I'll get right to the heart of the situation—while the documentation set provided with the original release is brilliantly executed, it left me wanting something that would pull it all together in one place. PMDG nailed that with this release with two new chapters:
Chapter 9 – Automatic Flight Management Systems
Here we find flight-related elements of the 737's cockpit arrangement and related flight controls explained from a functional, as opposed to the systems-oriented arrangement as presented in Chapter 7 – Cockpit and Systems. Here we learn that the plane's Flight Management System includes the:
A modern commercial airliner is a complex blending of machinery and electronics; its Flight Management System reduces flight deck workload while enhancing safety and operating economy. Since there's no "first officer" flying with us in our virtual airspace, aids such as these are more than welcome. The systems that will directly concern you are radio navigation, EFIS, EICAS, the FMC, and of course the Autopilot's Flight Director System, which you interface through the glareshield panel—the MCP. But how do these work? How does an action on one device interact with other devices in the system? That's where this Section is invaluable.
For example, there are a number of possible thrust, roll and pitch mode combinations, depending on which regime the aircraft is presently flying in. You'll want to be assured that your plane is doing what you expected when you set up your flight plan in the FMC—or what you've just commanded on the MCP. So where do you look? Well, armed with the information in Section 9 you can tell at a glance—it's displayed on both the MCP and, in a nutshell, on the AFD Mode Annunciator, located in the PFD just above the flight situation display (aren't "glass instruments" fun?). As an example you might see "N1, LNAV, VNAV PTH" which tells you that you are climbing normally, as commanded by the FMC. If something's awry, there will be something else displayed by the Annunciator, and a caution light may appear telling you to check the FMC for a message. You'll need to attend to these messages quickly, for this is a very fast, powerful aircraft!
On a test flight I found that I'd overflown the TOD (computed top of descent) because I'd overridden the VNAV mode in a previous altitude change and forgotten to reselect it on the MCP—and by the time I'd realized and corrected that I got a warning message (in the FMC) "UNABLE NEXT ALT" and hence would not descend in time to reach a required altitude restriction for a subsequent waypoint—and had to circle to avoid breaking the restriction. Events such as these soon teach you to follow (and remember) proper flying technique!
This 18 page document includes 3 pages explaining the function and features of the TCAS system (new in this Upgrade release—see "TCAS / ACAS" in this review's main page).
Chapter 10 – Manual Flight Techniques
This 14 page document could as easily have been titled "Flight Techniques Manual" because it describes flying technique from takeoff through all flight phases including landing, including Precision approach and landing (ILS) and Non-Precision approaches. This is the "overview" I was expecting—how to fly the 737 correctly, using procedures approapriate to either FMS-controlled, MCP-autopilot or completely manual "hands-on" flying. (And of course all three flying modes will be used in a typical flight.)
Chapter 0 – Registration and Revision Information
What's next in getting a feel for this aircraft? Well, in Chapter 0 – oddly named Registration and Revision Information there's very helpful information about various configuration and customization options available (a few are limited to owners of the PMDG 737-800/900 Upgrade product). There's a new Styles Menu, which is a part of the 'PMDG' menu set automatically installed in your FS2004 main screen. PMDG offers pre-formatted cockpit setups based on those of many of the commercial airlines. Beyond that there are a number of instrument layout and functionality choices which are explained here. (We've illustrated a few of these elsewhere in this review.) Guidelines are offered concerning frame rate consequences of selecting certain options, making it easy to balance aircraft configurations with your computer's processing capabilities.
There are other goodies here too: you can select various kinds of failures (either timed or occuring randomly) so you can really perfect your flying skills; and another facility to set custom keyboard commands and even to adjust computer update rates in the three panel LCD displays (PFD, ND, and EICAS). Finally, a myriad of clickable panel display selection buttons and their results are depicted (discussed elsewhere in our review). So read this chapter to become familiar with panel screen navigation before you start flying, and consult it regularly as you get deeper into this "simulator within a simulator."
If you don't you'll probably (like me) wonder why you can't find the engines' N2 instruments—which you're supposed to be monitoring after turning a start switch to GND and then bringing up the Control Stand screen and moving the Engine Start Levers from cutoff to idle. In the panel configuration I'd happened to load I discovered that I should have clicked on the upper (visible) EICAS display after selecting ENG (vs. SYS) located above that display which, viola! causes the lower EICAS display (containing the N2 readout gauge) to pop up. Actually, that's pretty neat—once understood—as this pop-up screen is movable and can be positioned to overlay the upper EICAS display; you can switch back by right-clicking the visible display. Or you can load a 'side by side' EICAS format which shows all the engine information in one place. See what I mean? Read the manual!
The remaining chapters of the Aircraft Operating Manual are largely unchanged from the version 1.3 documentation set that comes with the base product, except that operating parameters specific to the -800 and -900 have been added for the version 1.4 release. Current owners of the -600/700 base product will be right at home here, as the same panels are used in all four aircraft variants. (We've noted a few functional enhancements made in this Update release elsewhere in this review.)
Chapter 7 – Cockpit and Systems
At this point—having gotten an overall feel for both the product and the aircraft—I think this "meat & potatoes" chapter (it's 81 richly illustrated pages) will prove to be very helpful. In it you'll find descriptions of all the panel elements, organized alphabetically by system (this grouping favors reference purposes rather than what you might expect in following checklists to, for example, set up controls in the Overhead panel preparatory to starting the engines, as less vital stuff about Air Conditioning Controls and such comes before the Electrical, and Fuel Management systems; and (under Automatic Flight) the Mode Control Panel (MCP) description falls between the Engine Anti-Ice Panel and Communications. Well, anyway the descriptions, available display values and so forth are lucidly and exhaustively depicted and explained.
So, um, how do you start the engines? Well, unless you "cheat" by reading one of the tutorials cited in our review, you're pretty much on your own. You'll find checklists in another chapter (Chapter 5 – Normal Procedures), but even with these at hand its easy to get confused. I had real trouble starting the engines at first—and admit that once I'd diagnosed these the reasons became obvious—but some discussion somewhere in all this documentation sure would have saved time and frustration (and I'm familiar with the 767PIC and similar products). I'll confess to this one: under the Air Conditioning section of the overhead panel there's a sub-panel that controls Bleed Air; I'd overlooked the APU BLEED switch and hence didn't have duct pressure to start an engine. Duh!
There's also an overview of the Flight Management System describing the FMC's Control Display Unit (CDU) and FMS Operation which is good for orientation, however detailed instructions for using the FMC are contained in the following chapter.
Chapter 8 – Flight Management Computer
This 50 page manual describes just about everything the FMS in real-world 737 NGs has—those few things that haven't been implemented in PMDGs product are cited in this chapter. I found the information provided here to be straight-forward and easy to follow (those new to add-ons that include an FMC should start with the orientation in Chapter 7 cited above). Here you'll find illustrations of virtually every available screen, populated with sample data. The authors have done a really fine job of making this most comprehensive tool for flight planning and pre-flight set-up, and in-flight aircraft control easy to understand and use.
Chapter 5 – Normal Procedures
This is the Chapter you'll refer to often during your flights. It contains check lists and procedures for each phase of aircraft cabin preparation, flight and shut-down. These are presented in the same sequence you'll follow from a flight's start to finish; having read the chapters discussed above you'll of course know where in the flight deck to look and what to do about each checklist call-out. If you've forgotten, now you'll know where in the reference material to look.
I should point out that with so much material in this PMDG documentation set you'll still need to spend some time looking for where things are, as in a few cases I found that their location wasn't intuitively obvious. Effective organization of documentation is an art; like the well-known phenomenon that programmers already know too much about their work to be able to anticipate how the end-user will think where to look when constructing help files, I have the impression that this documentation's authors already are so familiar with Boeing's documentation format that they probably don't see a problem here (that's one reason tutorials, which by definition are written from the sim hobbyist's perspective are so helpful). In particular, I really would have appreciated having an index to specific instruments and controls in Chapter 7, as the contents there are organized alphabetically by system—I sometimes didn't remember the formal system name under which to find specific displays and/or switches. As I've mentioned, in diagnosing my problem starting an engine I went back to the Cockpit Preparation checklist where I noticed I'd overlooked the APU BLEED AIR switch callout (set 'As Desired'). I hadn't switched that on and checked the duct pressure indicator. So off I went looking for that on the overhead panel. Wanting more information (what does 'as desired' mean?), I looked in the Cockpit and Systems chapter's Contents where I eventually found "Bleed Air Controls and Indicators" under "Air Systems". Navigating the documentation isn't really an issue once you've spent some time with the product, but I think including an index in future Service Updates could make learning less formidable.
Chapter 1 – Takeoff These three chapters contain technically-oriented data tables for each aircraft variant, divided into takeoff, cruise flight and landing phases respectively. I'd imagine these will mainly interest "hard core" heavy-metal jockies, as the computations you'd otherwise make can be done automatically for you by the FMC, as the appropriate flight parameters are contained in the FMC's internal database. Though as you get deeper into understanding this aircraft you'll doubtless want to review these chapters and do some of the aircraft performance planning yourself—perhaps piloting with MCP controls instead of more automated flight using FMC inputs.
Here's a sample of topics you'll find in these chapters:
Chapter 4 – Specifications and Limitations
There's more arcana here for those who truly want to know; material about operating limitations, avionics, engines, fuel, hydraulics and the like is adapted from Boeing's 737 NG Aircraft Operations documentation.
Chapter 6 – Abnormal Procedures
If you opt to enable emergency conditions, this chapter is for you. It contains checklists for just about anything you might encounter, from Emergency Descent to various engine failures/shutdown situations, including single engine landings. What if you encounter an engine fire, severe vibration or separation? That checklist advises you that <<<<<<LANDING IS URGENT>>>>>>. I should think so!
Well, that about covers it. (Click here to return to the PMDG Aircraft Product review page).
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