I am nearing the end of my around the world NGX 737-800 excursion which is indescribably fun!I've been meticulous about not only my procedures, and flying the aircraft correctly, but also in flight and fuel planning. I think that the backdrop of an around the world flight, landing in many different exotic (virtual) destinations is a great inspiration and learning boost that almost forces a person (or at least me :) ) to do everything right... I'm not exactly certain if I'm going a bit crazy or not, but I swear when I landed at Narita International in Japan at 3:00am in the morning the first thing I thought as the wheels touched down and the speedbrakes went up was, "God I hope they have nice hotels here! I'm beat!" LoL!But I digress! Anyway, I was on a flight from Jomo Kenyatta International HKJK to OKAS Ali AL Salem in Kuwait, a distance of about 2000 miles, and a leg in the journey that I spent some time calculating fuel usage for... Before I had hit the descent, my fuel situation was already critical, and believing that the plane would have significantly less fuel usage on the descent into the destination airport I rolled the dice and decided not to attempt my alternate, which was 80 miles closer.Long story short, I touched down in Kuwait on fumes and the commensurate virtual cheer from the flightdeck and my imaginary First Officer, but the funniest part was that about 10 seconds before touching the idle/cutoff switch during the gate shutdown procedure, I ran out of fuel and the engines stopped! LoL!Maximum fuel savings for Delta! :)

WoW, Nice!

:(

I've been meticulous about not only my procedures, and flying the aircraft correctly, but also in flight and fuel planning.

Not as meticulous as you thought obviously...

Before I had hit the descent, my fuel situation was already critical, and believing that the plane would have significantly less fuel usage on the descent into the destination airport I rolled the dice and decided not to attempt my alternate, which was 80 miles closer.

Sorry, bad call. Your plan should have allowed for a toga and at least half an hours hold at your primary before you even needed to think about your alternate. Even you flew the whole leg head on into the jetstream, why wasn't the jetstream included in your planning?

Wow! I think maybe you sleep in your Captain's hat too?! :)I figured that since I've flown all of my SIDs and STARs by hand, following the Flight Director cues pretty closely, that that isn't too bad for someone new to NGX and sims of this kind especially since a lot of it can get a bit overwhelming at times... I'm still in the process of memorizing the cold startup procedure as I follow the checklists... Maybe I should blame Vroute Premiere because I followed its recommendation for fuel loading for the first time over my own calculations :) I left that part out because I like to give people I've never met more than a fair shake before I get snarky, but that's just me :)I think I'm going to try TopCat next...I finished that around the world flight last night, touchdown at SFO on a bright sunny morning. All the passengers I took with me still alive and happy! :) For now I think I'm so enamoured of this simulation that I'm going to fly the KSFO-KLAX route over and over and over again until I can do it in my sleep... I can guarantee you that my only fuel mistakes in the future will be being overweight with fuel at the top of descent :) Is the jettisoning of fuel simulated in NGX? I mean via aircraft controls and not just resetting fuel values in the FMC MSFS menu? Or do you always have to opt for an overweight landing?

The NG doesn't have fuel dumping capabilities, not in the sim and not in real life.The plane can take it, but if you're overweight, just request a hold (or fly it, if you're not online), until you're safe to land.

For me the best and most accurate fuel planning method is by far the one described by Ryan in the second tutorial.

For me the best and most accurate fuel planning method is by far the one described by Ryan in the second tutorial.

Indeed I use the same method. Backed up by FSBuild and TOPCAT to back up my arithmetic.

I'm still in the process of memorizing the cold startup procedure as I follow the checklists...

I wouldn't bother memorizing checklists. In the real world you are required to use checklists. Working from memory is much more likely to result in missed steps. It's fine if you want to memorize it all and try to do it that way, but you should still cross reference every step you did from memory against the checklist.

Checklist are checklists, not do-lists. You are supposed to be able to do the flows without them.Having a deeper understanding what systems do and how they interact helps in this regard. You are less likely to forget to turn the packs off and then be unable to figure out why N2 is not rising, when you actually know how packs lower the starter pressure.

Checklist are checklists, not do-lists. You are supposed to be able to do the flows without them.Having a deeper understanding what systems do and how they interact helps in this regard. You are less likely to forget to turn the packs off and then be unable to figure out why N2 is not rising, when you actually know how packs lower the starter pressure.

Thank you Fabo, That was actually my intent when I use the term "memorize" I should have stated it with the more accurate for me, "I want to be able to flip that switch because I know what I want the plane to do, not because a note on a piece of paper told me I was supposed to" :)I find that the most engaging thing about 737NGX, amplified by the add-ons like fs2crew and the others of note, is that for the first time in Flight Simulator, I WANT to understand how and WHY the plane flies, and what I need to do to make that happen, instead of the previous where I just wanted to jump in a cessna, use the cheat quick keys to start the plane, and then proceed to see how close I could buzz the tower without crashing into it...By understanding (in a way memorizing) the checklists I find myself actually talking in my head about what just happened when I flipped a switch, and imagining fans starting to turn and how electricity is flowing, and where the fuel is being routed depending on my actions in the cockpit. I find that very engaging, and there is, dare I say, a real feeling of authority and empowerment in understanding what's going on around me by connecting my actions to inevitable consequences :)For me, 737NGX bridged that gap from fun "game" to fun "simulation" and I get as much if not more satisfaction flying a perfect approach by hand and then perfectly taxiing to the gate, then I ever did crashing perfectly into a tower :)I think that an enthusiasm for real life, is what PMDG strives for in their simulations, I might just be speaking about how I see it, but because of what they've given me, I strive now for perfection in simulation with the things I should do, instead of the things the program allows me to do... :)p.s. I actually do go thru the checklist though but after I've thought about what step I just did :) It tends to be far from mindless :)

Long story short, I touched down in Kuwait on fumes and the commensurate virtual cheer from the flightdeck and my imaginary First Officer, but the funniest part was that about 10 seconds before touching the idle/cutoff switch during the gate shutdown procedure, I ran out of fuel and the engines stopped! LoL!

Yeah, I know that. It happened on one of my flights to Innsbruck. I had to camp on the taxiway, because I ran out of fuel...

Funny how you cope, I am way nervous anywhere under two tonnes... :)David: Nice! I will now aspire to be your level - perfect taxi, that is the single thing I never could do in the sim :D

Checklist are checklists, not do-lists. You are supposed to be able to do the flows without them.Having a deeper understanding what systems do and how they interact helps in this regard. You are less likely to forget to turn the packs off and then be unable to figure out why N2 is not rising, when you actually know how packs lower the starter pressure.

Of course. What I meant was it is fine to memorize the lists, and obviously it is important to study and understand what is going on behind the scenes (really helps with troubleshooting), but you use the checklists to ensure you have completed necessary items. I can take the NGX from cold and dark all the way through a flight to parking and leaving the aircraft at the destination without a single checklist, but I use them as a "cross-check" of my work.