Now that the NGX and I have become better aquatinted, I thought it may be interesting to post a few impressions. First, a few housekeeping items. I don't have an NG type rating and I am not expert in any of the NG systems. I have spent countless hours studying the manuals and documentation, but as Ryan mentioned I haven't been lucky enough to get any seat time in an NG or NG simulator. I am a SEL & MEL instrument rated private pilot with a bit over 700 hours of total time. I have experience in a number of single and multiengine GA aircraft including BE33, C210T, SR20, SR22 Perspective, BE55 & BE58. Last year I was in the right place at the right time and got a couple of hours of turbine time in a TBM700. I thought it would be helpful to understand my background so you can relate to the perspective I have as a GA piston pilot. It is my hope someday to get the opportunity to check out a Level D NG sim! :( If folks find this interesting, I will try to do a few more posts as testing progresses. So let me know if you would like to see a few more.Finally I would like to formerly thank all of the members of PMDG for the incredible opportunity and experience I have had working with this amazing group of people, Their mentoring and friendships have been one of the primary reasons I finally jumped in and went for my ticket! Thanks PMDG for an incredible 10 years!In his last few posts, Robert has provided some insight into some of the things the Team has been working on. We all have come to know and expect that PMDG products have a level of fidelity that is truly amazing. I thought you may be interested in some of the "behind the scenes" discussions and development efforts that go into creating PMDG's magic!One of the Tech Team members recently started a discussion with the Developers concerning the "Feel" of the NGX on rotation and initial climb after take off. It seems that during take off using a normal rotation technique of three degrees per second and then setting an initial pitch of 16-20 degrees, while rotating to the initial climb angle and still in ground effect, the NG gets a little acceleration boost. The Tech Team member was concerned that the NGX was not experiencing this boost which set the initial climb speed slightly off from the NG. Although the NGX's flight model delivers results that precisely match Boeing's data, there was concern that this was a significant issue because the NGX was not "acting" like the real aircraft. The discussions continued on and on describing and debating the details and nuances of this phase of flight in the real aircraft, the NGX's flight model and the limitations of FSX. Let's pause for a moment. This is a phase of flight that lasts only seconds and unless you have actual experience in a real NG how would you know the NGX is not acting "exactly" as the real aircraft? The NGX's flight model matches precisely the data provided by Boeing. That should be good enough for a PC based simulation right? Back to the story. The discussion ended with the developers unsure if the problem could be solved due to significant limitations in FSX during this phase of flight.  There was also concern that any changes in this area would most likely have significant negative effects on the NGX during other phases of flight. But this is PMDG! :( After a significant amount of thought, clever design to get around the FSX limitations and some very complex programming, a response came back from the Developers that the problem was solved. The NGX now simulates the exact boost in ground effect during rotation and initial climb behavior, given all the variables including weather, thrust and weight. The NGX now "feels" and "acts" like the real aircraft!This was only one discussion out of hundreds that have and continue to take place as the NGX progresses on in final testing. So what was my first impression of the NGX? Simply amazing!George

Neat stuff. Thanks for sharing!

Awesome! More!

Hi All :)This is my first post. Thanks for sharing, PMDG I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all you have done so far with this fantastic looking aircraft.Keep up the great work :)Regards Damien. C

But this is PMDG!

I almost wet my pants when I read that. Thanks for sharing this with us. Although Randazzo may think those code stuff are boring, I really enjoy reading about them. Much more than the development team enjoys reading throught thousands of pages of the manuals to solve the problems that come up :(. As you said, George, that was an issue that nobody would actually notice, unless the virtual pilot was an experienced NG pilot. This quest for a solution for the ground effect problem shows a little of how much of hard work is invested by PMDG in making their simulations even better.

Thanks! I too, would love more of these types of post! Thanks George!

For the record, the ground effect modelling in FSX sucks! We worked around it though...

Great stuff, George.

That's cool, I'm all up for more posts like this! Thanks.

Ahhhhhhhhh it's constructive posting!This is refreshing.I'm interested where you're getting 16-20 degrees of pitch up. Is that specific to any airline SOP?I know that United uses a 3 degree/sec pitch to 8 degrees at rotation, and increasing to 15 degrees for the initial climb to acceleration height (1,000ft for UAL SOP).After AH it's nose down to 8-10 degrees until 250 knots then pitch as required to maintain 250 until 10,000 ft.Isn't 16-20 degrees a little steep?Even UAL doesn't mandate a climb past 17 degrees max pitch up.

Ahhhhhhhhh it's constructive posting!This is refreshing.I'm interested where you're getting 16-20 degrees of pitch up. Is that specific to any airline SOP?I know that United uses a 3 degree/sec pitch to 8 degrees at rotation, and increasing to 15 degrees for the initial climb to acceleration height (1,000ft for UAL SOP).After AH it's nose down to 8-10 degrees until 250 knots then pitch as required to maintain 250 until 10,000 ft.Isn't 16-20 degrees a little steep?Even UAL doesn't mandate a climb past 17 degrees max pitch up.

If I remember the discussion correctlyt 20 degrees max was used for comfort. I would have to defer to the Tech Team members to discuss the differences in airline SOPs.

Geez, and it thought i was a perfectionist! :(

This is very interesting, however I'd be concerned if changes to the 'feel' of the aircraft were made at the expense of the accuracy of performance against Boeing's data. Obviously the 'feel' of an addon is a subjective matter, so I'd expect that the feel of the PMDG NGX is accurate at the same time as being faithful to the numbers.Justin J

I wonder if its possible to include an option to have the aircraft simulate actual boeing specs and then perhaps an option to have the aircraft simulate 'real world feels'?

I wonder if its possible to include an option to have the aircraft simulate actual boeing specs and then perhaps an option to have the aircraft simulate 'real world feels'?

Do you mean something like those racing car games where you can select realistic or arcade options for how the car will handle? If so, this is already doable in the realism menu of FSX. Personally, I like my sliders maxed out to be a realistic as possible.