| AVSIM Aircraft/Panel Review PSS Boeing 777 |
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The Boeing 777 can be considered "near living proof" of how far human beings have come since the early days of aircraft development. In today's technologically advanced world, computers are the norm. Go to any place and you'll see at least one computer. With the 777, Boeing entered the 21st century by designing the whole aircraft on computer. No large scale mock-up replicas of the whole aircraft made of wood, like they did with the 747, were built. Boeing went to IBM who installed the design network required to build this beautiful aircraft. When the smaller parts were finished, they were "assembled" on computer with their counterparts to produce the bigger part. This continued, along with function tests of the parts on computer, until finally, the whole aircraft was put together. And the day the prototype aircraft was complete and ready for test flights and initial viewing by the media and the employees, Alan Mullaly, Chief Engineer and Project Manager for the 777 went to the flight deck and turned on the Electrical Power switch and the aircraft came to life. First time. Following in Airbus' footsteps, Boeing went with the full-glass cockpit and fly-by-wire for the flight controls. The rest is evident in the aircraft that has been presented to the world. The Aircraft
The aircraft that Phoenix Software Simulations includes in the package is a complete babe. By me saying that, it confirms that I have no female in my life. Or at least for the time being, I don't. The paint job left me speechless. The attention to detail is so great, for a minute, I felt like I was looking at a photograph. When I first saw the screenshots, I knew I had to take a closer look.
The total package consists of three downloads, which are stated in the Rating Guide box above. The help file, which is in PDF format, is just over eight megs. After downloading and installing, you can read the help file, or you can do what I did and dive head first and read later. Long time users will probably do this while newbies will probably want to read the manual through at least once first.
Speaking of manuals, it looks great. There are plenty of screenshots depicting the various parts of the aircraft and panel, along with concise, complete, and easy to understand writeups. At the end of the file, the developers have included actual performance charts and tables for the aircraft, including critical speeds for certain flap settings, engine settings for cruise speeds, and a full blown set of checklists
and excepts from the Aircraft Operating Procedures manual.
Now on to the aircraft. It looks great. The fuselage is made using a 16-sided polygon, although new aircraft are starting to appear with 30-sided polygons. The amount of detail that is visible at first glance is quite unlike anything available, freeware, shareware, or commercial. At first sight, you'll see things like the Pratt And Whitney stickers on both sides of both engines, along with the warning decals. Still on the engines, you'll notice the silver lining around the inlet to the compressor section. This is the anti-ice element for the engine intake. Underneath the aircraft, you'll see round wheels, along with the wheel halves and the bolts holding them together. Look to the aft side of the bogey and you'll see the hydraulic lines that attach to the brake assemblies. On the outside view, move your joystick and rudder pedals and the pertinent controls will move. Move the rudder and the nose wheel also moves. The movement of the flaps and spoilers as you lower or raise them is much smoother and realistic. Other aircraft have spoilers that come up like it's a race to the finish line. Here, it's a much smoother and slowed-down movement. Likewise with the gear. When the gear is selected up, there is a slight delay while the hydraulics get pressurized and the gear doors open. When the doors to come down, instead of seeing nothing, you see a texture that I don't think is what the interior of the real door looks like, but hey, it's the first time I've seen textures on the inside of the gear doors. Likewise, you'll see the same type of texture on the rear spar when you lower the flaps. Other visual features include rotating fan blades, a beautifully done United Airlines paint scheme, transparent flight deck windows, and a captain and first officer. Another first is animated thrust reversers. In all honesty, I would have missed this feature had I not talked to Graham Waterfield about the package, and had he not mentioned it. That's definitely a first among today's aircraft, and it's something worth checking out.
But the 64 megabyte (or gigabyte nowadays?) question is "How well does it handle?" Well, ground handling is quite realistic. For example, turns have to be done at speeds less than 10 knots otherwise you'll have the nose wheel cranked over one way and the aircraft will be going straight. Nothing happens in the virtual world, but in real life, you'd probably put a great amount of stress on the attach points for the nose gear, or risk losing it all together. Likewise, in the virtual world, if you slam on the brakes during a turn, the aircraft tends to go in the opposite direction to the turn.
