For the past about 4 months I have been flying the PMDG 737ngx without really knowing how to work the thing. I have been basically hopping in the plane, and loading the route into the FMC, selecting the DEP/ARR runways into the FMC, and I have fs2crew, so I would basically fly my routes like that.

 

But lately I have really been trying to learn the functions of the FMC, and how to correctly program it, so VNAV and LNAV actually do something, and I can autoland the plane if I need to.

 

I don't get at ALL how to enter the correct waypoints, legs or anything into the FMC... I have read the manual but I still don't get it!!!!

 

I have fscommander 9.0, and I want to fly from KMCI-KCOS.

 

Here is the "NAVAID" plan in fscommander

 

KMCI ROVVO ULNAZ WEVAL FRI VASCO SLN WESAL HYS OEL ITR YAKIY HGO CHEBA KCOS

 

Where do I put all of this stuff!??

 

I put in a waypoint on the route page "DRAKE".. for the correct runway... but the LNAV still won't do anything.. and I don't know how to correctly configure the LEGS page either.

?

Can I just import the plan from fscommander into the NGX

 

Am I just such a dummy??

All of this is covered in the tutorial flights, though you might have forgotten some of the stuff in there if you haven't flown them for a while.

Go to simroutes:

 

http://www.simroutes.com

 

>>generate routes tab.

 

DEP: KMCI

 

KMCI ROVVO ULNAZ WEVAL FRI VASCO SLN WESAL HYS OEL ITR YAKIY HGO CHEBA KCOS

 

:KCOS

 

Generate route.

 

Next to dispatch change FS9 to PMDG and click download flightplan.

 

Then you'll get a file called KMCIKCOS.RTE.

 

Place this folder:

 

PMDG\FLIGHTPLANS

 

In your main FS folder. Then in the FMC, IIRC on the INIT page enter KMCIKCOS into the COROUTE entry and the entire FPL will be loaded!

No1. Lets start with some basic forum rules: You need to SIGN your posts with your FULL name. (the easiest thing is to add it to the signature, so it is automatically there whenever you post).

No2. The name of your topic should have something to do with the problem you are experiencing, for example, the correct name would be "problem programing FMC", or "trouble imputing flight plan". We know you need help, you wouldn't be posting if you didn't.

 

Now to your problem: I doubt that you have read the whole fcom (it is 1000+ pages) :lol: , but you don't need to look there. PMDG have included two tutorial flights with the airplane (you can find them in fsx/pmdg/pmdg 737 ngx/flight manuals folder). I sugest you go through both of them, it is explained step by step. You can import your flight plan, but you should really learn how to import one yourself, it is really easy once you get the hang of it.

I'm going to agree with Vlad. The tutorials explain this in great detail, with pictures. Leave the FCOM for later/reference when things are unclear.

1.

You need to 'think' from TOP to BOTTOM for the route in the LEGS page. With the NEXT button you simply read one page after the other.

 

To get an understanding of this, start with the RTE page and insert your departure airport (top left or "LSK1L") and destination airport (top right or "LSK1R")

 

Now, if you click on the NEXT page you can start inserting those waypoints on your list one after the other.

 

Notice that there is a difference between waypoints and airways. A waypoint is entered on the right whereas an airway is entered on the left (accompanied by the final 'point' where to leave this airway on the right again. Some of those terms in your route will refer to either a waypoint or an airway so be aware of the difference.

 

What appears on the LEGS page will be the endresult of what you insert starting from page 2 from the RTE page.

When you , for instance, have inserted an airway you will see multiple waypoints of that airway appear in your LEGS page.

 

2.

The autoland feature has little to do with having correctly programmed the FMC

 

You only require the frequency of the ILS system of the runway and enter that in both NAV1 and 2 radios, its exact heading and enter that in both CRS dials for NAV 1 and 2 (on the MCP), 2 functional autopilots need both be engaged, and knowledge on how to interpret the magenta needles that display on your screen so you can correctly intercept the glideslope

On the ROUTE page:

 

Dep: KMCI Arr: KCOS

Then, since all the designations you listed in the flight plan are either a VOR or an Intersection, you simply put them one by one into the "TO" on the right hand side of the screen (still on ROUTE page). When one page is full, push "NEXT PAGE" and carry on.

VOR and Intersection based plans are not really the norm for commercial air travel any more, they are more likely to be used by small aircraft at low level. Commercial flights tend to use Airways and Waypoints.

A Waypoint is a position in space and an Airway is a path that connects two or more waypoints together (it does not have to be straight!).

 

Here is a nice example of a Route from simroutes.com:

EIDW LIFFY UL975 WAL UL10 HON EGLL

EIDW - departure airport (Dublin)

LIFFY - is a waypoint near EIDW that is also on the airway called UL975

WAL - the waypoint on airway UL975 that is also on airway UL10

HON - is a waypoint on airway UL10 that is near EGLL

EGLL- is your destination, London Heathrow.

 

[Notes:- airports have four character codes, waypoints are five characters unless they are also VORs in which case they are three characters, and waypoints usual start with U, L or UL and finish with a number.]

 

On the Route page, you would enter the Waypoints on the right hand side, and the path to get from one waypoint to the next on the left hand side. (If no path is specified, it assumes you want to fly directly). You will get an error if the specified waypoints where you enter or exit an airway are not on the airway specified. For this example, you would enter LIFFY in the top right, UL975 in the 2nd left, 'WAL' below LIFFY in the 2nd right, UL10 in 3rd left, and finally, HON in the 3rd right. You have now told the FMC that the route you want to follow goes from LIFFY, via UL975 to WAL, where you change to follow UL10, until you reach HON.

 

The only thing you now have to worry about is how to get from your runway to the first waypoint on your route, and how to get from the last waypoint to your landing runway. Since this concerns your departures and arrivals, you use the dep/arr page. Select EIDW <Dep> (top left), select the runway you intend to depart from, then find the SID that connects that runway to your first waypoint. Check online charts if you are not sure which one to use. Then do the same to select your landing runway and the STAR that connects it to your route.

 

Finally, go to the LEGS page, and check that every thing makes sense, that there are no gaps and that you are not going to the same place twice. If you are using US airports, the SIDs and STAR often include 'vectors' which is a way of saying that you should expect the ATC to tell you how they want you to get from one waypoint to another. Unless you are on VATSIM or the likes, you will just have to fly those bits yourself or tell the FMC how you want them flown. For that reason, I would suggest you use Europe for your first few flights.