PFPX Disapointment - The Aircraft Database

[MarkW 1,493]

One  thing that is really bugging me about PFPX is the Aircraft database.  I just spend some time going through my Aircraft.cfg's for my addons to add to PFPX (something by the way that really should be an automatic scan).  Here is what I found.

 

  - PMDG weight are incorrect....are we supposed to change the DOW in PFPX?  If the profile was setup by PFPX specifically for PMDG why are the weights wrong?

  - PMDG addon profiles for the -700 and -600 are just not there (although general 737-700 exist, but not with winglets).

  - Level D Sim 767 - Does not exist.  On the general 767 you only see GE engines.  What about my RR British Airways aircraft ?

  - Majestic Dash 800 - weights are wrong again.

  - Looking at some of the other addon profiles, the PMDG MD-11F and 747-400F missing and in the general tab engine types are limited to GE

  - Now in my aircraft list I have built up about 30 aircraft registrations but you can only sort by type & registration, there is no column for livery which would be really helpful in a flight sim environment to quickly get to your proper aircraft.

 

 

Anyway, sorry to moan but this part of an otherwise fantastic program was poorly done in my opinion.

[Japo32 52]

Sorry to ask, but could there be a way you could share those templates you did with us?

would be great to have those planes corrected, specially the PMDG 736, and if you have it, the P51 civilian.

 

Thanks!

[Lawyer+Pilot 126]

One thing that is really bugging me about PFPX is the Aircraft database. I just spend some time going through my Aircraft.cfg's for my addons to add to PFPX (something by the way that really should be an automatic scan). Here is what I found.

 

- PMDG weight are incorrect....are we supposed to change the DOW in PFPX? If the profile was setup by PFPX specifically for PMDG why are the weights wrong?

- PMDG addon profiles for the -700 and -600 are just not there (although general 737-700 exist, but not with winglets).

- Level D Sim 767 - Does not exist. On the general 767 you only see GE engines. What about my RR British Airways aircraft ?

- Majestic Dash 800 - weights are wrong again.

- Looking at some of the other addon profiles, the PMDG MD-11F and 747-400F missing and in the general tab engine types are limited to GE

- Now in my aircraft list I have built up about 30 aircraft registrations but you can only sort by type & registration, there is no column for livery which would be really helpful in a flight sim environment to quickly get to your proper aircraft.

 

 

Anyway, sorry to moan but this part of an otherwise fantastic program was poorly done in my opinion.

I've been using the Dash 8 template for the Majestic Q400. Of course you have to adjust the DOW, as that varies by individual aircraft based on installed options. Once you enter the DOW showing in the Majestic config panel, you're good to go.

 

I can't speak for the NGX profiles yet, but the same rule applies: DOW varies by individual aircraft. Don't expect that to be correct in the profile. You should make a profile for every aircraft you fly. That's why one of the fields is for the registration number (which, of course, is unique to the aircraft).

[MarkW 1,493]

Sorry to ask, but could there be a way you could share those templates you did with us?

would be great to have those planes corrected, specially the PMDG 736, and if you have it, the P51 civilian.

 

Thanks!

 

I have nothing to share because I just put in the registration into the generic or templates listed in the software.

 

What I guess I don't understand fully is how to properly determine the correct weight.  I used the aircraft.cfg but Trevor is correct the weights change with equipment so I guess I have to startup each livery and look at the FMC then adjust PFPX.  Does this sound correct?

[michelair 14]

I agree with MarkW, the Aircraft Database should have a had a Database Aircraft wizard that would scan all of your aircraft cfg files. Then it should ask you to select from a list that it compiled from the CFG scan which aircraft you want to build a profile for? Then it should walk you through the Data Profile input form asking you to provide the missing information for that specific profile that it didn't find in the scan of the aircraft cfg file. This would make it a lot easier and a lot less time consuming for the user. It would also reduce data entry errors in the process.

 

and yes what is the best way to properly determine the correct weight for the aircraft profiles?

 

Hopefully that will be done for the next version. hint.. hint...

[eSimmer 10]

Well, it is now version 1.03, it is being refined constantly. Personaly, I am glad that they released it now with updates coming online continually. I would not want to wait until every possible permutation had been vetted before release.

[klamal 282]

 

 

so I guess I have to startup each livery and look at the FMC then adjust PFPX. Does this sound correct?

