I made a new video for YouTube, a full flight from KSAT (San Antonio International Airport) to KAUS (Austin-Bergstrom International Airport) which is about 6 gigs, and it's taking forever to upload. Plus, with my fantastic internet connection, it goes even faster. I'll post the link in a entire new post so that I don't have to edit this one.

Got it! Took about 1 day to upload, but here it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWcmqgWv3JM Tell me. Did I do something wrong? Should I done made something different? All these comments help. But let me know here, and not on YT comments. Thanks.

There were a few things you could have done a little better, but nothing was desperately bad. You got it from A to B using LNAV and VNAV, and down in one piece, which is an achievement in itself with a complex aeroplane. There are some procedural things I could be really picky about, but the only thing I would really comment on that you do need to look at doing differently, is the descent and approach, which was rushed, and that was what caused you a few problems on final approach and touchdown. It was kind of difficult to see the actual instrument numbers, but it looked like you didn't really get the aircraft in a 'dirty' landing configuration until you were at about 1,200 feet AGL and pretty close to the airport, which caused two problems; 1, it was hard for you to get the speed off when having to dive at the runway (all the PAPI lights were white, meaning you were very high on approach, necessitating a dive at the runway, which is not ideal), and 2, having to dive meant you carried too much speed going over the runway threshhold, which caused you to float a long way down the runway before the aircraft finally quit flying. These problems are nothing to worry about by the way, they are in fact both pretty common mistakes among student pilots in the real world, I used to be guilty of both of them when I was learning flying for real. But in reality it would have been a classic case of going around for another try when in that situation; you got away with it because the runway was fairly long. So, what you need to do, is think about the landing not from when you spot the airport, but from right back when you start the descent, which is what every pilot does, or at least should do. Consider getting the speed off in stages, for example, perhaps 240 knots at 10,000 feet, and then maybe 210 knots at 6,000 (these are just rough figures). You can use the flap speed schedule placard on the aircraft's panel to gauge these, and you should be feeding in flaps gradually as your speed reduces to aid the slowing down process based on those numbers, rather than dropping them all in one go, since the flaps not only increase lift, but they also increase drag, and that makes them act as brakes when you are coming 'downhill', so you need time to get the throttle settings correct as the flaps come down in stages. What you are aiming for, is to be more or less at your approach speed with the flaps and gear down when you are still a few miles from touchdown, having started that process gradually, from back up when you were a lot higher up, so that you can get everything settled in a smooth way and not have to make panicky adjustments to things at the last minute. If you do have to make a lot of desperate adjustments when on final, then that's your cue to abandon the approach and go around, because a good landing starts with a good approach, and a good approach starts right at the top of the descent. Overall it looks like you are getting the hang of the FMC though, so congrats on taming that. Al

Got it! Took about 1 day to upload, but here it is! http://www.youtube.c...h?v=rWcmqgWv3JM Tell me. Did I do something wrong? Should I done made something different? All these comments help. But let me know here, and not on YT comments. Thanks.

I'm looking at it now. 'am sure you'll get some constructiive more feed back.I'll post back later today.

