Aerhead1, (I'll assume that isn't the name on your birth certificate, but it's all I have!)

 

I can assure you that there is a crowd of people here who will go out of their way to help you with this aircraft. Provided you take a little time with the aircraft, the manuals and the tutorial, you can be up and running in minutes every time. The 737NG is good like that; once you have the basics sorted out, you can delve into some of the more obscure capabilities of the aircraft, or you can just ignore them.

 

I don't know anyone who regretted learning how to operate the NGX, on the contrary, it's a hugely rewarding process, but the choice is yours. I hope you'll stick around!

 

Cheers

Don't give up.

 

I felt the same way too! It's really easy when you fly the tutorials. It's an excellent way to learn.

Learn the preflighting stuff from the first tutorial - I wrote it specifically for someone like you who just wants to fly without the full cold and dark setup at the gate. You'll need to learn a bit about how the FMC works, how real-life routing works, etc, but after that you'll be able to do it minutes after you've got the procedures internalized in your head.

 

Remember that everyone else here (myself included) started somewhere with high-end addons too - I remember being bewildered when I bought my first one as well after having learned the Microsoft default planes.

Hwre is a simple solution for getting the airplane started. Have all the orange lights off on the overhead except the the hydraulic a system and the pitot heat. Then, turn both the lwft and right packs on. Then turn the lwft engin control switch to GRD. You will see the engine indications start spjnning up. At 25% n1, press the fuwl cutoff switch so tbat it moves up and towards the thrust levels. Then switch the engine sqitch of the other engine to GRD and do the same for said engine.

So, it's too realistic and high-quality for you?

 

I can get it preflighted and started in 15-20 minutes, personally. And that's with maximum realism:checklists, TOPCAT, FSFuel

@Steve, I am looking at FS2CREW already. It looks like that's a favorite with the NGX crowd.

 

 

If you are looking for something more simple and functional that can help you to manage the 737 can take a look at CheckList Manager NGX. It put me in condition to fly immediately without frustration ...

Hwre is a simple solution for getting the airplane started. Have all the orange lights off on the overhead except the the hydraulic a system and the pitot heat. Then, turn both the lwft and right packs on. Then turn the lwft engin control switch to GRD. You will see the engine indications start spjnning up. At 25% n1, press the fuwl cutoff switch so tbat it moves up and towards the thrust levels. Then switch the engine sqitch of the other engine to GRD and do the same for said engine.

 

Only it wont work.

First, you need to start the APU if it is not (and no orange lights there to remind you), second you need both packs OFF not ON for startup.

@Richiebacardi, I actually spent about a week reading these forums and various reviews before making the purchase. And I'm not really expecting a refund, but stating that I wish I hadn't bought it to begin with. Having said that, I will probably stick with it because I really would like to know how to work the plane before the 777 comes out. I still think I would buy that plane, but I should have waited til it came out to make my decision. Maybe you guys are right, and I will grow to love it. We'll see.

 

First, if you'd really spent that much time here, you should have picked up on how in-depth this is. This is also not mentioning the product page you clicked "Purchase" on.

Second, you may need to revise how you research purchases in the future if you missed that this is an in-depth simulation.

Third, the 777 will be the same way.

 

Conclusion 1: If simple and pretty is what you're looking for, there's a 777 already out there: http://captainsim.com/products/x777/

 

Read the intro manual at the very least, because it explains panel states. I know at least one of the panel states requires you to just start the engines and off you go. All is not lost.

Thanks to everyone for lending their advice. I have started looking at the manuals. And with all of the other things I have going such as work, my music production, and school, eventually I think I may get the hang of it. And to those who tooks this topic as a personal assault, I am not suggesting anything negative about the product or the company. They are both very impressive which is the reason I bought the plane in the first place. I'm just stating that maybe it wasn't my wisest purchase. But I have it now so I'll sort it out. Thanks again.

You're in with a good group mate, mostly positive words of encouragement. Stick with it and just remember...everyone is here to help. Hey you've even got one of the developers on this thread...take your time and trust me....it'll be worth it.

2 things. One, as a group, owners of PMDG products tend to be very defensive/sensitive about any perceived criticism. So, when you imply that it's too hard to figure out, some react like a Stradivarius violin owner's club, and you just said your Stradivarius is flawed because you can't get it to sound good. But the another analogy I would use is that leaning the PMDG is like learning to ride a bike, in several ways. One, we all learn at different rates, but once you get it, you kind of get it. It doesn't mean we're all of the same proficiency - some on here are like the equivalent of Tour de France champions. Others just get the "bike" out every once in a while. I'm a father of 3, married, full-time job, so I'm more of a casual "pilot." The way I set it up and fly would probably make the hardcore guys cringe because of the lack of realism, but it's fun for me. The other thing, like riding a bike, is once you get the hang of it, you forget your early failings. I remembered last night how I couldn't figure out how to autoland at first; I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but I figured it out. I'd almost guarantee everyone here has had a similar experience. Stick with it; you'll find it rewarding.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Only it wont work.

