I have hesitated to post because you have been flooded with adulatory comments from your loyal followers who are always ready to beat up anyone with an adverse comment. But I must say the VC and its views are astonishing. First for setting up your MCP and the like, you have what I think of as the jumpseat view. It does remind me of the high up-back jumpseats in some planes, though I know the 737 jumpseat in the RW is lower. It is also a great view in which to start engines as the lower part of the upper panel is within reach while monitoring the N1 and N2 gauges, and flipping the fuel cutoff at the correct percentage. Beautiful. Another view makes setting radios, transponders and the HGS no problem with clear and unimpeded actions. Third, the absolutely correct movement of switches, gearhandle and the speedbrake make me smile, they're so realistic. As they move out of their detents to switch on or off, and when then make the two movements to lock them safely. I've now done many flights in this and another recent 737; but without in anyway putting down the fine system work that has gone into the other one, PMDG has through the VC and the additions in the CDU, and that utterly brilliant HGS have moved the whole development process forward by a huge leap.

Ian, I am guessing that you're a real world 37 pilot and I would like your opinion. Since a lot of people like to bring up the topic of a sim pilot being able to control the real world counterpart and saving the day with a disabled cockpit crew I would be interested in your input. I am a real world Private Pilot with 250 hours in light aircraft (152, 172, PA28-140, Traumahawk) and I have of course never piloted a RW 737 but also have been a major FS enthusiast since day 1 and I have the NGX as well now. If I were to know where all the controls were and what they all did and how to program the CDU and learned the NGX sim inside and out, other than the control surfaces feel and the immersive real environment, how difficult would you think it would be to get the hang of the real thing? I can't imagine it would be all that difficult for me anyway if the sim is accurate as well as the emergency procedures to master. I have used FS plenty of times to keep refreshed as well as fly a route before a real world flight. Let me know your thoughts or any other real world 737 pilot for that matter.

would definitely be difficult, flying a sim and real aircraft are totally different says a 737 pilot whom i met,vivek

I was a real world pilot - however just an instrument rated multi-engined endorsed private pilot, and finished with some 200hrs on a Piper Navajo, but with many 310, Aztec, C340 etc hours as well. I have close friends, one a 747-400 Singapore skipper, recently retired, and a Qantas 737-800 skipper. I am going to get him to fly and give his views on this sim and the real 737. Especially the HGS which he says has revolutionised low visibiltiy flying. I have also flown those very good fixed platform sims, now present in most Australian capital cities, where other aspects come to reality. Like the limited view, the effect of spooling on response times and the like. Like everybody here, I have those fleeting dreams of heroism, landing a 737 with a disabled crew. (Free hot and cold runnning stewardesses afterwards). This is what I would do. If the plane was in autoflight I would leave it and not touch it. Secondly I would call Mayday, (ie declare an emergiency), over the radio, and once I got a response I would ask for that channel to be kept clear for me. I would ask for a training captain to be called and get him to effectively take the plane to the ground - in a very controlled way. I would tell him, yes, I have a reasonable kinowledge of the systems and know where most things are.I would then ask him to take me through a fully automatic descent and landing. That would probably require the FMS to be re-programmed, but with time, deep breathing, and someone in the FOs seat to answer the radio, but touch nothing, a descent to a CAT II/III landing would be carried out. My ambition would be not to hand-fly the plane at any stage. And if necessary I would be perfectly happy to leave the plane stopped on the runway. I am sure in such an emergency a runway, probably foamed, would be made available. Apart from the fact I would like an airport away from a major city, with a very long runway, and a decent cloud ceiling - say 2000ft - a descent through cloud in other than severe turbulence would be no problem. If however the incident was caused by external parties and the plane was off autopilot, in an unusual attitude, nothing on the clocks but the makers name, I would toss up whether just to have my last Scotch, or go and be a hero, and hit the ground without the last sip of the Lagavulan. In reality I could only apply what I have been trained to do down through the years and tested on over and over again under the hood, and in GA simulators and hope that it works. Getting it back on to autopilot would be my prime objective. Remember always the pilot is the first on the scene of the accident, and the last words most pilots utter are; "Oh s..t"

Very sensible post Ian.

Very sensible post Ian.

Agree except I'd go with Oban.

My way of looking at this question is rather simple I think...You take a 10-12 year old kid (who never ignited --> put in gear --> drove a real car).You let him play around with some very advanced car racing simulation (rFactor, GTR2, F1 simulation or whatever...)After a couple of days/weeks of practice, if the kid is good at it, he can manage to break some (virtual) best lap records, make badass 0-100km starts, overtake manoeuvers in-race, drifting like hell, etc... Now that he perfectly knows how to drive a racecar (virtually), take him away from his computer screen, knock down Lewis Hamilton just before the race, give the suite and helmet to our badass rooky and drop him on the starting grid... the only question to ask here is how many cm he will manage to get the car before blocking its gear (that is the least dangerous scenario) Now do the same example again but replace 10-12 years old with 30-40ish and the car with a 150000lbs airplane... I know I would have my last Scotch and make sure I enjoy it ! Maybe I amsounding a bit pessimistic about all this...

