Pro Flight Emulator thoughts

[MeneMene 1]

May I ask how you did the above? thanks

[vololiberista 205]

Here is my thoughts about PFE: When I first tried I liked but I had some issues. 1. Approach vectoring to final was not that good. It would vector me too close to the runway.2. TOD is too close to the destination resulting in being very high on final and I had to do 360 turns just before final. The good news is that those two issues are solved. Yesterday, I discovered that you can change the default FAF value of 7 miles. So, I changed it to 11 miles. Also, I changed the rate of decent from 3500 FPM to 2500 FPM. I did two flights after the changes and the result is WOW! I love it. Cheers

Your rate of descent would be more easily governed by your FP profile. For example arriving at your final STAR point for EGLL you mustn't be below FL70 . Your rates of descent are too high for final approach. Look at your FP and step down your levels more realisticly. A good rule of thumb is:-distance to go less 12nm for deceleration x 3e.g. DTG = 82nm less 12nm = 70nm 7x3 = 21 = FL210vololiberista

[nam1394 10]

May I ask how you did the above? thanks

You can change FAF from Proflight 2000's settings not PFE's and you change the rate of decent from select specs in Proflight 2000's menu.

[BenW 0]

Apologies for bringing back an old thread but after a long period of not using it, I've pressed PFE back into use and sadly a lot of the problems I reported last time are still present. I decided that an easy way to put altitude restraints in was to look at the vroute flight profile and see what levels it suggested for the various waypoints along the way. I did this and we got easily underway. The taxy instructions were a bit off as I needed to tune to tower myself to ask for departure as I wasn't automatically handed off. The biggest issue then for me is hoteys as I only run a single monitor set up and selection of different commands seems to have a mind of its own. An EGAA-EGGD flight had a TOC of FL280 and as I was held a little lower than I expected upon departure, I decided to ask PFE for a lower cleared altitude whilst still climbing to 280. It seems this confuses things as my PIC then asked for a higher altitude due to weather! I tried a couple of time to request a lower alt but everytime I was cleared higher and ended up cleared to FL440 for a flight with only 90MN left to run!PFE did nag me about climbing higher but I started a descent anyway and eventually even though the alt was screwed up I was handed off to approach when near the destination and cleared to a pilot's discretion approach and told to contact tower when established on the ILS. Despite getting established my PIC didn't contact the tower, so I have no idea what happened there.To be honest, I quite enjoy flying with charts these days and I find with PFE I spend the whole time concentrating on what it's doing and not thinking about the flying so in future I might just run it for ATIS, clearance, taxy out and the handy ACARS en route but do my own thing in terms of SIDs, STARs and en route FL as trying to achieve the desired results in PFE is just too damn hard!

[agent00729 3]

Guys, I have a question about this program before I buy it. Will this program allow me to not respond to atc frequencies for a long haul flight. For example, with defaul atc when I am flying a transatlantic route I always click on the option to tune to a certain tower, but I never click on the option to contact the tower. In this way I am able to do a long haul flight without sitting at my computer for 10 hours. When I am ready to perform the approach, the defaul atc menu automatically gives me the option to tune to the nearest tower. My question is will PFE allow me to do something similar without cancelling my flight plan? I really am intersted in this program but if it means I have to always sit at the computer and tune to ceratin frequencies on long haul flights, then I probably will pass on the program.

[pschlute 37]

PFE has four options when communicating with ATC:

 

1. You handle radio freq changes and respond

2. Your virtual co-pilot handles freq changes but you still need to respond

3. Your virtual co-pilot handles freq changes and responds ( this is what you need when not at the computer)

4. Your viirtual co-pilot will do 3 and fly the plane.

 

btw PFE dows not kick you out of your flight plan if you dont respond. If you do miss a hand over you can jst contact the next centre when you wish.

 

Peter

[agent00729 3]

PFE has four options when communicating with ATC:

 

1. You handle radio freq changes and respond

2. Your virtual co-pilot handles freq changes but you still need to respond

3. Your virtual co-pilot handles freq changes and responds ( this is what you need when not at the computer)

4. Your viirtual co-pilot will do 3 and fly the plane.

 

btw PFE dows not kick you out of your flight plan if you dont respond. If you do miss a hand over you can jst contact the next centre when you wish.

 

Peter

 

Oh wow that sounds so cool! So can I switch between the options any time in the middle of a flight?

[Bill A 68]

I might have to give Pro flight emulator a shot

[pschlute 37]

Yes you can. I have never used option 4, but i might try it next time i fly an a/c without an FMC.

 

I ususlly use option 1 or 2 when communication with ground in case i want to request a difeerent runway for t/o. Then I switch to 3 for the rest of the flight. The VCP will even tune your ILS freq and course for approach ! He will also give you taxi instructions.

