September 24, 200718 yr Hi there,I am seriously considering purchasing a CDU from Engravity. I know they have 2 models and I have a few questions for one of the techies at PMDG:1 - Will the relevant software be written to allow the 737 CDU to operate with the upcoming 737NG2 for FSX? I only want to buy one if it works with the new 737 for FSX? While I am on this subject will the CPFlight MCP (which I already have) work with the new 737? I appreciate that it is early in development however!!2 - If I bought the 747 CDU would that be able to operate with the 737? If so what would the limitations be - I appreciate there will be some otherwise I am sure they would not have made 2 models!?Many thanks for your time,Mark
September 25, 200718 yr Commercial Member Mark-1 - Yes, the Engravity CDU driver will be updated to become compatible with the new 737NG software suite. Whether there will be significant upgrade code change demands (which will drive a price on it) or whether it will be a simple effort (in which case it will be free) remains to be seen.CPFlight MCP: Until and unless the hardware manufacturer contacts us anew and agrees to confirm to our quality control specifications, there are no plans for such a direct compatibility. I am always optimistic though that it's a win-win situation for manufacturers to do that, so it remains to be seen ;-).2 - Yes - the 747 Engravity CDU has the same number of keys as the 737 CDU, which makes it directly compatible (if you ignore the labeling on those keys of course). No limitations whatsoever - the two units are interchangeable in our driver (and in fact, we can't even tell if a hardware unit has the 737 or the 747 labeling on it). Lefteris Kalamaras - Founder www.flightsimlabs.com
September 25, 200718 yr Commercial Member We'll see about those... They are totally different animals than a Boeing series. Lefteris Kalamaras - Founder www.flightsimlabs.com
September 25, 200718 yr Commercial Member Phil,I suggest you contact Engravity and state your interest for an MD-11 MCDU there. The B747 CDU needs a major re-labeling for the MD-11 to be useful. However since mostly only the labels have to be changed (don't quote me on that, didn't look at those in huge detail) it should be very much doable for Engravity to release an MD-11 MCDU.But you have to tell them that you want it. It doesn't do much if we go to them and tell them "do an MD-11 version for us", they have to know how much interest there is from their (future) customers so that they can decide on wether or not it will be worth it to produce a new version.And IF Engravity does indeed release an MD-11 MCDU I don't see any reason why the PMDG plane should not be made compatible with it...Regards,Markus Markus Burkhard
September 26, 200718 yr Phil, add your voice here:http://www.flyengravity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=359 Krister LindénEFMA, Finland------------------
September 26, 200718 yr I don't intend on buying a seperate unit.At the moment, I have the 747 version. When flying the 737, I use a bit of paper to remind me what the button layout is, and would do the same for the MD11 and A320 if they were compatible. Alot cheaper than buying different FMC's for each aircraft.From pictures I've seen, all these FMC's have the same number of buttons and in the same location, it's just the function that changes. Phil Brown
October 31, 200718 yr If there is demand we can make a keypad for the MD11.Airbus 320 compatibility would need a colour screen (as oposed to the monochrome screen the boeings are using) but this can be done provided the demand will justify development costs.Thats the hardware side.When it comes to the software side the decision is up to our friends here at PMDG :-)I think Lefteris stated earlier in this topic no decision has been made yet. I think we are still in a pretty early stage.Right now, I for one cant wait to download the 747 for FSX to use with our CDU ;-) Good Job Lefteris !Regards,StefEngravity Support
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