No VNAV on restart

[Richard McDonald Woods 168]

I have reloaded my flight 5 hours into a 10 hr flight EGLL-KSFO, but I cannot get VNAV.On restart the mode is shown as blank|LNAV|ALT, the IAS/MACH shows .842, and ALT at 34000 ft. Commanded speed in the AI is shown as .588 and airspeed is shown rising from .842 to OVERSPEED.I can press THR and it illuminates, and the mode changes to THR REF|LNAV|ALT, but then the a/c accelerates to OVERSPEED. If I press VNAV, it does not illuminate and the THR REF|LNAV|ALT just momentarily displays a white VNAV below the ALT.Entering a deviation heading and pressing SEL, turns out the LNAV light but the aircraft does not turn. Pressing it again illuminates the LNAV button.So I am without VNAV and, maybe, LNAV. I have tried restarting from several saved situations, but with the same result. This appears to be a bug in the restart mechanism. I have tried every combination of button combinations I can think of, including pressing the VNAV button,but to no avail. Any ideas how to recover.Cheers, R

[downscc 1,327]

I'm shooting in the dark because I've never tried to reload a flight in progress but I would first look at the LEGS pages to see if the FMC has lost data. For example, if the path prediction for TOD or step climbs, or OPT and MAX cruise is missing then that would explain the inability to use VNAV. Maybe all you need to do is update the FMC. At least this is easy to check.Hope it helps.

[Airbrakes 0]

I get this issue once in a while at cruise level.Exit VNAV by pressing ALT HLD. Then press the SPEED command so the PFD indicates SPD. You should be able to go back to VNAV.

[downscc 1,327]

That makes sense, it's the same thing I have had to do when using the FS Map then returning to the sim.

[Richard McDonald Woods 168]

>Exit VNAV by pressing ALT HLD. Then press the SPEED command so>the PFD indicates SPD. You should be able to go back to VNAV.No, I can't. Tried it in many reload situations. The route has lost all of its speed/altitude values, except for the STAR elements, and therefore VNAV is refused. I have tried entering the speed/altitude values for several succeeding waypoints, but still VNAV is refused.I feel that this problem is quite serious as it prevents me/us from starting any flights for which I/we have insufficient time to complete.Is anyone at PMDG looking into a resolution?Cheers, RichardPS Quite willing to send the saved file for somebody to try.

[downscc 1,327]

<>That's what I figured at first. It sounds like the FMC is not saving its state in the save file. What do you see when you press the VNAV button after you load the saved flight? Does it contain three pages (climb, cruise and descent) or just two (cruise and descent)?

[cavaricooper 2,613]

Richard:Have you tried re-upselecting the next waypoint to LSK1 and then pressing VNAV?For these and other varied reasons I do not use saved flights in the 744.Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png| XP Pro SP3 with FS-GS System Unification | 2 x APC UPS | Coolermaster Stacker 830 SE | Asus P5E-Deluxe (X48) | e8500 @ 4gHz | Tuniq Tower 120 | EVGA 8800GT 512MB | Sony 40" Bravia XBR | 2 x 1 GB Corsair XMS2 | 500GB Seagate Barracuda 32MB SATA2 | Corsair HX620W PS | CH Products Yoke-Pedals-Throttle Quadrant | Aerosoft 747MCP-EFIS-EICAS |

[JSACKS 0]

Richard:I have many saved flights with the PMDG 747-400 in FS2004 and they generally work fine with routes I have either saved discretely (i.e., independently of the flight I am doing) or through the standard save flight procedure within FS2004.I find that when I re-load any saved flight, what usually happens is that LNAV is active and the VNAV might be illuminated but there is no speed function indicated in the top left field of the FMA. In such a case, I press the VNAV button once and then this restores the speed function to the FMA and the autothrottle kicks in right away.When you reload a saved 744 flight you have to wait for about 10 seconds for everything to initialize on the video monitor before touching anything on the MCP. If you don't wait but start pressing switches and buttons, a lot of things can go horribly wrong quickly. During this period of loading and initializing, several things can happen: you can lose the SPD indicator on the FMA and there might even be a disconnect horn from the autopilot and/or the autothrottle mechanism as well. In some really rare and crazy cases, the landing gear might be lowered too -- at FL350 !After things reload and settle down, then push the VNAV button just once on the MCP and this should restore the SPD function. If that does not work, wait a couple of seconds, and then press the SPD button; if that does nothing, press the V/S button and if that works, then press SPD--and then press VNAV to restore things to normal.I have never experienced a situation where the LEGS or data of the LEGS disappears or otherwise gets corrupted during a reload of a saved situation with this aircraft.Hope this is of some use. If not, post again and let's review further.Cheers,Jonathan Sacks

