Frederic Having flown a real 737 NGX how does your sim relate, is very immersive and realistic do you feel like you are back in the 737, it must have cost you a load of time to build it, its absolutely amaxing you are the man Wayne

Thanks Wayne ! Yes it was a lot of work and long nights but very enjoyable and rewarding.I had 2 guys helping me most of the time and one of them did all the wiring for me. Flying it is Very like the real thing.Any time I bring someone for a short flight they are convinced that it moves !!If you do a very speep bank you can feel it in your stomach.I guess the very large outside visuals have something to do with it.The sounds are very good too. I use 2 different sound systems.One for the custom FSX sounds and the other for Project Magenta'a sounds.The whole system is surround sound so it's very realistic.

Thanks Wayne ! Yes it was a lot of work and long nights but very enjoyable and rewarding.I had 2 guys helping me most of the time and one of them did all the wiring for me. Flying it is Very like the real thing.Any time I bring someone for a short flight they are convinced that it moves !!If you do a very speep bank you can feel it in your stomach.I guess the very large outside visuals have something to do with it.The sounds are very good too. I use 2 different sound systems.One for the custom FSX sounds and the other for Project Magenta'a sounds.The whole system is surround sound so it's very realistic.

Wonder what kind of space it must be taking.

Wonder what kind of space it must be taking.

The outside screen is 24 ft wide.It worked out well because the room is 26 ft X 20 ft.It used to be my sitting room................

The outside screen is 24 ft wide.It worked out well because the room is 26 ft X 20 ft.It used to be my sitting room................

Hahaha i hope you don't have guests sitting as passengers in there. But it is just brilliant

Before & After !! 1. This is what the cockpit looked like when I bought it. 2. After cleaning it out of all the wiring etc. 3. What it looks like now. ( 4 years later )

Before & After !! 1. This is what the cockpit looked like when I bought it. 2. After cleaning it out of all the wiring etc. 3. What it looks like now. ( 4 years later )

That's what i call transformation. Why did you remove the wiring couldn't you have used it ? and what about the yoke did you use the original one. So a 737 pit is 24 ft. in width.

That's what i call transformation. Why did you remove the wiring couldn't you have used it ? and what about the yoke did you use the original one. So a 737 pit is 24 ft. in width.

Not at all ! The 24 ft is the size of the outside screen for the 3 projectors.The widest part of my cockpit is about 8 feet. The old wiring would have been no use for simulation purposes.I used the origianl yoke and restored it as best I could.I managed to source a second one a year later. I have been very lucky with parts. A friend of mine is in the Breaker business in England.

This is the real Boeing throttle quadrant with 6 Phidget USB cardsand motors for the autothrottles and trim wheels.A smal motor also drives the speedbrake lever. This was by gar the hardest part to get working properly and behave like the real aircraft.It took me months to get it right.I forgot the pics !! lol.

Hi Luke.. << Not meaning to take anything at all from real world airline pilots, I have all the respect in the world for them >> Same here. When I see a RW commercial pilot, I always think of the fantastic amount of work, study, determination and sheer willpower that he/she had to experience in order to get where they are. ..and yet, there are some both people in the industry, and out of it, who take any opportunity to knock, berate or blame those professionals for the slightest reason. RegardsBill Cusick

Wow Frederick I am in awe of your SIm wish I had the ability to build that sucker probably could not afford it anyway but I would always be in there sensational Wayne

Have you seen a Mercedes in a boot of a Cadillac. Now have you seen a 737 in the sitting room of a house.

You really think so? I'm not a pilot but my imagination tells me that up to 8 rotations a day, flying in and out of airports I've flown in and out of countless times before, with the stress of meeting tight schedules and trying to get enough sleep could lose it's attraction after a while. Iain Smith

+1

Actually you don't need high grades the requirements for the Qantas cadetship were (it is currently suspended):

• A pass in Year 12 English, OR a pass in a suitable humanities/social science type subject at Degree level; and
• A pass in a suitable Year 12 Mathematics subject, OR a pass in a suitable Degree level Mathematics subject; ORA fully completed Bachelor Degree in any discipline;
• Be currently completing the relevant Year 12 subjects or other education criteria.