There were a few things you could have done a little better, but nothing was desperately bad. You got it from A to B using LNAV and VNAV, and down in one piece, which is an achievement in itself with a complex aeroplane. There are some procedural things I could be really picky about, but the only thing I would really comment on that you do need to look at doing differently, is the descent and approach, which was rushed, and that was what caused you a few problems on final approach and touchdown. It was kind of difficult to see the actual instrument numbers, but it looked like you didn't really get the aircraft in a 'dirty' landing configuration until you were at about 1,200 feet AGL and pretty close to the airport, which caused two problems; 1, it was hard for you to get the speed off when having to dive at the runway (all the PAPI lights were white, meaning you were very high on approach, necessitating a dive at the runway, which is not ideal), and 2, having to dive meant you carried too much speed going over the runway threshhold, which caused you to float a long way down the runway before the aircraft finally quit flying. These problems are nothing to worry about by the way, they are in fact both pretty common mistakes among student pilots in the real world, I used to be guilty of both of them when I was learning flying for real. But in reality it would have been a classic case of going around for another try when in that situation; you got away with it because the runway was fairly long. So, what you need to do, is think about the landing not from when you spot the airport, but from right back when you start the descent, which is what every pilot does, or at least should do. Consider getting the speed off in stages, for example, perhaps 240 knots at 10,000 feet, and then maybe 210 knots at 6,000 (these are just rough figures). You can use the flap speed schedule placard on the aircraft's panel to gauge these, and you should be feeding in flaps gradually as your speed reduces to aid the slowing down process based on those numbers, rather than dropping them all in one go, since the flaps not only increase lift, but they also increase drag, and that makes them act as brakes when you are coming 'downhill', so you need time to get the throttle settings correct as the flaps come down in stages. What you are aiming for, is to be more or less at your approach speed with the flaps and gear down when you are still a few miles from touchdown, having started that process gradually, from back up when you were a lot higher up, so that you can get everything settled in a smooth way and not have to make panicky adjustments to things at the last minute. If you do have to make a lot of desperate adjustments when on final, then that's your cue to abandon the approach and go around, because a good landing starts with a good approach, and a good approach starts right at the top of the descent. Overall it looks like you are getting the hang of the FMC though, so congrats on taming that. Al

Thanks for the help. But one question though, you said I was going too fast. How do I change my speed though, if VNAV is enabled? It doesn't let me change the speed, as the screen is off. Does this mean that I need to manually change the speed in the FMC BEFORE I start the flight, so the computer knows to reduce speed as it approaches X STAR?

Thanks for the help. But one question though, you said I was going too fast. How do I change my speed though, if VNAV is enabled? It doesn't let me change the speed, as the screen is off. Does this mean that I need to manually change the speed in the FMC BEFORE I start the flight, so the computer knows to reduce speed as it approaches X STAR?

You can add speed restrictions to the waypoints that begins the star (or even before that) if you want for added speed control.

You can add speed restrictions to the waypoints that begins the star (or even before that) if you want for added speed control.

Ahhh! Gotcha! So on the approaching waypoint you can lower the restriction to say 175. Cool.

Ahhh! Gotcha! So on the approaching waypoint you can lower the restriction to say 175. Cool.

As long as it doesn't conflict with atc directions you can fly it as slow as you like. For the time being, it may be better to run them slow until you get used to setting the plane up for landing, then worry more about proper speeds later.

There's any number of ways you can do it, depending on what you've got in the FMC and what kind of approach you are doing, but the point is that ultimately you are driving; the fmc will not lower the flaps for you, nor the gear, both of which have to be done in a timely way if the aircraft is to be able to fly a suitable approach and, if you tell it to fly the approach at 250 knots, then that's what it will do LOL. Al

There's any number of ways you can do it, depending on what you've got in the FMC and what kind of approach you are doing, but the point is that ultimately you are driving; the fmc will not lower the flaps for you, nor the gear, both of which have to be done in a timely way if the aircraft is to be able to fly a suitable approach and, if you tell it to fly the approach at 250 knots, then that's what it will do LOL. Al

Yes. I believe that is what I messed up in my video. Also, the landing was horrible! But anyway, when not on VATSIM, one thing I'm worried about (I've never done a NGX flight on VATSIM yet) is how to remove the (Vectors) waypoint, since there is no ATC to help me.