[Richard McDonald Woods 168]

Hi Dan/Carl/Jonathan!Thanks for your help so far.I saved the flight from the FSX File Menu first, and then using the PMDG Panel State save mechanism using the same name. My plan had been to load the file using the FSX File menu and, after waiting Jonathan's 30 secs, to load the PMDG PanelState file. I haven't got as far as trying to load the PMDG PanelState.LNAV will engage. VNAV will not engage. Pressing FLCH causes it to light but appears to have no other effect. Mode is then annunciated as THR|LNAV|FLCH SPD with aircraft descending and airspeed falling from the gross OVERSPEED. The a/c eventually settled as below, but I still cannot get VNAV. Pressing FL CH illuminates SPD, and pressing THR illuminates THR and turns off light on SPD. Pressing VNAV just momentarily shows a white VNAV below the ALT in mode.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/192166.jpgCheers, Richard

[JSACKS 0]

I didn't realize you are using FSX. I am still in FS9-land!That said, and I might be wrong here, but I don't think there'll be any diff loading a saved panel state into your flight as opposed to loading a saved flight saved the regular MSFS way.Are you still losing your LEGS data on re-loading?JonathanP.S. There are some other glitches reloading saved 744 flights. One you should be aware of is that for the approach, while a valid ILS will remain programmed in the FMC, it may not activate unless you load it manually by clicking on the ILS LSK in the NavRad page of the FMC.

[Richard McDonald Woods 168]

For those on Vista/FSX, I have created a zip file containing the files needed to reproduce my problem. I can send to anyone willing to tell me their e-mail address.Cheers, Richard

[Mats_J 2]

Richard,You should not need to save a separate panel state file. The panel state is saved when you save a flight in FSX, with the same name as you entered when saving the flight. I do not know if this pertains to your problem but might be worth to look into.Hope it helps,

[Richard McDonald Woods 168]

Hi Mats,The confusion comes from statements in the PMDG747_400_OPERATING_MANUAL_V10.pdf dated 27.07.2005. Careful reading appears to imply that the author is trying to argue that ONLY MSFS saves are required to save a whole situation for later reload, and then to argue that both the MSFS and PMDG saves/reloads are required to keep everything in synch.Page 0.13 states 'The user can also save and load cockpit states from this [PMDG Menu] menu after saving flights in progress.'Page 0.14 states 'The PMDG Save Panel Menu is used to save the current state of the panel, switches and aircraft systems from within MSFS.... When the cockpit panel state, the current position of switches and key systems in the aircraft are saved for future loading of the flight simulation. we recommend using the MSFS FLIGHT/SAVE menu for saving a flight or scenario. If you save your flight using the MSFS Save Situation menu, your current cockpit state will be saved simultaneously. When later you reload this scenario, you will be right back where you left off.'Page 0.15 states 'We generally recommend matching your Save Panel State files with your MSFS saved flights.'What is the PMDG guidance on save/reload? It is important for the many pilots who fly long-haul flights.Kind regards, Richard

[Guest PSFlyer]

Had more or less the same problem, here is what works for me: Prior to saving any flight I disconnect VNAV and save just with AP in altitude and speed hold. When I come back, it seems that everything adjusts very quickly and I am exactly where I left off. The FMC gives me the "no active route" msg but do not worry, the route is still there. What I do next is I go to the PERF page and put in the cost index. Do not ask why, but that is the only thing missing on mine that prevents VNAV from working. Once I put that in I reangage VNAV and everything works like a charm.Hope that helpsPeter

[downscc 1,327]

Wow Peter, this looks like a very good workaround. At least it is worth a try by everyone trying to reload those long flights. Thanks.