PMDG 747-400X guide tutorial for total newbies Vista 64

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

I hope this helps out newbies to start enjoying PMDG's excellent 747-400X the day you buy it, without the need to study 100s of pages of documentation and tutorials, searching aviation-related forums endlessly, getting frustrated and pulling your hair out (hahaha), when after repeatedly trying to fly your favourite 3 hr flight (or better yet a 9 hr altlantic crossing) things go exponentially wrong when all you want and deserve is a perfect autolanding after your newbie status is testing your patience to the breaking point.Of course, I am only trying to help out others with some points here and it is not my intention to bash any aspect of this excellent product (beware on this forum - do not bash and sign your name at the bottom of your post or you will get in trouble and be casted out survivor style - hahaha), only to point out some outdated published directions that otherwise not known will further needlessly and painfully test your patience.First of all - if you thought that trying to learn default 747 in FSX was hard, be prepared for a learning curve, size and shape of which will depend on how much realism you wish to attain. Yes, even with this 747-400X you do not have to follow every aspect to realism (from pushing that battery button during startup to selecting approach based on the current wind conditions and traffic). Once again, this will probably upset realism addicts, but a happy realism medium is possible for you to enjoy.Here's your starting point:http://smithplanet.com/fs2004/pmdg/NormalProcedures.pdfThis is the shortest possible manual you will ever find - this is for you if you on your first out of the box day - just want to start on the active runway, set conditions to fair weather and day to summer dusk (a must to enjoy scenery and the beautiful cockpit lighting that unfortunately in the default 747 looks like someone just walked into a room, flicked the switch and turned on and that old chandelier (hahaha)) and get it off the ground.I would suggest that you skip the start up sequence and go directly to selecting pmdg 747 from the aircraft selection menu and place yourself on KLAX rwy 25R - this way you're ready to go. Just follow all directions except the start up parts.As far as start up sequence:I'm not sure about "Set all four ELEC ENG CONTROL switches to NORM" direction - for me this did not work - but they come on automatically if you follow the normal start up procedures from cold and dark state as per PMDG Manual/Tutorials (one thing here is that since the tutorials are not fully illustrative, you will have to either print it out or continuosly switch screens between the manual and tutorials to follow directions and find the buttons to push - having it open on the screen vs. print outs allows you to search the manual for what you need to follow the directions instead of flipping thru hundreds of pages - a near impossible task - so if you prefer that, have a laptop for documentation and your main superquadcore for the sim).Another excellent resource is:http://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/747.htmlAnd this is a fully illustrative tutorial for a flight from Heathrow to KLAX - if you're in for a fully realistic 10 hr+ experience (start up + flight) depending on how long it takes you to correctly follow directions and pause the game in order to follow all steps.http://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/downloads..._1.0_206648.zipIf you have managed to get the pmdg 747 onto the 25R rwy at KLAX, here are the directions to follow as per Jared "Smitty" Smith's lifesaver for the impatient and frustrated (hahaha):Go to Add ons on task bar, select PMDG, fuel and select 1/3 tank - no need for more for this short flight.Go to page 9 - follow "Open the FMC" directions - click thru IDENT and POS INIT (IRS and GPS is aligned for you when you skip cold and dark start up and start on the runway via standard FSX loading) and click to RTE (botton pf page 13)Follow the directions on pages 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19Skip pushback and start (pages 20, 21, 22, 23 as we're ready to roll).Go to page bottom of 23 - turn taxi lights and navigation lights (bottom of Overhead panel) and set the cockpit lights (bottom left of overhead) to your desire (I find that flight at dusk gives you the best combination of beautiful skies, setting sun, scenery visibility and cockpit lighting). If by now, it's getting too dark for you - just reset the conditions to summer, dusk.Follow directions on the rest of the pages.For TO/GA - if you prefer 2d cockpit - follow the directions and press the screw. If you prefer to take off in virtual cockpit - go to Addon taskbar, select PMDG, keyboard commands and select T on the keyboard or whatever you like - just make sure that you remove that command in FSX first so there's no conflict.Don't forget "At about 10 miles from the VCV VOR, set MCP ALT to 0." as you're flying and getting all excited on your first day out of the box.That's it - I hope this works for you. If you need more info - just reply to the post and I'll do my best to help you out - god only knows how I wish I found a post like this when I got my newbie hands on the 747-400X.Now you can start reading those hundreds of pages if you so desire.A couple of other pointers:rt2 and rte flight plans files can be opened with Notepad - go ahead and take a look at the format - it is mostly departure airport, navigation waypoints with GPS coordinates and arrival airport. Depending on how and with what the plan was generated - it will sometimes contain the runways for dep and arr as well - as ours did - so you don't have to do that later when you approach the arr airport.Some (if not most) PMDG FLIGHTPLANS provided are outdated. If you want to try some - go ahead and choose the CO-ROUTE to load one up. If you get error "NOT IN DATABASE" in FMC - it is because the rwy and navigation waypoints are outdated and/or not in synch with the PMDG database.Use www.simroutes.com for your flights instead - it will allow you to export files in pmdg rte format - but it will not provide rwy information - so you will have to learn how to enter approach info into FMC once you're up and flying.If you want to generate your own, more detailed plans, with rwy info - I think FSBuild will allow you do that.You can open the World map and see the waypoints on the map as you approach them (some with not show - ex. RX-22 as FSX and PMDG database do not match 100%).You can fly without plans at all - enter waypoints yourself using FSX map (again - some will result in NOT IN DATABASE), but I was able to enter direct from KLAX to VOC, then to MORRI (as RX-22 is not on the FSX map) and then direct to rwy 22.747-400X will run on Vista 64x with FSX SP1/SP2 or FSX SP1/Acceleration - for me the latter offers more stability (less crashes).

