Question #1: Loading the 737, supposed to open it in 2D mode first, then go to VC. My FSX is set to 2D, and my trike opener (as instructed by the manual) DOES open in 2D mode. However, when I go to the top menu, go to "Aircraft" and choose the "Select Aircraft" choice to load the 737, it always loads in VC mode. Is there some secret to this, or does it matter?

 

Question #2: I open FSX, and the default aircraft is the trike. I am not at Friday Harbor, but at my home airport KSFB. So now I go to load the 737. Is it better to load it from the FSX list (choose "Select Aircraft", go to the 737 and click on it), or should I save the aircraft in the mode I want (C&D), and then choose the "Load" option from the "Flights" menu and load it from there?

 

I AM reading the manual, but I have to get into the cockpit and start learning the panels.

 

 

So now I go to load the 737. Is it better to load it from the FSX list (choose "Select Aircraft", go to the 737 and click on it), or should I save the aircraft in the mode I want (C&D), and then choose the "Load" option from the "Flights" menu and load it from there?

 

I load it directly from the Flight Sim Create a Flight screen.  You can set the panel startup state through the FMC (as noted in the intro manual), and avoid having to load saved flights and so on.  This way, the aircraft loads into cold and dark (or more realistically, short/long turn) no matter what airport you choose at the home screen.

I load it directly from the Flight Sim Create a Flight screen.  You can set the panel startup state through the FMC (as noted in the intro manual), and avoid having to load saved flights and so on.  This way, the aircraft loads into cold and dark (or more realistically, short/long turn) no matter what airport you choose at the home screen.

Must be missing something here. Where is the "Create a Flight" screen? I have figured out how to save the config as a "C&D" aircraft from the manual. So it should load every time the same way. But do I save my flight at the gate as, say, "737 @ Sanford Gate 3" and then use the "Flight - Load" menu, or do I just go to the "Aircraft" menu and choose the same plane I've been using?

 

I usually create a flight by loading the plane, putting it at a gate, setting it up as "C&D" (my CoolSky MD-80, for instance), and then saving it as "MD-80 @ Sanford Gate 3 - C&D". Then I would choose "Fly Now", go the the "Flights" menu, choose "Load" and pick my saved flight. Is that what you're talking about?

Must be missing something here. Where is the "Create a Flight" screen? I have figured out how to save the config as a "C&D" aircraft from the manual. So it should load every time the same way. But do I save my flight at the gate as, say, "737 @ Sanford Gate 3" and then use the "Flight - Load" menu, or do I just go to the "Aircraft" menu and choose the same plane I've been using?

 

I usually create a flight by loading the plane, putting it at a gate, setting it up as "C&D" (my CoolSky MD-80, for instance), and then saving it as "MD-80 @ Sanford Gate 3 - C&D". Then I would choose "Fly Now", go the the "Flights" menu, choose "Load" and pick my saved flight. Is that what you're talking about?

 

Yeah, I was referring to the fly now screen, sorry...

 

BUT, with the NGX you do not need to use saved flights (and I'd avoid it - that way you don't have a million different flights just to load up C/D at each place).  Just use the Fly Now screen to select the plane, time of day, weather and location.  Once the sim loads, you can select a panel state in the FMC, and you can also tell it what to load by default.  This is explained in the intro manual and tutorial 1.

Well, the steps I take are similar, but my default flight (loads at FSX boot) is the Trike Ultralight:

 

I then click on "Fly Now", which loads the trike at Gate 3/Sanford. In 2D cockpit mode. I then go to the top menu bar, choose "Aircraft" and "Select Aircraft", which takes me to the page with all of the FSX A/C, go down to the 737/900NGX-Winglets aircraft, and click on it to load. Then I'm back to the gate with the 737. If I now choose the C&D choice on the computer, when I end the flight, will it reload the same way - C&D?

 

 

my trike opener (as instructed by the manual)

 

Strange manual. Load NGX right from FSX main menu. Do not load trike.

From the 737NGX Introduction & Use manual, page 21:

 

There is a common misconception that when loading a complex
simulation like the PMDG 737NGX that you should first load the
default Cessna into the simulator, then load the PMDG 737NGX.
This is not a factual conception and in fact we do not recommend
the practice at all. What is required however is for the default
Ultralight at Friday Harbor to be your default startup state in FSX.