There are multiple simracers that have gone from winning a promotional simracing event earning them a real seat in a real race to becoming a real life racer, so I dont think your analogy is a very good one at all

I've been a simmer since the beginning and have flown all the birds (1477 hours with UVAL). I now mostly fly the LVLD 767, PMDG747, and QW757 (I'll be flying the 737NGX when I get home next week ). Last summer my son arranged for me to have 3 hours in a 757 full simulator at the United Airlines simulator facility in Denver (great experience!!). We did takeoffs, touch and go's (some ILS, some visual), and full stop landings at SFO. The instructor was impressed with my level of familiarity with flight dynamics, controls, and instruments. I flew for 3 hours without incident ... smooth landings. BUT I suspect flying a real bird full of people would be terrifying and mentally disabling. Ian is correct in suggesting the first thing to do is make sure the aircraft is stable, then call for a training captain and let him fly the plane through you - it would be arrogant and dangerous to do otherwise. In that critical situation I would want a pro telling me what to do next so nothing was omitted. We all believe we could land the plane, but hopefully common sense would tell us we need a major dose of help to do so.

There are multiple simracers that have gone from winning a promotional simracing event earning them a real seat in a real race to becoming a real life racer, so I dont think your analogy is a very good one at all

Oh really?The situation described earlier says "flight crew is disabled (for whatever reason) and you, as a simmer, are to take over and try to land the bird more or less safely" Correct me if I am wrong, but what you are telling is that some virtual racers got the chance (by winning a competition) to be able to 'learn' to race for real, meaning being teached by a professional instructor how to race a real car (do some test rides etc...) to eventually get the chance to become a real professional racer.Do you think they would be able to 'race' right from the beginning?? I don't, but that's only my opinion ofcourse... but there is more to car racing than simply going from start to finnish. If some flight simmer got to win a competition which would grant him a proper teaching course about how to fly a jetliner (with again a professional flight instructor) to eventually get the chance to become a professional pilot I wouldn't be as pessimistic as for the example stated above. But I do not think that is what was meant ??? Having said this I even more think that my analogy definitely stands... but again, personnal opinion nothing more

i jsut noticed when the stick shaker is going off the stick actualy shakes!! (Try a stick shaker test on the ground for best effect overhead panel under the flight data recorder). i continue to be both amazed and shocked that its actualy modeled.

If however the incident was caused by external parties and the plane was off autopilot, in an unusual attitude, nothing on the clocks but the makers name, I would toss up whether just to have my last Scotch, or go and be a hero, and hit the ground without the last sip of the Lagavulan.

From one friendly single malt lover to another, I have no doubt you meant Lagavulin ;) a priority to the very last moment indeed! and thanks for the brilliantly, reasoned out scenario. Made for excellent reading and imagery. Couldn't agree more on your thought processes for bringing her home safely! Cheers, ~Alan

@Thibault : I think your analogy is not so good. Why? Because racing request great muscle memory, so it needs loong RL practice to feel the car. Even pro racers have to adjust their style for every new car they ride. Beside that, they push that cars to the limits of physics. At the other side, almost every single modern airliner can be flied via MCP on AP and AT to compete stop or to short final, and that should be enough to put you in situation to safely land. MSFS is procedural sim so clearly you cannot experience manual flying, but you can learn all procedures to details. However scenery is pretty much unreal, I think there is less than 0.1% of chance to happen multiple crew failure :) Lj. Prodanovic

Lagavulan I confess, can't spell but I can sip! Love it neat. centralis is right, I have flown countless hours since my first ever flight as a 15yr old in a DH Dove in the 50s. I am certain I have flown in every heavy and medium jet transport since then, as well as the DC3 and upwards in the piston range, and most turboprops including the Dash 1-8, the noisy J41, the Saab 340, Embraer etc etc. I have traveled to all continents, and endured feeder flights on which each passenger is issued with a spanner and a screwdriver to do running maintenance and the aisles are heaped with baggage and belongings.In all those, and it must be thousands of hours, I have sipped Scotch, or been as nervous as blazes, but never once has an engine failed, and never once did a pilot even turn grey. Before 9/11 I used to hand up my pilot's licence when I boarded, and I was fortunate to do many take-offs and landings, again in every jet type, and was impressed by the sheer economy of movement and the quiet flow between Cpt, F0, and in earlier aircraft the flight engineer. Never once did one of them have a heart attack, or a turn, and someone say, please please take over. So I will end my life thwarted. But as a desk top simulation we have got something outstanding in the NGX. Not only is it fully procedural, it is also possible to reach everything and carry out tasks in a realistic manner. I rarely use a 2D pop-up any more, except for setting up the CDU on a second screen. I know my dreams of glory are gone, but I am getting astonishing satisfaction from this rendition. And having done more than 2000 real world hours, I can also tell the difference!

"I have hesitated to post because you have been flooded with adulatory comments from your loyal followers who are always ready to beat up anyone with an adverse comment."Very good point !!! In many cases this phenomena doesn't help to keep objective and constructive discussion. And this is a weakness of OUR PMDG forum... Personally I can't understand such persons, maybe they like to adore and be adored, such kind of treatment of complexes ...Let's remember - a constructive criticism is a key for improving everyting and the way we take it shows the men :) Ps. Let's see who will be first to beat me:)RegardsCzarek