A little Heads-Up on the NGX...

[michal 44]

Wouldn't an autoland be safer? Less fun, but safer.

There is probably no sufficient data in the world to determine which of the two is safer (was there even a single incident/accident attributed to CATIII ??). I think it has much less to do with 'safety' but with how airlines view the role of a pilot versus automation. It's all highly subjective, it is vanilla ice cream against the chocolate :(

[Spionen 0]

Please release this aircraft soon... I'm running out of popcorn!

[JHepburn 0]

Wouldn't an autoland be safer? Less fun, but safer.

I believe there have been a few accidents recently that have been partly a result of the pilot being out of the feedback loop (i.e. hands on throttle and stick). In a high-workload environment like CATIII conditions (or vectors to a very short final) sometimes people miss important automated "things" (like the throttles coming back to idle as a result of a failed radio altimeter).I don't pretend to know why Southwest does what it does, but it seems reasonable to think that, armed with the appropriate data (and at the appropriate delivery rate), the pilot could be the safest system to land the plane.

[WestAir 2,524]

I don't know about some of you other pilots, but anytime I have to turn on the autopilot I get this strange feeling like it doesn't know what it's doing. I just feel like the AP is going to flip the plane upside-down or something crazy. I'm perfectly fine with the AP in FS, but anytime I use an AP outside of it I suddenly grow a fear of flying.I just get this idea that the AP doesn't seem to care if we crash into a hill or not. :(

[ahsmatt7 1,201]

I don't know about some of you other pilots, but anytime I have to turn on the autopilot I get this strange feeling like it doesn't know what it's doing. I just feel like the AP is going to flip the plane upside-down or something crazy. I'm perfectly fine with the AP in FS, but anytime I use an AP outside of it I suddenly grow a fear of flying.I just get this idea that the AP doesn't seem to care if we crash into a hill or not. :(

Thats interesting you say that about the AP. I am working on my IFR and about to do my check ride. However, my instructor has been trying to to get me to use the autopilot to fly at least one approach before the check ride. I wont do it. I feel like I have more control and that I can be more precise if I hand fly the approach. Next time when you are flying, when you turn on the AP make sure its actually doing what you want it to do and then you probably wont feel so bad about it.

[WestAir 2,524]

Thats interesting you say that about the AP. I am working on my IFR and about to do my check ride. However, my instructor has been trying to to get me to use the autopilot to fly at least one approach before the check ride. I wont do it. I feel like I have more control and that I can be more precise if I hand fly the approach. Next time when you are flying, when you turn on the AP make sure its actually doing what you want it to do and then you probably wont feel so bad about it.

A few of my friends and I rented 2 planes to eat breakfast at Sedona (KSEZ), and we decided to fly one plane IFR and the other VFR to see which was more efficient in fuel/time. Mid-way through my buddy turns to me and says "Hey, you're over-controlling the plane and wasting extra fuel. Turn on the AP and we'll save like 10 minutes off our cruise time." - So I let him turn on the AP and it immediately began fighting the light turbulence we had. Then it started to roll the plane to the left.Once it rolled to about 20 degrees while fighting the very light turbulence I shut it off and we agreed not to try that again. As an aside, the other guys who flew VFR made it a lot more efficiently, but that was probably due to my 3 go arounds trying to land at Sedonas runway. It has sheer cliffs off both ends of the runway that give some insane up/downdrafts. :( I tried the autopilot in some of the Siminoles I've flown, but it always seems to want to over-correct for everything. Maybe I'll like the AP more when I fly something that uses more than just a 2 axis AP.

[WTE_Pharoah 7]

virtual cabins??? why would you want those? last time I checked, FSX is a flying simulator not an airline passenger simulator! I could use every fps I can get.

