Excellent, many thanks for letting us know!

Gents-

 

We already added a feature that will give you a multiplier effect on service based failures.  It essentially works to more rapidly increase the amount of time you are putting on the airplane by a factor of, say, 2x, 4x, 8x, etc....

 

There is no plan to allow you to manually make the airplane "a certain age" however- as this wouldn't really do much for you anyway. 

Any chance of getting a multiplier like this on the NGX? 

Awesome, a Multiplier is just what I hoped for.

Great news Robert! We appreciate this very much. This is why you're the best in the business.

Maybe PMDG can create a initialization menu of select-able MEL items, plus a randomizer.

 

The request is in our tracking system but my guess would be that it won't make the initial release (assuming it's even feasible at all), sorry. Major things don't fail very often on modern jets like these - just a fact.

I know modern systems are more reliable, but the list of broken things people have to deal with are increasing as the real 737NGs & 777s ages and some of these jets end up in dodgy airlines with poor maintenance in developing nations. I recently saw a great Argentinian movie called "Whisky Romeo Zulu", it was written and directed by a former LAPA 737 line captain and the kind of things that the airline will allow dispatch really amazes me. For example they would fly with both DMEs inop, 2 out of 3 artificial horizons broken at night, faulty APU fire loops, major cracks in the rudder actuators etc. And they would fly those potential deathtraps for weeks under deferred maintenance. I think you can get the DVD on Netflix.

And then there's the story on PPRuNe of a 20-year old FBW A320 that has literally fallen to bits whilst in Nigeria....

So when the company started ops all the planes were GROUNDED due multiples MELs,like air bleed leaks ,APUs not working , multiple surfaces computers not operating , corrosion on the fuselage , hidraulic leaks on struts,flaps locked,pack not operative,pitot tubes static tubes sensors,radar,flight displays not lighting.. etcetc,....

....Its awesome how a leasing company can give planes on that state and after hope than their clients put the money to fix the planes while operating.With zero hours in 3 months and each one with more than 10 MELs . I did the flight tests of FNA and after 4 months with zero hours , and full maintenace service applied in Lagos , we founded a hell flight starting with no input from rudder on take off ! NWS seems not working ..so we had to make an asimetric thrust take off because we arent able to mantain the runway heading on the first 80 knots ..awesome.. bleed leak .. tcas not working ..no autobrake indication, ###### planes from ACG

Source:
http://www.pprune.org/african-aviation/501113-first-nation-a320-lagos.html

Edited July 7, 201312 yr by Avantime

Any chance of getting a multiplier like this on the NGX? 

 

SP2, it's been in the list for it for a long time.

Hi,

 

I keep an eye on the Aviation Heralds and I maybe wrong but I have the feeling that failures occur everyday.

Fortunately, they don't usually lead to crash, but there are lots of RTOs, and emergency landings due to engines or landing gears failures for instance, amongst others.

Ok, it doesn't happen on only one aircraft and the feeling must be due to the huge number of aircrafts flying in the world...^^

And failures occur even in companies with good reputation not only crapy companies from lost parts of the world. Maybe can't they considered as service based failures but random ones?

I am now wondering if I shouldn't rather choose random...

But anyway, no matter what is decided for the B777, it won't prevent me from taking her for a ride and fully enjoy it!^^

 

There's some important concepts to understand here that I think some people are missing with respect to how the service based failures system works. The failures we model are not based on how many overall failures you see in airplanes like what you get on that Avherald list. We model the probability that any given part is going to fail. Just because a bunch of failures occurred on different airplanes over the past week doesn't mean the probability of a specific part failing increases - that isn't how probability works. The probability of any part failing is always the same - that's what the data we have and use actually is - how many hours of use is expected before X part fails, *on average*. It doesn't mean the part will always fail at exactly a specific number of hours, it just means that if you average out all the failures that have occurred in the real world, you get this number of hours between failures.

 

The term is "MTBF" - mean time between failures. "Mean" means average. We use that number as the center point and our algorithm generates failures in a realistic normal distribution curve pattern around that number - sometimes you may actually get an outlier where a part fails much earlier or much later than the mean. This is exactly what happens in the real world - it's the average of all the failures that matters, not any specific individual one. What the new option is going to do is compress that whole normal distribution curve down to shorter units of time and it should result in you seeing more failures over the same period of time vs. the real time 1x setting.

Hi Ryan,

 

Thanks for these nice explanations. I get it now, and as I could expect from PMDG, it's the most realistic way to deal with failures probability. 

The multiplier is indeed a great news to get unexpected failures during flights more often and train with the abnormal procedures.

I cannot heap praises on PMDG (with all the members of the team) when I get these answer and see what is done to get that plane to the highest level.

Thanks

Hello,

 

Are status messages modelled on the lower EICAS status page ?

 

Regards

Simon Ward

Hmm, even at x1 I see failures on the NGX. But then again is all I fly. I personally have no interest in a multiplier. I already find it aggravating when I see a fault in the APU when going from ground power at x1. Just like the rw pilots I am sure.

 

Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note 2

 

 

 

Hmm, even at x1 I see failures on the NGX. But then again is all I fly. I personally have no interest in a multiplier. I already find it aggravating when I see a fault in the APU when going from ground power at x1. Just like the rw pilots I am sure.

 

Great! Don't use it. Why do you even have service based failures on if you find it aggravating?

Great! Don't use it. Why do you even have service based failures on if you find it aggravating?

Because it simulates real world. Even the aggravation.

 

Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note 2

 

 

Well, can always have an option for it, appeals to both worlds. I've yet to see a service based failure in my NGX simming.

Maybe PMDG can create a initialization menu of select-able MEL items, plus a randomizer.

 

I know modern systems are more reliable, but the list of broken things people have to deal with are increasing as the real 737NGs & 777s ages and some of these jets end up in dodgy airlines with poor maintenance in developing nations. I recently saw a great Argentinian movie called "Whisky Romeo Zulu", it was written and directed by a former LAPA 737 line captain and the kind of things that the airline will allow dispatch really amazes me. For example they would fly with both DMEs inop, 2 out of 3 artificial horizons broken at night, faulty APU fire loops, major cracks in the rudder actuators etc. And they would fly those potential deathtraps for weeks under deferred maintenance. I think you can get the DVD on Netflix.

 

And then there's the story on PPRuNe of a 20-year old FBW A320 that has literally fallen to bits whilst in Nigeria....

 

Source:

http://www.pprune.org/african-aviation/501113-first-nation-a320-lagos.html

 

A quick trip through the MEL will tell you what can and cannot be deferred.  I would be stunned to learn that any MEL on any transport category airplane allowed dispatch with an attitude indicator deferred.  That being the case- I think you can probably ignore that story as bogus- or if not ENTIRELY bogus, then probably designed to grind an axe...

 

Pprune is not a place anyone in the industry goes for serious discussion of the facts.

 

 

Hello,

 

Are status messages modelled on the lower EICAS status page ?

 

Regards

Simon Ward

 

 

Yes.

 

Any chance of getting a multiplier like this on the NGX? 

 

When we eventually get around to pushing the 777 code updates backward into the NGX, yes.  We plan to do this, but there is no ETA.

I can tell you after many years of being in Nigeria & knowing many pilots that have flown out there that Aventimes post does not surprise me at all.

 

Seriously,

 

Engineer - Dual IRS fault.. No problem deferred. 1 IRS remaining

 

Captain - The aircraft will enter direct law if we fly like this

 

Engineer- Ummmmmmm

 

MEL, what MEL?