Newbie needs help landing the PMDG 737NG!

[Scott Miller 12]

Take off and climb to cruise altitude on my first flight in the PMDG Aloha Airlines B737-700 from SFO to Honolulu (I realize the B737 would probably never be used on such a flight in real life, but the B737 is my all time favorite heavy a/c and -700 variant has the range with a full fuel load so I figured why not a chance on taking a "swim" in the Pacific?!).I used FSNavigator v4.7 to fly the route using the "Fly Flightplan" option (being too lazy to bother to read how to program and use the FMC. While the take off and flight were uneventful, I ran into problems making the approach and landing at Honolulu. I discovered that the throttle, flaps and spoilers would not function (or eratically, at best)! I not only had trouble slowing down to the approach speed, once on the ground I found I couldn't use the throttles or spoilers to slow the aircraft down! If fact, the plane would actually accerate after touchdown in spite of my best efforts to reduce my speed and keep it on the ground!I realized I'm going to have to read the 737NG users manual in order to learn how to handle and control these great planes effectively, but for now I'd just like to to get my feet wet and be able to get the plane on the runway and keep it there on a few intoductory flights! Any asistance that will make my initial introduction to flying the PMDG B737NG go smoother would be very much appreciated! Thanks!Scott MillerP.S. Incidentially, I haven't had problems like this with Dreamfleet's Greatest Airliners B737-400 (that's not to say I didn't have ANY problems with it, just nothing like the problem described above!).

[downscc 1,327]

B737 is used daily in service between Hawaii and West Coast.I recommend you learn the basics in a local pattern instead of flying a long route only to have problems at the destination. Pick your favorite airport with lots of runway, turn off weather and stay in the local pattern. But I also recommend you read the manuals, the PMDG plane is complex enough to require some bookwork even of the best pilots.Once you can handfly the bird in the local pattern without incident, then fly some short hops with FMC programming and learn how all the tools work. There are many good short hops, such as LAS-LAX, that take less than an hour and have nice scenery to boot.Welcome to the PMDG community.

[Scott Miller 12]

Thanks for the tips, Dan! Actually, I tried installing 737NG into FS2002 and flew the same route I flew in FS2004. This time I had absolutely no problems whatsoever. Everything worked (throttle, flaps, spoilers, and even reverse thrust which I also couldn't get to work flying the 737NG a/c in FS2004).I was speculating today if there might be some kind of compatibility issue between 737NG and FSNavigator. The problem is beginning to look as if the autothrottle is refusing to disengage once activated.Flying a short hop is a good idea! I've already got an Ontario to San Diego flight plan set up. I'll try it without engaging the FSNavigator "fly the flightplan" option to see if this helps matters any...Scott

[downscc 1,327]

I believe many use FSNavigator without compatibility problems. However, the common problem with autothrottle is not having the generators on line. Before takeoff, make sure they are on (blue light extinguished) and takeoff page in FMC has a PreFlight Complete message. You should be good to go from there.

[dave_paige 11]

I would recommend you get a copy of Timothy Metzinger's PMDG 737NG Advanced Tutorial version 2, there are several links to get it here in the forum. Go through it from start to finish doing all five flights. Afterwards you should be fairly proficient in operating the PMDG 737.

[G7USL 117]

Here you are, this guy knows the 'NG's' like the back of his hand.Follow his tutorial, step by step and you will be in awe.http://www.simradar.com/File/2394/PMDG_737...ons_Manual.html

[dave_paige 11]

Unfortunately that's version 1. I would highly recommend you get ahold of version 2, it's much better and more up to date. Tim had to remove it from public distribution due to it's containing some Jepp charts. But I've seen several links in this forum for downloading it. It's 118 pages and about 32MB download size. You can e-mail me if you can't find it.

[Scott Miller 12]

Thanks for the tip, Dan! I few from ONT to SAN a couple of days ago without using FSNavigator's "fly flightplan" mode and had no problems with the throttle this time. Still, I'll be sure to check that the generators are online from now on!Scott

[Scott Miller 12]

Thanks Dave! I'll go get the tutorial right now!Scott

[Guest fyrestrtr]

I can enthusiastically recommend that v2 tutorial. I was having "problems" with the 737NG till I read the tutorial (especially the second flight/course).Its not as obvious as you might think it would be. At first, I thought "oh, another FMC another MCP" and started to program flights and surely; it just led into a "what tha ****" at 30,000 feet and I ended up hand flying it.The tutorial is a lot of work, but believe me, the moment the spoilers come up automatically and you have done a 'full' autoland, you'll be grinning from ear-to-ear :DOh, and your comment on the long flight. I recently spotted a KSEA > KBOS flight on the 737-800 at flightaware:SEA J12 EPH GTF BRD ASP YYZ ROC ALB GDM3That's almost 5 hours, should give you an idea of the range.Hope this helps.

[Scott Miller 12]

Thanks for the suggestions, Burhan. I'm definitely going to check out the tutorial! That SEA to BOS flight sounds like a great one for getting some serious reading done, too!Scott