The test flight was 4.5 hours long, from Toronto to Vancouver with just over 100,000 pounds of fuel on board. Weather in Toronto was 22 degrees Celsius, and winds were 350/10 knots. I lined up for a straight out departure off of 33R, and advanced the throttles forward. The massive Pratt & Whitney engines roared to life, but the sounds were familiar. Hey, wait a minute. These are the default sounds. Well, no time to worry. As I watched the airspeed rise, I noticed it was rising quickly. At about 165 knots, I pulled back and the aircraft graced the air. With a climb rate of 2500 feet per minute, airspeed was climbing. So I had two choices. I either retard the throttles, which would be the sensible thing to do, or I could pull back on the stick and see how well the aircraft climbed. I went for the latter. With the engines at 102% N1, I set the autopilot to climb at maximum, which is 7000 feet per minute. At 102%, the airspeed stabilized at about 310 knots. Still wanting more, I disengaged the auto-throttle and the vertical climb mode and went full bore with the engines (107% N1) and pulled back on the stick until the aircraft was climbing at almost 15,000 feet per minute!! Not wanting to cause any commotion, I opted back for a climb rate of 3000 feet per minute and set the climb speed to 310 knots.
By the time 31,000 feet rolled around, I slowed the climb rate to 2000 feet per minute for the rest of the climb to FL390. Talk about a fast cat. And you know what, this is how the real aircraft handles in flight, according to the real 777 pilots that test-flew this flight model. Let's also remember here that the PW4090 series engine found on the aircraft produces 90,000 pounds of thrust!! With that kind of thrust, no wonder you can get climb rates in excess of 5000 feet per minute. The aircraft, in the air, handles way better than the default. It actually feels like a heavy aircraft. With the autopilot engaged, and navigation set, the autopilot will calculate the turn from your current heading to the next waypoint and bank the aircraft accordingly. Other aircraft I've flown in the past banked a set angle, regardless of how much the turn was from the current heading to the next one. Take the controls yourself and it's very easy to fly, which is how Boeing put it. No constant movement of the joystick because the aircraft is pitching or banking. Once set, you can pretty much leave it alone.
Finally, during the approach and landing, I opted to hand fly the approach. At 4000 feet and on heading 230 to join the 26R localizer, I disengaged the autopilot and took the controls. As I approached the FAF, I began a gradual turn with some slight back pressure. By this time, the flaps are at 10 units, approach speed is 180 knots and the gear is on its way down. As I descended through 3000 feet, flaps went to 25 and the airspeed was brought back to 160 knots. This was a perfect setting because it maintained a perfect descent rate of about 550 feet per minute. As I approached the decision height of 200 feet, the computers told me I was approaching minimums, followed by the countdown. At 50 feet, the throttles went to idle, and a slight lift of the nose produced a smooth touchdown. With the nose down, reverse thrust was turned on and the brakes applied. Remarkably, the aircraft came to a stop very very very quickly. But that's how it is in the real world, once again, according to the real 777 test pilots who flew this model. Left off the active and off to the gate.
The Panel Back when FSW95 had been around for some time after its release, the KTB design team from Japan took the Flight Simulator world by storm by releasing three panels: one for the 777, one for the 747, and one for the 757/767. These were remarkable panels, with MFD displays very much like their real world counterparts. Then the same group released a slightly modified version of their 777 panel for FS98 and again, it pushed the realism envelope a little further. Last year, Eric Ernst released his version of the 757/767 panel for FS98. That was quite a panel, with full-fledged working systems, and near-realistic engine start procedures. But the price that we all paid was our frame rates going out to lunch. Now, the Phoenix Simulation team has done that for FS2000. Let's start at the top and work our way around the flight deck.
The overhead panel is very simplified. But simplified is good because on the real aircraft, the overhead panel is pretty much what you see here. The buttons look amazingly real. The shading used is wonderful, making the panel look that much more realistic. Night lighting is simply fabulous, as can be seen from the screenshot below. Up here, you'll find everything clearly labeled. Remember I said earlier that veterans won't have a problem using this panel and getting started? Well this panel is why. Flick the external power switch on, start the APU and bring its generator online and you have power to the airplane. Or if the external power available light is on, push that switch and it does the same thing, but you still need the APU to start the engines. Most of the switches (when I say most, I mean all but maybe two or three) are dynamic. They may not do something that is relative to FS2000, but they simulate the real life systems. With the start switches being up here, a problem is created, which I'll explain later.
