HiIt's true that I am still new to MD11. I also admit I haven't read all the manuals from cover to cover. But still I can't believe that I can't take off in at least four out of five flights.I accelerate to 70%, press AutoFlight and... nothing happens. It stubbornly remains in T/O Clamp, there are no F/O calls, and I almost always end up frantically braking 50 feet before the end of rwy. I also tried (in vain) to arm AutoFlight before entering the rwy.I'm doing preflight carefully step by step by the manual&tutorial and before takeoff there are no alert messages (except blue NoSmoking, SeatBelts, and AutoBrake T/O), and there is green rectangle indicating I should be good to go.Yesterday I was a little frustrated and I thought, autoflight? I don't need no stinkin' autoflight, and continued T/O pushing throttles manually. At 400ft I heard a sudden rapid fire: 80 knots!, v1, rotate!, v2... all in 1 second. It seems like it simply cannot catch up with the display. Maybe I should get on the rwy, then take a drink or two giving some time to let the internal state synchronize with the display before attempting TO? Is my hardware that slow?Anyone has some advice?Thank youDaniel S.

HiIt's true that I am still new to MD11. I also admit I haven't read all the manuals from cover to cover. But still I can't believe that I can't take off in at least four out of five flights.I accelerate to 70%, press AutoFlight and... nothing happens. It stubbornly remains in T/O Clamp, there are no F/O calls, and I almost always end up frantically braking 50 feet before the end of rwy. I also tried (in vain) to arm AutoFlight before entering the rwy.I'm doing preflight carefully step by step by the manual&tutorial and before takeoff there are no alert messages (except blue NoSmoking, SeatBelts, and AutoBrake T/O), and there is green rectangle indicating I should be good to go.Yesterday I was a little frustrated and I thought, autoflight? I don't need no stinkin' autoflight, and continued T/O pushing throttles manually. At 400ft I heard a sudden rapid fire: 80 knots!, v1, rotate!, v2... all in 1 second. It seems like it simply cannot catch up with the display. Maybe I should get on the rwy, then take a drink or two giving some time to let the internal state synchronize with the display before attempting TO? Is my hardware that slow?Anyone has some advice?Thank youDaniel S.

Hi Daniel!One question though. Have you followed the 1 Tutorial to the letter?....../ Leffe

Hi Daniel!One question though. Have you followed the 1 Tutorial to the letter?....../ Leffe

The first tutorial? Well, it was some time ago. I remember I started from another gate, and maybe did some other minor deviation that, to my opinion, should not influence the takeoff. But I do remember the first takeoff was unsuccessful exactly because of that: T/O thrust was ignored. The second time I tried was ok and I completed the flight normally.Do you have some special step in mind that I could overlook in the tutorial that could provoke such behavior?

Hi,Autoflight doesn't do anything on the ground except armin the A/T. You still have to push the throttles forward manualy until you hear a click.And if you have a green box on the EAD then everything should be fine for T/O.Hope it helps,Ramon Jansen

Thank you, Ramon,yes I understand that, but this click you mention - I don't hear it. I push the throttles to about 70%, and continue to push slowly expecting to hear the click, but alas... no click, no T/O thrust announcement, no "v" calls, no acceleration.The funny thing is that sometimes it agrees to behave properly. After an unsuccessful t/o I speed back to the starting position without changing anything, not even turning off HI lights or transponder, just arming Autoflight again, and the second (or third, or fourth) time it just gets bored to resist me, and "Thrust" announcement replaces the "Clamp" for a second and everything goes by the book.Daniel

What do you use as thrust lever? A hardware device like on the Saitek yoke? Perhaps the hardwrae needs calibrating...Andrew

What do you use as thrust lever? A hardware device like on the Saitek yoke? Perhaps the hardwrae needs calibrating...

The N1 indication is raising normally. Would that be the case if my thrust lever (on a Logitech stick) is not working properly? But I'll try to recalibrate. Thanks Andrew, any brainstorming idea helps.I was thinking could it have something to do with flex temp? Having no additional software to calculate it I just always put the value 50. Is it that sensitive and should it be a more precise value?I forgot to mention - during T/O when I press AutoFlight I see the white frame around the flight mode indicators (top of PFD) turns amber for a second, like I'm doing something that's not permitted.

I hate to ask the obvious, but from reading your first post it sounds like you may be either out of practice or unsure of some things (not meant to offend, but the way I read it). Are you setting your stab trim? If not, you can floor it all the way down the tarmac and in most cases not get your wheels off the ground.

I hate to ask the obvious, but from reading your first post it sounds like you may be either out of practice or unsure of some things (not meant to offend, but the way I read it). Are you setting your stab trim? If not, you can floor it all the way down the tarmac and in most cases not get your wheels off the ground.

just to add me thoughts bout trim if he says hes got the green box on the bottom everythings is good to go trim is set slats are good brakes are off etc so by all things good to go on;ly thing i can think off is u getting thing back to front in the take off roll when advancing the throttles fully u shud get the click sound after u go past 70 percent and than u shud see clamp on the top right hand of the pfd this happens as long as u press the auto once and nav once once in air above 400 feet press auto again to command a/c to auto flight than press pro to command a/c to vertical mode. if all fails go abck to the first lesson as follow it to the letter if still no good mite need to reinstall the md 11 by simple doing an repair option

