Opinions about the KDFW to KJFK FMC tutorial.

[Guest]

Since I'm just getting started on PIC (I always was a late bloomer) was was wondering what opinion some of you power users of the 767 think of the tutorial in the FMC manual. I've made a half harted attempt to follow it once and it didn't seem to flow very well.Should I make a serious attempt to slog through it on a Sat afternoon or is there a better (and/or shorter) tutorial that anyone knows about?Thanks in advance for the help.Matt

[Guest]

Hi Matt,The "power users" got to be power users by reading carefully and stuying the manuals. Even after doing the tutorial you will be no where near proficient on flying the panel. A shorter tutorial will not do it justice since in reality you would need a longer more detailed tutorial. That tutorial is just designed to wet your appetite and make you desire to learn more. 767 PIC is a very good rendition of the 767 and it's systems. Therefore, I am sure you don't expect to get to learn it while sitting at the runway threshhold ready for takeoff right? The pleasure that you'll get out of the panel is proportional to the intensity of the work you put into it. All I can say is that the end result makes the effort more than worthwhile. In other words: don't be lazy and spend the time studying the panel, you have to, otherwise you will just be frustrated and you will not get the enjoyment that we all get. Regards, Pedro

[Guest]

Thanks Pedro,I do intend to do a lot of studying but I wanted to know if any of you think that the tutorial is hard to follow? Thought that maybe someone had found a better alternative. I have every intention of putting forth the effort to learn this marvelous aircraft. :)I'm just having trouble following the flow of the documentation and wondering if anyone thought the same thing or may have known of other tutorials that may exist.Matt

[Guest KB]

Hi,I really never tried the tutorial and IMO it isn't necessary. I suggest that you print all the documentation and then you start practising with the checklists. Getting the FMC programmed isn't very difficult as soon as you understand how the thing works - but you should be able to learn just fine without the tutorial. Just read, read and re-read the manual until you get it. I can promise it will be a rewarding, and very real, experience.Regards,Karl

[Guest]

Thanks for the input, Karl. I'm all set to take your advice about the manual. I've already printed the .pdf manuals for the Panel and the FMC in glorious color (damn those ink-jet cartridges are expensive;) and put in in a 3-ring binder because I know they'll get plenty of use.This airplane is fast becoming my favorite ever! And I haven't even started to do in-flight emergencies yet :) (can you say addicting)

[michal 44]

The problem with tutorials is they often put you sort of in a straight-jacket. You tend to become dependent on a sequence of events without completely understanding why you are doing whatever you are doing. Not a good way to do flying. It may really work only for extreme beginners who want to start flying fast with minimum preperation. It is much better to invest some time, read manuals and later everything will fall in places. Glancing through a tutorial won't hurt either. However I must admit that the exact takeoff procedure is one area you won't get any information from the manuals and it is fairly important. But within the last week volumes have been published here on takeoff procedures.Michael J.

[Guest KenG]

>And I haven't even started to do in-flight emergencies yet :) That is one of the reasons for why the manuals are so long and involved. There would be no way for the average person (e.g., a non-airline pilot) to handle system failures without the details provided in the manuals. They tell you not just what to push or what to do, but how things work and how they interact with other systems. These are things necessary for understanding what to do when one part of one system fails on you at FL350 in the middle of nowhere.Because of the details provided, it can make the tutorial somewhat hard to follow on first inspection. I cannot remember how exactly I reacted to it, but I remember handling it better after my second pass through the manual. I was then able to program the FMC by flipping through the pages in between the important info that I had already covered. I still made a lot of mistakes and didn't get the nice little "Pre-flight Complete" message. But eventually, I figured it out.Take it slow. There's a lot to learn.

[Guest]

Thanks Ken,It's nice to know that plodding through it all is possible. When I think about the amount of info I'll have to learn to make this plane a real challege it's pretty daunting. I'm just sad that I missed such a great product for so long :(Matt