Now, the main panel. You're greeted by three MFDs, and the glareshield, along with the standby instruments. That's it. It's not like other panels that jam everything onto one panel. You see only what you need to see. The panel height is just right. There's no need to hit "Shift-Enter" 18 times just so you can see the taxiway in front of you. The attention to detail carries over here as well. The background color of the panel is that biscuity color brown. The MFDs display the regular information, although I did notice that the PFD doesn't contain information such as speed bugs and speed limits, and ILS identifiers when tuned in on the radios. I also noticed that the airspeed reading is off my a tenth of a decimal point, so instead of reading Mach 0.84, it reads Mach .084. On the ND, the wind reading was a little off, on my particular flight it read 426/50 instead of 066/50. The EICAS screen also displays warnings kind of like the B767. Most of the switches you see on the left side of the glareshield don't do anything (yet). The coolest part about the three MFDs is that when the power is turned on, the displays brighten gradually. Also, there are three knobs just below the left MFD which allow you to set the intensity of each individual display, so in cruise flight, you may have the PFD and the EICAS screens dimmed more than the ND. Cool, hey?
Finally, if you look down, you'll see the final major part of the panel: your legs. Wait, there's more. Beside your legs, you'll see the throttle levers, fuel start switches and the second EICAS screen, and the flight management computer keyboard. The EICAS screen is actually a multiple display screen which can be used to display information on hydraulics, electrical, doors, flight controls, engines, and landing gear. The landing gear screen is neat because along with the door position information, it also includes brake temperature, something up until now was either never seen on other panels or was included but no meaningful information could be used. What's more innovative is that when the temperature reaches critical proportions, the display turns red for whichever brake is overheating.
I mentioned above that with the start switches being on the overhead panel creates a problem. And the problem is that you have to hold the start switch in order for the engines to spool up and start. But before you can do that, you have to flick the two fuel start levers found here on. Because as soon as you change views from the overhead panel, it cuts the starter out. I realize this is a FS2000 problem, but it's something you should know. Because of this problem you can't see the engine gauges when you're starting the engines, and have to rely on the sounds to determine when the engines have spooled up. Speaking of the sounds, it was a little disappointing to hear the default FS2000 sounds when I first installed the panel. But, you can also purchase a set of sound files created by Mike Hambly for five pounds. These sounds are worth their weight in gold. You hear a true rumble of the engines when they're at takeoff power, and there's a subsequent whine coming from them during cruise power settings. These sounds are certainly worth getting, and sound the best with the speakers cranked up.
Although the flight management computer has most of the features omitted (this time around), it's a welcome addition. With the GPS system used by FS2000, it now allows developers to integrate the flight planning feature right into their panels. The default flight planner leaves a lot to be desired, but by giving it a new, more realistic interface, now you can enter and fly flight plans like the professionals. And with greater ease than using the clumsy interface Microsoft gave us. The flight management keyboard also allows for adjustment of settings such as rate of climb, and crossover altitude from IAS to Mach. Since the interface is the keyboard, and the waypoints are taken from the FS2000 scenery, there is no way to add waypoints. On my flight, there were a few waypoints that weren't found, and Pearson's new runway isn't in the database either. This isn't a big deal considering there are many thousands of waypoints in FS2000 that can be used. What if you use another flight planner? No problem. The FMS allows for importing flight plans created in other flight planning software such as Ted Wright's Nav 3.0 (once that's exported in FS2000's Flight Planner format). This is welcomed since the FS2000 flight planner falls short in so many areas, we won't even go there this time around.
When I heard how much all this cost, I thought it was a mistake. But it's no joke. You get all this, plus a forum on AVSIM Online and tech support for only ten pounds. You heard right folks. Ten pounds! At that price, it's a give away. For ten pounds, you get a flight model that excels all others. You get a panel that looks beautiful, feature rich, and is easy to use, yet doesn't suck the life out of your video card (frame rate wise that is). You get a flight management computer that provides a realistic interface for FS2000's GPS/flight planning utility. But most importantly, you get a package that is sure to keep you busy on those long haul flights. In spite of all the little quirks that I mentioned, it's still an awesome package. As of this writing, a patch was released that corrected issues such as an incorrect reading on the fuel screen, a problem with the autopiltot disconnect, and the panel crashing on startup. Also available is your choice of either the United colors or the Aeroflot colors. If you still don't have yours, then head over to the Phoenix website, available by clicking here and place your order today. Guaranteed you won't regret it.
