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Filmed April 27 2011

 

Bad example. The cockpit textues are outrageously clean and clear. Don't look realistic at all.  

 

Dirk.

 

PS: Irony aside I wish some talanted GFX guy refurbished the VC textures, to add as an option

 

 

Yeah, the current textures are in my opinion over-weathered to the extreme... she's been sitting in the south Pacific I guess with the windows open with all that rust on the panel.

 

But apparently the night textures make it too much trouble for them to reduce the rust...  I wouldn't mind having the rust at night because I can barely see the panel then but oh well!

Do you (or anyone else) have a real world manual for the SP-177? I was never able to locate one, despite hours of "googling" using every keyword under the sun...

 

I had no trouble at all getting a real world manual for the SP-77...

 

I'm very sorry that I don't Bill. :(   

 

I found this with a quick google;-   http://www.slashdocs.com/mtkitw/sp-177-users-manual.html   .....but not sure if it's a safe source.

 

What I could suggest is that in terms of modes the SP177 functions exactly the same as the later Collins AP that is used in the 737 NG, with a few exceptions such as (i) no VNAV, (ii) incusion of a 'PDC' mode (early VNAV) button on some models.

 

But for basic LNAV, HDG, VOR/LOC, APPR. ALT HOLD, FLCH. and VS modes, the SP177 should behave broadly the same as in the later 737s by those other developers.

Well, for what it's worth, all you need to do is change one line in the aircraft.cfg file to have the ALT HLD perform as you've described:

 

from

default_vertical_speed          = 800

to

default_vertical_speed          = 0

Got it.

 

Only took it for a quick spin from East Midlands up to Edinburgh. No problems with start up now that I know that the isolation valve is coded the wrong way round and everything else went like clockwork. The APU thing doesn't bother me, really. It would be nice if it took a *bit* longer as like the Aerosoft A320's APU this one leaps into life in a few seconds - perhaps making us wait a little longer (but not 6 minutes please) would satisfy the hardcorers a bit more.

 

The sound is excellent. Exterior modelling is good and stuff like the animated air stairs is a joy to behold. Be great to have the doors coded into a menu in the FMC if possible to save all this Shift plus E plus 2 nonsense.

 

VC I have to admit I find a little cartoony compared to the reflections and fingerprints of the NGX and I think they've gone a little overboard on green primer wear. Just my 2p, don't shoot me. Don't get me wrong, it's a faithful representation of a 737-200 and it's done well but I think a little bit too much artistic license has gone on with the green primer and the 'well used' thing.

 

Otherwise the VC is nicely done, proportions are good and the instruments are beautifully backlit by the fantastic night lighting. I think even the NGX is beaten by this thing at night. It's lovely.

The overhead though I found a little disappointing in terms of textures. The NGX (which essentially shares many of its components) does a more convincing job with the knobs and switches, especially around the lights and starter panel. Again, just my initial thoughts.

 

Ground friction seems a little high but once you're on the move it's nice to taxi. I had no idea what to set on the MCP for departure so I just set the throttles to a sensible setting, gave it flap 5 and launched. I had big problems setting up the SID though as the course bugs are linked on both sides as are the nav radios. I needed a VOR on one side to give me an outbound radial to make the turn and then another VOR with a different course to intercept the inbound radial to the final fix on the SID. I found no way to do this. I could get the DME of each respective radio but couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get two VORs to show. The autopilot didn't do what I expected. I don't understand the difference between LNAV, FMC and GPS, and at times VOR LOC annunciated too. So my departure was a bit of a dog's dinner and I couldn't seem to get the FMC to slave to the autopilot. I tried a few times to get the aircraft to follow the FMC but in the end flew the rest of the flight in HDG select mode following the headings from EFB. Descent was uneventful, although I was unable to tune the ILS manually. The only way to do it was via the tune appr mode of the FMC. The aircraft tracked the ILS perfectly. I landed a bit deep but everyone walked away. Frame rates are excellent and apart from the few system oddities as mentioned there are no other bugs and certainly no show stoppers.

