tried this and it's a lot easier now ;) Thank you very much

Don't quote me on this (need to ask Alex to be sure) but I believe it is aircraft-specific, yes.  Not just the variant type, but down to the tail number.

Wow. Not only variant, but down to the TAIL NUMBER. That's is more than I could have asked for, and really it's more practical than just variant specific. Nice job. You can always count on PMDG to go the extra mile.

Can someone shed some light on some of the typical states that a pilot would encounter on receiving an aircraft to fly. I believe that we have had this discussion before regarding the cold and dark not even being realistic. I recall a conversation where it was debated that a pilot would recieve the aircraft with some electrical power supplied. Some kind of matrix would be very helpful for this feature.

<br />Can someone shed some light on some of the typical states that a pilot would encounter on receiving an aircraft to fly. I believe that we have had this discussion before regarding the cold and dark not even being realistic. I recall a conversation where it was debated that a pilot would recieve the aircraft with some electrical power supplied. Some kind of matrix would be very helpful for this feature.<br />

I agree. Maybe this will be covered in the PMDG doco. Like you said, C&D is is pretty unrealistic. Let's consider a scenario.Flight 1194 Arrives in Chicago from SanFran.The crew of that flight deplanes because their day is over. You board to take their place and will continue on to Boston.In a scenario like this, they usually refer to it a a Short Turn. In this case, I believe most systems would be on including the packs for example. APU/GPU would probably be on/connected. However, if the plane was going to stay in Chicago overnight and continue to Boston in the morning, it would be a Long Turn. I believe that when you entered the aircraft in the morning, it would still have some power source connected, but most of the systems would be off. Someone feel free to correct me, or provide more information regarding specific systems that are turned off/left on.

Goof,You can break it down further by selecting the aircraft type on the right-hand drop down. For example, "737-800" will give you just the -800 aircraft in your FSX hangar, and most likely only the PMDG ones. If you want to narrow it down even further than this, you can change the "ui_type" value in the aircraft.cfg to something like "737-800 TuiFly".

Since I'm one to usually mess things up, I want to ask a question before I do anything. Here's some of the contents of my MD11.cfg file:[fltsim.0]title=PMDG MD-11 GE CF6-80C2D1F Enginessim=MD-11model=GEpanel=sound=GEtexture=GEkb_checklists=kb_reference=atc_id_color=0xffffffffatc_id=N11PMatc_airline=PMDGatc_flight_number=11atc_heavy=1ui_manufacturer=McDonnell Douglasui_type=MD-11 GEui_variation=PMDG House Liveryui_typerole=MD-11ui_createdby="PMDG"description=McDonnell Douglas MD-11\nPrecision Manuals Development Group\nwww.precisionmanuals.com \nProduced under license from Boeing Management Company.\nBoeing MD-11, McDonnell Douglas MD-11, MD-11, McDonnell Douglas & Boeing are among the trademarks owned by Boeing.\nvisual_damage=0[fltsim.1]title=PMDG MD-11 PW4460 Enginessim=MD-11model=PWpanel=sound=PWtexture=PWkb_checklists=kb_reference=atc_id_color=0xffffffffatc_id=N11PMatc_airline=PMDGatc_flight_number=11atc_heavy=1ui_manufacturer=McDonnell Douglasui_type=MD-11 PWui_variation=PMDG House Liveryui_typerole=MD-11ui_createdby="PMDG"description=McDonnell Douglas MD-11\nPrecision Manuals Development Group\nwww.precisionmanuals.com \nProduced under license from Boeing Management Company.\nBoeing MD-11, McDonnell Douglas MD-11, MD-11, McDonnell Douglas & Boeing are among the trademarks owned by Boeing.\nvisual_damage=0[fltsim.2]title=PMDG MD-11 Air Canadasim=MD-11model=PWpanel=sound=PWtexture=ACkb_checklists=atc_id_color=0xffffffffatc_id=C-ACRAatc_airline=Air Canadaatc_flight_number=ACA885ui_manufacturer=McDonnell Douglasui_type=MD-11 PWui_variation=Air Canadaui_typerole=MD-11 PWui_createdby=PMDGdescription=McDonnell Douglas MD-11\nPMDG Mixed Class\n29 MAR 2011 13:33 UTC\n\nConfigured by TOPCAT\n\nPassengers\t\t292+26\nCargo\t\t\t76551 lb\n\nDry Operating Weight\t273373 lb\nZero Fuel Weight\t\t401244 lb\nTake-Off Fuel\t\t173000 lb\nTake-Off Weight\t\t574244 lb\nTake-Off MAC\t\t24.2%\nStabilizer Trim\t\tFMC\nPMDG Developer and Customer Forum available at our website. \nSounds Developed by PMDG \nThank you for supporting PMDG!\nvisual_damage=0atc_heavy=1atc_parking_types=GATE, RAMPkb_reference=topcatDo I just have to change the ui_type line, and that's it? For example, in the [fltsim.2] example above, I would just change it to "ui_type=MD-11 Air Canada"?.....or to just "ui_type=Air Canada"??

I agree. Maybe this will be covered in the PMDG doco. Like you said, C&D is is pretty unrealistic. Let's consider a scenario.Flight 1194 Arrives in Chicago from SanFran.The crew of that flight deplanes because their day is over. You board to take their place and will continue on to Boston.In a scenario like this, they usually refer to it a a Short Turn. In this case, I believe most systems would be on including the packs for example. APU/GPU would probably be on/connected. However, if the plane was going to stay in Chicago overnight and continue to Boston in the morning, it would be a Long Turn. I believe that when you entered the aircraft in the morning, it would still have some power source connected, but most of the systems would be off. Someone feel free to correct me, or provide more information regarding specific systems that are turned off/left on.

Absolutely, these were exactly the kind of scenarios I was thinking of. I was at work when I posted so I was not able to produce all the examples that you gave. It would be helpful if some of the real life commercial pilots could help to shed some light on the different states that they get the aircraft coming in. I suspect that Robert could shed some light on these scenarios. But, it can be something I can wait for at a later date. I would not want to delay the release one more second to add this information. :( It could be added like a type course at a later time.

I know at SWA, that scenario is referred to as a "Crew Change." Some things different that you would do in that example would be a complete pre-flight, F/O does a walk-around, while the CA aligns the IRUs and goes through all the test (Mach Overspeed, stick shaker, GPWS, etc..) and then enters all the flight info into the FMC.

Yeah, in real life airline ops it's actually pretty rare to encounter a truly cold and dark aircraft before a flight. Some airlines that fly to fairly remote fields and overnight there will see it, but at a major international airport the basic stuff is usually on by the time the pilots get to the plane. The short turn one is probably the most common thing.