Credits
Graham Waterfield: Visual Models, Textures, Flight Dynamics, and Panel Layout
David S. Lewis: Animating Parts (FSMP) programming
Alex Bashkatov: Flight Instruments Gauge programming and Gauge art.
Robert Kirkland: Flight Testing, Research, and Administration
Anthony Waterfield: 3D Panel models and rendering
Valentin Morozov: Special Model effects, Night Lighting
Dimitri Prosko: Assistant Gauge Programmer
Mike Hambley: United 777 Sounds
Frank Wavra: Chief Test Pilot
John Carbone: Test Pilot
Larry Teele: Test Pilot
Interview with Graham Waterfield
Avsim: Tell us a bit about yourself, your team, and your company. How and why did Phoenix Simulations come about?
Graham: As you know, I used to be known simply as "dotcom." I spent many happy days in the Games industry before discovering Flight Simulator Flight Shop from BAO in the FS5 Days. I built a few models, dropped them into Flight Simulator and was quite surprised to see how popular they were. After about 6 months or so, Robert Kirkland and Roger Gaylor of "FSD" head-hunted me and I joined the team. Since then, we have undergone a lot of changes, some personal and some business but this has brought about the greatest team of workers
I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Some members of FSD just didn't have the time for "full time" flight sim so it was decided, as the other guys wanted to make a career out of it, to split up and go our separate ways. Hence "Phoenix." A bit of a cliché but the name fit the circumstances.
Avsim: Your first commercial airliner venture is the 777. How did that come about? Why the 777 and not one of Boeing's other products or an Airbus aircraft?
Graham: Well the 777 isn't actually our first commercial airliner. As a few readers will know. we demonstrated the "American" 757 at the RC SIM Show in Birmingham last year. It was a huge crowd pleaser but as things happen slowly in "publishing," the 757 still awaits an audience. The 777 just happens to be the first Phoenix airliner to hit the public. As for why the 777, well we couldn't think of another subject with as much world wide appeal.
Avsim: I thought the 747 did.
Graham: Ok then, the 777 has less engines, making less work for me.
Avsim: How long did it take to make the package?
Graham: Well, this might shock a few commercial developers but from placing the first polygon and writing the first line of gauge code to release took 6 just weeks. In fairness though, both myself and Alexei are 100% PSS. We have no other "day jobs" to stop us working full time on these things. The rest of the team also put ALL their available hours into it. The 747-400 should be about the same 5-6 weeks thanks to the teams dedication.
Avsim: Since you've mentioned your next project, tell us a bit about that.
Graham: Well, initially we were going to dive straight into the "Concorde Pro" after the 777 but a few voices appeared in the mail and the Avsim forum suggesting a 747-400. Who are we to argue with what the customer wants?
Avsim: How long have you been a user of Flight Simulator?
Graham: Sheesh! I remember playing with something called Flightpath 737 on the ZX81 back in the early 80's. I think it's safe to say I've been a flightsim nut since before Ponchas got his PPL!
Avsim: What was the hardest feature in the 777 package that was implemented and why?
Graham: Well there were 2 really. The first was the reverse thruster animation. We have seen other developers use this feature but nearly always it was activated by "spoilers" or something else. Valentin did a terrific job of digging into the MDL variables (VARiables within the MDL Code to allow special features like moving part triggers, lighting switches etc.) to enable the Thrusters to work off the throttle. It's a first we think. The Second never actually got incorporated as it proved just too difficult. This was to get the main gear bogies to "hang" at an angle when off the ground. We WILL get this working but as yet .. no dice.
Avsim: Where do you see flight simulation on home computers, say 2-3 years from now?
Graham: Well we only have to look at the advances made over the last two or three years. I see there being a ceiling on what can be done with a home PC of course but what that limit is, only time will tell. One thing I can say with confidence though is whatever that limit is in 3 years.. I hope PSS will still be pushing the envelope.
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| What I Like About the PSS 777 Package |
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