Virgin Atlantic ITVV 747-400 video & PMDG 747-400

[Guest glenb]

Alex,Yes I agree it is a little extreme, but aren

[michal 44]

>I'm all for realism but doing a route exactly like they do is>a little extreme IMO! But anyway, could they have been>directed to head away from a storm in the Utah area or south>of it? Maybe that's why it wasn't a logical route.No, I wouldn't blame it on a bad weather. It actually looked like a day of exceptionally good weather throughout. Also if you watch the DVD carefully and listen to what they say it is obvious their flight took slightly over 10 hours (anyway - less than 11). This corresponds to flying fairly close to the Great Circle distance (shortest distance) so if you see something weird about this flight plan there can only be one explanation - this flight plan is incorrect.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpg

[ps1flyer 9]

It should be correct that the flight was close to the great circle distance.When lookinging closely there is much more information about the route in the movie e.g. FMC crossing times and crossing time predictions, wind information, the data shown while the crew browses through plan mode (again, look at the times.).Actually, that very same topic has been discussed in the Aerowinx forum for ages. ;-)See e.g. http://aerowinx.com/archive12.cgi?review=9073 for a thorough analysis.Markus

[Guest glenb]

Markus,Thanks for the web site. Looks like I am a Johnny Come Lately to this subject. I just got the video a few weeks ago and with PMDG coming out with the 747-400 it looked like fun to duplicate the flight. I never thought it would lead to this. Do you know if anyone has contacted Virgin Atlantic to see if a copy of the flight plan is available?One strong point of PMDG is the realism and we expect the 747-400 to set new standards for the MSFS and that is what all the fuss about the route is.

[Guest Boaz]

I understand you want the FMC dialed and set to match the vid, but in the documentary they do not fly it all...They were not vectored all the way, but they had some traffic avoidance vectoring just before and after LOZID. They did how ever dial in an approach, but not in detail.Remember the Golden Gate four arrival goes right down to the SFO VOR and then vectoring for final app.Are you asking for charts that date back to then (2000) or are you asking for navaid changes in FS9?Boaz...

[Guest AJ]

PMDG should seriously consider bundling their new 744 with a DVD such as the one described. That would make a sweet gift set, especially when the boxed edition is released.

[Krister 51]

Dreamfleet sold their wonderful 737-400 bundled with a video covering a GO 737-400 flight. It was the same producer, ITVV, and the video is at least as great as the 747! I did pay 65

[ps1flyer 9]

Hi Glen,>Do you know if anyone has contacted Virgin Atlantic to see if>a copy of the flight plan is available?do my best knowledge, no flight plan from Virgin Atlantic is available or known.However, the producer (Nick Grindley, of ITVV) assured that the flight was not filmed on several legs but during a single flight from London to San Francisco. The discussion about the flight plan goes really back for a long time in the Aerowinx forum. You might want to do some further reading here, but please do not be confused by the frequent references to the Winnipeg "overflight". This solved has, apparently, been solved and my theory that the F/O's comment referes to the Winnipeg FIR airspace seems to be accepted now.Here are the links:http://aerowinx.com/archive04.cgi/read/8599http://aerowinx.com/archive04.cgi/read/8600http://aerowinx.com/archive00.cgi?review=1877Markus

[jon b 2,041]

Hi guys,I`ve not seen this DVD other than to read its box in a shop,but I do fly the 747-400 with Virgin Atlantic so know the route and the characters involved.Capt Alan Carter,who was a mate of mine has sadly left Virin a few years ago to fly for Asiana,FO John Cullom has been on sick leave for the last few years with a bad back,while Alan Rattigan is still here.I`am not sure of the date the film was made but I doubt I could get hold of the plan used now.I could try and get hold of a LHR-SFO plan this week if anyone would like a look at one,it should include fuel burn and en-route winds if that helps.Each aircraft burns different fuel though and is assigned a fuel burn incremant of between 0.0-2.5% contained in the flight plan.A typical West coast route would be North over Britian to Stornaway STN-BIKF-BGSF-CYYQ-CYEG then either over KSEA area and down or a more southerly routing towards GEG.Typical flight time of 10-11 hours and a fuel load of 110-120,000kg.En-route winds being the major influence,Its very very rare to use the NAT system westbound,but not uncommon on the way home.I did a LHR-LAX last month which actually went on Polar track 1 as far North as BGTL ! which I`d not seen before,then came home as far South as KORD,so there`s a lot of variation depending on windsAre the charts used in the film Jepps? we use those now but initially we used AERAD books which were produced by BA,then went on to SAS charts which we all hated,I think we changed to Jepps about 2000/2001?Best wishesJon

[Guest Knikolaes]

Awesome information, Jon. I'd love to see anything you have for input and what you stated already helps a lot. I didnt know about the fuel burn assignments nor the aircraft individuality in that area. **smiles** That's what I love about these forums -- usually every time I visit I learn something new :-)

[Guest glenb]

Jon,Wow! It

[michal 44]

>I`am not sure of the date the film was made It was Oct. 19, 2000.Thanks for all the info Jon. One request though. Could you possibly comment on the topic of another heated discussion on this forum - engine noise in the cockpit. Did this DVD correctly capture engine sound, its level, etc ? Of course you would have to watch this DVD first. But without watching this DVD what could you say about engine's noise in your 747 cockpit?Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpg

[jon b 2,041]

Hi,Engine noise? well there`s not a great deal you can hear from the flight deck except when changing power settings,you tend to notice it on approach.The most noise comes from the airflow over the top of the flightdeck,and is reasonably loud,the company now provides noise cancelling headsets,but we tend to take them off during the cruise.We have a nice new 744 delivered OCT 03 G-VROC and that has the newer acoustic padding in the roof of the flight deck as used on the 777 and so is noticeably quieter.I`ve just scanned an old plan i found in my bag,infact its the one to LAX up over the polar route that I mentioned earlier.I`ll just include the "winds page" from the back of the plan for now and type in the imprtant bits from the front of the page like fuel etc.I dont want to put the scan of the front of the plan on the internet just yet till I`ve checked it with the office as you don`t know who reads these forums and no doubt someone will accuse me of doing something I shouldn`t.The acctual level planned to be flown for each leg is the second line from the right ie FL320 to MATIK then FL340 LENIM etcZFW 236.0 TOW 358.9 LWT 247.6TRIP.....111300kg 10.32 hrsCONT..... 2000kgALT........4200kgFNL RES....4000kgREQ 121500kgEXTRA......1400kgTAXI.......1000kgRAMP.....123900kgFUEL TO REM AT TOUCHDOWN 11600kgINC/DEC FUEL BURN BY 287kg PER 1000kg CHANGE IN TOWThe alternate fields were KONT and KSANthis aircraft has a fuel flow increment of 2.5%(i wont mention the reg)The 1400kg carried as "extra" is for the centre wing tank and is unusable.Any time the CWT is used(>110-115,000kg total fuel) an extra 1400 is added,as this is the min fuel allowed in the tank with the pumps turned on.Have fun with thatbest wishes Jon

[Guest Knikolaes]

Jon you are great. Definately going to take head of this information **smiles** I am sure I speak for a lot of us when I say "We appreciate your input".Looking forward to that scan if the office lets you put it up :-)

[michal 44]

>Engine noise? well there`s not a great deal you can hear from>the flight deck except when changing power settings,you tend>to notice it on approach.Thanks Jon. Does it include actual takeoff too? Could you send best regard from all of us to Alan Rattigan and John Cullom (if you have a chance).Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpg