I am thnking of purchasing the 747 for FS2004. If I fli from London to Hong Kong, can I once I have reached cruising altitude 'move the aircraft on the map' to about a hour from HK. If so, will the FMC still be working and accurate and will the fuel level be depleted.

No.I could explain further, but where some are willing to take shortcuts in the air, I am willing to take an equal shortcut in my post.

Interested as I am in the subject, I don't think I really want to spend twelve hours staring at a computer screen. Jim

No.I could explain further, but where some are willing to take shortcuts in the air, I am willing to take an equal shortcut in my post.

You could always leave and then come back and check up hourly?

With flights of more than three quarters of an hour or so, it is convenient to 'move the aircraft' and resume just prior to descent. I am surprised that PMDG have missed that out. I think I'll stick to my 737-900 and save my £50!JimPS It was bad enough doing the non-stop Heathrow - Hong Kong in real life. At least in the Canadair 4's you stopped every couple of hours which broke the monotony...........

With flights of more than three quarters of an hour or so, it is convenient to 'move the aircraft' and resume just prior to descent. I am surprised that PMDG have missed that out. I think I'll stick to my 737-900 and save my £50!JimPS It was bad enough doing the non-stop Heathrow - Hong Kong in real life. At least in the Canadair 4's you stopped every couple of hours which broke the monotony...........

PMDG didn't need to bother, since Microsoft had already done the job for them. Just use time compression (within reasonable limits, 8x or even 16x seem to work OK for the autopilot, especially if your flight plan doesn't have sharp turns ).Another way to do it is to leave time compression alone and (as in real life by the way) for you (the captain) to go in the back and take a nap, leaving the plane on autopilot (or in the hands of both co-pilots in real life). In both cases, you can prevent MSFS from cancelling your IFR flight for lack of response to the ATC : When you sign off from one en-route controller, you just don't sign in with the next and wait until the end of the trip (probably around TOD) to sign-in with the local controller. I don't own the 747 and I very rarely fly long flights,so maybe others have found a better way but this works for me.Bruno

PMDG didn't need to bother, since Microsoft had already done the job for them. Just use time compression (within reasonable limits, 8x or even 16x seem to work OK for the autopilot, especially if your flight plan doesn't have sharp turns ).Another way to do it is to leave time compression alone and (as in real life by the way) for you (the captain) to go in the back and take a nap, leaving the plane on autopilot (or in the hands of both co-pilots in real life). In both cases, you can prevent MSFS from cancelling your IFR flight for lack of response to the ATC : When you sign off from one en-route controller, you just don't sign in with the next and wait until the end of the trip (probably around TOD) to sign-in with the local controller. I don't own the 747 and I very rarely fly long flights,so maybe others have found a better way but this works for me.Bruno

Thanks for ther tip. I will try it and see what happens.

Bruno posted the best alternatives.They also offered the option of Pause at Top of Descent so you can let it fly and come back to land. As far as compression goes, there is a maximum to the compression that the autopilot can accept, so you may want to look for that. I don't know it and never bothered to look for it, because I refuse to use compression.To be honest, with such a complicated simulation of realism, I'm guessing they went down the route of satisfying realists instead of those who would like to simulate the movie Jumper.

Bruno posted the best alternatives.They also offered the option of Pause at Top of Descent so you can let it fly and come back to land. As far as compression goes, there is a maximum to the compression that the autopilot can accept, so you may want to look for that. I don't know it and never bothered to look for it, because I refuse to use compression.To be honest, with such a complicated simulation of realism, I'm guessing they went down the route of satisfying realists instead of those who would like to simulate the movie Jumper.

How the long Scandinavian winter nights must fly................ If I were to sit here for twelve hours staring at a computer screen, my wife would have me carted off by a group of men in white coats. I should imagine that the majority are happy to take a 'plane up to cruising level and then, after a pause of ten minutes, start the descent.

I never said you had to sit there the whole time. Ideally, you'll set it up on cruise and walk off with the option "Pause at Top of Descent" checked. Then, whenever you decide to show back up, you can descend and land the thing.

