Who prefers "Southwest Style"?

[Guest Lobaeux4]

Just curious as to who prefers the "Southwest Style" for the MFD's and why. For some reason, I think it looks horrible. Sort of like someone took the NG displays, then overlayed that with stock MSFS gauges. To me they look totally out of place.Any thoughts?

[MrHoward 7]

I'm with you on this one... it's like someone at Southwest took advice from the MSFS Stock Gauge department :)I do admit it's a bit odd to see electronic replicas of anologue gauges but I'm sure it has something to do with type commonalities.

[crvm 0]

It's no soo bad guys ;-) Remember it was not for LOOKS that this EFIS was installed on SWA jets but for cost savings and backwards compatibilty from thier classic birds since each SWA pilot is type rated on BOTH the 500s and 700s. A classic driver is much more at home looking at those EFIS than a PFD! Now it takes a bit getting use to but after a few weeks of using the EFIS alone I enjoy them better than my first impression. [h4]Best Wishes,Randy J. Smithhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpgAMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | WD SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 |

[Guest Lobaeux4]

Hehe, I wish the Air Force took this view. When I moved up from the T-1A (Beech 400) I went from the beautiful almost-glass cockpit to the steam, analogue gauges in the C-130. There was no worry about my "backwards" compatibility. Kudos to Southwest for thinking about the pilots, but I'm glad others have moved on. Could you imagine what our vehicles would look like if Detroit thought the way Southwest did. BUT, PMDG did a fantastic job simulating the "Southwest Style". I was just on airliners.net, looks spot on to the real thing.

[crvm 0]

What's neat about SWA is their no A/T-VNAV! "If it ain't broke why fix it"? is the call of the day lol. I must admit to trying to go without either for a time with our bird for kicks and it is much more of a wrkload but in many respects gives you a greater confidance and feeling of control that just pushing VNAV would not give you. I suggest to everyone after you get the VNAV LNAV stuff packed down turn that A/T OFF and go the SWA way for a while ;-)[h4]Best Wishes,Randy J. Smithhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpgAMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | WD SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 |

[Guest Lobaeux4]

I'm gonna have to try that. Any other U.S. carriers operate that way that you know of?

[Guest captbulldog 2]

I love it. It feels smoother seeing needles moving so I get a sense of the rate of change on that gauge. But now I'm flying American 800 (for the new VC) and it's back to PDF/ND style.. at least until the 700 gets the new VC!

[Guest boxjockey99]

I'm not sure why everyone thinks that this EFIS style is anything like the displays found on the classic. I fly the B737-300 with EFIS and we have something not dissimilar to the NG PFD and ND just mixed in with the normal steam gauges.Is is possible that we are getting our model numbers mixed up, very few of the early 300's had clockwork gauges then they all went EFIS. Prior to that it was only the 100/200 series that had analogue gauges! Our 300's are ex-Ansett and as such have the analogue engine gauges while also having CRT based EADI And EHSI along with LNAV/VNAV functions and A/THR as with almost every B737 on the planet with a build date post 1985! I may be wrong and SWA may have some wierd hybrid but I'm just putting my two peneth worth in!Kris

[Gary_Hayes 60]

lol you tell me, from SWAs sitehttp://www.southwest.com/images/photo_gall...pit_737_300.jpgGary HayesOsan AB, ROKP4 3.0ghz w/HT & FSB..GeForce FX 5900 ultra 256MB..1 gig PC3200 DDR RAM..Sound Blaster Audigy w/5.1 THX

[crvm 0]

Well sure! That looks like their 500s too. The EFIS has all the needed gauges represented in digital form. The LCD versions are not that different to adjust to. This does not look like your plane here Kris http://www.airliners.net/open.file/548559/L/ Which does indeed have a simular PFD unlike SWA... And PMDG EFIS which matches the SWA 700 perfectlyhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/73459.jpg[h4]Best Wishes,Randy J. Smithhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpgAMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | WD SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 |

[Gary_Hayes 60]

thats kindof like UAL too.I just love SWA tho. Look how high tech their 500 cp is.http://www.airliners.net/open.file/405012/L/:)I wish I knew their flying procedures fo rthe NG tho..I would like to fly it realistic.Gary HayesOsan AB, ROKP4 3.0ghz w/HT & FSB..GeForce FX 5900 ultra 256MB..1 gig PC3200 DDR RAM..Sound Blaster Audigy w/5.1 THX

[Guest boxjockey99]

Talk about minimal!! sheesh! Those SWA guys must've suffered. I stand corrected I was of the understanding that only the 200 had the analogue gauge option and subsequently the 400 and 500 models that were released were EFIS only. The thought of having no VNAV and only 1 MCDU is bad enough but no EFIS is criminal, it mus cost them a fortune in instruments as the analogue instruments cost lots in comparison to the CRT's fitted to the EFIS models!That pic on airliners.net is very similar to our 300's with the EFIS CRT's but the clockwork engine instruments. Ironically we use a Sim with the 400 style LCD engine gauges which in my opinion are awful, they were cited as a major contributor to the Kegworth crash in the UK as they are horrible to read! The clockwork dials with digital readouts are much nicer to use. Having said that Boeing obviously saw their mistake and went back to the clockwork type display when they designed the NG LCD displays.Happy trailsKris