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Simulation Solutions

ToLiss Aeronautical Simulation Solutions

ToLiss Airbus A321 V1.6.2 – Simulation manual


Version 1.6.2 from 2023/10/31

© 2023, ToLiss Inc. This software, digital art work and accompanying manuals are copyrights
and must not be reproduced or distributed without prior written consent from ToLiss Inc.

© Airbus 2023. AIRBUS, its logo and product & service marks are registered trademarks of
Airbus. All rights reserved. Officially licensed by Airbus.

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Table of Contents
1 Introduction........................................................................................................................5
2 Aircraft installation and Xplane setup ...............................................................................6
2.1 Special requirements in Windows ...................................................................................7
2.2 Special requirements in Linux ........................................................................................7
2.3 Special instructions for Mac OS X .................................................................................7
2.3.1 Use of Rosetta for X-plane 12 on M1 iMacs ...........................................................7
2.3.2 Solution to issues with Max OS X gatekeeper........................................................7
2.3.3 Procedure to allow a plugin to run. (to be done once for each plugin listed above)
8
2.4 Updating .........................................................................................................................8
2.4.1 Updating using the Skunkcrafts updater ................................................................9
2.4.2 Updating without the Skunkcrafts updater .......................................................... 10
2.5 Aircraft activation ........................................................................................................ 10
2.6 Livery installation......................................................................................................... 11
2.6.1 Automatic aircraft configuration based on livery selection .................................. 11
2.7 Joystick setup ............................................................................................................... 12
2.7.1 Other mapped x-plane commands ........................................................................ 14
2.7.2 Detailled axis setup and status check ................................................................... 14
2.7.3 Custom commands ................................................................................................ 17
2.7.4 Recommended configuration for Thrustmaster TCA Quadrant Airbus Edition .. 18
2.8 Simulation configuration .............................................................................................. 19
2.8.1 Aircraft configuration ........................................................................................... 20
2.8.2 General Settings page ........................................................................................... 22
2.8.3 Joystick/Action ..................................................................................................... 25
2.8.4 Sound / Addon / Accounts .................................................................................. 29
2.9 Navigation data – location and update ........................................................................ 32
2.10 Third party add-on compatibility............................................................................. 33
2.10.1 Smartcopilot use ................................................................................................... 33
2.10.2 System simulation/FMS 3rd party add-ons ........................................................... 34
3 Use of ISCS during the flight ........................................................................................... 35
3.1 Resume from last time.................................................................................................. 35
3.2 Special actions .............................................................................................................. 35
3.3 Situation loading and saving ........................................................................................ 36

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3.4 Aircraft loading and TO performance calculation........................................................ 38


3.4.1 Selecting payload .................................................................................................. 38
3.4.2 Selecting fuel load ................................................................................................. 39
3.4.3 CG-GW diagram................................................................................................... 39
3.4.4 Take Off performance calculator .......................................................................... 39
3.5 Ground services ............................................................................................................ 41
3.5.1 Automatic pushback ............................................................................................. 41
3.5.2 Manual pushback .................................................................................................. 42
3.5.3 Deicing .................................................................................................................. 42
3.5.4 Control of the aircraft doors ................................................................................. 43
3.6 Fault injection interface ............................................................................................... 43
3.6.1 Selection of specific faults ..................................................................................... 44
3.6.2 Random fault injection ......................................................................................... 46
4 Interactive Audio Control Panel ...................................................................................... 47
5 Electronic Flight Bag ....................................................................................................... 48
5.1 Avitab ........................................................................................................................... 48
5.2 Weight And Balance .................................................................................................... 49
5.2.1 Weight summary................................................................................................... 50
5.2.2 CG diagram with fuel vector ................................................................................ 51
5.3 Take-off performance .................................................................................................... 51
5.4 Landing performance .................................................................................................... 53
5.5 Interactive checklist ...................................................................................................... 55
6 ACARS function............................................................................................................... 57
6.1 Simbrief plan download ................................................................................................ 57
6.1.1 Simbrief download via the INIT A page............................................................... 57
6.1.2 Flight plan uplink via the DATA/ACARS functions page .................................. 59
6.2 Take-off performance data uplink ................................................................................ 60
6.3 Wind data uplink. ........................................................................................................ 62
7 CPDLC usage ................................................................................................................... 63
7.1 CPDLC initialization .................................................................................................... 63
7.2 Use of the DCDU ......................................................................................................... 66
7.2.1 Affirmative response to an ATC request .............................................................. 66
7.2.2 Negative response to an ATC request .................................................................. 67
7.2.3 Sending a request to ATC .................................................................................... 69

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8 AOC functions .................................................................................................................. 71


8.1 Accessing AOC functions ............................................................................................. 71
8.2 WX/ATIS page ............................................................................................................ 73
8.3 Received Messages Page ............................................................................................... 74
8.4 Predeparture clearance ................................................................................................. 74
8.5 De-icing/Anti-icing ....................................................................................................... 75
8.6 Oceanic clearance ......................................................................................................... 75
9 Cockpit orientation........................................................................................................... 77
9.1.1 Special view commands......................................................................................... 77
9.1.2 Popup displays ...................................................................................................... 78
9.1.3 Display brightness and cockpit illumination......................................................... 80
9.1.4 Mouse wheel use ................................................................................................... 82
9.1.5 FCU operation ...................................................................................................... 83
10 Troubleshooting................................................................................................................ 86
10.1 Aircraft does not load or looks strange after loading ............................................... 86
10.2 System crashes .......................................................................................................... 86
10.3 FMGS path jitter ...................................................................................................... 87
11 End user license agreement (EULA) ................................................................................ 88
11.1 Plain English............................................................................................................. 88
11.2 EULA terms.............................................................................................................. 88

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1 Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the ToLiss Airbus A321 and for trusting us to provide you with one of
the most realistic FBW simulation addons with complete custom systems for X-Plane.
This product has been developed since 2008. Its Fly-by-wire and Autopilot system are based on
the FBW technology provided by QPAC. The Flight Management System has been completely
reworked to provide a complete and accurate representation of the system in the real aircraft.
The hydro-mechanical and electrical systems of the aircraft model are also based on the latest
QPAC technology with numerous significant improvements. The simulation supports accurate
system behaviour in the presence of failures. For example, following the failure of an electrical bus,
associated equipment, i.e. cockpit displays, exterior lights, certain computers, etc. fed by that bus
will not be available anymore.
To improve the user experience, this model features situation saving and loading. Flights can
be stopped at any point in time and continued from the exact same conditions another day. The
model also provides situation autosaving; should something unforeseen happen during the flight,
the autosave allows resuming the flight to try again.
About the manual: The ToLiss Airbus A321 comes with three manuals:
• A “simulation manual” (this manual): Describes installation, and setup of the model as well
as usage of the “Interactive Simulation Control System”.
• A “tutorial flight”, which provides a step-by-step description of a complete flight from cold
& dark to aircraft shut-down after landing. This is the best manual to learn flying the
aircraft.
• An “aircraft manual”, which is primarily intended as a reference after the tutorial has been
completed. It provides a reference for standard operating procedures, as well as a more in-
depth look into the different systems of the aircraft.

Acknowledgements
ToLiss want to thank the following individuals and companies for their contributions to this project:
• Turbine Sound Studios for providing us with the sound packages used in the aircraft,
• MattDesignsXP for normal texture rework, paintkit updates, the creation of the ToLiss
livery, and some sound improvement proposals,
• MaxWaldorf for Smartcopilot integration,
• Saso Kiselkov for the Librain library providing windshield rain affects in x-plane 11,
• David Gutierrez for providing a high-quality cockpit texture set
• Christopher Tantow for providing the Airbus house liveries,
• Bikeflyer for finetuning of the VR Config file,
• Classified Design by @AirdRigh75 for additional cabin models available at x-plane.org,
• Jessie Lemmons for an escape slide model that can be downloaded at x-plane.org,
• All Beta Testers for their constructive criticism without which this product would not be
what it is now,
• And of course, all livery painters for providing quality liveries free of charge to the
community.

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2 Aircraft installation and Xplane setup


The installation of the aircraft follows the standard procedure for installing aircraft in X-Plane.
Unzip the content of the ToLiss A321 zip-file directly into your “Aircraft/Heavy Metal” folder (or
any other suitable aircraft folder.). The manuals are in a subfolder, called “manuals”.

Manuals

Inside the aircraft folder, there are 4 different aircraft files, two for use with X-plane 12 and
two for use with X-Plane 11.
In X-plane 12, you will see all four acf files under the airliners tab:

Use one of these two in X-plane 12


You can recognize the X-plane 12 specific version by the fact that there is no “(V11)” indication
in the bottom left corner. Make sure to select one of these two options when flying in X-plane 12.
If you accidentally choose an XP11 acf file, the performance and flight characteristics will be
incorrect.

In X-plane 11, you will only see the 2 X-plane 11 compatible options under the airliners tab,
there is no risk of accidentally choosing the wrong aircraft file:

The “Hi Def” version of the aircraft uses higher resolution textures and is the recommended
aircraft to load if your hardware supports it. The “Std Def” version allows framerate improvements
for weaker hardware.

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2.1 Special requirements in Windows


The SASL plugin used in the aircraft requires that the MSVC redistributable package 2013 for
64 bit platforms is installed. At time of writing, these can be downloaded from this location:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=40784
If this link does not work, please google “Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio
2013”. Make sure to install the 64 bit version, called “vcredist_x64.exe”.
The sound player requires the MSVC redistributable package 2017 for 64 bit platforms. At time
of writing, this can be found here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

2.2 Special requirements in Linux


For the aircraft to work in Linux, the “curl” package has to be installed. The aircraft requires
libcurl.so.4 together with libssl.so.1.1 and libcrypto.so.1.1. To be able to paste the serial number
into the activation screen, the “xclip”package has to be installed.

2.3 Special instructions for Mac OS X

2.3.1 Use of Rosetta for X-plane 12 on M1 iMacs


From V1.6 of the ToLiss A321, our aircraft should support native mode on M1/M2 iMacs and this
section should not be necessary anymore. We leave it for reference if you want to run other plugins
that are not yet native mode capable and for trouble shooting purposes.
While X-plane 12 itself now supports running in native M1 mode, most add-ons do not yet. If
you want to run an addon that is not yet native M1 capable, you have to make sure that X-plane
runs in Rosetta rather than native M1 mode.
The X-Plane 12 folder must be on the Desktop or you won't have access to the Rosetta
checkbox. You can specify that X-Plane should run under Rosetta by finding the X-Plane.app file
in your X-Plane folder, Right-Clicking on it, followed by Get Info, and check the Rosetta Checkbox.

2.3.2 Solution to issues with Max OS X gatekeeper


Starting with OS X Catalina, running plugins in the x-plane environment has become more
difficult as most plugins are not “apple signed applications”. Therefore, it is necessary to manually
allow the plugins that come with the aircraft to be executed in Mac OS X. Note that this technique
can be applied to any x-plane plugin, whether it is an aircraft plugin or a system-level plugin.
Our aircraft ships with 3 plugins:
• Airbus FBW A321 XP11
• RainEffects
• Sasl
You will have to make sure that at least 2 of these plugins are allowed to run: “AirbusFBW
A321 XP11” and “Sasl”. The use of the librain plugin “RainEffects” is optional and only has an effect

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in XP11 in OpenGL mode. The “AirbusFBW A321 XP11” plugin and the Sasl plugin should be
signed, therefore this procedure should not apply to them.

2.3.3 Procedure to allow a plugin to run. (to be done once for each plugin listed
above)
1. Install the aircraft as usual and open it in X-plane.

2. During the aircraft load process, you will receive a warning about some of our plugin files
“mac.xpl” that they cannot be opened as their integrity cannot be verified.
3. The dialogue window that opens contains two options, select “Cancel”.
4. Don’t click anything else in x-plane, but open instead “System Preferences”/”Security &
Privacy” and select “Allow anyway” for our plugin.
5. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 for every warning you receive during aircraft load. (Up to 5
warnings.)
6. Continue loading x-plane until the aircraft is loaded, albeit the plugins are still missing.
7. Exit X-plane completely
8. Restart X-plane and load again the ToLiss A321
9. During load you will again receive the warning messages from step 2, but there should now
be a third option to select “Open”.
10. Select Open for each warning you receive.
Note: If there are plugins for which the OPEN option in the dialogue box does not appear,
steps 2-4 were not execute correctly. Simply try again!
If the aircraft completed loading and you could click OPEN for every plugin, the aircraft should
have loaded correctly.

You can verify correct functionality as follows:


The plugin “AirbusFBW A321 XP11” loaded correctly, if:
• The activation window from section 2.4 appears, OR (if activation is not needed, as the
aircraft had already been activated in the past)
• The x-plane menu PLUGINS has an entry “ToLiss”
The plugin “SASL” loaded correctly, if:
• You can move the switches and knobs in the cockpit.

2.4 Updating
The aircraft uses the skunkcrafts updater. This updater is a separate x-plane plugin, that you can
download and install from here:
https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/144828-updater-download-page-v25-
available/
Installation of the updater is simple: Just copy the folder “SkunkCraftsUpdater” from the zip
file you downloaded into the “Resources/plugins” folder of your x-plane installation.

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If you do not want to use the Skunkcrafts updater, you can always update the aircraft by
downloading the latest package from the store where you bought it and perform a clean install. File
size is less than 1GB, so downloading and reinstalling is quick and easy.

2.4.1 Updating using the Skunkcrafts updater


With the Skunkcrafts updater installed, you can open the updater window here:

Important: To update an aircraft via this updater, you must first load another aircraft than the
one you want to update!
You can check for updates by clicking on “Check available updates”:

If an update is available, the updater will give a message like this (shown here with the example
of the A340-600):

If the current installation has files differing from the server despite being the same version, you
will get this message (shown here with the example of the A340-600):

In both cases, click “update/repair everything” to update to the latest state of the repository.

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2.4.2 Updating without the Skunkcrafts updater


If you do not want to use the Skunkcrafts updater, you can always update the aircraft by
downloading the latest package from the store where you bought it and perform a clean install. File
size is less than 1GB, so downloading and reinstalling is quick and easy.

2.5 Aircraft activation


After installation, the activation screen will be shown:

You can use this button to


paste the serial number from
Enter the serial number
your confirmation email (On
here:
Linux, xclip must be installed)

Set this to 1 in order to provide your approval that


we store your IP address. (Required for activation.)

Use this button to contact the


activation sever to receive your key

Enter the serial key that was contained in your order confirmation email from the x-plane.org
store into the field. After that you will have to read the legal disclaimer required by the European
Union with respect to ToLiss’ handling of your personal data. Acknowledge that you read the
disclaimer and the you authorize ToLiss to store the IP address with which the aircraft was
activated. Once you gave your authorization, the “Activate” button becomes available. Subsequently
hit “Activate”. If the message “Serial Number Invalid” appears, the code was not entered correctly.
For all other failure messages please verify your internet connection and try again after half an
hour, If it still does not work, please contact us for assistance.
Note that under Linux and Mac OS X the message “Error code 10” can be caused by exceeding
the number of activations for the aircraft. In that case, please contact x-plane.org support with
your key and request an increase in activations.