Definitely try the PMDG 747. It's a piece of work. If you move the plane via map, the FMC flightplan will be off, but you can easily edit it for approach. Some of the fun is taking over a 747 then landing it like it was an out of the blue emergency. Finding and getting an approach. And/or landing the 747 manually while following an approach best as you can. Also try 747 with RadarContact. You can put your own waypoints by editing the flightplan file of FSX and importing into RC, and copy a PACOT , or Atlantic routes. The PMDG747 FMC can enter the custom waypoints just like the real one too. RC also simulates the period of no RC over an expanse of ocean and waits until you restablish contact as you approach an island or land again. Actually RC will ask you to acknowledge (wake up call:) You can also set a pause on a set radius of miles from destination in RC. If you suddenly appear near an aiport. You can ask for an IFR plan anytime with RC in midflight before approach also. RadarContact acts as another air traffic control and takes over FSX ATC when it's on. It shows up as a small window (customizable) similar to the regular transparaent FSX ATC window. Also it controls the AI traffic better. And as mentioned you don't have to stare. Set it on autopilot, and minimize FSX. Of course changing wind conditions or a developing thunderstorm or something in the way. And you could lose points with scared passengers with FSXPassengers if you have it on. But then you can use ActiveSky to see the weather forecast and plan for it if you want. But usually the latest PACOT or Atlantic can change daily as they plan for weather changes. My only problem is my computer sometimes locks up and reboots from bluescreen. I'm not sure why; bad graphic card, my Vista64 is corrupted, overheating maybe? But if it doesn't, FSX can handle those 10+ hour flights.

As someone who used to almost routinely fly long haul flights on the PMDG 744, the suggestions above are close to what I used to do. Mind you I usually would fly the London to SFO or Seattle routes were a bit shorter than London to Hong Kong. Only did that route twice. Also did the insane Sydney to SFO once; all the above in real time. Of course then I got a girlfriend and had to choose one or the other. :PAnyway, what I would do (and still do when I get the chance) is obviously fly up to my initial cruise altitude. Then I let the autopilot do its thing and take note of when the expected step climb is in the FMC, and check back in usually about 10 minutes before. Keep in mind that the FMC will also give you an ETA at your destination. Just make a note of it and come back about and hour before just to see what's going on. As for the radios, I do use Radar Contact and just let the co-pilot handle them starting at the taxi clearance. It's much easier and more realistic.To be honest, I do check back usually every half hour or so myself but if you just note the FMC times for certain events (step climbs and your arrival), you could come back even less than that.Also, it's actually the fuel system that's limited to time acceleration. The limit is 8x. For one, even at 8x you may notice the engines flame out every now and then. This is due to the complexity of the fuel system compared to the default FS one. As for moving the aircraft via the map window, you just need to find your next nearest waypoint after you move and put in a Direct To in the FMC but remember that you DID NOT burn off all that fuel. You'll either have to takeoff lite (and you will get an INSUFFICIENT FUEL warning) or dump fuel or even land heavy.

Very well, you have succeeded in selling em the 747 for FS2004 but I thinki I shall solve the long distance problem by assuming that one of the overnights from America returns from Edinburgh and is used on a domestic flight - which I shall command - in between!

Very well, you have succeeded in selling em the 747 for FS2004 but I thinki I shall solve the long distance problem by assuming that one of the overnights from America returns from Edinburgh and is used on a domestic flight - which I shall command - in between!

Don't forget you need to sign your posts.

Many thanks. So move the aircraft on the map, note the next waypoint and direct to on the FMC. Not all that disimilar to the procedure with MS aircraft. Thanks again.

As someone who used to almost routinely fly long haul flights on the PMDG 744, the suggestions above are close to what I used to do. Mind you I usually would fly the London to SFO or Seattle routes were a bit shorter than London to Hong Kong. Only did that route twice. Also did the insane Sydney to SFO once; all the above in real time. Of course then I got a girlfriend and had to choose one or the other. :PAnyway, what I would do (and still do when I get the chance) is obviously fly up to my initial cruise altitude. Then I let the autopilot do its thing and take note of when the expected step climb is in the FMC, and check back in usually about 10 minutes before. Keep in mind that the FMC will also give you an ETA at your destination. Just make a note of it and come back about and hour before just to see what's going on. As for the radios, I do use Radar Contact and just let the co-pilot handle them starting at the taxi clearance. It's much easier and more realistic.To be honest, I do check back usually every half hour or so myself but if you just note the FMC times for certain events (step climbs and your arrival), you could come back even less than that.Also, it's actually the fuel system that's limited to time acceleration. The limit is 8x. For one, even at 8x you may notice the engines flame out every now and then. This is due to the complexity of the fuel system compared to the default FS one. As for moving the aircraft via the map window, you just need to find your next nearest waypoint after you move and put in a Direct To in the FMC but remember that you DID NOT burn off all that fuel. You'll either have to takeoff lite (and you will get an INSUFFICIENT FUEL warning) or dump fuel or even land heavy.