 

Now, I'm always being told to RTFM. And I try as hard as I can to do that. The Coolsky MD-80 "insists" that you load the default Cessna 172 first (as stated in the quote above), which I have been doing. So what is right? As it is, I just loaded the 737 and read that whenever I change the set-up in the FMC, the changes are instant. However, when I change the set-up to load "cold & dark", the plane just sits there at the gate idling - it never does shut down.

 

So when do I listen to the manual, and when do I ignore it?

 

 

What is required however is for the default
Ultralight at Friday Harbor to be your default startup state in FSX.

 

Here's the keyword. Default startup state means what do you see in the four set up windows in FSX menu. You shouldn't load trike before NGX. You've changed your default airport to KBSF and that could be the problem.

So I have to see the trike, Friday Harbor, my user-defined weather and the correct time in the 4 boxes...and then...what?  Do I use the "Load" button and load a saved 737? Or do I click "Change" in the "Current Aircraft" box, and choose my 737 from the aircraft livery?

 

And just out of curiosity, whatever would make it necessary to have Friday Harbor in the "Current Location" box? Just wondering.

Further discussion: I want to have my 737 based at Gate 3 in Sanford (KSFB). I want to have it parked at the gate, cold & dark, with the jetway engaged (I'm also running GSX). So if I have to start FSX with the Trike at Friday Harbor, what would someone suggest for going from that opening screen to my plane at Sanford? Should I set up the 737 at the gate and save it, and then load that after the FSX opening screen? Or so I have to go through opening the 737 at Friday Harbor and then changing the location to Sanford and setting up the same scenario?

Have the FSX load on to Fly Now screen (as shown up a couple posts). That should be fine provided you left the trike in the same state as it was in original default flight (you did not turn it off or anything).

 

Then select the airport you want to use, the time and season the weather, and the NGX variant you want to use, in no particular order.

 

Then click on Fly now! and go on flying.

Gary,

 

As long as when you first load FSX, in the Create Flight screen you see Friday Harbour and the Trike you should be fine.  Weather and time is of little importance

 

You can then make whatever changes you want, select NGX by the "Change..." button under CURRENT AIRCRAFT and select you desired location using the "Change..." button under CURRENT LOCATION.

 

Then click "Fly Now!"

 

Or if you have a saved flight with the 737 loaded at your gate of choice, just choose "Load..." and choose your flight.

 

There is no need to click "Fly Now!" with the trike selected. (unless of course you want to fly the Trike!) 

 

 

If I now choose the C&D choice on the computer, when I end the flight, will it reload the same way - C&D?

 

Please take a look at the Intro Manual that I've referenced several times now.  It tells you specifically how to do this.  In the same place you select C/D, there is an option to set the default panel state.  This means any time you load the NGX, it will load in that state.

Just to (hopefully) simply this a bit more, it isn't necessary to have Friday Harbor as your start point. I've saved default start flights (with the 172) at a number of different airports over time, including CYOW, ENZV, EGPK and PACV and never have I had a problem loading the 737. Once it's loaded and it's gone through the initialization process (don't touch ANYTHING while it's doing that), it defaults to the panel state I selected from the FMC the previous time. If you want a different panel state, simply select it from the FMC and wait for things to settle down, and you'll be good to go.

 

Hope that helps.

All is well! I have saved my flight with the 737 at Gate 3 in Sanford, cold and dark, with the jetway attached and the doors open. And after I boot up FSX into the Trike/Friday Harbor start screen, I am clicking on "Load" and choosing that situation. My question about the Cold & Dark set-up had to do with the manual that said when I chose that cockpit, the change would be immediate. After I ended the flight and re-loaded the 737, it was cold and dark.

 

I am now in the process of flying the tutorials. Looking for how to start the aircraft, I think it will be in the second tutorial. After I figure that out, then I'll go back to my initial set-up and be able to start that C&D cockpit.

 

I have been flying the Coolsky MD-80 Super Pro for some time now, and the checklists and procedures walked me through every step in the start-up. This A/C is a bit more complex, so it's going to take me a bit longer to figure it out. Don't know what I'll do when the 777 comes out! :huh:

 

Thanks, guys! Love these forums and the support.