757 Issues

[kevinh 409]

Having thought long and hard I finally bought the 757. It is mostly excellent, but there are some serious flaws which MUST be attended to.1. Aural warnings. There seem to be no flight phase aural inhibitions, so you get endless false warnings during start, shutdowns, etc. I even get ENG OIL TEMP cautions flashing sometimes on EICAS, yet the indicated oil temp is steady at 15 degrees and engine is shutdown.2. Engine sounds are not good. Did Mike Hambly have a rare off day? Especially the RR sound, which is very poor quality and doesn't sound at all like an RB211. The PW sound is better, but not that representative. There are freeware RR sound packs available, but I expect good sound to be provided on a payware sim.3. ILS tuning. The pedestal ILS tuning head is linked directly to the Captains VHF NAV tuning head, which is incorrect. The Captains VHF NAV head is meant for VOR stations, not ILS. The ILS head should be independent (and does not have an auto-tune option as far as I'm aware). I realise this may be a sim design compromise. However Level-D managed to simulate this properly on their 767.4. Engine start simulation is very poor. On the RR version, N2 and N3 seem to be tied too closely together. As soon as the engine lights up (N2 around 23%) the generators go online, the starter cuts out and the engine runs up quickly past idle before settling back. Just like the PSS 777 in fact, but it's not so obvious as there's a power glitch modelled on the 757 as the gen takes over. Generators should not go online (nor starter cutout) until around 45%-50% N3.5. Freighter models RH elevator does not move.6. Winglets do not look to be at correct angle when viewed head on. Should be nearer to vertical. They look too much like the older style winglets on the 747-400 and A330/A340.7. Why bother with the model variations for different exit configs if the emergency exits cannot be opened? The effect is visual only, could have been done in the textures, and it just adds unnecessary confusion to the file structure.8. There appears to be no way to open the crew entry door (L1) on the freighter versions. But you can open the forward lower cargo door! Why not make that control on the freighter open L1 instead? There is no reference anywhere in the manuals as to which key strokes control which doors for any model.9. One for the real 757 pilots: is it correct that the magenta fuel on cue on the lower EICAS is on N2 for the RR version? I should have thought it would be on N3. Also should EICAS come up with the STATUS page on power up, as it does in the PSS sim?10. No attempt is made to simulate the air conditioning system, yet PSS have modelled pneumatics (not very well) and pressurisation? Can't move the temperature control knobs and the zone temps remain fixed. Similarly, duct pressure is either there or it's not, nothing in between and no pressure drop with packs on or during starts.In summary there are too many default FS9 "features" in this expensive payware add-on.Sorry for the long list. I don't regret buying the 757 because it flies beautifully and the extras that are there work well. Especially the realistic way the speed bugs on the ASI can be set. Very intuitive and lifelike. Also I'm sure PSS will fix some of the flaws (they are flaws, not bugs) eventually....Kevin

[kevinh 409]

Let me be the first to admit a mistake in my list above. I finally found the door controls, at last, so that clears item 8 in my list. I had searched the manual for "door", but the list that came up in the Acrobat search window didn't look promising. "Door" was in fact there, tucked away at the end of a long line. Another post elsewhere made me look again as it referred to opening the doors from the panel.However there is still no way to open the emergency exits, so I think my point (item 7 above) regarding having different models for rear and overwing exits is still valid. It complicates things, because you have to have PW and RR versions (with and without winglets) of both exit configs. If the exits were merely painted, that would halve the number of 757-200 models necessary. That being said, point 7 is not so much a flaw as an annoyance, easily dealt with.Also, I noticed that when you open the pax doors you can see an attempt has been made to draw seats to make the cabin appear to be modelled, but the perspective is all wrong. The freighter shows containers, cargo net, etc. so looks more realistic.Kevin

[Cthulhus 0]

I totaly agree about that mistake on the current version... Hope all points will be corrected on the next version ...This addon can be the best addon ever ...