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Note that the activation code is stored both in the aircraft folder and in the X-plane main
directory. Reactivation is not required after updating or reinstalling the aircraft model. Note that
changes to the hardware or complete reinstalls of X-plane may require reactivation.
If you plan on reinstalling Xplane, it is recommended to backup the folders
“Xplane/Resources/plugins/ToLissData”, “Xplane/Resources/plugins/ToLissFlightPlans” and
“Xplane/Resources/plugins/ToLissTerrainData”. This will allow keeping the activation
information, saved situations and the data used for terrain display.
Note that after reactivation, it is not necessary to reload the aircraft. You can simply close the
ISCS window and start flying.
Trouble shooting: If your activation appears successful, but on reload the activation windows
appears again, please delete the following files: ToLiss/plugins/AirbusFBW A321/license*.lic and
X-Plane/Resources/plugins/ToLissData/license321.lic

2.6 Livery installation


To install add-on liveries for this aircraft, please copy the associated folder into the “liveries”
subfolder located within the aircraft folder. There are numerous liveries available for this aircraft
for free on www.x-plane.org.

2.6.1 Automatic aircraft configuration based on livery selection


ToLiss aircraft support changing certain configuration parameters, such as engine type, or
winglets vs sharklet, automatically based on livery selection. The automatic selection can be done
two ways – via the livery string or via a livery configuration file inside the livery. The livery
configuration file provides much more options than the livery string. If a livery configuration file is
present, a possible livery string code is ignored.

Livery configuration file


The aircraft configuration can be defined in a file called “livery.tlscfg” which must be present in
the root folder of the addon livery. It is a simple text file with each line representing one
configuration aspect. The syntax of each line is:
Parameter_to_set = value
The following parameters can be set via livery string:

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• “eng_type” – permissible values: “CFM”, “IAE”, and if the NEO package is installed: “PWG”
and “LEA”
• “sharklet” – permissible values: “YES”, and “NO”
• “has_SatCom” – permissible values: “YES”, and “NO”
• “use_Imperial_Units” – permissible values: “YES”, and “NO”
• “num_Extra_Fuel_Tanks” – permissible values: “0”, “1”, and “2”
• “has_DCDUs” – permissible values: “YES”, and “NO”
Note that with the A321 NEO LR, there can be 3 extra fuel tanks, with the A321NEO
XLR, only 1 extra tank is possible

If you use the A321 with the NEO package activated and one of the NEO engines selected, you
can also use the following configuration items:
• “321neo_config” – permissible values: “NEO”, “LR”, and “XLR”
• “exit_Configuration” – permissible values: “CLASSIC”, “2_OWE”, “1_OWE”, and “NO DOOR 3”
• “has_eRudder” – permissible values: “YES”, and “NO”
• “has_MultiFunRwyLights” – permissible values: “YES”, and “NO”
• “has_BUSSSwitches” – permissible values: “YES”, and “NO”

If you install some of the cabin modifications from AirDrigh75 available at https://www.x-
plane.org, you can control the cabin configuration via the strings “custom_Cabin = A” with permissible
parameter values being “A” to “F”. AirDrigh75’s modifications to the external model can be activated
via the livery string “external_Extras = YES”.

Livery string codes


To automatically configure the aircraft using the livery string, the livery name must be
preceeded by the engine type in square brackets. For example, if the Lufthansa livery is named
“[CFM] Lufthansa” instead of just “Lufthansa”, the plugin will automatically select the CFM engine
if engine type is set to “AUTO” in the Aircraft configuration tab (see section 2.8.1). The prefix for
the IAE engine is “[IAE]”.
Sharklets can also be activated via the livery string, if the sharklet option is selected to AUTO in
the ISCS. To activate sharklets, the engine code must be followed by S. For example: [CFMS]
results in the aircraft with sharklets and CFM engines. [IAE] results in the aircraft with wing tip
fences and IAE engines.
Similarly, the SatCom antenna is activated via the letter T in the livery string. [IAEST] would
therefore give you the IAE engine with sharklets and the satcom antenna.

2.7 Joystick setup


For the use of this aircraft, a joystick with yaw axis is recommended. Without a yaw axis on
the joystick, it is possible to deflect the nose wheel with the roll axis as described in section 2.8.3.

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For an optimal flight experience with this aircraft, it is also recommended to have at least these
functions assigned to joystick buttons:
• Autopilot instinctive disconnect button
• Regular brakes hold and, if possible maximum brakes hold (unless using brake pedals)
• Reverse thrust toggle (unless using dedicated reverse levers)
All other commands can also be done via keyboard commands if no more joystick buttons are
available. The functions above should be on the joystick, because they are on the actual flight
controls in the real aircraft and pilots can use them without taking their hands of the controls. All
other commands, such as gear, flaps, spoilers, etc. are commands for which in real life one hand
needs to be taken off the controls. (Unless performed by the co-pilot.)
A number of native X-Plane commands works well with this aircraft. However, for all autopilot
related features, only the commands shown in the following figure are mapped to the respective
plugin commands. In X-plane 11, these commands are located under “Navigation & Radios” and
then under “Autopilot”. Alternatively, use the term “autopilot” in the search field.

ALT selector knob PULL

APPR button on FCU

ATHR instinctive disconnect

ATHR button on FCU

HDG selector knob PULL

The command for AP instinctive disconnect is a bit lower in the scroll list:

An alternative way is to use the ToLiss plugin custom commands which have more intuitive naming;
see section 2.7.3.

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2.7.1 Other mapped x-plane commands


The following native x-plane commands are mapped to specific ToLiss plugin functions. This list is
not complete but lists those commands for which the mapping is not necessarily intuitive.
sim/annunciator/clear_master_warning Press the Master Warn button
sim/annunciator/clear_master_caution Press the Master Caut button
sim/annunciator/clear_master_accept Press the ECAM CLR button
sim/instruments/map_zoom_out Increase range on Captain ND
sim/instruments/map_zoom_in Reduce range on Captain ND
sim/instruments/EFIS_mode_up Increase mode on Captain ND
sim/instruments/EFIS_mode_dn Decrease mode on Captain ND

2.7.2 Detailled axis setup and status check


The ToLiss Airbus A 321 supports numerous joystick axes to tie directly into the custom systems
modelling of the ToLiss plugin. It also supports the use of two sidesticks (pilot and co-pilot side)
as described below. A dual input and priority logic are available as on the real aircraft.
When using joystick axes for nosewheel tiller, brake pedals or a second joystick, it is important
to confirm the joystick configuration in the Interactive Simulation Control System (ISCS) at least
once after selecting the joystick setup1.
To open the ISCS, go into the Xplane menu, select Plugins/ToLiss/Open ISCS screen. Select
the tab “Joystick, Actions” and you will see the following screen:

Verify that all axes that


you assigned are detected
by the plugin as expected.

Leave all axes centred and press


this button. Note: This also saves
all your current preference settings.

1 X-plane does not provide an interface to retrieve the processed data for these axes and the plugin

has to decode the axes itself; it therefore requires user interaction to determine the center position for
nose wheel tiller or second joystick axes.

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The button “Center to current pos (Tiller)” will only be available (i.e. not greyed out), if either
an axis for nose wheel tiller or a second joystick is found. In that case, leave your controls centered
and click this button.
Note: If any of these axes are assigned, but the ISCS indicates “NO”, move the axis through its
whole range of motion and verify that the status changes to “CAPT”, “F/O” or “CAPT + F/O”.
Important: It is generally recommended to move all joystick axes through their range of motion
after loading this airplane!
Note that the x-plane default axes “roll”, “pitch”, and “yaw” do not require this procedure.
The following figures illustrate the setup for two sidesticks, rudder pedals2 with one set of brakes
and nosewheel tiller. For throttles, individual throttle and reverse levers are supported as well as a
single lever affecting all engines at the same time.
For the second sidestick, in X-plane 12, please use the copilot pitch and roll axes. In X-plane
11, the X-plane axis “collective” is used for pitch and the axis “prop” is used for roll. The second
joystick must be activated by setting the switch “ENABLE SECOND STICK” to ON. If you do not
use a second sidestick, leave this switch set to OFF to avoid interference with helicopter or other
controls.
In X-plane 12, you can also assign dedicated copilot brake pedals and a dedicated copilot tiller
by using the respective copilot joystick axis setting. If the plugin detects dedicated copilot axes for
brakes and/or tiller, the respective field in the ISCS will indicated “F/O” or “CAPT + F/O” if axes
are assigned for both captain and copilot.

Axes assigned to
pilot sidestick

Stick twist for


nosewheel tiller

Command to disconnect nose wheel


steering from rudder pedals

Instinctive AP disconnect button

2 Rudder pedals between pilot and co-pilot are mechanically linked in the real aircraft and the
position is only read once; hence we only support a single axes for rudder pedals.

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Toe brakes

Rudder pedal

Copilot sidestick
pitch axis XP11

Copilot sidestick
roll axis XP11

Copilot instinctive
AP disconnect

Joystick sensitivity setting


As in real life, the gearing (i.e. the linearity) between the joystick deflection and the command
issued to the fly-by-wire control laws heavily affects the handling qualities of the aircraft. We have
coded the appropriate joystick response curves into our system simulation plugins. Therefore we
recommend to leave the joystick sensitivity to fully linear when flying the ToLiss Airbus A321.
It is important to set the “stability augmentation” sliders to 0, as the x-plane internal feature
interferes with the ToLiss custom fly-by-wire control laws.

Assignment of the sidestick priority buttons


When using two joysticks, the following custom commands should be assigned to each of the
instinctive AP disconnect buttons on the sticks in order to enable to sidestick priority logic:
- Pilot sidestick: toliss_airbus/ap_disc_left_stick
- Copilot sidestick: toliss_airbus/ap_disc_right_stick

Furthermore, it is imporant to switch off the option “Joystick Roll for NWS”, see section 2.8.3
for details.

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2.7.3 Custom commands

The plugin also provides custom commands to trigger custom functions. These commands can be
assigned to keys or joystick buttons like any other command. On X-Plane 10, the box in the top-
right corner of the Joystick button configuration dialogue, labelled “custom cmnds from plugins”,
must be used. The list below is just an extract of the most important commands; all switches, knobs
and buttons required for normal operation can be triggered via custom commands.

- Custom command to open the ISCS via joystick button or keyboard command:
toliss_airbus/iscs_open

- Custom command to toggle the park brake lever on the pedestal. Note that the regular
Xplane brake commands also toggle the park brake, if the aircraft is not moving and the engines
are at idle or off, and the options “Smart Park Brake” has been selected (see section 2.8.3):
toliss_airbus/park_brake_toggle

- Custom command to disconnect the nosewheel steering from the rudder pedals. This is used in
real life to allow performing the flight control check during taxi. The button for this is in real life
located on the nose wheel tiller:
toliss_airbus/ nws_disconnect_hold
- Custom commands to trigger pushing the AP-buttons on the FCU:
toliss_airbus/ap1_push
toliss_airbus/ap2_push

- Custom commands to trigger pushing the FD-buttons on the FCU:


toliss_airbus/fd1_push
toliss_airbus/fd2_push
- Custom commands to push or pull the Speed-Selector-knob on the FCU:
toliss_airbus/spd_push
toliss_airbus/spd_pull
- Custom command to trigger pushing/pulling the V/S-knob on the FCU:
toliss_airbus/vs_push
AirbusFBW/PullVSSel

- Custom command to trigger pushing/pulling the HDG-knob on the FCU:


AirbusFBW/PullHDGSel
AirbusFBW/PushHDGSel

- Custom command to trigger pushing/pulling the ALT-knob on the FCU:


AirbusFBW/PullAltitude
AirbusFBW/PushAltitude

You can find most of these commands inside the “toliss_airbus” tree, as shown in the following
picture:

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Analogously, the others are in the “AirbusFBW” tree.

2.7.4 Recommended configuration for Thrustmaster TCA Quadrant Airbus Edition


The Thrustmaster TCA Quadrant Airbus Edition allows controlling numerous frequently used
cockpit switches from the device. ToLiss has worked with Thrustmaster to allow full compatibility
between the ToLiss Airbus series and their Quadrant. We have set up the ToLiss to work with the
default configuration of the quadrant. However, x-plane does not natively map all features of the
quadrant, therefore some configuration work is required.
The following pictures show the recommended command allocation for optimum usage of the
Thrustmaster TCA Quadrant. Commands framed in green correspond to x-plane’s default
configuration. Red framed commands need to be configured by the user to make full usage of the
quadrant:

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You can find each of the commands via the search bar when assigning a new function to each
button.
Note that in the latest X-plane release XP11.51, the Park Brake lever only has a single command
(14) that is held active, if the park brake is set. Command 25 does not exist anymore, in this case,
map command 14 as follows to achieve the desired functionality:

2.8 Simulation configuration


On the ToLiss Airbus A321, the simulation configuration is set via the “Interactive simulation
Control System” (ISCS). To access the ISCS, go to the Xplane menu, “Plugins”/ “ToLiss” / “Open
ISCS Screen”:

The ISCS windows opens with 7 tabs; simulator configuration can be changed in the tabs
“Sound/Addons”, “Joystick/Actions” and “General Settings”, while the configuration of the aircraft
can be changed in the “Situations A/C config” tab.

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Note: As described in the previous section, the ISCS can also be opened via the
joystick/keyboard command toliss_airbus/iscs_open.
The ISCS can be moved to a different location on the screen by grabbing the title bar of the
ISCS with the mouse and it can be popped out into a separate window.

2.8.1 Aircraft configuration

The aircraft configuration can be modified via the right column of the “Situations and A/C config”
tab. It is possible to change:
• Engine type (CFM56-5B3 or IAE2533-A)
• Wing tip device (Wingtip fences or sharklets)
• Number of Additional Cargo Tanks (0, 1 or 2)
• The presence of Datalink Control and Display Units (DCDUs)
• The units to be used – metric or imperial
• The Satcom antenna
• Simulated FMGS standard
• Use of ailerons with ground spoilers
• AP lateral mode behaviour on go around
You can also adjust aircraft age (affects drag) and engine age (affects specific fuel burn) if you
want to simulate flying older aircraft. Not that in this case, you should increase the PERF factor
on the MCDU STATUS page.

Engine type:
With the engine type set to AUTO, the engine type will be selected automatically based on the
livery control string.

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If a specific engine type is selected, that type will be used regardless of livery. The possible
engine types on the ToLiss A321 are IAE V2533-A5 and CFM56-5B3. Note that the performance
and fuel burn of the aircraft change in accordance with the engine selection.

Wingtips have sharklets:


This option can be set to YES, AUTO, or NO. In Auto mode, the wing tip devices are selected
based on the livery string as described in section 2.6. If set to yes, the wing tips will automatically
feature the newer sharklets, if set to no, wing tips will be the classic wingtip fences.
Aircraft drag changes in accordance with this selection with the sharklets having a slightly lower
drag.

