Hello Aviators!I just saw this photo of a KLM B744 en wandered what the three switches and the display above the oygen panel (left of the yoke) are for.http://www.fs-community.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1583th pictureThanks in advance,Jacir van Wijkwww.fs-community.com

The display is the weather radar. The original 744s did not have it integrated into the ND and thus had a separate display.

Hi Marc,Thanks for your repley,Can you also tell me which button what means (on the display)Best ARegards,Jacir

Difficult to say... There were so many different types of "dedicated" weather radar indicators. There may be a Left/Right System selector, a Master/Slave selector, brightness controls, etc...Our 744's always had these indicators as well as the ND weather radar displays (from day one). However, the ND's proved to be so reliable, the other "dedidicated" indicators were found to be redundant (and just extra weight to carry around). All our dedicated displays have been removed and are just a distant memory.Cheers.Q>

that 744 has the tiller in a funny place. must be strange to taxi

Jacir,perhaps the 3 switches you were asking about are the ones directly above the oxygen mask and not the ones on the radar?If so these are just windshield air,foot heater and shoulder heater switches. The windshield air is just for de misting in humid climes, the other 2 are as thier names say, just heaters to make you more comfy.I have a little stowage hole on my aircraft instead of the small radar,as modeled on the PMDG.Its a great place for building up a stash of biscuits and chocolate to nibble on during the cruise.I also stow my phone and calculator in there.cheersJon

Jon,Yes that's what I meant thanks very much for your repley!!!!And A happy new year!Jacir

>I have a little stowage hole on my>aircraft instead of the small radar,as modeled on the PMDG.Its>a great place for building up a stash of biscuits and>chocolate to nibble on during the cruise.I also stow my phone>and calculator in there.Sounds great! In absence of "holes" due to European precision engineering on the A330-200 one has to drop everything on the floor...;)http://idisk.mac.com/markus.burkhard/Public/127.jpgRegards,Markus

This picture brings up a question from all of us who don't fly in the real world. Aside from keeping an eye on the aircraft, what else do you do to pass the time? Also, in this post-9/11 world, do you keep the flight deck door locked throughout the flight and keep food in the cockpit? Or, are you still able to have the flight attendants bring in food and coffee (and the smashed water bottle and the squished orange jucie carton)?Ryan GamurotLucky to live Hawai'ihttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg

Ryan,the picture above was taken on a long haul flight. There's no way you can have the flight deck door shut for 10 hours or more - and in my personal opinion not necessary anyway.As for passing the time... Apart from flying the airplane enroute (which takes much more time than many people realise) you can do things like eating, talking, reading, plan your stay at the destination, some airlines even allow napping (one at a time of course!)... and much more I can't think about right now. But people flying PMDG products they know that there's more to long haul flying than just level off, let the autopilot fly until you reach T/D and do the things mentioned above. However many people think that this is exactly what pilots do. Of course things can get boring anyway, but hey there are boring office jobs where you sit for 8 hours as well and I'd say sitting at FL3xx is more exciting than sitting in an office chair :)Regards,Markus