True, but having been in the support field for many years (way too many) sometime people "May" list things they know should be present. So being the only thing that would keep someone from getting off of the ground is stab trim or parking brake set, and I did not read anything about "green box" anywhere mentioned until your post.But as far as the callouts all happening as stated in the first post that will happen ocasionally if there is something spiking the cpu (ie. in task manager cpu usage is @ 99 for a process, normally seen in a screwed up svhost.exe). After the cpu gets it's freedom back it catches up as he described. The hardware specs are fine, but let's also not rule out the possibility of a bad sector in a memory stick. That too can cause this same type of hiccup. Memory full is another...I have bought many new sticks of high grade ram and had bum chips. Not to mention my earlier days of handling ram were careless, being that even though I though I was careful (Very), I still touched it. Just to share some known facts, but when you touch something it has to be atleast 8000volts to even feel the slightest static shock but to fry a memory chip only takes 3k.I would test the ram if the problem happens very often with memtest. Other possibility is there is something bogarting the cpu and dumping into to ram too often, such as a virus scanner or win update running. Do you have all your programs running in the background under control?When I experience issues like this, and consistantly, I run task manager and FSX in windowed mode, sometimes for a couple days before I can capture it and try and catch what process is causing the hang up.Just some more food for thought.

Thanks Pete, I'll keep on trying. I usually arm NAV and PROF before entering the runway, but it should make no difference. So, back to the drawing board, the first lessons. As Dan said, yes I am still unsure of some things. I don't spend much time in the air, but if I manage to get up there I feel like winning lottery. Looking forward to ngx. Those Boeings are so more... well... logical. I've flown hundreds of hours on the old pmdg 737ng without such problems.Dan,I do sometimes try to start moving my car with parking brake on, but with (simulated) aircraft I'm more careful :( I too am a "help desk" for software products for 20 years, and I know how "intelligent" users tend to be.About the memory test, good idea, I'll run memtest86 as soon as I come home.Thank you.Daniel S.

We'll get you sorted in time, just keep at it! :)If you have set up the FMS correctly, the trim setting necessary will be on the takeoff page. If engines are not running, power the AUX Pump 1 (I think, from memory, in the real world office, and not in my favourite trijet office...), and you can set the STAB trim to the required value. On takeoff roll, at Vr, the aircraft will rotate easily...I just had a go at one of the smartcockpit.com questionnaires. I tried the autoflight one specifically, and although I did not pass it, I managed 74% without looking up in the manuals... this a testamant to the level of simulation depth offered by the PMDG MD-11. I would never have got anything near 70% with just reading the manual now and then prior... The MD-11 is also logical, just a different logic involved, that's all :(Andrew

We'll get you sorted in time, just keep at it! :)If you have set up the FMS correctly, the trim setting necessary will be on the takeoff page. If engines are not running, power the AUX Pump 1 (I think, from memory, in the real world office, and not in my favourite trijet office...), and you can set the STAB trim to the required value. On takeoff roll, at Vr, the aircraft will rotate easily...I just had a go at one of the smartcockpit.com questionnaires. I tried the autoflight one specifically, and although I did not pass it, I managed 74% without looking up in the manuals... this a testamant to the level of simulation depth offered by the PMDG MD-11. I would never have got anything near 70% with just reading the manual now and then prior... The MD-11 is also logical, just a different logic involved, that's all :( Andrew

Hi Daniel,Just a thought...I had a similar experience with the MD-11 having just got it. This was with the cargo variant and the GE engines, not the PW's as in the tutorial. Again throttled to around 70% N1 but no luck. As a test, I tried the F4 key for max thrust. Once I did this I got the clicks and the "thrust set" messages etc". If the FMS is set up correctly my understanding is that it should limit thrust to the programmed max setting so you won't stress the engines too much!. By doing this, you'll be able to test if you're able to take off at all. If you have a chance to get a screen shot of the FMS settings for take off this would also help.Any messages below the LSKs/RSKs at the bottom of this screen would also be helpful.For me, now i typically throttle up to 80-85% N1 for the GE engines and this gets the aircraft rolling and then autothrust kicks in.RegardsMark

...I was thinking could it have something to do with flex temp? Having no additional software to calculate it I just always put the value 50. Is it that sensitive and should it be a more precise value?...

Flex derates the engines, so if you were at full load and full fuel on a short runway, you could run into this problem. Flex is optional and you should only enter a value for Flex temp if you know what and why. I suggest leaving it blank until you have done some more research.The other thing I would suggest is that you get into the habit of moving the throttle to full, not 70%. The click indicates that auto-throttle 'should' have taken over, but I have lots of things that make a similar sound and during take-off roll is not a good time to be wondering was that click the autothrottle or the mouse cable. Even if you have forgotten to activate (or it fails), 100% throttle will give you a safe take off, 70% wont!

Paul, FLEX doesn't derate the engine.FLEX tricks the engine into acting as if it were a lot warmer outside than it is. The engine's maximum power output is still available. You tell the system it is warmer than it actually is, and the system calculates the maximum thrust the engine can produce at that temperature. As long as you have the tarmac real estate available for the increased run, the effect is to reduce wear and tear on the engine by not running it at maximum thrust unless absolutely.DE-RATE actually physically limits the maximum thrust the engine has, the 60kN option as opposed to the 62kN option...@Daniel: You advance thrust to say 70% N1 and allow the engines to stabilize, then you should push the levers up further until the click of the ATS kicks in, don't leave the thrust levers at the 70% N1 setting, you might never get off the ground at MTOW at that rate...Andrew