Nick Dobda

Short answer you need a program that will calculate it for you, such as TOPCAT (about $20). I think it suggests that in the tutorials. The program will do the calcs and tell you which take off modes are acceptable to use. Before I splurged the $20 to get TOPCAT I used a free spreadsheet I scrounged up that made an estimate for me. I'm sure there's a way to manually calculate which modes are acceptable. You could probably find the resources (graphs, charts I'm guessing) on the internet to do the calculations if you wanted. Personally that was more in depth then I wanted to get, I just learned the concept the takeoff mode (what are takeoff modes, why are there different takeoff modes, and when would you use one takeoff mode over another) and that there are some calculations that need to be done based on various factors to arrive at whichever mode options are available. Theres also a thing called de-rating that is another interesting concept to learn about. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I was also under the impression the takeoff mode (and derate) was handed to the pilot on a dispatch sheet prior to takeoff. For this reason I figured it wasn't cheating if I just typed in the info to TOPCAT and it spit out results.

LOL - something about the 737 I love. I bet if you look hard enough there are Corvair and Pinto car groups somewhere too!

I'm a PMDG NGX fan and for years have been watching people requesting slit scimitars and seeing PMDG developers saying they won't add them because PMDG prides itself in accurate modeling and it would go against philosophy to do a cosmetic update. I've always thought I can live with that, I probably wouldn't have noticed a flight characteristic change anyway, and I'm never outside the plane other then for the walk around (in all my workarounds I've never found anything wrong... imagine that! LOL). I'm sure its probably been discussed at nauseam, but is the MAX upgrade to the 737 enough to warrant PMDG to deploy resources to develop a MAX? All this talk about the MAX in the news recently got me wishing I could transition out of the NGX and into an MAXX.

Also, there is a great section in the tutorial that deals with fuel planning - and a way to calculate the necessary reserves by incorporating info gathered from the FMC. Interestingly, when following the tutorial's fuel planning method the values I get are always lower then the SimBrief suggestion. I still go through the exercise of fuel planning but pretty much always round up the value calculated by SimBrief. The reserves though I always calculate through the FMC. I haven't looked into it too much, but the fuel that I should have as predicted by the FMC is always higher then it is when I actually arrive. I've never had to divert, but I would think I wouldn't have enough to do two go-arounds and a 30 minute hold and still make it to the alternate if the actual fuel value on the first approach is so much lower then what the FMC predicted it should be when calculating in the pre-flight.

What a clear, concise, and smart answer to the original question.

The CRJ pilot said "We entered the cloud and within seconds the ice detectors were going off." Another good bit of advice that makes sense that I never thought about.

Good stuff interesting reading you guys' responses. Thanks

Thank you - I was thinking that if you were being realistic - you would be on top of whether or not you should be flipping the wing anti-ice switch or not. I wouldn't think it would be proper to be totally reliant on that warning light... although the pilot in the FB post said that it was helpful under certain conditions. It was more of a curiosity question. I thought I read somewhere in here that somewhere in the sim (not sure if the origin is the NGX or FSX) that performance/ dynamics is affected by ice conditions in the sim. If correct, there must be some way for the NGX of knowing that icing conditions exist. Also if correct, I would have thought it wouldn't have been hard to have that "ice detector" light pop on if the NGX is modifying its performance based on ice conditions.

Following a FB conversation where a CRJ pilot was talking about icing conditions on a flight today. The pilot mentioned "ice detectors" and that at higher speeds they can wait until the ice detectors go off before flipping the wing anti - ice switch. At which time it only takes about 5-10 seconds for the wing to heat up enough to melt the ice away. I looked around and found that this "ice detection" is available in the 737- Why was it not modeled in the NGX? Limitation of FSX?

I thought I read on here a discussion about a discrepancy or oddity or something with the NGX as it relates to the TOGA. The result of this discussion resulted in my procedure including the following: instead of clicking the A/T ARM switch off when switching to "manual" approach, select the SPEED to off (while the A/T switch still on). This way when you press TO/GA the SPEED kicks back on and the throttles automatically go to the proper setting. Everything else is still manual (pitch up and all that), but at least the throttles are taken care of. I find it very challenging to fly the plane manually along the published missed approach with all the settings and flight dynamics continuously changing what with the gear coming up, the flaps coming up and all that. If you're gonna abort its much easier if you do it before you disconnect over to manual... lol.

I changed my internet to "metered" when everyone gave the heads up about all hell breaking loose last year with the fall update. As such, my computer never updated. As such PMDG and all other addons have been running perfectly, no glitches. Just have tobe extremely cautious to stay away from any 100% non trusted websites and do not install anything unless I am 100% certain about it.

The white page problem I've run into as well. My solution is to open ALL the windows in the background (I use FSX full screen, not windowed). while having FSX maximized full screen. Then you can click the taskbar to bring windows in the background to the front, then click the FSX background to continue. This way FSX never minimizes. I've found I only get the white screen when I minimize FSX, do some background work, them maximize again. It doesn't happen when I open a window in front of FSX.

Gary, no problem- its impossible to get tone from text so I was just concerned I ticked you off when I was just trying to help. In any event, maybe this will help: From the Introduction Realistic Autopilot Engagement: This option can be used to simplify the autopilot engagement process if desired. When set to “Realistic Engagement” the autopilot will require that the airplane is in a balanced trim condition prior to accepting a pilot command to activate. Thus, if you are holding control input in place to maintain the desired flight path, you would need to re-trim the airplane until control force is no longer required to maintain the desired flight path. Selecting “OFF” will simplify the engagement logic for those who are just learning how to fly the simulator, thus reducing your workload. If you notice the autopilot failing to take control of the airplane when you press the CMD button, refer back to this paragraph as a refresher! Additionally, I don't think CMD A can be activated below 400 AGL. So if you just want to get it into HDG so you can steer like the old default 737, you gotta get it up over 400 and have the plane trimmed so that you are not putting pressure on your controls. Either that or turn off the realistic autopilot engagement option - either will help you do what I think you are trying to Hope this helps!

Am I reading this right that you feel insulted by my first post? The only thing I know about you is contained within those 5 lines you typed in your original entry. From those 5 lines I came to the conclusion that you were having trouble engaging VNAV & LNAV. I also deduced that you were new to the NGX but had some history with FSX using the default 737. If you had included more information (that you did include in your second post) I may have had a different response. I figured I would help you out and reply with some information/ advice that someone gave me in this very forum when I was new to the NGX. Instead of typing "go read the manuals" I even went into the tutorial, cut and pasted the relevant info that I thought you would find helpful. So I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion I thought you were stupid and that this forum is not here for help?

Gary, I would suggest reading the introduction and tutorials much of the info is in there. Introduction page 0.00.28 "I couldn’t get LNAV to arm/engage: LNAV has some specific parameters that must be met in order for it to arm/engage. These are: • To arm LNAV while on the ground: The first waypoint in your flight plan must be within 5 degrees of the departure runway course. • To arm LNAV in flight : Requires a valid interception point for active leg, interception angle less than 90 degrees OR within 3 miles cross tracks error OR within 3 miles from active. LNAV will stay armed until interception." Theres more to it... and a lot more to the plane when jumping from the default 737 into the NGX. The NGX requires an investment of time.. a significant investment of time and patience to learn how to fly it. But in the end, it is so rewarding because PMDG's NGX systems wise is (as far as what I hear) true to the real deal. Its a simulation, not a game.