First, you need to start the APU if it is not (and no orange lights there to remind you), second you need both packs OFF not ON for startup.

woops!!!! Yep i meant pack OFF. Sorry about that. Yeah you wont have a start with the packs on. Remember, you need a n electrical source, pressurized air, fuel and fire to start a turbine engine. The packs being off provide the pressurized air. The apu being on provides the electrical source. The engine switches provide the fire and the fuel cutoff switches in the up position provide the fuel.

 

 

 

Try this procedure step by step....this is assuming you have the airplane at least being powered by only the battery and only pertains to getting the engines started.

- turn on apu

-switch the electrical source to the apu by flipping both switched on the electrical panel inder the lit blue light that says apu....or something similar.......that light will go out once both busses are being powered by the apu

-turn apu and both engine bleeds on. An orange light might come on saying dual bleed.....sont worry about that yet.

- switch the isolation valve to on.

- turn both A hydraulic pumps off.....that means noth electrical and engine switches under the A system to off.

- then turn both packs to OFF.

- the n turn the engine 1 switch to GRD.

- When N2 reaches 25% , turn the associated fuel cutoff switch to the up position and in a couple of seconds you will see fuel flow increase and egt increase.

 

 

 

* one way to tell if the apu is running is that the egt gauge needle will not be at 0. Also, the apu switch itself will be in the ON position. Another way to tell is that of the apu is on but not powering the busses, then the apu light on the electrical panel will be lit blue.

woops!!!! Yep i meant pack OFF. Sorry about that. Yeah you wont have a start with the packs on. Remember, you need a n electrical source, pressurized air, fuel and fire to start a turbine engine. The packs being off provide the pressurized air. The apu being on provides the electrical source. The engine switches provide the fire and the fuel cutoff switches in the up position provide the fuel.

 

 

 

Try this procedure step by step....this is assuming you have the airplane at least being powered by only the battery and only pertains to getting the engines started.

- turn on apu

-switch the electrical source to the apu by flipping both switched on the electrical panel inder the lit blue light that says apu....or something similar.......that light will go out once both busses are being powered by the apu

-turn apu and both engine bleeds on. An orange light might come on saying dual bleed.....sont worry about that yet.

- switch the isolation valve to on.

- turn both A hydraulic pumps off.....that means noth electrical and engine switches under the A system to off.

- then turn both packs to OFF.

- the n turn the engine 1 switch to GRD.

- When N2 reaches 25% , turn the associated fuel cutoff switch to the up position and in a couple of seconds you will see fuel flow increase and egt increase.

 

 

 

* one way to tell if the apu is running is that the egt gauge needle will not be at 0. Also, the apu switch itself will be in the ON position. Another way to tell is that of the apu is on but not powering the busses, then the apu light on the electrical panel will be lit blue.

 

 

A couple corrections....

 

 

-when you turn off the A Hyd pumps, orange lights will come on. Don't worry about those. Also, turn on both B system pumps on at the same time as when you turn off the A pumps.

 

- turn all of the fuel pumps that have fuel in the associated tanks on(meaning if you don't have fuel in the center tanks, there is no need to turn the center fuel pumps on) before starting the APU.

 

 

 

 

As for the after start procedures....In no particular order

- turn on both A Hyd pumps

- turn on both packs

- switch the isolation valve to auto

- turn off APU bleed switch

- Transfer the electrical source from the APU to the engines by turning both engine generators to the on position.

- turn off the APU.

 

 

 

 

If you won't to loose time, just load the engine running panel state, as Ryan (Tabs) said, from engine running you need only to put the route (if you want to fly a route) and that's it.

Forget about things like anti ice pitot heat and so on, are not influent for the flight, as some other systems. With engine running saved flight you have already all the important things running, just check fuel and route and enjoy, just 2 minutes after loading, pretty much faster than other ways.

That's what I was thinking.. Don't want to spend the time starting it up? Just load the default

panel state that came with the plane, and everything is running, and ready to go.

You would still have to deal with the FMC/CDU, but it's easy once you do it a few times and get

used to it. Most of that has a flow to it, and once you get the hang, it goes pretty fast.

 

As far as the engine, etc procedures, I think some of the user made checklists out there can

make it a lot easier.

I've got a few downloaded. That way, you just go by the checklist, click, click,click..

There is one from a Michael Swannick that is pretty good. The file name is pmdg_ngx_flow_checklist.zip.

It's a set of flow/checklists in pdf format, which could be printed out.. With that, most should be pretty

easy. It covers every stage from power up, to shutdown and secure. You just follow the list, click, click,click.

 

It's the repetition of doing it a few times that will get it stored in the brain pan.

Lots of it looks kind of intimidating at first, then after you do it a few times, it clicks into place.

It seems actually doing the various procedures is a lot more effective as far as getting it down,

vs just studying the manuals, etc, but not really trying to actually do it on the sim.

It's kind of hard to learn if you don't actually go through the motions.

 

But like I say, if that doesn't appeal to you, I'd just load the default panel state and have it

all ready to go.