They take over 90% of those who make it into the program- just like the vast majority of direct entry new hires get through their probation period. Results in psychometric and aptitude testing and interviews is what determines selection not iq intelligence or academic results. Leadership qualities, ability to work in a team, persistence/determination in pursuing a flying career and ability to easily get on with people are qualities they look for. I think it is much the same for airline cadetships around the world. Last I heard was 2-3% of applicants were successful. Jon

Exactly.... 2-3% of applicants successful. Now these lucky few aren't going to be getting a pass in year 12 English. No they're going to be the brightest cookies that applied. They'll take the ones with the highest ATAR. Simple as that. And actually, they hardly take any from the cadet program. My neighbors son went on it and only 1 from his whole group got employed by qantas back in 2007. The rest were forced to go abroad and work for airlines like BMI Baby, easyjet etc or fly up and back to the mines etc in Australia on these regional/charter airlines. He now flies for Bristow helicopters out of Aberdeen Scotland to the rigs in the north sea...which he had to go through separate training to do. 1 guy. Out of the 2-3% of applicants. And he only got through because he stood out from the rest because he already had a PPL and left the programme with top marks etc

2-3% survival of the fittest, I am an average guy but so limited due to the calibre of others that are superior in ability, this really applies to all areas of life. I accept this not much that can be done about it really just enjoy what you have to work with and enjoy that wonderful PMDG 737 NGX, perhaps in another life I will be in the 2-3% level.The airlines are very picky due to the limited number of placements its a numbers game nothing more and they call all the shots gladly I realised I am too old and dont have the level of skill saved me a lot of cost and heartache. Wayne

Okay, sorry about earlier, had a phone call I had to take. So, lets go through it then; Short Haul:Everyday, each aircraft will get an engineers check. The engineers will arrive to the airframe about 4am, at this time the aircraft will bee in the cold and dark setup. Engineers will do thing such as checking oil, tyre pressure, top up the potable water ect. They'll plug in the external power and power up some systems in both the cockpit and the galley. We pilots will typically arrive at the aircraft about 40-50 mins before blocks off time depending. The state will now be known as the "Long Turn" state. We'll power her up, set up the computers, do our walk around, get our clearences, check the W&B figures ect. Then off we go, touching down at some exotic destination 3 hours later. We go into the short turn aircraft state, APU isn't really used, usually we use a ground cart for power but sometimes we do have to use it in smaller airports that are busy in the summer season so all the GPUs are gone. Most airports don't encourage the use of the APU while on stand due to the noise created. After that we jet back to rainy old Ireland, and lets just say for arguments sake, it's the last flight of the day. We'll shut down the engines, myself or the F/O will stand out of the FD and say good by to the SLF, I'll sign the tech log and we'll leave the aircraft in a state similar to what we found it like at 5:30am that morning. The engineers will hop along, fix anything that needs fixing, the cleaning crew will come along and clean her up, [Oh and Omar, I too think that the vacume cleaners hold a grudge against us pilots, I was once smacked across the face by one when I forgot my phone and had to run back and get it, ouch ]. The engineers will then shut her down to cold and dark and lock her up for the night once everone is finished and she'll be left there till 4am the next morning until the whole process starts all over again... Long Haul:Long haul is a bit different, a typical turnaround for a long haul aircraft could be anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours. When we arrive we put the aircraft into the long turn state, the engineers fix stuff, top up anything that needs topping up. The new crew arrives and off she goes. Long haul aircraft are utilised differently to short haul ones, and depending on the route, the aircraft state you find when you arrive changes from day to day.... Hope this helps and sorry about the delay,Rónán.

Thanks Ronan for the explantation,...as well as others too' I actually asked this Ques, among couple of others about a week ago but got no reply! Stewart T