PMDG 747-400 Not Tracking FSBuild Flight Plans

[atrdriver 7]

Hi Captains,I just bought FSBuild for flight planning and FMC route generation and love it! Cool program. Being a newbie at it, I am having one problem that baffles me. My PMDG 747-400 drifts off course soon after departing and gets further off course the further you get into the flight. I thought that magnetic variation might not be being corrected, but that's just a guess. I am using AIRAC 0709 in all applications. My other FS aircraft don't seem to be having this problem.Any ideas?Terry

[Guest diajohn2]

Terry,1. Did you tell FSBuild to export to PMDG?2. Did you put the flight plan into the FMC?3. Are you on an intercept course when you engage LNAV?

[atrdriver 7]

>Terry,>>1. Did you tell FSBuild to export to PMDG?>2. Did you put the flight plan into the FMC?>3. Are you on an intercept course when you engage LNAV?>>Yes to all of the above, I usually engage LNAV before takeoff as I don't use ATC (haven't gotten into any online ATC and I get enough of that at work anyway...ATR-72 captain for American Eagle). Thanks for your reply! Any new ideas will be greatly appreciated.Terry

[Mats_J 2]

Terry,Are you only having this problem with routes created with FSBuild? Care to attach the flight plan giving you problems for us to take a look? As you are familiar with real world flight decks I assume you get the right AFDS modes on the FMA?I have used FSBuild for several years with both the NG and the 744 without any problems. Hope it helps,

[Guest diajohn2]

Terry,Engaging LNAV before takeoff is okay but it still must be on an intercept course when you turn on the AP or it will not track.Surely you don't engage the AP until wheels up and climb stabilized?If you take off from 27R and the next waypoint is at 095 degrees, then it is probably not going to intercept.One thing you can do is once you are clean, open the FMC, click on the next waypoint, click again and engage LNAV. You should be good to go.

[Tabs 2,790]

I assume he knows that flying real airliners John... ;) Arming LNAV before T/O is perfectly fine.Terry, if you can duplicate this repeatedly, I'd like to see the save files for it...

[atrdriver 7]

As in the real world, I don't engage the AP until a minimum altitude. At work, we use 500AFL. I have actually tried using an intercept, going DIRECT TO the next waypoint in the flight plan, even just engaging the AP and allow LNAV to get itself on the route despite the heading. In fact, on one of my latest flights (KLAX-KORD) I took off from Rwy 25R in the PMDG 747, engaged the AP from runway heading and had it turn around and get on course. The problem seems to happen later in the flight where the plane just drifts off course and won't follow the flight plan any longer, despite going DIRECT TO a waypoint ahead, reintercepting the course, etc. By the way, I have FSBuild set up to export to all my favorite planes (PMDG 747, 737, Flight1 ATR, LVL-D 767, ERJ-145 PIC and PSS 777). Every plane EXCEPT the PMDG 747 follow the FSBuild flight plans.I have never attached a file to a post. Can you do that or do they have to be sent to someone directly?Thanks for the replies guys. Keep the ideas coming! I may need to simply uninstall my PMDG 747 and reinstall it. By the way, I have the new Saitek Pro Yoke and TWO throttle quadrants being delivered today! YIPPEE!!!!Terry

[Guest wpf1953]

Terry,I just have started with PMDG 747 this days and unfortunatelly I

[atrdriver 7]

I hear you Waldemar!By the way guys, my Saitek Pro Flight Yoke and Throttle Quadrant(s) arrived a few days ago. DO NOT BUY!!! These products have major issues at the moment and will require a major fix from Saitek. If I don't get a response from them within 25 days, I will be returning mine to the Flight Sim Shop. Mine is current unusable in FS.Terry

[cavaricooper 2,614]

Terry-Hope you have the answer- my question is slightly off header, but would you let us know how you like your Saitek gear? Also, if you used other equipment prior to the Saitek- can you offer a few comparisons? The Saitek products seem to be generating a lot of interest and it would be nice to get the perspective of a PMDG driver. Thanks!Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png

[atrdriver 7]

