Spreading the Word

[MDChase 6]

Some people who follow the forum may know I'm a Student Naval Aviator, however I have been using PMDG products for close to 7 years (a third of life haha) so I always like to share experiences of how it has effected my flying career because like all of you I am always in pursuit of having it as real as it gets and truly Robert and his team deserve praise for getting us a step closer with every release.

 

That being said, onto my story... I had my 4th and 5th instrument hops of the week on Wednesday so I was working out where to do my instrument hops and more importantly where to get a free lunch (since our trainer gets a solid 300kts over the ground it opens up some options) when I found out I was flying with a Naval Reservist. During the brief I discovered he is a Southwest Captain so naturally I was intrigued and a little nervous to have to shoot approaches with him since he is obviously a very seasoned aviator and I am obviously not.

 

He was great to fly with and as we were transitioning from an ILS approach to an RNAV he noted how impressed he was I could maneuver through the FMS so quickly (pretty crucial since we don't have autopilot and fly the pattern at 200kts) and I explained to him I practice all my approaches in the NGX because it truly rivals our FMS (which is very advanced), we got to talking and he was amazed how much I had gathered from the simulator. He also told me he was headed to fly the 800 for the first time Monday which I thought was awesome.

 

Just a quick story but also a thanks to the PMDG team. For all of those on these forums in search of ultimate realism just know it doesn't get better than this, as for me I'm off to do a dress rehearsel, of my cross country flight in the NGX.

 

-Matt Chase

[Guest BeaverDriver]

I'll echo your thanks to Robert and the gang as I am continually in awe of how much has been accomplished in this (true) simulation. I'm at the other end of my career in aviation (pilot now avonics tech) and it's easy to tell these machines are a cut above (several, actually). There are no excuses here. Just quality and if something couldn't be done, then it really couldn't be done and the "FSX limitation" was real, not an excuse as I say. The manuals alone are worth the price of admission, and believe me, I'm wearing the electrons off the screen (to be modern about it) learning these machines inside out.

 

But I'd also like to say kudos to you Matt, for your humility and your attitude in general. Frankly it's refreshing in this day to find someone who really doesn't "know it all" at age 21. I've seen a fair number of pilots either wash out or get themselves into serious trouble because they were young but "far more experienced" than us old gas-passers. Some of them lived to say, "oops". Others didn't.

 

I see a really bright future for you, and I don't doubt you'll be among the best there is. If all aviators were like you, the skies would indeed be a better place.

 

Glenn Davy