I just landed at LFMC (Nice, France) on the -600 in PMDG colors after flying from EGLL.Everything went pretty much perfectly on this maiden FMC flight. It was as close to textbook perfect as you can get. I departed EGLL at 112K.lbs with 1/3 of a tank. I got all the expected annunciations on the PFD and FMC throughout the trip. I was able to step-climb/cruise in VNAV, manage all the different MCP modes during the flight to test them (and myself), depart from the flight track for miles and swing back in, descend flawlessly (I entered estimated wx data for the forecast page), maintain speeds, hold VNAV down to LOC capture at 2500 AGL, and do a perfect autoland despite a hideous runway misalignment of LFMN 4R in FS9. I even got an annunciation of RUNWAY CRS ERROR on final approach which was completely accurate!I landed 100' south of the centerline but it was a fairly perfect auto-TD and I rolled straight out on the concrete to a steady stop.I'd like to thank Randy Smith and various others who helped me with questions on the way to this point. Thank you, gentlemen, one and all. This one's for you !Pre-postscript: my GoFlight hardware GF 166A VRP (for both NAV radios and the ADF), GF LGT (landing gear, trim, and flaps), and spoiler arm (on GF-P8) all worked out of the box with the -600. Nice surprise! This is a great forum: Thanks again.Jonathan

Jonathan, it is a great sim.. no questions! It is also a pleasure to hear someone having nothing but good to say about what I regard as teh ultimate civvy sim.Have a crack at the circling approach for LFMN 22R off the 04L ILS.. that should keep you busy :DRgds,

Brad:Thanks, mate. I should thank you also for the Geezer Guide. Everything like that has helped a lot.I'll try that circling approach you suggest. Man, you must've flown everywhere to know about that one: I thought Nice would be considered fairly esoteric in sim circles.Cheers!Jonathan

The PMDG is great. Good work.John

Thanks, John.JS

Good to hear you have the FMC working for you. Now you can never go back ;)

Perhaps....my principal desire is that VNAV would be less confusing and more intuitive. Other than this, the FMC is magnificent.Jonathan

Hi All,Can I say that VNAV is somewhat intuitive if you think carefully about what the FMA is telling you in each mode... of course you have to know what FMA will appear when you push a particular button... lets take an example:VNAV PATH = the FMC has calculated a ToD point based on the distance to go along the Route of Flight that you have programmed into it and the weather conditions enroute (Forecast page)etc. The PATH it calculates is a ZERO THRUST Path which means at ToD the A/T will close the thrust levers and you become a 60000Kg glider... there will be no thrust used for the rest of the flight. If there is a variation to the actual flight path because of wind or temp change or maybe the unexpected use of anti-ice then the PATH is maintained by pitching the aeroplane to stay on that glide path. If the SPEED which results from this is too high then you get a DRAG REQUIRED message in order to maintain the PATH and if speed gets too low then the A/T adds thrust to keep you on the PATH and within about 10 kts of the speed originally used to calculate the PATH. I hope this helps a bit,Rgds,

Brad:I sort of agree--partially. VNAV is what I call "learned intelligence." Once you master it, you learn how to use it and live with it better and more effectively. But you need to really get a solid grounding in the procedure and the logic of the interface with the FMC and the MCP. It's quite a lot of work, not easy, and I find myself challenged mentally quite a bit with VNAV. The tricky bits are things like altitude intervention, resuming climb or descent, not blotting out waypoints, and so on.Thanks for your posts.JS

You do know Brad is the actual rl pilot of the NG picture on his tag don't you Jack?Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]http://www.rawbw.com/~bdoolin/shinault/southparkcartmad.gif[h3]I WANT MY 747![/h3]Caution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)

Well, I know he is a rl pilot but didn't think about the pic. He'd have a different PoV as a rl pilot, of course, and understand the heart and guts of VNAV like I never could. He's a professional whereas I'm just....a hobbyist, and therein lies the nub of the problem: we demand reality in this amazing hobby, but too much reality is sometimes very tough for just a hobbyist to manage right.Jonathan

I just was curious Jonathan. Brad is also an avid simmer like us so he sees both points of veiw. We might not be able to fly the real deal like him but we can get a grasp on what procedures he uses and apply these to our experience. It's complicated and complex for sure but also creates a certain drive to learn as much as possible within the limits of our beloved flight sim platform. Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]http://www.rawbw.com/~bdoolin/shinault/southparkcartmad.gif[h3]I WANT MY 747![/h3]Caution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)

"....and the weather conditions enroute (Forecast page)etc."Brad, what did this bit mean? You can't enter into the FMC different weather patterns en-route can you? What I mean is you can't be 10 miles out of Auckland, and enter in the weather for Wellington at that time?I see that the weather can be entered at departure (wind direction & temp), but that's all - isn't it??Just when I think I understand the FMC.....CheersTim

Hey, Tim:This FMC has a LOT of features. There is a Forecast page to aid you with descent (make sure VNAV works right!) Jonathan

So.....you can enter in a forecast at the arrival airport 500 miles away?I need to know yes or no before I troll through pages of guff trying to work out how.CheersTim