A320 MCDU Practice Scenarios

Learn just the INIT page — the first page you interact with on every flight.

Program a short-haul flight from EGLL to LFPG. Covers the essential INIT, F-PLN, and PERF pages.

You accidentally enter the wrong destination. Detect and correct the error before building the flight plan.

Before you program a flight you need to know where everything lives. Visit each major MCDU page in sequence so the layout is no longer a maze. No data entry — just navigation.

Focus on the PERF page: enter V-speeds, flaps, and flex temp for a Madrid to London departure.

Your first real procedure practice: pick a departure at Phoenix and an arrival at Las Vegas on the DEPARTURES and ARRIVAL pages, using the trainer's real FAA NASR procedures.

Set up VOR and ILS frequencies on the RAD NAV page for an ILS approach into Paris CDG.

You're cruising at FL340 westbound over the Atlantic. As fuel burns off the aircraft can fly higher and more efficiently. Use the PROG page to check the recommended maximum, then step up to FL360 on INIT.

Most pilots type a cost index from their OFP and never think about it again. In this scenario you try three values — 0, 30, and 80 — to feel what the number actually controls: the trade-off between speed and fuel burn.

Mid-planning, ATC diverts you to Brussels. Update your INIT page with the new destination and parameters.

FLEX takeoff lies to the engines about how hot it is, so they produce less thrust. Try three values to feel the trade-off between engine wear and performance margin.

Fix the dreaded "NOT IN DATABASE" message and learn the correct way to enter an airway on the A320 MCDU — the real LAT REV → AIRWAYS path, why the FMS rejects an entry, and how to insert UL9 from London to Paris.

Decode the "F-PLN DISCONTINUITY" line on the A320 MCDU — what it is, why the FMS inserts it between your departure and destination, and exactly how to close the gap so your route is continuous.

Enter a crossing altitude constraint on the A320 MCDU. Learn the vertical-revision workflow — right-select a waypoint on the F-PLN to open VERT REV, then enter the constraint the FMGS must meet.

Set up a hold at a waypoint on the A320 MCDU. Learn where the HOLD page lives (under a lateral revision) and how to set the inbound course and insert it into the flight plan.