Number of ACTs:
In real life, the A321 aircraft can be fitted with Additional Cargo Tanks (ACTs). Without
ACTs, the aircraft has a fuel capacity of about 18t, each ACT adds about 2.4t of extra fuel capacity
to the aircraft. This field allows selecting the number of ACTs installed on the currently simulated
aircraft.

Has DCDUs:
This option allows removing the Datalink Control and Display Units (DCDUs) located at the
bottom of the center panel. These units are only used in combination with CPDLC functionality
when flying online.
In AUTO mode, the presence of DCDUs is determined by the livery control file. With YES or
NO, you can force the DCDUs presence or prevent them from showing.

Use Imperial Units:


By default, the aircraft uses the metric system of all indications. You selecting this option, you
can change the weights as well as runway lengths and the air conditioning temperatures to the
imperial system. All those indications that can be changed in the real aircraft will also change
between metric and imperial system in the ToLiss.

Has Satcom antenna:


This option can be set to YES, AUTO, or NO. In Auto mode, the satcom antenna is selected
based on the livery string as described in section 2.6. If YES or NO are selected the Satcom antenna
is either present or not. This has no effect on flight physics.

Tempy Fpln on Ground:


If this is set to ON, the simulated FMGS features the newer version using temporary flight plan
on the ground during flight planning. If this is set to OFF an older FMGS version is simulated that
edits the active plan directly during the flight planning phase.

Ail with Gnd Spoiler:


If this is selected, the ailerons will deflect upwards after landing to assist with the ground lift
dumping.

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Auto NAV on GA:


If this is selected, the autopilot will automatically rearm NAV mode when initiating a go-
around. With this option deselected, the AP will engage GA TRK mode and the pilot has to
manually arm/engage NAV mode following a go around.

Performance Adjustments:
You can select if you want to fly the nominal aircraft (Default slider position, slightly to the
left of center), a brand-spanking new aircraft (slider all the way to the left), or something that is
due for a complete overhaul in a few months time (slider all the way to the right). You can also
choose different values for airframe age and engine age.
The very old aircraft (slider all the way to the right) has 2% more drag than the nominal setting
and very old engines (slider all the way to the right) consume 2% more fuel than nominal engines.
In this case, you should set the PERF factor on the MCDU STATUS page to +4.0. The FMGS
will then take into account a 4% increase in fuel burn (2% due to drag + 2% due to engine
inefficiency).
Analogously, the brand-new aircraft and engine have 1% drag less, or 1% fuel burn less than
the nominal values.

SAVE A/C CONFIG


The “Save A/C config” at the bottom of the page saves the currently selected configuration so
that it will be reinstated on next A/C load.

2.8.2 General Settings page

The general settings and actions page provides:


• Version information about the version of the ToLiss Systems Plugin currently running;
• Access to visual settings, such as reflections, wind shield or particle effects;
• The possibility to modify the simulation startup behaviour;
• User interface settings;
• Miscellaneous other settings.

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X-plane 11 only

To retain any adjustments made on this tab, click “Save Preferences and default values” at the
bottom of the screen once the desired configuration is set.

Visual Settings:
The visual settings column allows adjusting the aircraft visual effects to your personal liking
and to the performance capable with your computer.

The sliders “Display Reflections” and “Window Reflections” are used to set the reflection levels
for the cockpit displays and window panes in the 3d cockpit. With the option “Remove glass
reflections”, you can remove the reflections altogether including, x-plane built-in reflections.

The slider “Screen background glow” allows adjusting the level of backlight in the display units
to your liking.

The option “Show Windshield Rain Effects” (X-Plane 11 only) allows selecting the desired
windshield rain effects. There are two types of rain effects available: The “standard” rain effects
work in OpenGL and Vulkan/Metal, wheras the “librain” rain effects are based on the third party
library from Saso Kiselkov and work in OpenGL only. If you have frame rate issues, select “None”
for best performance.

The option “Show XP Particle Effects” allows switching off the X-Plane particle effects, such as
engine exhaust for this aircraft in order to improve the frame rate.

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The slider “Refresh PFD every X cycles” allows frame rate optimization. If this slider is set to
1, the PFD will be refreshed every cycle, which puts the highest demand on graphic card and CPU.
With the slider set to 2, the PFD is only redrawn every second cycle. This improves frame rate,
but may lead to non-smooth PFD appearance. Note that the other displays are drawn at half the
rate of the PFD.
With the slider set to OFF, all displays are redrawn every frame. Also, in this case the popup
displays are drawn individually. With this setting set to 1 or 2, the popups will just be a texture
copy of the built-in displays.

Startup behaviour:
This section can be used to adjust the configuration in which the simulation starts when the
ToLiss A321 is loaded.

The field “Cold start type” offers three different cold start options:
a) COLD and DARK: In this case, the airplane is completely shut down after load. The
ADIRUs and all electrical supplies is off. This corresponds to the configuration in which a
pilot would find the aircraft after an overnight stay.
b) EXT POWER ON: In this configuration, the ADIRUs are still off and require a full
alignment which takes about 10 minutes. This is typically the configuration after a longer
turn-around with the aircraft remaining at the gate.
c) APU + ADIRU ON: In this configuration, the engines are off, but APU is running and
ADIRUs are already aligned. This is typically the case during very fast turn-arounds.

When the option “Default To Copilot Seat” is selected, the aircraft will start up with the view
aligned with the co-pilot seat. This is useful if you prefer flying from the right seat, e.g. if you are
an co-pilot in real life.

The two settings “Default Baro Unit” and “Default Transition Alt” affect how the aircraft will
be configured next time it is loaded. The baro unit selectors will be in accordance with the selected
setting and the transition altitude on the MCDU PERF pages TO and APPR will reflect the value
set here.
These settings do NOT affect the flight currently in progress.

The setting “Start with bright displays” sets the display brightness knob to 80% for all startup
configurations. Normally, for “Cold and Dark” as well as “Ext Pow On”, the displays are dimmed
to 20%.

User interface:
The setting “Use Mouse Wheel” determines the use of the mouse wheel in the 3d cockpit for the
manipulation of cockpit controls. The cockpit is optimized for mouse wheel use; only switch this
off, when using a mouse without wheel.

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If the option “Sync Baro Settings” is selected ON, a change to one of the altimeter settings
(captain or copilot side) will automatically adjust the other side altimeter setting to the same
values.

The option “Use Popout Windows for Popups” (X-Plane 11 only) allows to choose if you want
the display popups to be displayed inside the Xplane screen or if you want to use the new popout
windows that X-plane 11 provides and that allow you moving the windows to a different screen.

The option “Save Popup Config On Quit” allows to store the positions to which the user dragged
with display popups. If this is set to 1, the aircraft will automatically use the popup positions from
the end of the last flight, even if the popups were popped out into separate windows.

Miscellaneous:
The item “ILS Auto Align” addresses a frequent issue encountered when installing custom
scenery that rotates the runway; for these cases the ILS and the runway are not aligned anymore.
The ToLiss Airbus A321 plugin contains a feature that detects if there is such custom scenery
installed and realigns the ILS in the internal database with the new runway heading.
Note: Changes to this setting require an aircraft reload, as the ILS database is only built once
upon aircraft load.

The option “XPDR Compatibility Mode” can be used if you have trouble using the
TCAS/XPDR panel with third-party add-ons. The option eliminates the destinction between Alt
Reporting On (Transponder Mode Charlie) and Alt Reporting Off (Mode Alpha) which helps in
this case. Leave this option off, unless you have trouble with a third party traffic or ATC add-on.

The option “Cache Routes only on Startup” prevents the plugin from checking for changes to
your fms flight plan files during the flight. This option can eliminate short freezes that may occur
when entering, e.g. the FROM/TO on the init page, if you have a lot of files in x-plane’s
“Output/FMS” plans folder. Note that if this option is activated, you will have to add all fms files
you want to use in this flight prior to loading the aircraft. For most users, leaving this option OFF
is the correct setting.

The option “Enable Avitab Tablet” (X-Plane 11 only) is only visible, if the avitab freeware
plugin is installed. (https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/44825-avitab-vr-compatible-
tablet-with-pdf-viewer-moving-maps-and-more/) Use this feature to switch the tablet on the left
side of the cockpit on or off.

2.8.3 Joystick/Action

The ISCS tab “Joystick / Action” provides detailed joystick configuration options. The section
“Actions” of this screen will be discussed in section 3.2 of this manual:

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The left half of this tab is used for the configuration of all joystick axes except thrust levers.
Thrust lever configuration is in the right half of the tab. Some of this has already been discussed
in section 2.7.2.

The “Primary Joystick Found” line indicates, if x-plane is configured to work with a joystick for
the pitch and roll axes or not. If this field indicates “NO”, x-plane will allow aircraft control via
mouse.

The slider “Primary Stick Deadband” allows customizing the dead band applied to the stick
inputs. For high quality stick, such as the Thrust Master Airbus sidestick, a small dead band, e.g.
0.01 is sufficient, for cheaper joysticks, a higher deadband may be required depending on how well
the neutral position of the stick is reproducible. Note that this deadband is in addition to any
deadband set in x-plane.

The setting “Joystick Roll for NWS” is useful for joystick setups without a yaw axis. It allows
using the nose wheel steering while taxiing on ground via the joystick roll axis. There are three
different options for this setting:
NO: The roll axis of the joystick does not control the nose wheel steering.
YES: Deflections of the roll axis on the joystick steers the nose wheel also, with full deflection
feasible at low speeds (below 20kts).
AUTO: the plugin attempts to automatically detect, if a yaw axis is assigned or not. This can
lead to undesired behaviour before deflecting the yaw axis for the first time after loading the aircraft.
It is recommended to set this field to the appropriate value (YES/NO) according to the joystick
configuration.

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The setting “Rudder to Tiller in VR” is applicable to XP12 only. Set this to ON, if you want to
fly in VR and you do not have a tiller axis assigned to any joystick. Setting this to ON will allow
achieving full NWS deflection with the rudder pedals when in VR. Otherwise, when entering VR,
the aircraft will assume that you have two separate sidesticks and two separate tillers. If your
joystick axes do not support that, you can grab the respective controls in VR with your VR
controller and manipulate them from there.

The setting “Enable Second Stick” should only be set to ON, if you have second joystick that
you want to use as copilot stick and for which the axes have been assigned as described in section
2.7.2 of this manual. Otherwise set this to OFF to prevent interference with e.g. potential helicopter
controls.

The line “Second Joystick Found” and the slider “Second Joystick Deadband” work analogously
to the same fields for the primary joystick. Note though that in X-plane 11, the copilot stick
deadband is independent of any x-plane deadband selected.
In the image above you can see, that in our test setup, we have a good joystick as captain side
stick (low deadband) and a cheaper stick as copilot stick (higher deadband).

The line “Tiller Assigned” indicates if the plugin detected an axis to be used as nosewheel tiller.
If this field shows NO despite the fact that you have a tiller assigned, move the tiller axis through
its entire range, and the line should change to either “CAPT”, “F/O” or “CAPT+F/O” depending
if you have one or two tiller axes assigned and which side they are assigned to. (Copilot tiller is
only possible in X-plane 12.)

The button “Center to current Pos (Tiller)” can be used to calibrate the neutral position for the
nosewheel tiller and for the secondary stick (if assigned.) Leave the tiller and the secondary stick
in their neutral positions and hit this button to store this as the neutral position. Note that this
will also save your current preference and aircraft config selections.
Secondary stick centering is only needed in X-plane 11. In X-plane 12 the native x-plane joystick
management takes care of this, if assigned to the copilot axes.

Analogously to the previous status lines, the line “Pedal Brakes Assigned” indicates if the plugin
found joystick axes assigned to the pedal brakes. If this line indicates NO despite the pedals being
assigned, move both pedals through the entire range of motion and the line should change to either
“CAPT”, “F/O” or “CAPT+F/O” depending if you have one or two pairs of brake axes assigned
and which side they are assigned to. (Copilot brake pedals is only possible in X-plane 12.)

The slider “Regular Brake Strength” allows adjusting the strength of the regular brakes to
individual preferences. The left most setting is 10% of brake force whereas the right-most setting is
60% of brake force. This setting applies to the X-plane command “Hold brakes regular”.

The option “Use Smart Park Brake” removes the need for a separate park brake command. If
this is selected, any X-plane brake command will toggle the park brake, as long as the aircraft is:

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on the ground, stationary (not moving) and thrust levers are at idle. Once the aircraft is moving,
the x-plane brake commands will return to their normal function.

The option “Allow Brake on One Pedal” allows using a single pedal to simulate the application
of pressure on two brake pedals at the same time. This is useful when using, e.g. racing pedals also
for flight simulation.

Throttle configuration
This section can be used to configure the joystick thrust levers ranging from simple levers
commanding between idle and maximum thrust all the way to hardware levers with detents and
reverser on the same lever, like e.g. the Thrustmaster TQA.

If you have simple thrust levers that do not contain physical detents, make sure to have the
options “F1/F2 can toggle reversers” and the option “Rev on same axis” set to OFF and you are
good to go.

If you have no joystick thrust levers at all and you are using the keyboard to control thrust
lever position, the option “F1/F2 can toggle reversers” can be of interest to you. This setting allows
choosing the desired behaviour of the Xplane native keyboard commands for “throttle up” or
“throttle down”. When set to OFF, the keyboard behaviour will be Xplane default.
If set to ON, the F1 key (Xplane default key for “throttle down”) can be used to move the
throttle AFT below the idle detent into the REVERSE region and then apply full reverse thrust.
In this case the F2 key (Xplane command “throttle up”) is used to reduce the reverse thrust to idle
and return to forward thrust.
With this setting, the key function corresponds more to the physical motion of the thrust levers.

The setting “Smart Thrust lever idle lock” is useful if you have only one joystick thrust lever.
With the function active, the thrust lever for a shut down engine will remain in idle independent
of the joystick thrust lever motion. The thrust lever is locked if it is placed in idle and the associated
engine master switch is set to off and the aircraft is in flight.
The thrust lever will be unlocked and once the master switch is placed back into the ON
position.

The remaining items on this section are important, if you have a hardware thrust lever with
detents. The options allow matching the detents implemented in software with those of your
hardware.
If your hardware thrust lever has a idle detent and you can move AFT of this detent to engage
reverse thrust, set the option “Rev on same axis” to ON.

Detent calibration
The fields on the right side of this screen are designed to allow quick alignement between
hardware detents and software detents. Simply place the hardware thrust levers into the detent

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that you want to calibrate and read the raw axis value from the indicators below the sliders. Then
set the detent slider to an average of the raw axis values for each thrust lever.
The image below shows an example how to calibrate the CL detent:

Both hardware thrust levers have been placed in the CL detent; the raw axis values are shown
to be 0.514 for throttle 1 and 0.512 for throttle two. The average is 0.513; hence, the CL DETENT
LOCATION slider is moved to the 0.51 position.
The same procedure can be be applied to the other detents, i.e. the MCT detent, and – if the
reverser is on the same axis – the idle detent. Note that the TOGA detent does not need calibration
as it is the fully forward position of the throttle.
Do not forget to hit “Save these settings”, after adjusting the detents.