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Gents-I wouldn't make any judgments about about the autopilots in use aboard airliners based on your experience in GA airplanes.GA airplanes for the most part are using rate-based autopilots that are very good for still air, but do only a marginal job controlling the airplane in turbulence or anything beyond light winds.Inertial autopilots are FAR more precise and don't have the problems that plague rate-based systems.Now- as to whether pilots should/should not use the automation- and whether airlines should set policies that require pilots surrender the airplane to automation under certain conditions- here is my opinion (based on my experience flying GA airplanes, warbirds, airliners and being an airline Chief Pilot):The person who should decide whether to use the automation or to fly the airplane is the Captain. Both crew members should be entirely and completely comfortable with all phases of the automation available to them, but they should also be entirely and completely proficient in all aspects of flying the airplane manually.An airline that requires their pilots surrender to automation is betting the house on the fact that no failure will ever happen that would render the automation useless, requiring airmanship in conditions where better alternatives aren't available.Example: I had a dual screen failure on both sides of the airplane AND dual AHRS failure as a result of water that was allowed to enter the flight deck when a window was left open during a period of significant rain. Me and my brand new first officer wound up shooting an approach to just above minimums on the standby gauges, which isn't fun- but we weren't all that concerned about it because we were comfortable operating the airplane manually...Counter Example: The pilots that crashed that 737-800 because of the radalt failure should shoulder 100% of the blame for that accident. They were busily engaging in conversation and non-essential activities while the airplane's systems failed all around them. They then made gross errors while attempting to recover airspeed and ultimately crashed their airplane, killing people who trusted them to pay closer attention to the jobs for which they were being paid. It was inexcusable...At any rate- I am a HUGE believer in automation- but you have to know what its limitations are- and you have to know how to make it reduce your workload... Hope that helps. :-D(Oh- and BTW: The fellow above who talked about leaving the A/P off after discovering that the conditions were too much for it to handle... GOOD DECISION!)

[Guest acezboy561]

I forgot to add in my post, its good to see that Lotus Sim arent the only ones with the knowledge for the HUGS! There (not the same) version does the exact same as yours.By the way, an awesome patch is coming for the L-39, should be released Monday if us testers for it dont find any unwanted bugs.

[WestAir 2,524]

(Oh- and BTW: The fellow above who talked about leaving the A/P off after discovering that the conditions were too much for it to handle... GOOD DECISION!)

Thank you sir! I also appreciate the little stories you tell us and how they relate to our discussions at hand. Not many people have stories as interesting, and educational, as some of the few you've said over the years. I always enjoy them.

[nicolas83 1]

Good morning together ;-)I'm sure in the mauals for the NGX these things are explained, but i'm very exited about this HUD/HUGS and want to know what is a ...... velocity vector?... 3 degree glide-path marker?... angle of attack indicator?The other things i think are self explaining, but these three things i have never heard. Sorry if it was already explained anywhere in this thread. Thanks very much for an explanation ;-)NicolasPS: Absolute fantastic work PMDG!!!

[fozzy 1]

velocity vector and 3 degree glide path marker have been explained earlier in this thread (to sum it up: where you are going and where you would be going on a 3 degree glide) and the aoa indicator is already part of the 737 NG instruments, and described in the docs and it's quite self explaining by itself too it shows the angle of attack....

[eurocat2k 0]

angle of attack indicator -> wing's angle relative to the airflow (if its too high, you risk to stall or strike the tail at land, if its too low or turns into neg, you will too fast and or nail the bird into the ground or so...)velocity vector symbol -> shows where the aircraft is actually going, the sum of all forces acting on the aircraft3 deg glide path marker -> This symbol shows the aircraft current (vertical) position relative to the glide angle - usually 3 degrees. The Localizer and Glide Path combine to bring the aircraft to a point where the aircraft is 50 feet high at the runway threshold (decision point). Now as it seems this bird currently under shoots the target ... :)may be I'm wrong...

[Marcel11 0]

Good morningI miss the dual land indicator and flare for autoland?Best regardsMarcel

[Aeroguidance 0]

A few of my friends and I rented 2 planes to eat breakfast at Sedona (KSEZ), and we decided to fly one plane IFR and the other VFR to see which was more efficient in fuel/time. Mid-way through my buddy turns to me and says "Hey, you're over-controlling the plane and wasting extra fuel. Turn on the AP and we'll save like 10 minutes off our cruise time." - So I let him turn on the AP and it immediately began fighting the light turbulence we had. Then it started to roll the plane to the left.Once it rolled to about 20 degrees while fighting the very light turbulence I shut it off and we agreed not to try that again. As an aside, the other guys who flew VFR made it a lot more efficiently, but that was probably due to my 3 go arounds trying to land at Sedonas runway. It has sheer cliffs off both ends of the runway that give some insane up/downdrafts. :( I tried the autopilot in some of the Siminoles I've flown, but it always seems to want to over-correct for everything. Maybe I'll like the AP more when I fly something that uses more than just a 2 axis AP.

Greetings,Having flown in and out of Sedona myself I can vouch for those wicked cliffs for a relatively short runway. They are pretty freaky even in the best of weather, can't imagine trying an approach there in any kind of turbulence. I promise you the Hundred Dollar Hamburger is well worth it though ;)-Matt