[Guest bjjones]

"It complicates things, because you have to have PW and RR versions (with and without winglets) of both exit configs. If the exits were merely painted, that would halve the number of 757-200 models necessary. That being said, point 7 is not so much a flaw as an annoyance, easily dealt with."I agree entirely with that, but the different models are necessary because the windows are cut out of the model, to have one model usable with both exit configurations would have meant leaving a large gap behind the wing to cater for the hatch, no good if you have overwings, where the following windows should then be uninterupted.On a personal note, I prefer to paint both windows and exits...

[Gerabus 0]

Kevin,I would like to compliment you on ans excellent review. All valid defect points made very clear.PSS, comments and actions please.Gerry

[kevinh 409]

Ben,Such attention to detail is amazing. Shame only the window and rivet counting fraternity will notice :)Kevin

[ghiom 2]

helloNice and precise review.About the bug set on ASI.Can you please describe how you can easily set them properly? (Is this in the manuals?)Thank youGhiom

[taguilo 33]

Hi,>As soon as the engine lights up (N2 around 23%) Fuel is normally commanded on at 25% N3; at that moment N2 values range from 8 to 10 % (23 is way off)> Generators should not go online (nor starter cutout) until around 45%-50% N3.That is correct.>is it correct that the magenta fuel on cue on the lower EICAS is on N2 for the RR version? I should have thought it would be on N3.No, but you are right, it should be on N3 gauge.>Also should EICAS come up with the STATUS page on power up, as it does in the PSS sim? No, secondary engine parameters come up when EICAS initially receives power.Hope this helps,Tom

[Guest Steve_Park]

>hello>Nice and precise review.>About the bug set on ASI.>Can you please describe how you can easily set them properly?>(Is this in the manuals?)>Thank you>GhiomGhiom, If you are asking how to move them, it's a simple, just put your mouse pointer on the bug, hold the left mouse button down and move it to where you want it. Note that the pointer does NOT turn into a hand like normal click point's. If you are asking about the speed's to set them, that's in the performaance manual's and FMS for take off's and approach's.Steve Park

[ghiom 2]

I know they can moveHowever, I hope there would be a click spit to AUTO set the bugs, like in some other Lxxx767.I hope PSS will implement.(this is for people like me who have very little time to enjoy their hobby and would like all not-flying tasks to be made quicker).Thank youRegardsGhiom

[kevinh 409]

On the real aircraft, there is no auto bug set selection. That's exactly what I like about this set-up. On the PSS 757 if you want to use the speed bugs properly you have to do it as a pilot would. However, there are no fiddly +/- clickspots to find and use, just touch and slide the bugs. As the bugs come together, they slide together. So setting the double bug becomes easy too. With a little practice, it becomes second nature and it's very satisfying to do this in a realistic way. The sim tells you what V1, VR and V2 are, which is all you need. The flap retraction bug settings are just fixed speed offsets from V2. So there's no need to delve into the charts if you don't wish to. Similarly for landing speeds.Kevin

[kevinh 409]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. So the magenta bug should be on N3, not N2 and the lower EICAS should initialise to the ENGINE page. The pages should display automatically in some circumstances too, but I haven't had time to see if they do yet.It looks as if PSS simply factored N2 up a little to make N3. Unfortunately it then looks like N2 and N3 are directly geared together rather than mechanically independent shafts. In fact, you can make a very convincing looking generic engine maths model in next to no time. I knocked one up in a couple of hours for a demo once. It's as easy to do it right as to do it badly. To do a proper dynamic three shaft engine model takes much longer of course, but this is not really necessary for a PC sim.Kevin

[kevinh 409]

I knew there was something else I noticed.....11. The landing gear tilts too much in flight. The 757 gear tilts, but only about half as much as much as depicted in the PSS model.12. Having checked out the speed tape on the 777, I had a look at the 757 version, and it seems to suffer from the same issue, i.e. the stall buffet margin is too small and stall speeds are consequently low. The stall buffet box should extend up to about 1.2 Vs. Currently, stall speed Vs is about 10 kts too low and the buffet boundary starts at what should be Vs.Kevin