How real is NGX "in the air"?

[ExNusquam 11]

Sean,I'm curious to know, what specifically does the term "brake ride" mean?

It means that he sits in the cockpit and operates the brakes when the aircraft is repositioned. He's there as a safety in case the towbar fails.

[jordanal 70]

Ah, I never knew that. Very informative - thank you both.

[paulyg123 135]

I'm not a pilot but I've flown a 777 simulator at the United Airlines Training Center at the AVSIM conference a number of years ago. Landing the real thing is easier than on the computer. The plane trims better, is easier to get stable on approach, and you feel the changes in attifude as well as see them on the gauges. But I would not have had that success without my PMDG planes or the Level D 767.Colin Ware

That was indeed the best conference ever, I got my hands on the 767. All I know with my extensive FSX flying the LD767,I had absolutelt NO prolems sticking perfect landings on the $17,000,000 simulator. I wish they can do the same conference again.

That was indeed the best conference ever, I got my hands on the 767. All I know with my extensive FSX flying the LD767, I had absolutely NO problems sticking perfect landings on the $17,000,000 simulator. I wish they can do the same conference again.

[xender 459]

If i try to land a 737 by myself, The next thing you will hear about me will be on an episode of Seconds from Disaster, or Air Crash Investigations named "Who's in control?" xD

[Stuntie 0]

This discussion comes up often, (it seems once every 6-9 months on average!), here's my take on it....If you ever found yourself in this fantasy situation, the smartest thing you could do would be to get vectors to a suitably equipped ILS approach and then autoland it. ....

Thats what I would do.I am not a pilot, never actually flown anything in my life (yet...).I know enough though from PMDG and Flight sims to want to give it a go at a real landing, and reckon I could get it down intact - maybe not the best of landings, but a very survivable one. I would love to give it a go.However, with souls on board you are flying for their lifes, so the safest and simplest option is the best option. Fully automated and with the tower and real pilots on the radio talking you through every step - even the 'stating the bleeding obvious' ones like 'gear down'. It may be boring from a flying point of view, but landing safely is your only aim in such a situation, not having fun. Once it is safely down and you have become the hero of the hour :( - then you could always mention to the airline about maybe them giving you some flying time/LevelD time as a reward and a help just in case it happens again. Then it would be win win - you save their plane, they get good PR, you get the praise, the fun, and most importantly you get to live.

[MK1988 0]

Dont know bout the bigger jets but having flow real Cessna 172s and 182si can say that although FS helps there is a lot of 're-learning' to do when you fly the real thing. The major difference being the feel of the airplane and effect of power on handling capabilities. For example the apparent loss of lift when you pull throttles to idle in the real thing will surprise most the first time. In FS you can pull the throttle early and flare like mad and still land smoothly. Getting the right balance of power, back pressure, along with rudder inputs for landing the real thing is a lot trickier. you can push the throttles fully forward on a go around in FS and not have to apply a lot of rudder. A GA in the real thing will tone the muscles in your right leg so much you wont need to go to the gym, and so will ur biceps if you constantly remain out of trim. I have to say that FS has helped me a lot as it helps you understand the basic prinicples of flight but beware of bad habits as they may be very difficult to eliminate when you start real flying! Just my 2 cents, dont know how larger jets compare to the real thing but thats my take on light aircraft! :(

[Robert McDonald 167]

Hi,I have to agree, the Level-D 767 is the "BEST" (system/sub system) 767 airliner on the market. If the flight deck was brought up to today's visual standards combined with McPhat's HD textures, I'd buy the aircraft again!.

Mike: What a killer PC you got! :D Nice!Robert McDonald

Sean, One of my responsibilities in my job is to brake ride aircraft that are being towed from remote parking to our gates, so I am qualified to start the APU's on the 737 and Airbus aircraft. I always kid my coworkers that I can start the airplane, and I can probably get it off the ground, but I can't make any guarantees about the landing. :(

Hey MWilk=I have nearly the twin to your PC same Mobo, CPU, Overclocked to 4.73, and same GPU (but mine is MSI Lightning GTX580). I have a Crucial 500gb SSD as well, would like to compare notes on settings to see if I can get optimized fps in FSX with the PDMG 737ngx.Let me know if you can share settings or not...Thanks!Robert McDonald

[smokeyupahead 6]

Hi,I have to agree, the Level-D 767 is the "BEST" (system/sub system) 767 airliner on the market. If the flight deck was brought up to today's visual standards combined with McPhat's HD textures, I'd buy the aircraft again!.

You took the words out of my mouth!

[Robert McDonald 167]

I think there is a major motion picture that could be made about the flight simmer who has to take over the aircraft for some reason (you know a good Hollywood writer could come up with a million plausible scenarios). In the real world, though, I wouldn't ever want the responsibility and the pressure. Barring double-heart attacks, the most-likely reason for the flight simmer's dream would be some kind of illicit activity that put the 'real pilots' out of action. In that scenario, you would be faced with incredible pressure, and the threat of any kind of system malfunction (engine out, electrical or hydaulic failure, sudden loss of cabin pressure to name just a few) and I venture to say most of us would see our 'confidence levels' in the crapper, and right now.Calling for help on the radios is the obvious play, I can visualize the late Lloyd Bridges with his famous "Looks like I picked the WRONG WEEK to (quit smoking, give up amphetamines, etcetera).." I think the more likely dream is that we are befriended by a very rich patron who invites us to fly the right-hand seat on a private jet somewhere out of US Airspace for a few moments... and unless Robin Leach pops up at my front door, I don't think THAT is happening, either!I have flown some hours in a little Cessna 172, and loved every minute of it. There is little doubt that real world weather adversity and unexpected events make all the flight simming in the world a distant cry from reality. Sure, you can learn a lot, and 'in theory' you SHOULD be able to do a fair to decent job with the aircraft, but the real airplane lacks that one critical factor, the RESTART SIMULATION (ESCape) key. I can think of all manor of things that could wreak havok, someone else mentioned windshear, good old FOG, and the ever-popular "running out of fuel" followed closely by unexpected traffic... well, you get the picture. It's like dreaming you get to play in the World Series. 3 pitches whiz by, you're O-U-T. I don't care how many home runs you hit on your PC.I recently came up with the perfect way to get the world's most-realistic 737 simulator into my home office. I contacted a third-world witch doctor who specializes in shrunken heads. I asked the good doctor to shrink a slightly used 737 being sold at fire-sale prices by the Iraqi air force (they kept talking about DINARS, I said what about American Express card instead of Diner's card?)After sprinkling the plane liberally with what looked suspiciously like red chili pepper flakes from the local pizza hut, the Doctor did his version of the funky chicken, muttered some kind of mumbo jumbo, and WHAMMO! A mini-me sized 737! I was thrilled, until a part broke down, and I realized that the replacement parts were "not to scale". So this fantastic airplane, which is only 20 feet long, sits parked in my home office (with the wings removed). Now THAT is a dream!Robert McDonald