 

So in summary - a fine first effort in the Boeing world. As we are so used to a benchmark 737 it's so easy to make comparisons that aren't necessarily valid but it's impossible not to do so when so much of the 200 can still be seen in the NG. There are plenty of systems that need some further explanation/refinement - the autopilot being one with a mix of modes that don't seem to make a lot of sense at first glance. Some solid tutorials on how the FMC interacts with the AP and the steam driven nav radios, along with some guidance on how to set the EPR panel and all that other stuff that has since been junked when the NG came along would be very useful to us glass cockpit drivers too. But that said it's worth the money and a worthy addition to your hangar.

Use the RMI... nav2 needle will work on captains side and vice versa. DME from nav2 reads out on the FO's side.

 

You prolly didn't notice the separate RMI because you're used to the NAV2 RMI on the NGX PFD hehe.

 

Autopilot stuff is in the manual I believe...

 

Basically

VOR LOC - AP tracks a VOR course

GPS mode button - added to accommodate stock FSX users who want GPS functionality.

FMS mode - has to be engaged before pressing LNAV, allowing AP to fly FMS track

 

you mentioned you weren't able to manually tune ILS- I bet GPS or FMS mode was engaged. When each mode is engaged the captains HSI slaves off the respective mode.

Hey Milviz, does the 732 come with a TCAS?

 

A german customer in another forum is a bit confused because you seem to mention a TCAS in the manual without having an actual one implemented (or something like that).

 

 

 

Similarly with the climb thrust; it just feels odd to be needing to retard to 28% N1 to get a 250kts climb, with a sensible pitch / VS.

 

Define "sensible".

 

Also, the 732 is said to be quite a bit of a hotrod, especially with the late -17ARs underneath the wings.

Define "sensible".

 

Um, no.

 

I won't waste everyone elses time here, indulging you.   I think most people understand the difference between 10 degrees of pitch and 35 degrees of pitch, in a typical clean climb configeration  :wink:

 

@bennyboy75 - Excellent initial review and I agree on almost all points.  

 

@ n4giz, thanks Bill, I'll make that tweak and see how she goes. :smile:

 

Now, I may have been critical of the SP177 in it's current form, but I love the SP77; it's authentic and the CWS for pitch works fantastic! ..... pretty faultless actually.

 

I dare say this may not go down well with the 'chiefs' :smile:, but what I would really love (seeing as Alaskan had a fleet of 10 of them in the late 90s, early 00s) is an option to have the SP77 with the FMC.   These models had a retro-fitted LNAV button (often near the FMC itself, rather than on the MCP), so LNAV would be engaged while the SP77 was in HDG mode, and the source dial in 'Manual'.

 

Thanks for considering this - seems a shame to have an excellent FMC, a SP77, a SP177 but only reduced combinations of them available.

 

Thanks for considering this.

 

I currently have Ernie Alston's ISG suite retro-fited in my MilViz SP77 732, as a place holder (works very well!), you can see the 'LNAV' button on the FMS there :-       (The grey button amongst the black ones!)

 

 

But I have not been able to integrate this into the VC, so would be great to have an option to have the native MilViz FMS in the SP77 models. :cool:

I don,t know if have been posted before but I,m having trouble with the anunciator lights, everytime I touchdown on landing they light up, maybe doing something wrong? Missing something? Or just a bug? Regards

Forums please.

Hey Milviz, does the 732 come with a TCAS?

 

A german customer in another forum is a bit confused because you seem to mention a TCAS in the manual without having an actual one implemented (or something like that).

TCAS button is the top right on the center console's screen. Zoom in/out buttons, and other controls are below on the right side.

 

You have to click the TCAS button to turn it on...

TCAS button is the top right on the center console's screen. Zoom in/out buttons, and other controls are below on the right side.

 

You have to click the TCAS button to turn it on...

 

I've passed that on. Thanks, Bill!

Also, on TCAS I noticed RNG (with UP arrow) button reduces the NM range displayed (msg in TCAS display lower left corner)... is that correct?

Forums please.

For those of you who find that the dirt and rubbed off paint is too much...

 

I have now created a set of "cleaner" vc textures.  However, two things:

 

1) these will not be supported in any way and may, in fact, not match up exactly with what's there now... so be aware!

2) we will not be changing the night lighting to match the clean textures.... so there will be a small disconnect between the two.

 

It's up to you to install these should you want them.

 

They will be posted on our site and in our forums here shortly.

 

They will NOT be included in the hot fix or the service pack.

 

The hot fix should be released before the end of the week if not before.

 

Thanks for your patience.