[FLEX1978 373]

You forgot to sign your name :) Excellent post for the new guys :)Rob

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

Hahaha - good one !JacobKoziarz

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

Word of caution:Do not use FSX Map waypoints to manually generate flight plans - it might make 747 behave unpredictably - the FSX Map and PMDG database simply do not belong together for flight plan design (sometimes it will work, sometimes it will not - so don't waste your time). Just use simroutes.com for rte, load them via co-route, then use DEPARR to select arrival rwy and approach. You can do this all before you take off.

[Tabs 2,790]

>Word of caution:>>Do not use FSX Map waypoints to manually generate flight plans>- it might make 747 behave unpredictably - the FSX Map and>PMDG database simply do not belong together for flight plan>design (sometimes it will work, sometimes it will not - so>don't waste your time). Just use simroutes.com for rte, load>them via co-route, then use DEPARR to select arrival rwy and>approach. You can do this all before you take off.This goes both ways - the real world data often isn't in FSX too as far as the built-in static navdata goes.Our FMC is designed so that as long as you're actually generating route data in our format, it will always work since the points are defined by their LAT/LON and not whether or not they're in the FS navdata.

[por930 51]

Hi Jacob?I have been reading your posts for some time now and have seen your levels of frustration rise and fall. I have yet to start the journey, but your post is fantastic, and I might say hard won. I will use it for my first flight. Only with lots of patience and investigations did you achieve this "cheat sheet" for us newbie's.The 747 cost many millions of dollars to design, and some great minds put this magnificent aircraft together. The computer systems alone behind it must have miles of code to work the zillions of flying combinations out. The guys flying them have many hours of experience and training to cope with the demands of keeping ahead of the bird as she wings her way about the world.The combinations of motherboard's, cpu's, RAM, OS, video cards, screens and indeed our own abilities, or lack thereof, all affect what we each see and experience.For PMDG to replicate the 747 has much have they have done is nothing short of miraculous, for the obviously less than the millions of dollars spent by Boeing. While we all hope the aircraft mirrors the real life aircraft, we have to keep in mind it is:a. A 'work in progress' with PMDG improvements always on the "to do" list.b. And most of all it is a game for enjoyment. If you want the real thing, then invest in a few million dollars and get your ATP licence.Anyway Jacob, it seems like you have a hardware combination now that works for you. Maybe in the months to come when I am finally flying you will see my posts seeking help for more experienced fellow flying enthusiasts and say to your self, I was there once.....RegardsGeoff