Without ATC, and not worrying about deleting waypoints either, an easy thing to do, is to open up the FSX Map from the menu, look where you are and where the runway is, then switch from using LNAV and VNAV to using HDG and ALT instead, and steer to within the ILS feathers down to 3,500 feet using heading and level change on the MCP, tune the ILS frequency on both nav radios and stick the runway heading in both CRS windows on the MCP and then do an ILS approach by using VOR/LOC and APP when you are near the feathers, slow it to 145 knots or so with the autothrottle as you get to five miles from the threshhold (which you will see in the displays) and you should be in reasonably good shape. This would simulate something not too different from what might happen in the real world (and on VATSIM), where your fully automated planned route goes out of the window as ATC tell you to go off your planned routing and maintain a certain speed, and then start vectoring you for an approach, since that is kind of the point of VATSIM. Al

Thanks for the help. But one question though, you said I was going too fast. How do I change my speed though, if VNAV is enabled? It doesn't let me change the speed, as the screen is off. Does this mean that I need to manually change the speed in the FMC BEFORE I start the flight, so the computer knows to reduce speed as it approaches X STAR?

The main reason you had so much problems with the approach, is you loaded too much fuel (Full load) for such a short flight. This inevitably will put you above Maximum landing weight when you land, hence the higher approach speed. You need a fraction of the amount of fuel for this flight. Go to the PMDG website, in the Download section under Miscellaneous, their is a 737NG fuel planner. It will give you the approximate fuel you will need for your flight. Just enter the distance, reserves, etc info and it will calculate it for you!! Edit just calculated this trip and while the Fuel planner doesn't allow flight level entries below 29000, I would say you would be safe with a fuel load of 10000 lbs. (That may be a little high, but should be within landing limits.)

You should look at the Approach page and it will have 3 options for you to select, flaps 15 at xx speed, flaps 30 at xx speed, and 40 at xx speed.. depending on airport, runway, etc.. i would select 30 or 40 at xx speed and paste it into the vref.. when you're on final, you should have the approach VREF speed set for your autothrottle.

Without ATC, and not worrying about deleting waypoints either, an easy thing to do, is to open up the FSX Map from the menu, look where you are and where the runway is, then switch from using LNAV and VNAV to using HDG and ALT instead, and steer to within the ILS feathers down to 3,500 feet using heading and level change on the MCP, tune the ILS frequency on both nav radios and stick the runway heading in both CRS windows on the MCP and then do an ILS approach by using VOR/LOC and APP when you are near the feathers, slow it to 145 knots or so with the autothrottle as you get to five miles from the threshhold (which you will see in the displays) and you should be in reasonably good shape. This would simulate something not too different from what might happen in the real world (and on VATSIM), where your fully automated planned route goes out of the window as ATC tell you to go off your planned routing and maintain a certain speed, and then start vectoring you for an approach, since that is kind of the point of VATSIM. Al

So best-bet is to print out the ILS freq. pages. I. Need. A. Printer. So as you arrive into the airport, you should VISUALLY steer into a pattern, then wait for ATC to vector you to the feather, then descend as the ATC says for you to, then finally land. I can't wait to do a full flight on VATSIM with the NGX. Anyone know a good but short flight? (Ex. EWR-PHL, DCA-EWR) And also, how would you use a route that you could get from, for example, http://rfinder.asalink.net/free/?

The main reason you had so much problems with the approach, is you loaded too much fuel (Full load) for such a short flight. This inevitably will put you above Maximum landing weight when you land, hence the higher approach speed. You need a fraction of the amount of fuel for this flight. Go to the PMDG website, in the Download section under Miscellaneous, their is a 737NG fuel planner. It will give you the approximate fuel you will need for your flight. Just enter the distance, reserves, etc info and it will calculate it for you!! Edit just calculated this trip and while the Fuel planner doesn't allow flight level entries below 29000, I would say you would be safe with a fuel load of 10000 lbs. (That may be a little high, but should be within landing limits.)

Isin't that for the NG though? I thought that was the FS9 version.

Isin't that for the NG though? I thought that was the FS9 version.

No it's a generic fuel planner for a 737NG, Just enter the calculated trip fuel to the entry in CDU. (Don't use the Fuel planner Board fuel option) You can see how accurate it is by checking the PROG page of the FMC. (after you setup the FMC of course) You can make adjustments in the CDU fuel loader as necessary if it still shows too high or too low.