Granted I am as dumb as a sack of rocks, but that aside I need help with the FMC...I seem to be able to muddle through loading a flight plan but the airplane does not do what is in the flight plan...how does the FMC communicate with the aircraft to tell it where it needs to go? Autopilot on? VNAV selected? RNAV selected? In the real world I am a single engine land private pilot and have had very little (none) experience with such technicalities....I have tried reading the manual until I am a lightly colored blue in the face but I am just not getting it apparently....if anyone can steer me in the right direction (pun intended) I would greatly appreciate it....thank you

>VNAV selected? RNAV selected? As you can probably tell - there is no 'RNAV' button anywhere on the 747 panel, but there is an 'LNAV' button - this is what you want. Read the tutorial flight - it covers such basic questions.Michael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/pmdg_744F.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

Yeah, well I was referring to the 737...I'm sure I posted on the wrong forum in addition to my other problems...I have read the manual several times..it's a difficult read for someone that hasn't used this kind of equipment before....I'll either figure it out or I won't, that's for sure....thanks

>Yeah, well I was referring to the 737well, no RNAV button in the 737 either ;)Michael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/pmdg_744F.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

>Granted I am as dumb as a sack of rocks, but that aside I>need help with the FMC...I seem to be able to muddle through>loading a flight plan but the airplane does not do what is in>the flight plan...how does the FMC communicate with the>aircraft to tell it where it needs to go? Autopilot on? VNAV>selected? RNAV selected? In the real world I am a single>engine land private pilot and have had very little (none)>experience with such technicalities....I have tried reading>the manual until I am a lightly colored blue in the face but I>am just not getting it apparently....if anyone can steer me in>the right direction (pun intended) I would greatly appreciate>it....thank youHi, are you activating your flight plan in the CDU? That would be a possibility since on autopilot mode and VNAV/LNAV the plane should fly your route.Anyway tryout this tutorial by Tim Metzinger. It really helped me out. http://www.simradar.com/File/2394/PMDG_737...ons_Manual.htmlGood luckAntonio

This might help.1,,press the "f"2,,press "fmc"3,,press "pos init" to get the fmc to find the long & lat of your current position4,,press index5,,press nav data,,,then flight plans.6,,press the "next page" & scroll through until you locate the flight plan you want.7,,press "rte"8,,press the LSK 2 Left to upselect the flight plan that is currently in the scratch pad into the "co route"9,,press "activate",,,,,,then "execute"10,,press "perf init"11,,click the LSK 1 left this will automaticaly populate the planes weight12,,type in the scratch pad IE 5.2 for reserves,,then upselect13,,type in the scratch pad 100 for cost14,,type in the flight level,,upselect to LSK 1right15,,execute16,,press N1 have a look at settings for engine thrust17,,go to index ,,press take off.18,,in scratch pad type flap settings ,,upselect.19,,click the LSK to the right of V1 V2 VR and the speeds will populate.20,,assuming you have set trim ,alt,ias,auto throttle,flight director,,,,take off then press auto pilot lnav vnav & it will follow the flight plan.Hope it helps cheers Phill

thanks to you guys for your help...I bet between the both of you I will be able to get this thing solved....thanks again