2.8.4 Sound / Addon / Accounts


This tab contains three sections: Sound settings in the left column and Addons as well as Account
IDs in the right column.

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Sound settings
The user has the choice of controlling the Master volume level as well as the internal and
external volume levels via the x-plane sliders or to use custom settings in the ISCS. You can choose
between the two options with the switch “Ovrd XP Int/Ext Vol”.
With this option OFF, the three x-plane sound sliders “Master volume”, “Interior volume” and
“Exterior volume” affect the sounds of the ToLiss A321. If you set this option to ON, the ISCS
features three independent sliders for the overall master volume level, the internal volume level and
the external volume level:

Below this section, the user can at all times change the volumes of the different sound source
types to adjust the overall sound mix to their liking:

Note that the volume of the aural alerts like warning sounds, altitude callouts etc can be
adjusted both via the slider in the ISCS and via the rheostats in the cockpit. The position of these
rheostats is saved whenever the preferences/settings are saved through the ISCS.

The option 3D sound fading applies to system sounds and how they are audible while inside the
aircraft. When this option is set to ON, the sounds of flaps/slats, PTU etc are faded with the
distance from the current observer location. This means that most sounds are barely audible in the
cockpit as they are in real life. When set to off, the sounds are audible throughout the aircraft
independent of the current location.

Right column: Add-ons


The right column of this tab allows activating the NEO add-on for the A321:

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Note that it is recommended that you install the content of the NEO zip file PRIOR to
activating the NEO package in the ISCS.
Once you have installed the content of the package, enter your serial number on this tab and
hit activate. Once the activation was successful, you can immediately use the NEO package, you
do NOT need to reload the aircraft.

Accounts
If you want to use the ACARS function for flight plan download, you can put your SimBrief
pilot ID into the field “SimBrief ID”. Important note: This is a pure number, not your SimBrief
Email address. You can find this number on the Simbrief Website, under “Dispatch / Account
settings” and then in the Simbrief data tab under “Pilot ID”:

The three options below this field are:


• Ignore AIRAC/AC Type mismatch: If this option is OFF, the flight plan download will
fail if the active AIRAC cycle in the FMGS does not match the AIRAC cycle used by
Simbrief for planning. It also fails if the Simbrief aircraft ICAO code does not match
the aircraft ICAO code. (in this case A321 or A21N if you use the NEO engines).
Switching this option to ON makes the system more tolerant, but you run the risk of
importing the fuel planning for an A319 (or any other aircraft) into the A321 if you do
not pay attention.
• Set Payload + Fuel to Simbrief: If you select this option, the cargo, payload and fuel
on board in the ISCS will be set immediately to the Simbrief values. This ensures that
the data on the INIT B page match the actual weights, but removes one step from flight
preparation.

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• Always use SimBrief winds: If this option is selected, any wind request in the FMGS
will take the wind data from the Simbrief plan (if available), independent of x-plane’s
weather setting. With the option OFF, the FMGS will import Simbrief winds only if x-
plane’s weather is set to REAL weather. Otherwise it will take the wind from x-plane’s
weather information for the current location.

If you want to use the CPDLC in the flight, you can enter your Hoppie Logon code in the field
“Hoppie CPDLC Logon”. You can paste the code with the “paste” button below this field. The
“Recheck ID” button is useful, if for some reason the ATC notification window says “notification
not avail” despite all requirements for logging into the CPDLC system being met. (FROM/TO and
flight number filled as well as valid Hoppie Logon code provided in the ISCS.)
• The option “Auto Execute handovers” allows to switch to the next ATC station
automatically upon receiving the “handover” command from your current ATC station
without having to notify the new ATC station.
• The option “ATIS source” allows switching between the VATSIM provided ATIS in the
Hoppie network (default setting) or the PilotEdge ATIS, which is also retrieved via the
Hoppie network.

2.9 Navigation data – location and update


The ToLiss systems plugin uses the X-plane navigation data as shown in the following table.
Note that the plugin imports either the “Default Fixes” and “Default Navigraph Fixes” (XP10 only)
or the Custom Versions thereof, if available. It does not merge “Default XYZ” data with “Custom
XYZ” data.

X-plane 11
Default Fixes Resources/default data/earth_fix.dat
Default Navaids Resources/default data/earth_nav.dat
Default Airways Resources/default data/earth_awy.dat
Default procedures Resources/default data/CIFP/ICAO.dat
Custom Fixes Custom Data/earth_fix.dat
Custom Navaids Custom Data/earth_nav.dat
Custom Airways Custom Data/earth_awy.dat
Custom Procedures Custom Data/CIFP/ICAO.dat

When updating the navigation data, please only update the data in the folder Custom Data. In
X-plane 11, the ToLiss plugin performs the same integrity check as X-plane; that means, all data
in the Custom Data directory must be of the same navigraph cycle, otherwise the data located in
the Custom Data directory are rejected. Data format must match the X-plane default data format
according to your X-plane version.

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If two valid databases are found, they are displayed on the MCDU status page, including the
corresponding cycle info. In order to switch to the currently non-active database, click on the Line
Selection Key (LSK) in the third row on the left. (LSK 3L):

Note: Changing the database will delete the current flight plan.
Note: Loading the new database can take up to 1 minute. During this time, X-plane will be
frozen.

If a custom database is installed, but it does not appear on the above screen, please verify X-
plane’s log.txt file located in X-Plane’s main folder. It will show the reason why the file was rejected
in one of the messages following the line: “ToLiss aircraft systems plugin: Building navigation
database.”

2.10 Third party add-on compatibility


Compatibility between 3rd party plugins and this product is constantly evolving. The goal is to
make it compatible with ground handling plugins and other products that bring life (outside the
systems simulation) to the aircraft.

At this stage, compatibility is confirmed with:


• Better Pushback (probably the best pushback tool in the X-Plane world.)
CAUTION: When releasing the parking brake too early, the aircraft may start rolling
before pushback starts. (Sometimes, in Xplane, the aprons are not level, and chocks
are not simulated.) Ensure to keep parking brake ON until, better pushback explicitly
asks you to release it.
• X-Plane 11 native ground handling: The aircraft file is set up to allow the native
ground handling feature of X-Plane 11 to place catering trucks, fuel truck and baggage
belts at the aircraft.
• The Avitab plugin to enable the in-cockpit pdf viewer.

2.10.1 Smartcopilot use


The ToLiss Airbus A321 ships with a ready-to-go smartcopilot config file. (Thanks to MaxWaldorf
for creating and testing the file.) Use of smartcopilot comes with the following restrictions:

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• When entering the flight plan, errors might occur, depending on connection quality
between you and your partner. Always double check the plan.
• The integrated ToLiss pushback does not support smartcopilot. Please use
Betterpushback for the best experience!

2.10.2 System simulation/FMS 3rd party add-ons

The ToLiss Airbus A321 is compatible with:


• AirFMC: This product allows bringing the MCDU onto the iPad.
• WebFMC: This product allows using the MCDU through a Web Browser.

The ToLiss Airbus A321 is not compatible with:


• Any 3rd part FMGS solution (X-FMC, UFMC, vasFMC, etc.). The reason is that the
aircraft ships with a highly customized FMGS simulation, specially adapted to the type
of aircraft simulated. There is no need to use third party FMS solutions.

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3 Use of ISCS during the flight


Besides being the interface to select simulation preferences, the ISCS also contains the ToLiss
equivalent of the IOS (Instructor Operator Station) found also on commercial simulators for real-
time use during the flight.

3.1 Resume from last time


This function is accessible via X-plane’s Plugins menu:

The function reloads one of the following two aircraft states:


• If x-plane quit normally after the last flight with the ToLiss, the ToLiss Airbus A321
will be reloaded with the exact conditions that it had last time X-plane was closed.
(Associated situation file name: “CURRENT SITUATION”). This can be used to
simulate the turn-arounds of a particular aircraft, as it always restarts the way the user
left it last time.
Note: If you had failures on the previous flight, you may want to enter the ISCS to reset
all faults prior to your next departure. (See section 3.6 for details.)
• If x-plane crashed during your last flight with the ToLiss, the ToLiss Airbus A321 will
recover the flight from the last autosave. (Associated situation file name:
“AUTOSAVED SITUATION”)
Note: This is only available when Autosave is selected ON. (See section 3.3 for details.)

3.2 Special actions


The ISCS tab “Joystick / Actions” gives access to simulation functions to be used in-flight:

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ADIRU QUICK ALIGN


This action is available, if at least 1 ADIRU is in alignment mode. The picture above shows the
option in the disabled state; when enabled, the field is blue with white text. Executing this action
completes the alignment for any ADIRU that is not in NAV mode and not failed.

JUMP TO NEXT WPT / JUMP 200NM


The exact label of this action depends on the length of the current flight plan leg. It is available
only during the CRUISE phase in flight. Also, the aircraft must be flying straight and be fully
stabilized on autopilot in NAV mode. It advances the position of the aircraft to 1NM before the
next waypoint (JUMP TO NEXT WPT) or by 200NM towards the next waypoint, if the next
waypoint is more than 200NM away.

AUTO-PAUSE
This feature allows the user to leave the computer during a flight and make sure that the
simulation pauses automatically if something happens that requires user interaction. The feature
allows automatic pausing of the simulation, if:
• A master warning is triggered (e.g. due to AP disconnect)
• A master warning or a master caution are triggered. (Any system fault)
• A master warning or caution is triggered, or the aircraft has passed the T/D, i.e. has
entered the DESCENT phase.
Note that the aircraft always loads with this option OFF. The intention is that the user has to
activate the option prior to leaving the simulation alone.

3.3 Situation loading and saving


The ToLiss systems plugin allows loading and saving situations such that a flight can be stopped
at any point in time and continued another day from the exact same conditions where it was
stopped. This is also useful to practice the same approach over and over again, without having to
do flight planning, take-off etc.

To access the situation loading/saving interface, open the ISCS (see section 2.8) and go to the
“Situations / A/C config” tab:

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The left column contains the LOAD/SAVE SITUATIONS section. The large white textbox
contains all situations found by the plugin. This will naturally be empty when you install the
airplane the first time.
Note: The situation files are stored in the following folder inside the X-plane directory:
Resources/plugins/ToLissData/Situations.

Once you have stored a larger number of situations, the filter feature available via the text box
“Filter situations” may become useful. If you enter a text of at least 2 characters in this box, only
situations containing this string in the filename will be displayed. In the following example, the
situations are filtered for the string “CUR”:

Highlighting a situation in the window marks it in amber color. Clicking the button “Load
Selected Situation” loads this situation and the ISCS windows closes automatically once the load is
complete.
Note: If the situation loading leads to large position changes, e.g. from one continent to another
or also from southern to northern Germany, the situation loading will take time as X-plane has to
reload all scenery.

To save a situation, enter the situation name in the text box “Save Situation File Name” and
then click “Save Situation”.

Alternatively, it is also possible since V1.3.1 to select a situation in the AVAILABLE


SITUATIONS box and overwrite it with the click on the SAVE SITUATION button. The label of
that button will have changed to “OVERWRITE SITUATION (CAUTION)” in this case.
It is also possible to automatically save situations at a given interval, e.g. to recover from
potential x-plane crashes. In order to do so, select “Autosave On/Off” to ON and move the slider

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to the desired time interval in minutes. The possible intervals range from saving every minute to
every thirty minutes.

The autosaved situation has the name “AUTOSAVED SITUATION” and will be overwritten
when the next autosave triggers. If you want to recover the last autosaved situation after restarting
X-plane, you can do so as long as you stay on the ground without moving the aircraft. Autosave
only becomes active once the take-off has been initiated.

3.4 Aircraft loading and TO performance calculation


The loading of the aircraft, i.e. payload/fuel and the TO performance calculator are available
on the “Loading / Perfo” tab of the ISCS:

3.4.1 Selecting payload


In the top portion of the left column, the payload can be selected:
• Number of passengers, with each passenger weighing 100kgs (220lbs) – average weight of
a human + luggage.
• The passenger distribution determines how the passengers are distributed throughout the
cabin, for 0 passenger or full load this has of course no effect, as all seats are either taken
or empty. Effect is strongest with half load where the slider at the extremes means that
all passengers are sitting in the forward or the aft half with the other half of the cabin
being completely empty. Note: This throws the CG completely out of bounds!
• It is also possible to choose the amount of additional cargo in each of the cargo holds.

The resulting “Zero fuel weight” (ZFW) and the “Zero fuel weight CG” (ZFWCG) is shown
below these sliders and shown as the red cross in the CG-GW diagram in the right column. Make
sure that the red cross always falls within the red area and below the red dashed line of the diagram.

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The red dashed line shows the maximum zero fuel weight while the horizontal red line shows the
maximum landing weight. If you select a zero fuel weight beyond limits, the corresponding string
will become red in the ISCS:

Once the payload configuration has been set, click the button “Apply These Load Settings” and
the aircraft load will be adjusted accordingly.

3.4.2 Selecting fuel load


The block fuel is selected in the bottom of the left column. Draw the slider to the desired fuel
volume. (Appropriate fuel load can be computed with the help of the FMS.) Check that the black
cross in the CG-GW diagram is within the black limits to ensure that your TO weight and CG are
acceptable. Click “Quick Refuel/Defuel” to change the fuel content of the tanks to the set block
fuel. Click “Slow Refuel/Defuel” to initiate a real time fuelling sequence including an animated fuel
truck.
The amount of fuel that you can load varies between 18480 with no ACTs selected and 23200
with 2 ACTs selected.

3.4.3 CG-GW diagram


This diagram assists to ensure aircraft loading for which that both the take-off CG and the
landing CG are within acceptable limits. It shows three different CG-Weight combinations
represented by different colours:
• The blue limits show the in-flight weight and CG limits. The blue cross represents the
current weight and CG. It does not move while manipulating the sliders on the left until
either the “Apply These Load Settings” or the “Quick Refuel/Defuel” button are clicked.
• The black limits are the Take-Off weight and CG limits. The black cross shows what
the weight/CG configuration would be if both the payload and fuel settings currently
selected with the sliders were applied.
• The red limits are the landing weight and CG limits. The red cross represents the Zero
fuel weight (ZFW) and CG. As you need to have a certain amount of fuel left for
landing, the maximum zero fuel weight is less than the maximum landing weight. This
is shown by the dashed red line in the diagram.
Note: Maximum permissible ZFW for the A321 simulated with this product is 73800kgs.

3.4.4 Take Off performance calculator


The TO performance calculator is located at the bottom right of this tab. In order to access it,
the FMGS must have been initialized and a departure runway selected. The TO performance

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calculator automatically gets the departure runway from the FMGS and retrieves weather
information from Xplane.
The TO performance calculator can compute the take-off data for both the active and the
secondary plan. You can select which plan you want to compute the data for via the drop down
list on the right:

With a departure runway selected for the active flight plan in the FMGS, the TO performance
calculator looks like this:

In order to calculate the take-off speeds, select the desired F/S configuration and adjust the
RWY slope, if necessary. Slope information is available on the corresponding airport charts. After
selecting the flap/slat configuration, the calculator will compute the:
• Take-off speeds,
• Take-off trim setting
• Flex temperature
• Whether you need to switch the packs OFF for TO or if you can leave them on.

These values need to be entered on the TO PERF page in the MCDU. This data transfer does
not occur automatically, as the real-life aircraft also require that this task is performed manually.
Note: If you enter a TO Shift in the TO performance page of the MCDU, the performance
calculator will recalculate these values with the reduced runway length.

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Note: Once the cruise phase has been reached, the TO performance calculator is replaced by
the METAR string for the selected destination airport.

3.5 Ground services


The ground services page allows access to external supplies to the aircraft, such as external power
or pressurized air. It also permits initiating the built-in pushback function. This page is also used
to control the aircraft doors. Other ground vehicles are planned as a future extension.

The GROUND SUPPLIES section allows activating the following four services that an airport
typically provides to aircraft (no external animations in this case):
• External power: Setting this to ON simulates the presence of an external power supply
plugged into the aircraft receptacle. It is then possible to switch on the external power
in the overhead panel and startup the aircraft without having to start the APU
immediately.
• High pressure air: This simulates the supply of external high pressure air supply to the
aircraft bleed system. This can be used to start one of the engines at the gate without
starting the APU. The 2nd engine is typically started after pushback, using cross-bleed
from the first engine.
• Low pressure air: At hot airports, the airport frequently provides conditioned air to the
aircraft to allow keeping the cabin temperature low without having to start the APU
while the aircraft is parked.
• Chocks: Allows placing chocks under the aircraft tires so that the aircraft won’t roll
away even with the park brake released.

3.5.1 Automatic pushback


To push back from the gate, an automatic pushback can be initiated by clicking the button
“START AUTO PUSHBACK (NOSE WHEEL)”. Select the desired pushback length (straight) and
the subsequent angle prior to clicking this button.

Pushback sequence is as follows:

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• After clicking the button, the pushback cart arrives.


• Once the pushback cart has come to a stop at the nosewheel, release the parking brake.
That the cart has connected to the nosewheel is indicated by the ECAM memo “NW
STRG DISC”
• The aircraft will be pushed back automatically the desired distance and turning angle.
• Once the aircraft comes to a stop, set the parking brake.
• The pushback cart will leave the aircraft and return to the original position.

It is possible to start the engines during the push back or to perform other cockpit actions,
except for stepping on the brakes. These will not disturb the pushback process.

3.5.2 Manual pushback


It is also possible to perform a manual pushback. In this case the user actually drives the
pushback truck.
Careful: The user steers the truck, not the aircraft; at the beginning keep it slow and steady.
It’s a difficult task, similar to reversing a car with a short-hinge trailer.

Pushback sequence is as follows:


• After clicking the button, the pushback cart arrives.
• Once the pushback cart has come to a stop at the nosewheel, release the parking brake.
That the cart has connected to the nosewheel is indicated by the ECAM memo “NW
STRG DISC”
• Now it’s the user’s turn to drive:
- The joystick pitch axis is used for speed control: forward (pushing) is accelerationg,
backward (pulling) is braking. If you have the joystick at neutral, the vehicle coasts,
slightly decelerating.
- The joystick roll axis is used to steer the truck left and right. Keep in mind, that the
joystick steers the truck, not the aircraft. The aircraft will move in response to what
the truck is doing to its nose wheel.
• Once the aircraft is in the desired position, slow down to a full stop (pitch backwards,
or pull up in aircraft terms). Then set the parking brake.
• The truck will leave the aircraft and return automatically to the original position.

Note that at the moment, it is not supported to pull the aircraft with the truck. (Truck moving
forward during the manual pushback.)

3.5.3 Deicing
This section allows removing ice from the aircraft prior to take-off. Using the deicing functions
protects the aircraft for 30 minutes from ice accreation.

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There are two options: “Quick deicing” simulates the effect of deice liquid being applied
immediately. “Animated deicing” provides an animated deice procedure which takes about 3
minutes.
After deicing has been applied the remaining time that the aircraft is protected against ice
accreation is displayed under the deicing buttons:

3.5.4 Control of the aircraft doors


By default, the aircraft starts with the doors in automatic mode. Automatic mode means that
the front left door and the cargo doors open automatically at the gate. They close after a
predetermined amount of time. Closure is accelerating once the user switches on the aircraft beacon.
The bottom right of the “Ground Services” tab in the ISCS allows to control each door
individually to one of three states:
• Closed: The door is closed immediately and stays closed
• Open: The door is opened immediately and stays open
• Auto: The door opens and closes according to the plugin internal logic to detect if the
aircraft is parked at the gate.
Below the left-hand door controls for doors 1 and 4, there is an option to display a set of
passenger stairs. If the option is selected, the stairs will drive up to the aircraft before the door
opens and they will leave automatically after the door is closed. If you are at a gate with a jetway,
you should leave this option OFF for the front left door.
Below the right-hand door controls for doors 1 and 4, there is an option to display a food
catering truck. If the option is selected, the catering truck will drive up to the aircraft before the
door opens. It will leave automatically once the door is closed.
Below the Cargo door mode selectors, there is an option to display animated baggage loaders.
If this option is selected, the opening/closing sequence of the cargo doors is augmented by animated
baggage loaders driving up to the aircraft or leaving the aircraft in response to the door state.

3.6 Fault injection interface


The ToLiss Airbus A321 supports system fault injection. This can be performed via two different
methods:
• Selection of specific faults with different trigger options, such as speed, altitude, time, or
randomly during a given flight phase

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• Random fault injection based on typical Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of the
failed component. This method allows having large number of computer failures, but
fairly rarely things like engine fires or jammed control surfaces.
Fault injection is performed via the ISCS, tab “Fault scenarios”:

Section for MTBF based


random fault injection

Section for user selection


of specific faults

3.6.1 Selection of specific faults

The section below the label “Custom fault selection” can be used to inject specific system faults
at a certain point during the flight. Faults are sorted by system and can be injected based on a
variety of triggers which will be discussed in the following.
A total of 20 different faults can be selected for one flight. To setup a new fault injection, click
on the button “Add new fault”. A new fault injection row will be created:

Click here
A new fault line appears

To select the desired fault, you need to first select the system that will suffer the failure, e.g.
FLT CTRL for flight controls. In a second step you can then select the component you want to
fail, e.g. ELAC 2. After these selections, the fault selection line looks like this:

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For a number of faults there are two options - the recoverable fault and the permanent fault:

Recoverable faults are marked with (R). These faults can clear if the failed computer (or
generator) is reset using either one of the reset switches in the overhead panel or by switching the
respective push button OFF and back ON in line with the ECAM procedure.

The third column allows choosing the trigger for the fault. Possible triggers are:
• NOW: The fault will be injected as soon as the ISCS is closed
• AT TIME: The fault will be injected a given time (in seconds) after the ISCS is closed
• AT IAS: The fault will be injected as soon as the aircraft Indicated Airspeed equals a
given value
• AT ALT: The fault will be injected as soon as the aircraft equals a certain Altitude
• RANDOM: The fault will be injected randomly at a given flight phase.
For the items “AT TIME”, “AT IAS”, and “AT ALT”, a slider allows selecting the trigger
parameter. For example, in the following example ELAC2 will fail, once the aircraft speed exceeds
180knots:

For the item RANDOM, another Drop-down box will appear allowing to choose the flight phase
in which the fault should occur. For this feature to work properly, it is important to have a flight
plan filed properly, otherwise the system cannot know how long a given flight phase (e.g. climb or
cruise) will last, which makes it difficult to ensure that the fault occurs during that phase.
The following flight phases can be selected:
• Take-off (Earliest fault occurrence possible is around 60kts)
• Climb
• Cruise
• Descent
• Landing
• Flight – in this case the fault is randomly injected during one of the 5 phases listed
above.
The following example shows in the second row a failure of the AC ESS bus that will happen
at some point during the cruise phase:

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You can enter a total of 20 faults with 5 faults displayed on one ISCS page. If you have more
than 5 faults defined, you can switch between the different pages using the Page +/- buttons in
the top left corner.

Useful hints:
Press the “Delete” button on the right of a fault line to clear that fault line.
The “Reset All” button is your friend: It clears all selected faults and reinstates the system
functionality. (Including Halon cleanup in case you had to extinguish an engine fire – the engine
will run again, but the fire extinguishing bottle remains empty.). It also clears faults injected by
the random fault injection system.

3.6.2 Random fault injection

Random fault injection can be activated and deactivated by the switch “Enable Random faults”:
Set to ON to enable random
fault injection function

Failures are fairly rare these days and if we used the real-life MTBFs you would rarely see
failures during your flights. This is resolved by the “Flight Time Factor”. This factor is used to scale
up the flight time such that faults are more frequent. A factor of 1 means that the rate of failure is
the same as in real life. The maximum possible factor is 1000, in this case, failures occur 1000 times
more often than in real life. Example:
• Most airborne computer systems have Mean Time Between Failures (MTBFs) in the
range of 10000 flight hours per failure to 100000 flight hours per failure. Using a factor
of 1000 means that this computer will fail once every 10 to 100 hours.
Overall, there are over 200 failures that can be injected with different probabilities. With the
slider set to 1000 you will encounter about 7-8 failure per hour. If you are lucky the failures affect
the same system and you may lose systems completely. We recommend a factor between 100-200
for interesting flights, that do not end in emergency landings every time.
Note that when a fault is injected by the random fault system, it will appear in the list under
“Custom Fault selection”. The maximum number of faults that can be injected simultaneously is
20.

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4 Interactive Audio Control Panel


The interactive Audio Control Panel (IACP) allows performing simulation function conducted in
real life by the ground crew or by the cabin crew.
You can use the INT (Intercom) transmission button on the Audio Control Panel (ACP) to
open the IACP window for ground crew operations and the CAB (Cabin) transmission button the
ACP to open the IACP window for cabin crew communications:

These screens are only available if the associated ACP is powered and at least one of the two
CIDS computers is available (i.e. powered and not failed).
The Ground crew communication interface has 5 different tabs, the cabin crew communication
interface has 3 different tabs. You can switch between tabs via the “+” and “-“ buttons at the top
of the screen.
The five ground communication tabs are:
• Services: Enable/disable external power, LP or HP air connections and chocks
If the field for a specific is highlighted in grey, that service is connected to the aircraft. If it
is black, the service is disconnected.
• Pushback: Request pushback
Like in the ISCS, you can choose push back distance in meters and rotation angle. These
values need to be selected prior to requesting pushback.
• Refuel/Defuel: Change the amount of fuel on board.
When using this feature, the fuelling/defueling will take time according to the refuel/defuel
rate listed in the FCOM.
• Cargo handling: Open and close cargo doors/change amount of cargo in the hold.
If the field to select the door mode is highlighted in grey, the door is currently open. Door
mode selection fields that are black indicate doors that are currently fully closed.
• Ground de-ice: A simple feature to prevent ice accumulation on the wings while on ground,
as the wing anti ice does not work for more than 30s on ground.
Requesting ground deice prevent ice build-up on the wings for 30minutes. The remaining
time that the aircraft is protected against ice accumulation is shown in this IACP screen.
The three cabin communication tabs are:
• Doors: Open and close doors, request slide arming
Similar to the Cargo handling window, doors that are open are highlighted in grey, doors
that are fully closed are shown by a black box.
• Pax: Change number of pax.
• Cabin Lighting: Switch the cabin lighting ON and OFF as well as adjust its brightness.

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5 Electronic Flight Bag


The ToLiss cockpit features an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) on both the Captain and the
Copilot side of the cockpit:

The EFB power is independent from the aircraft electrical supply.

There are 5 tabs in the EFB, simulating functions also available in real-life EFBs:
• Avitab for maps, pdf reader, Navigraph Simlink integration etc.
• Weight and Balance to compute weight and CG data for this flight
• A Take-off performance computer
• A Landing performance computer
• An interactive checklist

5.1 Avitab
This tab provides full integration of the Avitab plugin. This is a X-Plane addon that must be
downloaded and installed separately.
At the time of writing, this plugin can be downloaded here:

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https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/44825-avitab-vr-compatible-tablet-with-pdf-
viewer-moving-maps-and-more/
Please read the documentation that comes with this add-on for further instructions on how to
use it

5.2 Weight And Balance


The weight and Balance tab provides a tool to compute the weights and CGs resulting from
the current aircraft loading as well as the expected weight and CG at landing.
You access the tool by clicking on the Weight & Balance button in the top line of the EFB:

It is important to note that changes on this screen do NOT update the payload weights or the
fuel in X-Plane’s flight model. This tool serves to analyse a suitable weight and balance
configuration for this flight. The weights determined with this tool must then be set either via the
IACP or the ISCS.
The left column of this screen provides a weight summary for the current settings and the
possibility to asses different payloads.
The bottom row allows analysing different fuel loads. The button in the bottom right corner
synchronises all fields in this screen with the current actual loads in x-plane to analyse the currently
loaded configuration.
The top right part of the screen shows the Weight-CG diagram including the Take-off weight
matching the values on this screen and the predicted landing weight for this configuration.

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5.2.1 Weight summary


The weight summary gives you the same data, a real pilot would receive from dispatch as part of
the flight planning:

The DOW (or Dry Operating Weight) gives the weight of all aircraft components required for
flying. This includes the actual airframe weight, the weight of the cabin, the weight of liquids
required for operation such as oil, hydraulic fluid etc. It also includes cabin and flight crew weights.
The DOW cannot be changed
The Payload is the sum of the passenger and freight weight selected in the Passenger and Cargo
numeric boxes further down on this tab.
The sum of DOW and Payload give the Zero Fuel Weight (ZFW). The maximum ZFW for the
A321 simulated by the ToLiss is 73.8t with the CEO engines. This changes for the NEO engines
and the different A321 NEO variants such as LR and XLR. It is not permitted to put that much
payload that this weight is exceeded as it is otherwise not possible to land below the maximum
landing weight and still have all the required fuel reserves in normal operation.
The fuel load is the fuel set on this page, the maximum capacity for the A321 CEO without
any ACTs (Additional Cargo Tanks) is 18.6t but it increases when selecting ACTs.
The sum of ZFW and Fuel gives the Take-off Weight. (Taxi fuel is neglected here). The
Maximum Take-off weight for the A321 CEO as simulated here is 93.4t. This increases when
selecting an A321 NEO.

All of the fields described above are dependent on the values set in the EFB. The remaining
two lines are computed automatically using the route predictions from the EFB.
The trip fuel is the amount of fuel predicted to be used for the flight from departure to
destination without any allowance for holdings or diversion to an alternate. For the trip fuel to be
computed, it is required that the FMGS has the route defined, i.e. at least Departure and
Destination and parts of the route in between.
The EFB can provide the Trip fuel from the FMS adjusted for weight differences between the
EFB settings and the FMS setting, or it can provide its own estimate. If the FMGS has enough
data to compute a trip fuel, the EFB will base its estimations on these data. This is shown by the
string “FMS” next to the trip fuel value.

