These rules work all the way to the ground. If you are at 10,000 feet, you should start down 30 nm
from the airport. If you are flying an ILS approach at 120 kts GS, you should maintain about 600 fpm
decent rate to stay on the 3.0 degree Glide Slope.



































2011