Retracting the airstairs

[simon-flight 0]

Hello Captains,

 

Does anyone know how to retract the airstairs after shutdown and the doors been closed.

 

Even after I've added the ground power cart I can't get it to work unless the ground power is switched on within the aircraft. All seems a bit wrong to me.

 

Any suggestions ?

 

Simon

[davierosoft 13]

Not sure about it, I never used airstair on the ngx, however I remember some posts about this in the past, mostly regarding the extension of the airstair when the pilots want to come on the plane for turning it on... And there was no way to extract it if you're not already aboard.

I don't know if it is related to fsx limits or something they missed, but my bet is on the first thing.

[Houghton11 12]

On the real aircraft the airstair can be extended/retracted from the outside with or without ground power. On the NGX though, it appears you need some sort of external or ship's power to get it to work.

[simon-flight 0]

davierosoft,

 

I sort of remember a previous post but couldnt locate it last night. It does sound like it could be an FSX thing as the airstairs extend easily enough with a power cart attached, they just wont go back in after shut down.

 

Thanks for the replies

[lowlevel 0]

Simon, if you retract the stair when shutting down the aircraft, how do you intend to get back in it for the next flight? :rolleyes:

[davierosoft 13]

It is a FSX limit, or pmdg is simulated so well that you need to put on the switched hot battery bus in order to use the stair.

Normally the stair has a standby switch under the handle wich powers the SHBB (some instruments will also come on in cockpit) and you can use the stair if ac power is not avaiable.

I think pmdg missed this switch (as it is outside of the cockpit) and so no power is given to the stair when in cold and dark.

It could be also a shortcut to not power the correct instrumentation when selecting the stair switch to "standby".

It is a limitation, but it is not a trouble.

I want to fly it, I don't need the airstair, and if needed, it is sufficient to power the plane. The flight is always loaded from inside the cockpit, how we reached the cockpit is a mistery, maybe we used the airport stairs or the gate tunnels, or a rope, by jumping and so on.

Not a problem so far

[KriVa 307]

Simon, if you retract the stair when shutting down the aircraft, how do you intend to get back in it for the next flight? :rolleyes:

This may be far fetched, but I'd guess... The way operators without airstairs do it? Just call for a set of stairs.

[simon-flight 0]

lowlevel, on 26 September 2012 - 03:52 AM, said:

Simon, if you retract the stair when shutting down the aircraft, how do you intend to get back in it for the next flight? :rolleyes:

This may be far fetched, but I'd guess... The way operators without airstairs do it? Just call for a set of stairs.

 

Even more far fetched, extract them again :-).

 

Either way as another poster has suggested, its not a big deal. Its just kind of fulfilling to end a flight shut the aircraft down, put the cat out, shut the door and put the stairs away.

[rfresh737 36]

If you're flying a BBJ 737NGX like me, then you would want to button it up on the ramp for the night. Unfortunately, I cannot operate the stairs by assigning hot keys to the Concorde Visor Up/Down as PMDG recommends. They will extend/retract just fine when I operate them using the CDU Doors screen. I have just the battery and stand by switches on. I'd prefer to use hot keys however.

 

Has anyone been able to operate the stairs with a hot key?

[Steven_Caffey 23]

If you're flying a BBJ 737NGX like me, then you would want to button it up on the ramp for the night. Unfortunately, I cannot operate the stairs by assigning hot keys to the Concorde Visor Up/Down as PMDG recommends. They will extend/retract just fine when I operate them using the CDU Doors screen. I have just the battery and stand by switches on. I'd prefer to use hot keys however.

 

Has anyone been able to operate the stairs with a hot key?

 

I think the recommendation to use the Concorde hotkeys in FS were from the FS9 version of the NG. You can set a hotkey from within the CDU of the NGX. 

[Jive1 2]

Hey!

I just installed the FS2004 PMDG B737-600NG as part of the 600-700-800-900 series, and the airstairs do no more work here neighter. Altough, I'm 100% sure that I've at least one time seen myself that the stairs were extended and retracted, when I finished installation, and just wanted to test all of the systems to see if they work. And now... Merde! I cannot make them work again....

It is an essential step in the procedure of settiung up a B737 and in vlosing it down.

So, Why do so many pilots remember that the stairs should work, but cannot even make them do work again.....

I would be glad if somebody could give an explanation and a solution to repair the error.

Jive1 - Belgium

[Jive1 2]

Hey!

What does it mean...."You can set a hotkey from within the CDU of the NGX". What is CDU?

Steven, can you explain wether that could be a solution for me in FS2004? How do I proceed then?

Jive1 - Belgium

[pcubine 143]

What is CDU?

Control Display Unit commonly referred to as the FMC. The CDU is located in the cockpit and has display screen and keypad. The FMC (Flight Management Computer)is located below the cockpit. The CDU is the interface between you and the FMC.

[Jive1 2]

Another observation that I did this morning.....

 

I loaded the B737-800NG version of PMDG, and again here I stated that the airstairs extend using Ctrl + F10, but they refused to retract when I used Ctrl + F9, like I set the assignement.

That shows that the airstairs are present in the PMDG FS2004 version, but for one or another reason they refuse to work correctly.

Is there anybody who can explai this? And give me a solution?

Greetz

 

Jive1 - Belgium

[Jive1 2]

For those captains who are still interested....

I solved the problem using one single button, in my case I have just F10, for retracting the airstairs, instead of Ctrl + F10, two buttons.

Greetz

Jive1 - Belgium