Where's my excel loadsheet?

[victorlima01 2]

Hello guys. I downloaded the official release verison and cannot find the escel spreadsheet to load the plane. I would also like to learn how to use it. There are no instructions! How does the weight data get saved to the aircraft.cfg file? Thank you for the time taken to help. Victor

[Jim Harnes 13]

Victor,The load sheet is in the FSAircraftPSS-B722LR folder.You'll have to enter passengercargo, etc and fuel loads in the appropriate cells. The loadsheet will calculate everything and then, at least for now, you must enter the passenger, cargo, etc load figures in the aircraft.cfg file.The %MAC is enter in the CDU, which then gives you the elevator trim.Jim Harnes

[victorlima01 2]

Thank you for the answer Jim.Now this is what I really don't get from PSS. Every other developer out there who's up to PSS standards has made separate programs for pax and cargo loading that will automatically update the aircraft file. It is very annoying that PSS who will take the time to develop such an advanced sim will not put the final coat of paint and deliver us a full package with such a program. IMHO it is very annoying to have to enter all data into an excel spreadsheet and then load it into the plane via the FS2004 load utility. They could have done a better job on that part. A manual telling us how to spread the cargo around the cargo compartment would also be nice since we're not all dispatchers and I for one do not have a clue as to how to spread cargo around so that I will get an acceptable CoG. Victor

[Jim Harnes 13]

Sure will be nice to get the load and fuel planners I see discussion on!!The other high-quality addons have me spoiled in that regard :)Jim Harnes

[Guest Pro-Sim]

Maybe just be patient Victor. It's the nature of advanced flight sim development that not everything comes out at once.If it did, you might still be waiting to fly the 777....Also, many Airline Despatch / Load Sheet departments actually use tools that look more like the Excel spreadsheet and less like the glossy tools that come with some add-ons.David.

[Guest FattyBear]

Well that's nice. I don't even have Excel so I can only view the spreadsheets with excelviewer.

[victorlima01 2]

I guess you're right David. Pacience is a virtue. And I don't have a whole lot of that! And I can also appreciate that the escel spreadsheet is actually more accurate than our nice glossy loaders. But I am a virtual pilot, not a virtual dispatcher, so I care more about getting it all done clean and fast so I can get into the cockpit and make the bird lift off ;) Now, I am sure that there are many people out there who loved this spreadsheet and I respect that. But I do wish for an "aircraft loader for dummies (or pilots who don't wanna be dispatchers)"http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/800driver.jpg

[Guest Pro-Sim]

Fair point Victor. I'm sure one will come along soon but I would rather see the 'bobbing' in cruise fixed first and some work on the Sound.Observations on Sound:-- Environment sounds. As per PSS A320/A340 the cockpit silence before engine start is not good. Let's have at least a buzz while the APU is on. I'm not comparing, but the Level D 767 has this modelled beautifully. - Wind Noise. Ok so PMDG didn;t get this right with the 747 but the theory is right. The 777 (again like the A340) is all engine sound in the air. It would be better to have the engine sound reducing a little and more air noise above 210IAS (again, Level D does this best at the moment).Love the plane though - just views on future improvements.David.

[kevinh 409]

>Observations on Sound:->>- Environment sounds. As per PSS A320/A340 the cockpit silence>before engine start is not good. Let's have at least a buzz>while the APU is on. I'm not comparing, but the Level D 767>has this modelled beautifully. >>- Wind Noise. Ok so PMDG didn;t get this right with the 747>but the theory is right. The 777 (again like the A340) is all>engine sound in the air. It would be better to have the engine>sound reducing a little and more air noise above 210IAS>(again, Level D does this best at the moment).>>Love the plane though - just views on future improvements.>>David.Older aircraft, and that includes the 767, had a lot of electrical whine at 400 Hz frequency. Modern glass cockpits are very quiet, even after the engines are started. You certainly won't hear the APU, nor can it buzz in any way. Unlike the PMDG 747, the PSS 777 has no mechanical standby altimeter, so you won't hear that buzzing either. I prefer the realism of the silent cockpit. I don't want to hear spurious cues just so there's an audible response to the APU generator coming on line.I agree with you about sounds in the air. Once the engines go to CLB power and the aircraft accelerates to climb speed, wind is about all you will hear.

[kevinh 409]

Regarding the Excel loadsheet, PSS should really have provided instructions on it's use. Requiring people to manually update the aircraft.cfg file is not good. Apart from everything else, having to locate the .cfg files each time you want to fly the 777 is going to be a real drag. I know you can make shortcuts to them, but my desktop is cluttered enough as it is.The Airbus Pro series came with a load edit program, so why not the 777? I like the way fuel load can be set up inside the sim, so why not the weight and balance too, with simple entries for pax, baggage, cargo and CG.What about users with no Excel, or Excel compatible, spreadsheet? A product like this should not rely on external applications which may not be available. The ideal would be a load editor application provided with the product, which looked like a load sheet, but with simple entries for number of passengers, containers and fuel quantity. Outputs should then automatically update aircraft.cfg as usual. The spreadsheets could at least be friendlier to use, with highlighted cells for data entry and for the data to be copied to aircraft.cfg. Perhaps a grey background for cells which should not be touched, rather than grey text. It might be a good idea to make the spreadsheets read only files.