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If the FMGS does not yet have all the data to compute a trip fuel estimate but has enough
data to compute a route distance, the EFB will perform its own trip fuel estimate. This is indicated
by the string “EST” next to the Trip fuel value.
The center of gravity fields indicate both the Zero Fuel Weight CG (ZFWCG) to be entered on
the INIT B page and the Gross weight CG (GWCG) which can be used on the Fuel Pred page if
needed.

5.2.2 CG diagram with fuel vector


The CG diagram on this page shows both the Take-off weight and the landing weight currently
predicted as well as the expected CG migration between the two points as fuel is burnt in flight:

Planned Take-off
Weight and CG

Fuel burn vector


Predicted Landing
Weight and CG

For flight planning, it is important that the take-off point is less than MTOW and between the
inner CG limits. The predicted landing weight must be less than the MLW (Maximum Landing
Weight) and the predicted landing CG must also be within the landing CG limits.

5.3 Take-off performance


The Take-off performance calculator in the EFB allows computation of the take-off data for
any conditions independent of the current FMGS plan. However, the reset button on the page
allows synchronizing the input data for the calculator with the current FMGS information to
facilitate data computation.

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Input data and results


In the left column on this page, you can set all the environmental conditions for which you want
to compute the take-off performance. Inline with the MCDU colour code, fields with blue text can
be modified. The Reset button takes the airport and runway from the FMGS and the atmospheric
data from x-plane’s weather settings.
After setting all data as required, hit the compute button to calculate the take-off data for this
configuration. The result is shown in the central column. If the calculator computes valid TO data,
the status will be indicated as OK. Otherwise, an error message will show in that field.
If the calculator indicates “GW too high”, it means that the maximum thrust with one engine
failed is insufficient to reach the required CLB gradient at the current weight and atmospheric
conditions. You need to reduce your departure weight.
If the calculator indicates “RWY too short”, the runway length is insufficient to determine a V1
value above which the TO can be safely continued with one engine failed and below which you can
stop prior to the end of the runway. You will have to select a longer runway, a runway with more
headwind or reduce your departure weight.
In most cases, the calculator will give a range of V1 values which are all safe to use. The pilot
can choose any V1 within this range and take off safely. Higher V1 values have the advantage of a
shorter roll with one engine failed, should the engine fail around V1. However, lower V1 values
require less brake energy should you have to cancel the take-off.
The field RTOW shows the maximum weight at which a take-off is possible on the selected
runway with the current meteorological conditions.

Runway diagram
The right side of the calculator shows the runway diagram for the currently computed data.
The displayed data are:

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• Runway designator to confirm the runway used for computing the data
• Selected take-off shift for intersection take-offs. If the TO shift is 0, it will show as
“FULL” indicating a full-length take-off. Otherwise, it will show the offset in meters or
feet, depending on the “use imperial units” setting in the ISCS.
• Wind direction and speed in form of a windsock as well the head-wind (tail-wind)
components and cross-wind components.
• Accelerate-stop distances (ASD): These are the distance the aircraft will need to
accelerate to V1, abort the take-off and come to a full stop. For a large range of V1
values, it will show the ASD for the minimum V1 and the maximum V1.
If the range of V1 values is very narrow or there is possibly only one valid V1, the
diagram will show the ASD for the maximum valid V1 value only.
The “margin” shown is the difference between available runway length and ASD.
The results of the calculator need to be transferred to the MCDU manually, you need to transfer
V1, VR, V2, Flex temperature, THS setting and flap setting.

5.4 Landing performance


The landing performance calculator in the EFB allows computing required landing distances for
any airport/runway for pilot modifiable atmospheric conditions. It also automatically displays the
METAR for the selected airport:

Input data and results


Similarly to the TO performance calculator, the left column is used to enter the conditions for
which the landing performance is to be assessed. You can select the airport and runway, the
meteorological conditions, runway contamination, use of anti-ice, auto-brake setting etc. As soon
as you enter an airport in this field, the calculator will retrieve the METAR for this airport in line
with x-plane’s weather setting. (real weather vs. manually configured.)

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Pressing the “Reset” button will take the arrival airport and runway from the FMGS and the
atmospheric data from the METAR. If the EFB manages to get a valid Landing Weight from the
FMGS it will use that value, otherwise it will the current weight as landing weight.
Once all data are set, the pilot presses the “Compute” button to compute the required and
actual landing distances. These will be shown in the central column:
• The “required landing distance” (Rqrd Land Dist, or LD Req) is the legally required
distance to land. It does not consider autobrake setting and changes by 15% for
contaminated runways over dry runways. If the runway is shorter than the LD Req,
you are not legally not permitted to land at that airport even if the predicated actual
landing distance is shorter.
• The predicted “actual landing distance” (Pred land dist) is the expected landing
distance for the conditions set in the left column. It considers autobrake setting, anti-
ice, air conditioning etc.
The computed EO gradient shows the expected climb gradient if the aircraft has to go around
with one engine failed in the flaps 3 configuration at VAPP.
The field “MLW (Perf)” gives the maximum weight at which it is possible to come to a full stop
on the runway. This may exceed the aircraft Maximum Landing Weight in order to allow planning
overweight landings.
The computation status is shown in the “Status” box of the central column. If the both landing
distances (required and predicted) are shorter than the runway length, the status can either be
“OK” or “Overweight”. The status “Overweight” means that the aircraft is above Maximum Landing
Weight, but the runway length is sufficient to land at this weight. In real life this will have
maintenance implications as the landing gear will have to be inspected after the landing.
The status “A/BRK too low” means that the runway is long enough to meet the "required
landing distance” requirement, but with the selected autobrake setting, you will not come to a stop
prior to the end of the runway. Choose a higher auto-brake setting or choose manual braking and
try again.
The status “Rwy too short” means that the runway length is less than the required landing
distance for the current weight and atmospheric conditions. Choose another runway to land on or
reduce your landing weight by burning or dumping excess fuel.

Runway diagram
The right side of the calculator shows the runway diagram for the currently computed data.
The displayed data are:
• Runway designator to confirm the runway used for computing the data
• Wind direction and speed in form of a windsock as well the head-wind (tail-wind)
components and cross-wind components.
• The required landing distance (LD Req) in green.
• The predicted actual landing distance (LD) in white.
• The stop margin which is the difference between the runway length and the greater of
the two landing distances.

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5.5 Interactive checklist


The last EFB page features an interactive checklist:

The left column shows the different flight phases/sections of the checklist; the actual checklist
items are shown in the right part of the screen.
The items are interactive, meaning you can tick off checklist items that are done by clicking
into the box on the right side. If you accidentally selected an item, you can untick it by clicking
the box twice again, the label “undo” will appear after the first click:

The checklist also allows for conditions sections that only apply under certain circumstances.
You can open and close these sections by clicking on the “N/A” box on the right side:

The checklist scrolls automatically down as items at the top are ticked off.
The “Reset” button at the bottom of the page resets all tick marks in the current checklist and
returns it to the initial state.

User editable checklists


The checklists are driven by xml files located in the folder
“ToLiss_A321/plugins/AirbusFBW_A321_XP11”. The default checklist is defined in the file

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“Checklist.xml” located in this folder. That file should NOT be modified as it will be overwritten
by any update done to the aircraft.
To create your own checklist, create a file called “UserChecklist.xml” in the same folder. You
can start from the content of the original Checklist.xml file and modify it as needed then. The
syntax is fairly simple if you are familiar with the xml format. The original checklist covers the
entire capability of the checklist function, so you have examples for the different options in that
file.

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6 ACARS function
The ACARS function is fully integrated in the FMGS and has three functions:
• SimBrief flight plan download into the active or secondary flight plan
• TO performance data uplink
• Wind data uplink.
The SimBrief function is only available if a Simbrief Pilot ID has been entered in the ISCS as
described in section 2.8.4. The other two functions are also available without a SimBrief ID. The
wind data uplink has limitations though if used without SimBrief data.
The following basic requirements need to be met to perform any of the ACARS functions:
• At least one of the three RMPs needs to be ON.
• VHF3 needs to be set to DATA mode, both on the RMP and in the MCDU on the
MCDU MENU/ATSU/COMM/VHF3 VOICE DIRECTORY page:

No asterisk
visible here:

• The ATSU itself must be powered and not failed. (I.e. not set to failed in the ISCS and
the circuit breaker not pulled, if applicable.)

6.1 Simbrief plan download


There are two options to download a Simbrief plan:
• Through the INIT A page of the MCDU
• Through the DATA/ACARS function page

6.1.1 Simbrief download via the INIT A page


This is only possible when the engines are not running AND the INIT A page is completely
empty. At this stage it is not possible to enter a FROM/TO and then launch the Simbrief request
as Simbrief does not (yet) provide an API for this functionality.

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Click here to launch


the Simbrief download

Once launched, the MCDU will show the scratchpad message “FPLN DATALINK IN PROG”
indicating that the aircraft is retrieving the flight plan from SimBrief:

When the lateral flight plan has finished importing, the MCDU will show the message “AOC
ACT F-PLN UPLINK”:

This message will be followed shortly after by the message “PERF DATA UPLINK”, when
performance related data, such a CI, Cruise FL, Step climbs etc have been imported into the flight
plan:

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If you get the message “AOC NO FPLN TO UPLINK”, the system could not find a valid flight
plan to retrieve from Simbrief. Make sure your pilot ID in the ISCS is correct and that you did
indeed generate the flight plan in SimBrief.

6.1.2 Flight plan uplink via the DATA/ACARS functions page


You can also uplink flight plans via the MCDU DATA/ACARS functions page. To use this
functionality, click the DATA page button on the MCDU and the click the LSK 6R next to the
label “ACARS/PRINT functions” twice to get to this page:

You can launch a SimBrief uplink request via LSK 1R next to the label F-PLN Init Req. If the
engines are already running, the flight plan will be uplinked into the secondary FPLN. This is
indicated by the following scratchpad message:

The letters “SEC” in this message indicate the uplink into the secondary flight plan. An uplink
into the active flight plan has the letter “ACT” at this place.
To finalize the secondary flight plan uplink, you need to go to the SEC F-PLN page and click
on “AOC F-PLN INSERT”:

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Now the SimBrief plan has been copied into the secondary flight plan. From there it can be
modified or copied into the active plan via the “Activate Sec” prompt.

6.2 Take-off performance data uplink


This function allows retrieving the take-off data, such as V-speed, flex temps etc through the
MCDU. The calculator backbone is the same as in the ISCS, however the input data are determined
differently, hence they will not necessarily provide the same results.
The ISCS TO performance calculator retrieves all the atmospheric data directly from x-plane’s
weather, whereas the TO PERF DATA request function in the MCDU uses the data set on the
respective MCDU page.
To use this function, the departure airport must be defined in the FMGS.
To access the TO perf data unlink function, click on the MCDU “PERF” page button, and
subsequently click on the UPLINK TO DATA prompt:

If the departing runway has already been defined, the page will look like this, otherwise you
will have to manually enter the departing runway in the top right field via LSK 1R:

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All fields shown in blue can be edited. The fields on the left side, i.e., QNH, wind and
contamination must be modified to reflect the current meteorological conditions. The fields on the
right side (other than runway) can be left empty, in that case the TO PERF calculator will give
the optimal configuration for these data.
The field “TO Limit” can be used to reduce the available runway length, e.g., if there is
construction at the end of the runway.
As you can see there are 2 pages for input data allowing to assess different configurations
without having to overwrite the data each time.
Once all the data have been entered, you can launch the request by clicking LSK 6R next to
the TO DATA REQUEST label. The request will take about 10 seconds and its completion is
shown by the scratchpad message “TAKE OFF DATA UPLINK”. The result will be available via
the “RECEIVED TO DATA” prompt in the bottom left.

If you get the “INVALID TO DATA” message, there were no valid data available, either because
the aircraft is too heavy, the runway is too short, the CG is out of range, etc. In that case you can
try with a lower weight and see if things get better or you can use the TO calculator in the EFB
to understand why the current computation fails.

Results
There are four sets of TO data, with one set for TOGA thrust and one set for FLEX thrust
each. Every new request populates the next set of data:

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The left and right slew keys (arrow keys) allow switching between the 4 sets of data, and LSK
4R allows switching between the TOGA data (indicated by UPLINK MAX TO DATA in the title)
and the FLEX data (indicated by UPLINK FLX TO DATA in the title).
Once you selected the set you want to use for your take-off, you can copy the data straight into
the TO PERF page via the “Insert Uplink” prompt in the bottom right of this page.

6.3 Wind data uplink.


There are numerous pages in the MCDU that allow automatic uplink of wind data. The most
frequently used is the wind page accessed from the vertical revision page for the flight plan.
Wind uplink currently supports two data sources:
• Wind data provided in the SimBrief plan
• Wind data from x-plane’s weather datarefs
The uplink function will use SimBrief data when possible. For SimBrief wind uplink to be
possible, the following conditions must be met:
• The flight plan was initialized using the SimBrief import function described in section
6.1.
• The x-plane weather is set to “real weather” of the “force simbrief” option in the ISCS is
set, as described in section 2.8.4.
In all other cases, the uploaded data will be based on the x-plane datarefs for the current aircraft
location. With the upcoming extension of the X-plane 12 weather API, it should be possible in the
future to also request wind at different locations away from the aircraft, but at this stage this it
not possible.

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7 CPDLC usage
CPDLC stands for “Controller Pilot DataLink Connection”. The use of CPDLC is ONLY useful if
you fly online in a network like VATSIM or IVAO. If you do not fly online, you can ignore this
section.

Requirements for CPDLC usage


In order to use CPDLC, you need to have entered you Hoppie ID in the ISCS as discussed in
section 2.8.4. Furthermore, the same requirements as for the ACARS functions from the previous
chapter need to be met:
• At least one of the three RMPs needs to be ON.
• VHF3 needs to be set to DATA mode, both on the RMP and in the MCDU on the
MCDU MENU/ATSU/COMM/VHF3 VOICE DIRECTORY page:

No asterisk
visible here:

• The ATSU itself must be powered and not failed. (I.e., not set to failed in the ISCS)

7.1 CPDLC initialization


The first connection to the ATC station via CPDLC has to be generated manually. This is done
via the Notification page in the MCDU’s ATC Communications menu.
There are two ways to access the ATC communications page:
• Via the ATC COMM page button on the MCDU, if the MCDU is currently engaged on
one of the two FMGCs:

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• Via the MCDU MENU/ATSU page. This can also be done with an MCDU not
connected to an FMGC. Under most circumstances, this is the 3rd MCDU in the
pedestal.