 

I haven't done this yet myself but I think this is what we are going to have to do.  Unless that info is in the aircraft.cfg file.  I don't think it is and if it is, I don't think it's there for each registration number/paint that exists.  Could be wrong though as I've never looked for that before.  If it's in there or, for the NGX, in the ini files even, then we wouldn't have to launch FSX and load each aircraft at least.  Does anyone know for sure if this data exists anywhere else other than having to actually load the aircraft in FSX and look in the FMC?

[MarkW 1,493]

The aircraft.cfg only has one Dry Operating Weight number.  Any other changes made through the FMC (like airstairs) must be added on somewhere else in PMDG's software so I think the only option is looking at the FMC although I have not tried this yet.

 

 

btw....I am also disappointed that I did not spell disappointed with two p's.....arghhhh.

[klamal 282]

The aircraft.cfg only has one Dry Operating Weight number.  Any other changes made through the FMC (like airstairs) must be added on somewhere else in PMDG's software so I think the only option is looking at the FMC although I have not tried this yet.

 

For PMDG aircraft, it may be in the ini file that comes with each paint too?

[NGXfanatic 85]

There may be a reason that PFPX doesn't have profiles for all the popular FSX/FS9 addon jetliners.   As a longtime user of TOPCAT, I have to this day been disappointed that an aircraft profile was never created for the 737-900 or -600, but as I have read on their forums, it is a pretty difficult task as there is lots of data to acquire and process, and they had their hands full with development of PFPX.   And I'm talking about a profile for the real aircraft, not addon specific like PMDG or Ariane.   But even though TOPCAT provides aircraft profiles for the popular 737-800 and -700, and it can read the NGX .cfg file so that it can "talk" to the addon and transfer weight and payload into the NGX, the loading of the payload distribution as it appears in TOPCAT does not transfer correctly into the NGX.  With say, the Level D 767 or the PMDG 747, I remember the payload loading and distribution of the load to be correct.   Anyways, I digress...

 

The point of my mini rant is that I am not finding PFPX's database of included aircraft profiles to be as robust as I was hoping it would be.   Where is the 777-200ER, or the 737-700W?   I'm hoping with updates or possibly user contributions, the database will improve. 

[Phillip Gallagher 101]

I agree with MarkW, the Aircraft Database should have a had a Database Aircraft wizard that would scan all of your aircraft cfg files. Then it should ask you to select from a list that it compiled from the CFG scan which aircraft you want to build a profile for? Then it should walk you through the Data Profile input form asking you to provide the missing information for that specific profile that it didn't find in the scan of the aircraft cfg file. This would make it a lot easier and a lot less time consuming for the user. It would also reduce data entry errors in the process.

 

and yes what is the best way to properly determine the correct weight for the aircraft profiles?

 

Hopefully that will be done for the next version. hint.. hint...

For $53.00 this is unacceptable.  Pass! Thank You!

[Tabs 2,790]

For $53.00 this is unacceptable.  Pass! Thank You!

 

And never mind the 99.9% of other things it does as well as a real life dispatch suite right?

 

You all do realize that you can edit/modify/create aircraft profiles in it, correct? Also, as I tried to drill into the heads of people in our forum who were complaining about our 777's passenger layout - weight is weight. The FMC does not care where it's coming from - having an exactly correct number of passengers or cargo pallets or whatever is meaningless to the airplane - only the final ZFW and CG matters.

[JSkorna 137]

For $53.00 this is unacceptable.  Pass! Thank You!

You passed on FSX also, right?

[MarkW 1,493]

I just went through all of the profiles again.  For all aircraft other than the PMDG 737 series the weights are quite close.  The NGX is a different matter so I loaded up each livery and zeroed out the pax, cargo and fuel then read the FMC zero fuel weight for PFPX to use as the DOW.  I think this is correct, if not please let me know.  Interestingly for the -900 and -700 the weights were way off in PFPX, they seemed ok for the -600 and -800 in my setup.  The next problem is to make sure Topcat matches the PFPX numbers, I am not sure the two talk to each other when it comes to aircraft weights.

[Tabs 2,790]

I will talk to Christian about correcting the NGX stuff btw - I'll be honest, I only tested the 777 with it since that's been my sole focus for the better part of a year.