I was tearing up and down the parallels at EGKK testing the RTO function and while doing so happened to look at her sillouhetted against the conglomeration of buildings and the glow of lights that comprise any large airport at night. Suddenly, testing took a back seat to entrancement. The fuselage has substance- truly a 3 dimentional tube, with the archetypal Boeing nose at one end and the characteristically tall filleted tail at the other. In between, the detail is stunning.First you have to know that while I write, I actually had to turn the sound down. In the forward externals, it's properly horrendous, with that sensory overloading shreak of jet engines idling up close and personal. Panning around her, I actually squinted for the first time in my FS experience. I have never used Shockwave, but these lights are aircraft Xenon HID bulbs that actually give off the blinding whiteout that you see only on airport ramps. Turning them off actually reproduced that cool, comforting feeling of gratitude that one feels deep in the cornea after being at the wrong end of a Maglight. Forget to turn these off turning on stand, and you actually might blind someone in the terminal, sipping on a latte. Switch to the VC and you sigh in relief!The radome has a glint about her, reflecting the thousands of lights all around while properly exuding her Boeing lineage. For fun I lit her up- Landing, Turn-Offs, Taxi, Logo, Strobes, Nav/Position, Beacon, Wing and Wheel Well. The nose wheel compartment is lit with the proximal taxi light. The undercarriage wells are lit with contained interior lights- and I can actually see the difference. The fuselage is illuminated from the lights in the wing root, while the wing is lit from the light on the side of the fuselage. I can see the light-patterns intermingling- cool! What blew my mind was seeing the light rocking softly from motion in taxi- I have seen the same thing, so often from a passenger window- wistfully. This time- the lights are mine to control! The interior is exactly light enough, properly dark enough, and with enough subtle variations to accurately portray a working girl, hauling a hundred odd people somewhere in the dark night.The landing gear is fantastic. The nose has those flattened slim tires with the taxi light playing on their surfaces. Perfectly lit- not just from the immediate taxi light but also backlit from the wing root and belly. the mains are aglow on the inside, refractively lit with residue on the outside, while the asphalt immediatly under the wheel wells glows from the wells.The radio vanes, pitot tubes, air data sensors, aoa wings all have individual light exposures and are fantastic. The logo light off the elevators, painting that fantastically right, yet tall, tall tail, illuminates the shadowing of the control surface, the hinge and the counter balance, while starkly accentuating the contours of the slab.Against the soft red and green glow of the threshold markings, the incandescent ribbon of the centerline and the carpet of lights studding the Landing Zone; her bulk as seen from behind is unmistakable. The flash from the beacon below illuminates the asphalt below her, while the strobe just above the APU exhaust sparks in the comparative darkness behind her. The sound back here is the deeper roar of the Niagra- felt as much as heard. The sound standing further up front, ahead of the CFM intakes is pure shreaking, all-pervasive and head-ache inducing- I promise!Can you tell I'm smitten?

Nice..

are you a real writer? that was great

+1

Forget to turn these off turning on stand, and you actually might blind someone in the terminal, sipping on a latte.

That used to happen to me as a rampie all the time. It was really bad on the Mesa CRJ7s, since they had the HIDs, so in the middle of the night, I'd throw on my glasses and marshal they guys in. One time the crew asked why I would wear glasses in the middle of the night. I asked why they would forget the after landing checklist...Well written.

It sounds like you were on the real thing not looking at flightsim ;)

Kyle, I usually put my hand over my eyes if a pilot doesn't turn off his taxi lights or landing lights when I'm marshaling.If that doesn't work, I'll turn my back to them. That usually does the trick. I've seen guys just drop the wands and walk away if the captain doesn't get the hint.

Keep this coming!! Love it!!

AWESOME. so jealous! give me a go!

Tanks Carl.I can't read any of your stories without feeling that I'm there. Great way to keep us informed & entertained while we wait.Much appreciated.

are you a real writer? that was great

+1!!

Great, but lemme ask what HID is? HI = probably hi intensity, but that's just a rough guess. On a related note does anyone know how many watts the landing lights have? I seem to remember the taxi light has 250W (did that come from b737.co.uk?) but I really want to know about the landing lights as well.EDIT: On another not so related note, can anyone answer the question if the NGX comes with the default FSX kneeboard checklists? Cause if not I might wanna go create some.

i love these little stories =) It reminds me how far PMDG have come. Thanks all

great write up sir. enjoyed immensly.

Thanks for the feedback............no I'm not a real writer........always thought about writing- never have done anything much with it though.