To initiate the datalink connection with the first ATC station, you need to send a “notification”
to that station. The notification page is accessed from the ATC Menu via the CONNECTION
prompt and then the NOTIFICATION prompt:

For the sake of this manual, we will assume a fictitious ATC Center with the ID “TLSC”. For
the correct ID, contact your VATSIM/IVAO controller via voice to retrieve the appropriate
CPDLC center ID.
To be able to send a notification, the Flight number and the FROM/TO on the INIT page
must have been set, otherwise, you will see the prompt “NOTIFICATION UNAVAILABLE” on the
notification page:

The “notification unavailable” message will also be displayed, if the requirements for a CPDLC
connection listed at the top of this section are not met.

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When the “notification unavailable” message is not displayed, you can send a notification to the
ATC station by placing the station ID in the ATC center field and pressing the LSK next to the
NOTIFY* field:

If the notification was successful, the text “STATION” NOTIFIED will appear in green on the
MCDU page with the time of the notification. If the notification fails, e.g., because a station with
that ID is not currently online in the Hoppie network, the text “NOTIF FAILED” will appear in
amber in the label line next to “ATC CENTER”.
If you get the message “NOTIF FAILED”, the most likely cause is that the station that you
want to notify is not online in the network that your Hoppie account is linked to. Note that the
network link in your Hoppie account is independent of possible Vatsim or IVAO client settings in
x-plane. If you get the NOTIF FAILED message, make sure that your Hoppie account is set to the
correct online network you want to use and that the respective station is online and supports Hoppie
CPDLC.
You can check if a station is online in the Hoppie network at the following URL:
http://www.hoppie.nl/acars/system/online.html

Now the user has to wait until the ATC stations confirms the logon and the respective message
is picked up by the aircraft. Once that happened, the “NOTIFIED” message disappears from the
MCDU notification page; instead, the active ATC center is now shown on the DCDUs (Datalink
Control and Display Unit):

A word on message communication times:


The CPDLC connection is really slow in real life. This is simulated in the Hoppie network by
querying the servers only every 45-75s. Therefore, the complete cycle of sending a message to an
ATC station and receiving the response can take 2 minutes or more. CPDLC communication is not

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suitable for time-critical communication such a take-off and landing clearances or emergency
communication in any phase other than cruise.

7.2 Use of the DCDU


The CPDLC communication is performed using both the ATC COMM page of the MCDU and the
Datalink Control and Display Units (DCDU) located in the main panel next to the lower ECAM
Display Unit.
Messages received by the ATC center are displayed on the DCDU. Simple replies can be sent
directly from the DCDU. If it is not possible to comply with the request, it is possible to add
explanations via the MCDU.
The color code of messages in the DCDU is as follows:
• Message in white and cyan on black background: Messages from ATC to the aircraft
that still need to be processed.
• Message in green text on black background: Messages from the ATC to the aircraft that
have been processed.
• Message in black on cyan background: Message from the aircraft to the ATC that has
not yet been sent.
• Message in black on green background: Message from the aircraft to the ATC that has
been sent successfully.

7.2.1 Affirmative response to an ATC request


In this example, the crew receives the request to perform a route offset of 5NM to the left of
the route:

If the crew can comply with the request, you simply press the button next to WILCO; the
message status in the top right corner of the DCDU changes from Open to WILCO. The text
“Wilco” is in black on cyan background indicating that this is a message that will be sent from the
aircraft to the ATC center:

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The LSK labels have changed to CANCEL and SEND. To transmit the “WILCO” message to
the ground, press the LSK next to send:

The message color changes from cyan to green to indicate that it has been processed. You can
remove the message from the DCDU with the LSK next to Close.

7.2.2 Negative response to an ATC request


If the pilot cannot comply with an ATC request, you can use the MCDU to explain why you cannot
comply. In this example, ATC want to know when we can climb to FL370:

The DCDU suggests a preformatted message confirming that we can climb to FL370 now. If
this is not possible, you can press the LSK next to the CANNOT label:

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The preformatted message has changed to “cannot” and the status message MCDU FOR
MODIF is displayed. Note you can also select the MODIFY label to edit the message in the MCDU,
in this case the initial response remains “can accept … now” but this can be modified in the MCDU.
To modify the text in the MCDU, you select the REPORTS page from the ATC MENU, and
subsequently the MSG MODIFY label:

The “Message Modify” page gives three options for the response text:
• “Can accept … at” with a pilot adjustable time for when it becomes possible to comply
with the request
• “Can accept … now” indicating that the request can be complied with straight away.
• “Cannot accept …” indicating that the crew cannot comply with this request in the
foreseeable future.
As we selected the “CANNOT” option in the DCDU, this option is preselected on this page. To
add a justification, you select the “ADD TEXT” prompt:

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In this example the reason for not complying with the request is the performance of the aircraft,
so we select the option in the top left; subsequently, press the LSK next to “ATC REQ DISPL” to
copy the text to the DCDU for transmission:

Prior to sending the message, verify the complete message on the DCDU; use the PGE+ button
to scroll to the next page as the message does not fit completely on the screen:

Press the send button to transmit the message to the ground station, the message can then be
removed from the DCDU with the CLOSE button:

7.2.3 Sending a request to ATC


To send a request from the aircraft to ATC, you first need to generate the request in the MCDU
via the REQ pages in the ATC MENU, then transfer the message to the DCDU and transmit it
from the DCDU.
As an example, the crew requests a climb to FL330. In order to generate the request, the crew
goes to the VERT REQ page in the ATC MENU and fills the desired request:

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After placing the requested altitude of FL330 in the appropriate field, clicking the LSK next to
“ATC REQ DISPL” transfers the message to the DCDU:

Review the message in the DCDU prior to sending it; use the CLOSE button to remove it from
the DCDU after sending:

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8 AOC functions
Currently, AOC functions serve three main purposes:
• SimBrief flight plan download via the INIT function. This is the same function as
described in section 6.1.
• Weather data requests: ATIS, METAR or TAF through the Hoppie Network
• Pre-departure clearance request through the Hoppie Network.
The first function requires a valid SimBrief ID to be entered in the ISCS as described in section
2.8.4. The other two functions both require a valid Hoppie logon code to be entered in the ISCS as
described in section 2.8.4. It is possible to retrieve METAR data without a Hoppie logon code via
the Landing performance calculator in the EFB.

8.1 Accessing AOC functions


The AOC functions can only be accessed via the MCDU MENU. This means that the MCDU you
are using for AOC functions de-logs from the FMGS functions. To return to the FMGS functions,
you will have to go through the MCDU MENU again.
To access the AOC Menu, you select the MCDU MENU page via the page key, then you click
the LSK next to ATSU and subsequently you press the LSK next to AOC MENU.

The content of the AOC menu depends on the current flight phase.
Prior to take-off, the AOC menu has two pages available, you switch between the two pages
with the left-right arrows:

The available functions in the Preflight menu are:


• The Flt Init function, which initiates a SimBrief flight plan download. The function is
the same as the function described in section 6.1. It is only available when the engines

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are not running. The use of this function requires a valid SimBrief ID to be entered in
the ISCS and that an appropriate flight plan has been generated in your SimBrief
account.
• The DEP ATIS function triggers a digital ATIS request in the Hoppie network for the
departure airport of your flight plan.
The function is only available, if the departure airport is defined in the FMGS and a
valid Hoppie Logon code has been set in the ISCS.
• The label “Departure Clearance” allows accessing the page to request a pre-departure
clearance via Telex on the Hoppie network
• The label “D/A ICING” allows to request on ground Deicing. This function is equivalent
to the Deicing function in the IACP described in section 4. This function does NOT
require a SimBrief of Hoppie Logon.

The following labels are common to all AOC menu pages independent of the flight phase:
• The label “WX/ATIS” allows accessing the weather requests page. WX requests are also
done via the Hoppie network and therefore require a valid Hoppie logon in the ISCS.
• The label “Received Messaged” allows consulting the list of all AOC messages received
in this flight.
• The label “ATSU MENU” allows returning to the ATSU DATALINK menu page that
was used to access the AOC menu.

The inflight AOC menu also features two pages:

Besides the AOC functions available in all flight phases, the inflight AOC menu features:
• The DEST ATIS allows requesting the ATIS for the destination airport. Like the DEP
ATIS function from the Preflight AOC Menu, the DEST ATIS function requests the
ATIS data from the Hoppie network. A valid Hoppie logon code is therefore required.
• The oceanic clearance page allows accessing the oceanic clearance page which is
experimental at this stage

After landing, the AOC menu changes to the Postflight menu. This menu has only one page
with the 3 common AOC items:

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8.2 WX/ATIS page


This page allows requesting three type of weather informations for the 3 flight plan airports as well
as 4 custom airports:
• ATIS, using the Vatsim ATIS function where available
• METAR, using the Hoppie METAR function
• TAF and METAR, also using Hoppie data.

The WX/ATIS page shows the three flight plan airports (Departure, destination and alternate)
on the left side; these airports cannot be modified. On the right side, there are four fields in which
the pilot can enter any airport ID for which he wants to request weather data.

The actual weather data request is launched by clicking the LSKs next to ATIS, METAR or
FORECAST. Weather data will be requested for all airports shown on this page; in flight, the
requests for the Origin airport will be skipped however.
When requesting a Forecast, the METAR and TAF data for all airports will be requested.
The received weather data can be consulted in the “Received Messages” page.

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8.3 Received Messages Page


This page shows all AOC messages received during this flight. The user can scroll through the
messages headers and open the individual messages to see their contents. In the case of the
predeparture clearance, you can also accept the clearance via this page.
The received messages overview page lists the title and the time and status of each message.
You can scroll between multiple pages with the left/right arrows:

Message time is in the format DDHHMM with DD representing the day of the month, HH
representing the hour and MM the minutes in GMT.
The message status can be NEW for messages that have not yet been opened, VIEWED for
messages that have been opened and ACKED for Pre-departure clearances that have been accepted.
In order to open a message, click the left LSK next to the message title:

If the message does not fit on one page, you can scroll to the next page with the left arrow key.

8.4 Predeparture clearance


This page can be used to request a text predeparture clearance (PDC) when flying online. The PDC
process significantly reduces the amount of voice communication required.
To request a predeparture clearance, you need to fill all the fields on the page with the correct
values. Note that the flight number, departure and arrival airports are prefilled with the values
form the FMGS but can be overwritten.

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The station ID in the bottom right is the Hoppie ID for the ATC stations that you want to
request the PDC from:

When all fields are filled and a valid Hoppie logon is present in the ISCS, the asterisk will
appear next to “Request SEND”. Pressing that LSK will the send the request as Telex to the
respective ground station.
When you receive your PDC, it will arrive in the “Received Messages” page of the AOC menu.
You will be able to accept the message from there.

8.5 De-icing/Anti-icing
This page is simplified in the current state and allows to request ground de-icing by pressing LSK
6R. The effect of this request is equivalent to the de-icing function in the interactive ACP described
in section 4.

8.6 Oceanic clearance


The oceanic clearance page is experimental at this stage. It allows sending Telex requests for
clearances to cross the North Atlantic ocean. The support of this function on the VATSIM/IVAO
side is not confirmed at this stage.

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Similarly to the predeparture clearance page, the pilot needs to fill all the fields on this page.
Then, the asterisk next to SEND will appear and the clearance request can be sent by clicking LSK
6R.
In real life, the following ATC Centers can issue Oceanic clearances: Shanwick, Gander, Santa
Maria or Reykjavik. This may be different in the VATSIM or IVAO networks.
The fields “Entry Point”, “Alt Req”, “ETA” and “Spd Req” refer to the first point of the North
Atlantic Track (NAT) and the expected altitude, speed and time at that point. The Ocean Track
field is the designation of the NAT.

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9 Cockpit orientation.
Moving the camera in the 3d cockpit is done via the default x-plane commands. Unless the user
changed the keyboard assignment, these are mapped to the keys “q” and “e” for left/right swivel of
the head, “r” and “f” for tilting the head up/down and “,” and “.” for moving the camera forward or
aft. Zoom is frequently assigned to the mouse wheel.

9.1.1 Special view commands


The ToLiss Airbus A321 ships with pre-programmed view commands that facilitate navigation in
the cockpit. We recommend using these. To get to the 3d cockpit forward view, use the command
toliss_airbus/3d_cockpit_commands/view_3D_straight
Using this command places the camera directly into the “eye reference point” of the cockpit, i.e.
the location for which the pilots typically adjust their seat. The command also considers if the user
selected to fly from the pilot or the co-pilot side (see next command). When flying from the co-
pilot side, this command will bring the viewpoint back into the co-pilot seat. X-plane’s default
command does not do that.
Caution: The custom view commands do not reset the “zoom” setting. If the view is not as
expected, try zooming out.

Swapping between pilot and co-pilot seats


To swap between flying from the pilot and the co-pilot side, use the command
toliss_airbus/3d_cockpit_commands/view_3D_capt_fo_toggle
This command influences all other commands described in the section. If the user selected co-
pilot side, all other view commands will give the corresponding view on the right aircraft side; if
the user selected pilot side, all views will be on the left aircraft side.

Viewing pedestal and overhead panel


There are three custom commands to allow pointing the camera towards the pedestal or the
overhead panel:
toliss_airbus/3d_cockpit_commands/view_3D_pedestal_fwd
toliss_airbus/3d_cockpit_commands/view_3D_pedestal_rear
toliss_airbus/3d_cockpit_commands/view_3D_overhead_panel

First time the user presses the button assigned to one of these commands, it will tilt the camera
to view either forward portion of the pedestal (MCDUs, ECAM control panel, etc.), the rear of the
pedestal (engine master switches, spoiler lever, flap/slat lever etc.) or the overhead panel. A second
push of the same button brings the viewpoint back to forward view. (Same as executing the view-
3d-straight command listed above!)

Views from the cabin


We also pre-programmed two camera locations in the cabin, the “wing observer” and the “engine
observer”.

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toliss_airbus/3d_cockpit_commands/wing_observer
toliss_airbus/3d_cockpit_commands/engine_observer

The wing observer sits on a window seat behind the wing looking out at the trailing edge. The
engine observer sits in one of the first rows looking out and back towards the engine. Note that the
side of the view depends on the pilot/co-pilot setting mentioned in the previous section.
Example view for the engine observer:

9.1.2 Popup displays


The ToLiss Airbus A321 supports popping up the 6 main displays, the 2 MCDUs and the Integrated
Standby Instrument System (ISIS). This feature allows to have a magnified image of the
corresponding display compared to the one in the instrument panel.
Popping up the MCDUs also allows using the keyboard to enter text into the scratchpad, to
accelerate flight planning.
In order to popup a display, hover the mouse over the corresponding display in the 3d cockpit.
The mouse pointer changes to show a magnifying glass:

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A single click pops up the display. If the display is already popped up, clicking the screen on
the panel again closes the popup. Popups can be dragged around by clicking and holding and then
dragging the popup to the desired location. A single click (without dragging) on the popup closes
the popup window.
To use the keyboard for text entry on a popup MCDU, the user needs to place the mouse cursor
over the MCDU popup window. If the mouse is located over the popup, key strokes will be
interpreted as text entry into the MCDU. To drag the MCDU popup around, place the mouse
pointer over the screen portion of the MCDU and apply the same technique as for the other popup
windows. The same applies for closing the popup window. Mouse clicks away from the screen of the
MCDU are interpreted as pressing the nearest MCDU key.
Note that it is possible to change the size of the popup displays (except MCDU and ISI) with
the help of the mouse wheel. Hover the mouse pointer over the popped up window and use the
mouse wheel to change size in 5 steps between 250px x 250px and 500px x 500px.