>Terry->>Hope you have the answer- my question is slightly off header,>but would you let us know how you like your Saitek gear? >Also, if you used other equipment prior to the Saitek- can you>offer a few comparisons? The Saitek products seem to be>generating a lot of interest and it would be nice to get the>perspective of a PMDG driver. Thanks!>>Best->Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225>http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.pngNo problem Carl. I ordered the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke which comes with one three lever throttle quadrant, in order to satisfy my need to have a realistic yoke and throttle setup. I also bought a second Saitek throttle quadrant to give me a total of six levers, one for spoiler, one for flaps and four for go power. I have used a highly modified Thrustmaster Cougar with Simped F-16 rudder pedals for years. I love my Cougar, but it just doesn't cut it for flying the PMDG 747-400, or any other big jet in FS. Simply put, the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke is the buggiest computer peripheral I have ever owned! It was almost certainly released with little testing. While moving the yoke, something akin to hitting the 's' key occurs repeatedly, causing the view to cycle constantly. Today while flying the CaptainSim 707, the view was cycling about once ever two seconds. Needless to say, it becomes practically unusable. Until this afternoon, I was having one other aggravating problem. The third lever on the #1 throttle quadrant (engine #2) wasn't being recognized in FS. Another user discovered that the throttle sensitivities in FS were all over the place and posted it to the Saitek support forum. Adjusting them fixed the problem! I gotta tell ya, it is REALLY cool to have a separate throttle lever for each engine! The bottom of each lever has a programmable position which I have obviously programmed with F2 for reverse. KEWL!!! Under each lever is a programmable two position rocker switch. I've only programmed landing gear so far as I haven't really had a lot of time to do much programming. The yoke also has several programmable switches, as well as a POV switch, a chronometer and a three position mode select switch that functions much like the SHF key on your keyboard. The mode select feature effedtively triples your programming capability. I have only programmed pitch trim so far.I am hoping that the view cycling problem with the yoke will be something as simple as the throttle fix mentioned in the paragraph above. Once that is corrected, I can say that having this Saitek rig will certainly increase the immersion factor for you!Hope this helps those contemplating buying this product. Terry

[jc_150 3]

Hi TerryI have flown many hours in the 747, using both fsbuild and fsnav for my routes without any tracking problems. However I did read further down from a poster who thought the problem may be associated with add on scenery. I live in the uk and fly mainly european routs of about 2 hours duration,and do not normally fly in USA. So my point is that I do not have any add on scenery for the USA, so if you can post your flight plan as given by fsbuild, the runways you used and the sid/stars then I would be happy to fly that flight and report back any findings.best regardsJohn Calleja (BAW 352 armchair pilot)

[atrdriver 7]

Hey guys,How do I attach a file to a post?Terry

[jc_150 3]

Hi Terrywhen you click reply, it opens up the window that you must be familiar with. At the bottom of this window is a blue line of text that says...click here to choose your attacments. open that up, then find your file and upload it from the window that opens. its rather like adding an attachment to an e-mail, buit you are restricted to 150 KBytesoh if the flight plan etc is not too large you could just cut and paste it directly into your reply.hope this helpsregardsJohn Calleja

[atrdriver 7]

>Hi Terry>I have flown many hours in the 747, using both fsbuild and>fsnav for my routes without any tracking problems. However I>did read further down from a poster who thought the problem>may be associated with add on scenery. I live in the uk and>fly mainly european routs of about 2 hours duration,and do not>normally fly in USA. So my point is that I do not have any add>on scenery for the USA, so if you can post your flight plan as>given by fsbuild, the runways you used and the sid/stars then>I would be happy to fly that flight and report back any>findings.>best regards>John Calleja (BAW 352 armchair pilot)Thanks John! Attached is a flight plan that I created and flew this evening. It was from KLAS to KSFO. Not sure why the file name was renamed when I uploaded it, but the original file name is KLASKSFO.rte. Any help here would be greatly appreciated!Incidentally, the flight plan tracking was all over the place! Also, the plane would not descend via VNAV. I am beginning to suspect the Go-Flight MCP. I may try uninstalling it and flying the flight plan without it, although that wouldn't explain all non-PMDG compatible aircraft operating normally with the Go-Flight MCP. It may still be a PMDG-specific problem.I'm headed to work tomorrow for a three day trip. Gotta pay for those new Saitek Pro Flight Controls!Thanks,Terry