The FMC (tutorial) is quite complicated and one has the impression of jumping all over the place, but I am sure that this is not the case. So it would be useful to have a checklist that puts logic into the long list of operations in the tutorial. I was already a bit familiar with the FMC from the Capt. Sim Tutorial and I am quite familiar with SIMS and STARS, but I have to say that I lost it during the landing procedure despite frequent use of the pause button. Somehow I eventually lost the glideslope, drifted off to the side and eventually crashed (but I did manage to handland the aircraft the previous time when I had not been able to make the VNAV engage). Maybe this will be done in the second tutorial. In the meantime, here is what I think (from memory) is the logic behind the FMC progmming. Feel free to correct my newbie understanding. (FMC is the flight management computer - that calculator-looking thingy...). 1) First you have to tell the FMC where it is (program the IRS which is already done in the tutorial).2) Tell the FMC which airport you are starting from and which airport you are going, which runway you are starting from, your flight number.3) In addition to your start and arrival positions, you have to tell the FMC which waypoints you want to use, including SIDS for departures and STARS for arrivals, to comply with air traffic regulations. You might have to add a waypoint at the end of the STAR to line up with the runway, and remove discontinuities in the flight plan, and to change some speeds.4) Now that you know how far you have to go, you have to tell the FMC how much fuel to carry, how heavy you are and so on. Many of the calculations are automatic, and some require pressing a button to make them active (for instance the various V's).5) Calculating the various speeds and altitudes requires some interaction with various buttons in the airplane, for example speeds and altitudes.6) When all is done you have to press the activate button and the *** button.7) If all is well, the VNAV and VNAV buttons will come on when you press them. The FMC will control the autopilot for most of the flight, but you will have to intervene in most flights. Beats me why they couldn't make the real plane do everything on AP, I read that they made it complicated on ppurpose so that pilots would not get bored: BOOOOOO!!!....how many deaths has this stupide decision caused? Henri

I pre-flight in the following order: * Get the aircraft GW and %CoG* Press INIT REF, and align the IRS* Press RTE, and fill in the page* Press NEXT PAGE and enter the flight plan* Press DEP/ARR and complete the departure selection* Press LEGS and check the route, altitudes/speeds, and clear any DISCOs* Press INIT REF and complete the PERF, N1 THRUST and TAKEOFF pages in sequence* Check the PROG page for final distance and ETA and ensure it matches the route approximately (allowing for no STAR selection)* Return to the TAKEOFF page* Set up the MCP and radios for departure Best regards,Robin.

I have to print that. Thanks Robin! Henri PS. BTW the GW and CG calculations are done automatically after you dial in the fuel and payload, Click twice on Zw and it will appear as well as the GW value. This is in the tutorial.