 

You have greater options than the standard ATC: with PFE you can choose to be vectored from takeoff OR fly your own SID until a specified altitude/waypoint. Same on approach ... the default is you will be vectored, but you can change that so that at a certain altitude you are to "cleared to final" at your discretion, so you can fly a published approach procedure and you just need to contact tower when on finals.

 

Add to that the regional accents... for atc/tower/ground and for AI airlines (air france AI will alwyas be a french accent for example), and you can choose your own regional accent for your own plane .... and you wont be dissappointed with PFE.

 

It is a bit of a steep learning curve, but if you get stuck ask on here or the PFE forum.

[agent00729 3]

Yes you can. I have never used option 4, but i might try it next time i fly an a/c without an FMC.

 

I ususlly use option 1 or 2 when communication with ground in case i want to request a difeerent runway for t/o. Then I switch to 3 for the rest of the flight. The VCP will even tune your ILS freq and course for approach ! He will also give you taxi instructions.

 

You have greater options than the standard ATC: with PFE you can choose to be vectored from takeoff OR fly your own SID until a specified altitude/waypoint. Same on approach ... the default is you will be vectored, but you can change that so that at a certain altitude you are to "cleared to final" at your discretion, so you can fly a published approach procedure and you just need to contact tower when on finals.

 

Add to that the regional accents... for atc/tower/ground and for AI airlines (air france AI will alwyas be a french accent for example), and you can choose your own regional accent for your own plane .... and you wont be dissappointed with PFE.

 

It is a bit of a steep learning curve, but if you get stuck ask on here or the PFE forum.

 

It sounds like a great program but now the only problem is that atc doesnt recognize terrain. So that means that it is possible to be vectored into a mountain when flying approaches into certain airports?

[3Green 80]

Have you tried the "Relaxed Defulat ATC"?

 

Suggest you get the file before it disappears...

 

http://calclassic.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=4931

 

RJ

[pschlute 37]

The vecor into terrain is a potential problem with any of the addon ATC programs too.

 

There are two ways round it.

 

1. is to select a Minimum FAF altitude for each individual airport above the obstacle eg mountain. Then every time you fly to that airport ATC will not ask you descend any lower than that which you have set. You will still be vectored, and will have to decide yourself when it is safe to perform the final descent to the real FAF altitude.

 

2. is to select the higher FAF altitude as above, and also tick the option to automate "cleared to final at pilots discretion". In this case you will be asked to descend to the limit you have set and once you have reached that altitude you will no longer be vectored , but told to perform the final approach leg yourself.

 

If I fly into VHHX for example , i always set the FAF Alt to 11,000 so I can perform the IGS approach myself.

 

Peter

[BenW 0]

Just to give you an update as the OP of this thread I actually use PFE most of the time now without incident. Some things that I do that seem to help give uneventful flights:

 

- set all the initial waypoints to the cruise altitude.

- turn off STARS and take vectors to the ILS (most realistic to real life)

- after getting pushback I turn the PIC to 'handles all comms and flies' and he looks after the radios and sets the altitude, speed and headings to the correct values. I make sure that the AP modes are correct.

- I also edit the afcad for my departure airport to allow takeoffs only on the runway I've set up in the pre flight. This stops you getting set up for a departure and then contacting ground and being offered totally the wrong one, and usually in the direction you've not pushed back for!

 

It occasionally does weird things but these days I'd say 90% of PFE flights work fine.

[agent00729 3]

Just to give you an update as the OP of this thread I actually use PFE most of the time now without incident. Some things that I do that seem to help give uneventful flights:

 

- turn off STARS and take vectors to the ILS (most realistic to real life)

 

Does this even work when you are flying into an area with a lot of mountains? will atc still vector you correctly?

[BenW 0]

Does this even work when you are flying into an area with a lot of mountains? will atc still vector you correctly?

 

Well I've never tried it into somewhere like Innsbruck (it's strictly an instrument only approach in real life anyhow, as I understand it) but certainly Geneva and Zurich haven't been an issue. I use Vroute which now includes SIDS and STARS so the route you plug into PFE includes the STAR waypoints anyway. PFE drops any waypoints which are too close together so the finished result won't be quite as it began life when you exported it from Vroute but it'll be in the ballpark. I then use Vroute to give me a flight profile and plug those altitudes into PFE alongside the respective waypoint. This always works pretty well. Then I'll start the approach by following the STAR as per the flight plan and then get vectored off it onto the LOC, which is pretty much what happens in real life in most places, in the UK at least.

 

Using this combination of both STAR and vectoring the initial STAR altitudes generally keep you out of too much trouble in the early part of the approach and although once or twice I've been vectored over higher ground than I would have liked it's not killed me yet. If you're the nervous type you can turn on STARs in the initial planning page of PFE and then you'll be left alone to fly the whole approach as per the chart to the IAF whereupon you'll contact tower. I find those approaches a little less interesting though, personally.