Use of popout windows


The ToLiss Airbus A321 supports the Xplane feature of having the popup displays in separate
windows that can then be dragged to a different screen. In order to use this, the ISCS option “Use
popout windows for popups” must be enabled. See section 0 for details.
Note that if the option “Save popout config on Quit” is selected in the ISCS, the popped out
screens will be popped out again upon next opening, if the popout window is closed via the operating
system “close” button. To return the window into the regular X-plane window mode, close it by
clicking once into the popout window.

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Click here to close the


popup. Next time you
open it, it will again be in
a separate window.

Click here (without dragging) to


close the popup. Next time you
open it, it will open as a window on
the x-plane screen.

9.1.3 Display brightness and cockpit illumination


The brightness of the displays and the cockpit lighting are controlled via the same switches as in
the real aircraft. Primary flight display (PFD) and Navigation Display (ND) brightness are
controlled via the rheostats besides each PFD. The ND rheostat has a small and a large knob. The
small (inner) knob is used to control ND brightness, the outer knob is used to control the intensity
of the weather radar of the terrain display image – see figure below. Note that turning the brightness
knobs all the way to the left turns the associated display unit off and it will pass through a power-
on self test when it is switched it back on.

PFD brightness ND brightness

WX radar / terrain
image intensity

The brightness of the two ECAM displays in the center of the cockpit, the “Engine Warning
Display” (EWD) and the “System Display” (SD) is controlled via two rheostats located on the
“ECAM Control Panel” (ECP) directly forward of the thrust levers:

EWD brightness

SD brightness

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MCDU display brightness is controlled by two pushbuttons labelled “BRT” (brighter) and “DIM”
(less bright) on the MCDU itself; they are located to the bottom right of the MCDU screen.

MCDU brightness
adjustment

The brightness for the Integrated Standby Instrument System (ISIS) can be controlled via the
“+” and “-“ buttons directly on the unit.

Cockpit lighting consists of the Dome light, the pedestal and main panel flood lights as well as
the panel integrated lighting.
The dome light provides general illumination of the cockpit; it is powered by the essential DC
bus and is hence available on battery power only and during electrical emergencies. The dome light
control is located in the overhead panel on the “INT LT” panel. The light can be operated in three
modes: OFF (no light), DIM (half brightness), or BRT (full brightness):

The flood lights provide general lighting for the main panel and the pedestal. The associated
brightness controls are located in the pedestal just aft of the thrust levers:
Main panel flood light brightness

Pedestal flood light brightness

The integrated lights are the background lighting of the white labels and symbols in the main
panel, the pedestal and the overhead panels. The integrated lights can be controlled via 2 separate
rheostats, one for main panel and pedestal and a separate one for the overhead panel.
The main panel/pedestal integrated light intensity is adjusted via the knob on the left-rear of
the thrust levers.

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Main panel and pedestal


integrated light brightness

Last but not least, there is a switch to control the brightness of the lights integrated into the
push buttons in main panel, pedestal and overhead panel. The associated switch is located in the
overhead panel in the “INT LT” section and is labelled “ANN LT”. It has three positions: DIM
(lights at half brightness), BRT (lights and full brightness) and TEST (power all lamps to check
for broken bulbs.) At daytime, this switch would be in position BRT, at night in position DIM and
prior to take-off you typically move it to position TEST for a short moment to check that all lamps
work:

9.1.4 Mouse wheel use


The 3d cockpit supports the use of mouse wheel for all rotary-type knobs in the cockpit. This
includes brightness knobs, loud speaker volume, Navigation display mode and range, altimeter
setting, Autopilot selection knobs and many others. Mousewheel use can be turned ON or OFF via
the appropriate option in the ISCS on the tab “General Settings” – see section 0 for details.
When mousewheel support is on, the mouse pointer changes to the following shape, if the wheel
can be used to manipulate a cockpit knob, this is referred to as the mousewheel pointer:

For cockpit buttons that allow rotating and pushing and/or pulling, one or two dots appear in
the center of the mouse wheel pointer. If a single dot is visible in the mouse wheel pointer, clicking
the left mouse button triggers a “push” action on the corresponding cockpit control. If the mouse
pointer shows 2 dots, a left mouse button click triggers a “pull” action on the cockpit control. For
more details, see section 9.1.5.
If two rotary controls are nested inside each other, like for example with the ND brightness
button, the size of the mouse wheel pointer indicates which control is manipulated. The large
pointer is shown, if the outer knob is rotated, the small symbol is shown for rotation of the inner
knob.

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Operation with mouse wheel off


If the mouse wheel option is switched OFF, the mouse pointer changes shape as usual to indicate
the actions associated with clicking the left mouse button:
• For knobs/rheostats that can be rotated, an arrow will appear showing the direction of
rotation that would be executed when the left mouse button is pressed. For concentric
rotary knobs (e.g. ND brightness and WX intensity knobs), the size of the arrow
indicates which of the two knobs will be rotated. The following image shows the pointer
size when the outer knob (WX intensity) will be rotated upon mouse click:

• Similar to the case with mouse wheel use activated, buttons allowing rotation and
pushing/pulling are shown by the rotary mouse pointer with one or two dots in the
center. In this case a single click, or click-and-hold rotates the knob, and a double click
either pushes (one dot shown) or pulls (two dots shown) the knob. The following image
shows mouse pointer interaction at the FCU speed selection button with a double click
pulling the button:

9.1.5 FCU operation


The FCU, or flight control unit, is used on the aircraft for interaction with the autopilot system.
To the left and right side of the FCU are the two EFIS control panels that are used to configure
the Primary Flight Display (PFD) and the Navigation Display (ND) for each pilot.

The four rotary knobs on the FCU can be rotated, pushed and pulled. The exact functionality
is described in the autopilot section of the “aircraft manual”, this section served to point out how
to achieve the specific action in the ToLiss Airbus A321. As discussed in section 9.1.4, rotating the

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knobs is achieved via the mouse wheel, if selected, or via clicking-and-holding, if mouse-wheel is off.
Pushing the button (you push the aircraft away from you, i.e. revert to managed mode) is achieved
by placing the mouse pointer in the upper half of the button, so that a single dot appears in the
mouse pointer:

Circle indicating managed


mode for this control.

Clicking once (mousewheel function ON) or double-clicking (mouse-wheel selected off) then
pushes the selector and reverts to managed mode. The key indication for managed mode is the
appearance of the white circle next to the numbers/dashes. Note that, especially with mouse wheel
off, it may happen that you rotate the control at the same time that you push it. In this case, the
numbers will appear in the window instead of dashes. Managed mode will still be active, as long as
the associated white circle appears. Note that the altitude window in the FCU never shows dashes.
More details are available in the “Aircraft manual”
Analogously, for pulling the knob (you pull the aircraft towards you, i.e. revert to selected
mode), you place the mouse pointer in the lower half of the knob and two dots appear inside the
knob:

Clicking once (mouse-wheel on) or double-click (mouse-wheel off) now pulls the selector
reverting to selected mode. The dashes above the knob will be replaced by numbers and the white
circle next to the numbers disappears.
The baro-selectors for pilot and co-pilot PFD allow pushing action to toggle between QNH and
STD baro setting. Similarly to the FCU buttons, this is indicated by a single dot in the mouse
pointer when hovering over the knob and the action is performed by single-click (mouse-wheel on)
or double click (mouse-wheel off).
Three of the FCU knobs have a little two-way selector attached to it:
• The altitude-knob has the 100/1000 foot selector
• The 2 baro-setting knobs have the unit selector to switch between inHg and hPa as
units for the atmospheric pressure.
These selectors are manipulated by placing the mouse pointer above the knob such that a left-
right arrow appears:

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When this arrow is visible you can use a single click of the left mouse button to toggle the
position of the selector. With the mouse wheel function active, you can ALSO use the mouse
wheel to change the position.
Note that the selection of baro-pressure, flight director, landing scales for the PFDs and the
selection of the ND mode, range, and other options is completely independent between the left and
right side. You can have the left ND operating in mode Arc with a range of 160NM, while the right
ND is in mode NAV with 10NM, if you wish. For landing, you could, for example, place one ND in
mode ILS and select mode ARC for the other. For the baro pressures it is important to always do
the appropriate selection on both sides, otherwise you will get the ECAM warning “NAV BARO
REF DISCREPANCY”:

This message disappears, as soon as you have selected the same baro-setting for the left and
right side.

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10 Troubleshooting
The ToLiss Airbus A321 is a very complex product and naturally you may encounter issues. During
testing we may have identified some issues that may occur under certain circumstances for which
we will provide a solution in this section. Please verify this section prior to asking for support in
the forums.

10.1 Aircraft does not load or looks strange after loading


The following issues have been encountered by users causing the airplane not to load at all or to
load without buttons working:
• The XP11-version of the addon requires XP11.30 or newer. XP11.00 to 11.26 are not
supported. Update your X-Plane 11 if required.
• Windows-Specific: If none of the switches work under windows, you may have exceeded
the dll-limit. X-Plane has a limitation on the number of dlls that plugins can link in
and on installation with lots of scenery (using the ground traffic plugin), this limit may
be exceeded. In that case the ToLiss Airbus A321 cannot load it’s plugins. Reduce the
amount of scenery with the ground traffic plugin.
• Linux-specific: The aircraft requires the following libraries to be installed: libcurl.so.4,
libssl.so.1.1 and libcrypto.so.1.1. On the current main Linux distributions, these libraries
are standard. On older software versions they maybe missing. Check the log file for the
exact missing library. The relevat line is where x-plane loads the plugin:
AirbusFBW_A321_XP11/64/lin.xpl.
Note that installing libcurl.so.4 normally will also install libssl.so.1.1 and
libcrypto.so.1.1.

10.2 System crashes


We have done extensive debugging and code verification exercises in order to minimize the risk for
system crashes. Nevertheless they may happen; x-plane itself is not 100% crash-free. If you
encounter crashes, please consider the following:
• Always fly with “Autosave enabled” – like that if you have a crash you can simply
restart x-plane and continue where you left off
• In X-plane 11, our implementation of the popup displays may be causing issues. If you
experience crashes please minimize the use of popups. Close them once your done with
them and don’t swap between inside and outside views with the popups open.
• If you encounter crashes for which the x-plane log states that the application crashed
due to one of the following plugins:
o AirbusFBW A321
o ToLiSs SoundPlayer
Please submit the log-file and the last autosave situation on the website
www.toliss.com together with a detailed description what you were doing between the
time of the autosave and the crash so that we can reproduce the issue. Crashes that are

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not indicated by X-plane to be caused by one of the plugins above will not be
investigated.

10.3 FMGS path jitter


If you encounter a case in which the flight plan jitters, i.e. the ND shows many different paths in
very quick succession (looks almost like a flashing screen) and the waypoints on the MCDU toggle
position, please do the following:
• Perform a situation save via ISCS so that you can submit this issue later on the ToLiss
issue tracker.
• Select another SID or another STAR Via. Chances are that another route will not have
this issue.
Don’t forget submitting the situation file on our website www.toliss.com

© Airbus 2023. AIRBUS, its logo and product & service marks are registered
trademarks of Airbus. All rights reserved. Officially licensed by Airbus.

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11 End user license agreement (EULA)

11.1 Plain English


This plain English version is aimed at helping users understand the meaning of the detailed
license agreement presented in the subsequent section. Only the text in section 11.2 has legal
character.
• The license you purchased is valid for a single user using the product on one computer
at a time. ToLiss Simulation Solutions tolerates the usage on multiple computers in the
same household.
• If you share keys with friends or third parties (voluntary or by negligence), the key will
be void/invalid.

To avoid issues when having to renew a key, please refrain from using VPN when activating
the product, as this may look in our database like you are sharing the key with friends.

11.2 EULA terms

License
1. ToLiss Simulation Solutions Inc (the “Licensor”) grants to the user (the “Licensee”) a revocable, non-
exclusive and non-transferable license to download, install and use the purchased aircraft add-on for X-
plane 10 and 11 (the “software”) for non-commercial purposes.
2. “Software” includes the executable program, the manuals, all digital artwork as well as any other files
included in the product.
3. The intellectual property of the software as well as the copyright, the title and the distribution rights
remain exclusively with the Licensor. This Agreement constitudes a license for use only and is not in any
way a transfer of ownership rights to the software.
4. The software may be loaded onto no more than one computer. The Licensor tolerates usage of the same
license on multiple computers in the same household.
5. The rights and obligations of this Agreement are personal rights granted to the Licensee only. The Licensee
may not transfer or assign any of the rights or obligations granted under this Agreement to any other
person or legal entity.
6. The Licensee may not make the Software available for use by one or more third parties.
7. The Software may not be modified, reverse-engineered, or de-compiled in any manner through current or
future available technologies.
8. The Software may not be used for commercial purposes unless express permission has been received in
writing by the Licensor.
9. Failure to comply with any of the terms under the License section will be considered a material breach of
this Agreement.

License Fee
10. The original purchase price paid by the Licensee will constitude the entire license fee and is the full
consideration for this agreement.
11. Refunds of the purchase price are only available in exceptional circumstances and need to be requested
immediately after purchase with indication of the reason for the refund request. The decision about granting

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a refund lies with the online store where the product was purchased. Once the software has been installed
and activated for more than one month, the usage rights are assumed to have been executed in full.

Limitation of Liability
12. The Software is provided by the Licensor and accepted by the Licensee “as is”. Liability of the Licensor
will be limited to an amount not exceeding the original purchase price of the Software. The Licensor will
not be liable for any general, special, incidental or consequential damages including, but not limited to,
loss of production, loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of data, or any other economic or business
disadvantage suffered by the Licensee arising out of the use or failure to use the Software.
13. The Software is for home entertainment purposes only and cannot be used as a flight training tool.
14. The Licensor does not warrant that use of the software will be uninterrupted or error-free. The Licensee
accepts that software in general is prone to bugs and flaws within an acceptable level typical for the home
entertainment flight simulation platforms.

Warrants and Representations


15. The Licensor warrants and represents that it is the copyright holder of the Software and that granting the
license to the Licensee is not in violation of any other agreement, copyright or applicable statute.

Acceptance
16. All terms, conditions, and obligations of this Agreement will be deemed to be accepted by the Licensee on
installation and activation of the Software.

Term
17. The term of this Agreement will begin on Acceptance and is perpetual.

Termination
18. This Agreement will be terminated and the Licensee forfeited when the Licensee has failed to comply with
any of the terms of this Agreement or is in breach of this Agreement. On termination of this Agreement
for any reason, the Licensee will promptly destroy the Software or return the Software to the Licensor.

Severability
19. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable or invalid, such provision will be changed
and interpreted to accomplish the objectives of such provision to the greatest extent possible under
applicable law and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

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