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

Geoff,Thank you - honestly all credit is due to Jared "Smitty" Smith and his http://smithplanet.com/fs2004/pmdg/. Without it I'd still be struggling. Good luck to you on your journey. Myself, I still have a lot to learn to control this beast - with the ultimate being perfect manual landing right on the threshhold. I still have no idea how they do it as perfectly as the autoland.Don't wait - build a quad, buy 747-400X (don't forget to recommend it to all your sim friends) and good luck trying to contain your excitement on that first successful flight to KEDW.

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

Geoff and others:Here's another important aspect of PMDG 747, or two to be exact:1) Once you get bored of sitting there and watching autolands and want to actually fly it - here's what you do:- once established on final approach and you have the LOC / G/S needles tracking all you have to do is to disenage A/P (disenage bar or press Z - for some reason Z doesn't work for me although it is selected in FSX controls menu) and A/T (over here it is your choice - you can either disengage it to get full control of the aircraft and you control the thrust and speed, or leave it until just before touchdown and disengage it. The height/distance you want to do that is up to you - you can even do this while still in LNAV/VNAV mode - you don't have to be in the LOC/G/S mode. As long as you have the tracking needles - it's all yours to most likely crash on first attempt - hahaah.Details here:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...46606&mode=full2) YOU CAN SAVE FLIGHT JUST BEFORE LANDING TO PRACTICE !!!Yes - it is possible !!! I would suggest you pause just before T/D - save the fligt using FSX sace flight menu - do not save the panel state as well - FSX save flight is all you have to do. THEN, and here's the trick:Load saved flight - DO NOT CHOOSE the PMDG 747 beforehand (loading PMDG 747 on top of 747 might cause problems), de-pause it - wait for the panel state to load and you'll see that LNAV/VNAV is on PFD but SPD is gone (A/T not loaded) - all you have to do is - press HOLD on MCP, then press SPD - once you see SPD on the PFD - switch back to LNAV/VNAV on MCP !!! Thazz all girls and boys !!!Now you can practice landings all you want - the only patience req'd is for the T/D to landing - I hope you can live with that. I wouldn't recommend that at later stages as you might have problems with getting control of it after T/D.Once again, I'd like to stress that I'm a newbie myself and no expert like gurus or real life 747 pilots - this is simply a result of me asking endless questions and getting answers from helpful experts (that probably hate me by now - hahaha).I hope this works for you.Enjoy !

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

I forgot to sign my name again !!! There will be severe repercussions...Jacob.

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfruDpAcJI8

[por930 51]

Hi Jacob,Thanks for the advice. I am sure other newbie's will greatly appreciate your efforts. Was that your flight on Youtube? When the big girl arrives(still on back order it seems....) and I get my new machine built, I will begin my journey. You have come a long way from the early posts I read. Good to see you remembered your name....eventually.On a serious note though, your name gives the post a personal flavour making it easier for others to respond to a person who needs assistance, rather than reply to a note affixed by anyone. Users log on names are impersonal when assistance is being asked for... It is like when you call some one on the phone and if they asked your name, you give your phone number... RegardsGeoff

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

Geoff,What specs do you expect to invest in ? Well - when you watch the final leg of the flight - the turn to line up with the runway at RX-22 - don't forget to switch to Spot outside view to watch the beauty of your favourite livery. And the dusk skies are a must ! So as she turns - remember my reply - hahaha.