B737-300/400/500 FMC position.

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Basic principle.

The FMC System position is used for LNAV (lateral navigation). If

the FMC System position is not
correct, all LNAV (and some VNAV) functions will have an error pro
portional to the FMC position
error. The error is sometimes referred to as "MAP shift", as the F
MC System position is also used to
display the aircraft position on the EHSI (electronic horizontal s
ituation indicator) in MAP mode. The
EHSI MAP will be shifted if an error occurs in the FMC position. I
t is important to understand factors
that can lead to FMC position errors.

FMC position determination.

The FMC uses the following references to determine the position of

the aircraft:

Left or right IRS.

Radio position.
Two FMC positions: the FMC System position and the FMC Best p
osition.

IRS position.

This is the position as determined by the left IRS (default). The

IRS. position can be switched to the
right IRS automatically (if a problem was detected in the left IRS
) or by the pilot (via the CDU).

Radio position.

Radio position can be based on DME/DME, VOR/DME or LOC.

Auto DME~DME.

Auto-tunes the scanning DME (if installed) or VHF NAV 1 and 2 tos
tations to maximum 200nm
depending geometry, range and quality.

Agility tuning (is always DME-DME).

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Every 5 seconds, a single NAV receiver (in AUTO, other
can be in™M
AN) will be tuned alternatively
to each of two DME stations. Until U5 (as on Sabena B737-30
0), thi
S tuning can be to a single DME .
Station which can contaminate a radio update if the DME is not
cor
rect (position in database, ..). This
can be verified on PROGress page 1 or on the DME indications.
Agil
ity tuning does not exist in aircraft
equipped with scanning DME.

VOR/DME.

Both bearing and DME are from a Single co-located station. The VOR
DME must be within 25nm
range. It is less accurate due to VOR radial inaccuracies. Prohibi
ting a DME station for updating in the
FMC (REF NAV DATA page) automatically inhibits the VOR also.

VORDME updating does not exist in aircraft equipped with scanning

DME.

LOC updating.

LOC. updating can occur during final approach on a manually tuned 1

Oocalizer (and its DME). LOC
updating supersedes DME-DME updating, but can be used in addition
to DME-DME updating. An
LDA (localizer type directional aid) can not be used for LOC updat
ing. Conditions for a LOC update
are:

Below 6000 ft AAL.

Within 20nm (front course) or 12nm (back course after go arou
nd) of the localizer antenna.
Within 25° of localizer centerline.
Aircraft track angle within 45° of localizer inbound course.
LOC deviation less than 1.25 dot, after being less than 2 dot
Ss for at least 5 seconds.

If no stations are available for radio updating, the FMC displays

108.00 in the AUTO window of the
NAV control panel.

If the FMC determines that a DME is out of tolerances, 108.00 is a

lso displayed in the affected NAV .
control panel and that radio will not be used for 8 minutes. Chanc
es are that the other NAV will revert
to agility tuning in the meantime.

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Scanning DME.

The 737 has two types of scanning DME installation: single or dual
The Sabena 737-400/500 fleet has
Single scanning DME. 3 DME transmitter/receivers are on board of t
hese aircraft: one for each NAV
and the third for the FMC only. Of the 5 available channels (a cha
nnel is used to monitor a specific
DME ground station), only channels 2 and 3 are used for FMC auto-t
une operation.

FMC positions.

The FMC Best position is the position as determined by the FMC bas
ed on the (left) IRS and the radio
position. Most of the time, the FMC Best position is biased toward
s the radio position.

The FMC System position is the position used for LNAV and for the
EHSI MAP. The System
position is slaved towards the Best position at a rate of 0,5 NM/m
in above 12500ft and at 2,0
NM/min at lower altitudes. This is to ensure smooth but accurate L
NAV guidance.

FMC position error.

IRS drift.

IRS drift will lead to an initial FMC position error. However, the
FMC will quickly see a difference if
the radio position is available and revert to the other IRS. If ra
dio updating is not available, the error
can be very significant (IRS NAV ONLY or both NAV receivers in MAN
tuned on an unusable
station).

Radio position error.

Signals can be radiated for test (not yet flight-checked).

The station can radiate out of tolerance or be in maintenance
The ident may have changed to
avoid confusion, but the FMS does not check the ident of ana
vaid.
The FMC database position of the navaid can be incorrect.

Especially VORDME updating is prone to these errors.

How to avoid position errors.

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 Inhibit unreliable stations that are within 200nm of the trac
k.
Check the IRS position indicators on the EHSI lower right cor
ner (Sabena option).
Check the EHSI with the VOR/ADF Map switch.
Verify raw data.
Set a navaid in the FIX and compare raw data with the FIX pag
e (distance can be slightly
different due to slant range).
If a bad navaid is automatically selected, manually tune the
NAV receiver to force the system
off a bad station.

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