MD-11 (FSX): Two small questions

[ahinterl 1]

1.Route construction for SID and STAR portions is at times very interesting for me since the depiction of the lateral path on the ND is everything else than what I'd expect: Waypoints are generously bypassed, I get sharp edges and interesting turns etc. Sometimes, the strange paths "clean up" when the plane approaches the "problematic" portions, this is true especially for SID portions, whereas the ends of my flight plans are almost always flown "as shown on the screen". Note that I don't speak of SIDs and STARs in terms of predefined routes in the database, I mean that I enter runways and waypoints myself. The result is that I have some difficulties to construct the starts and ends of my flight paths to how I like them to look. I've discovered some ways to work around that problem (e.g. defining waypoints up to 20 NM ahead just to get a nice 180 deg right turn for instance), but especially for the STAR portion, the automatics at times have big problems following the lateral path. I know such problems exist for e.g. the 767 in real life as well, so ist that true for the MD-11 as well?2.When the plane is levelled at some altitude below crz alt (HOLD xxxxx), I had two situations when I dialed the altitude up:a) the plane immediately starts a climb:( the plane does nothing and I need to pull the altitude knobNow, I don't know what the prerequisites are to let the automatics behave the one or the other way, can someone please enlighten me?Andreas

[downscc 1,327]

I agree with your observations on ND route depictions, and most of the time I could care less if the depiction shows a smooth radius turn at a fix or a square corner... the airplane is going to fly by regardess of the depiction (unless it is a flyover fix in a terminal procedure, which are far and few between). The ND draws the route path line based on algorithms I've never understood but seems to assume things about speed that may not be true about the path when actually flown. There is also a minimum distance between fixes if you want a pretty picture, but if you start worrying about how the picture is painted instead of building a realistic route then I think you are getting off on a unproductive tangent. The PMDG experts are constantly improving their algorithms and I am expecting some real finesse in the 737NG2.0.Item 2 Altitude: The difference between one way and the other can be found by looking at the text color on the PFD... if the altitude you dial up to shows up in white, you need to either pull the knob or go to the INIT page and set a new cruise altitude. If you are planning on step climbs you should revisit the INIT page anyway... the cruise value in the FMS as shown on the INIT screen will change under certain conditions. I think that is the difference you are seeing.

[Tabs 2,790]

The issues with the magenta line actually sometimes happen in the real aircraft too from what I've been told. It has to do with the way the FMS tries to predict things and then draw the line based on changing parameters in real time. Prediction is (obviously) not always accurate. I think the line drawing prediction models on the MD-11 are the best that have been done thus far in FS and there will be more improvement for sure on the NG2. One thing that for sure throws it off is when you have a bunch of waypoints with turns in quick succession or when you have an aircraft speed/config change occurring during tight turns.

[VIPERGTSR01 22]

Is there anyway to manually enter a flyover fix? I know putting two waypoints close works pretty good but I mean flyover like some SID/STARs procedures have.

[downscc 1,327]

No, all waypoints are flyby unless the keyword OVERFLY is used in the terminal procedure file (SIDSTARS). I think this is true of the real hardware too. However, putting a second fix past the first will accomplish the same thing. Every time this question comes up (about every 3 months) I ask why this is desired because I cannot think of any enroute reason for the feature.

[VIPERGTSR01 22]

I don't want it for enroute reasons (don't need it for that), sometimes I build my own custom approaches during the flight or copy charts and procedures rather than just selecting it out of the list, which gives good practice for times I need to make fast FMC flplan adjustments, I just always found it stange that you cannot manually enter it rather than having to make another close waypoint.

[downscc 1,327]

Jay, maybe you'd like to learn how to modify/edit the sidstar procedure files? Terry has an excellent tutorial at his planepath.com site. I recommend using the 737 for testing and debugging, but you can really get fancy if you want.

[Mats_J 2]

Just to add to Dan's replies. There is no provision in the real FMC either to add fly-over points for the 737 and 747 as far as I know. The only way is to alter the terminal procedure database. In the sim or real world.Hope it helps,

[VIPERGTSR01 22]

Jay, maybe you'd like to learn how to modify/edit the sidstar procedure files? Terry has an excellent tutorial at his planepath.com site. I recommend using the 737 for testing and debugging, but you can really get fancy if you want.

Yeah I already fiddle around with them before, I always open my SID/STAR files for airports and check it out and adjust if I feel the need, because I like to know what exactly what the FMC is going to enter before I press 'insert'. But for now I am talking about custom approaches built into the flightplan page of the FMC. :)If there is no way to enter fly-over points directly into the FMC in real life then I am happy, just thought there may have been some way of doing it.