After reading through some of the documentation regarding failures I was under the impression that you could turn on 'All System Failures' and then de-activate failures for specific sub-systems.  Effectively, turning on 'All System Failures' but then turning off 'Engine' system failures, for example.  Alternatively, and taking another approach to try to accomplish my goal, I tried leaving off 'All System Failures' and then turning on failures for individual systems.  However, in both approaches, 'Service-Based Failures On/Off' is greyed out when either 1) turning on 'All System Failures' and then going into the sub-system to de-activate specific systems, or 2) keeping 'All System Failures OFF' and then going into each sub-system to turn specific systems on.

 

Effectively, I'd like to turn on failures but I don't want major failures that will require me to divert the flight.  While I'd like them on, it is rather frustrating to do an hour of flight planning and pre-flight and be 2-3 hours into my flight just to have a failure and be forced to divert and then start all over again.  Therefore, has anyone found a way to do failures in that manner, or are failures essentially an 'all or nothing' type feature?

Any ideas?

What you are trying to do is not possible with the PMDG failure engine. You can either do service-based or system-based failures, but not both.

 

As for service based failures...I have over 500 hours in the NGX and have yet to encounter even an advisory issue with service based failures turned on. I would say the 777 is even more reliable. You could probably put thousands of hours on the 777 and never encounter something that requires diversion. Such is the nature of an aircraft designed for ETOPS. If diversions were a common occurrence for the T7, it would not have ETOPS-330 certification (http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=20295&item=2070). The chances of a sim pilot, who definitely doesn't put the number of hours on the A/C as someone who does it for a living, running into a diversion situation are very low. But knowing it could happen keeps you on your toes. Besides, if you do ever have to divert, it sucks. It isn't supposed to be fun. Can you imagine how un-fun it would be for the airline and/or the crew? 

 

If you are concerned with realism enough to want failures but don't want "serious" failures, you should probably leave them off anyway.

You can also change the rate of service based failures.

Well, if you get a failure you don't like you can just instantly clear it from one of the menus.

Well, if you get a failure you don't like you can just instantly clear it from one of the menus.

 

Interesting.  You don't have to be on the ground to do it?  Does it also instantly restore the system and its' affected components (e.g. engine failure fix would also immediately restore generators, packs, etc...)?

What you are trying to do is not possible with the PMDG failure engine. You can either do service-based or system-based failures, but not both.

 

Aren't 'System-Based Failures' self triggered, though; or is there a way in which to just turn the system-based failures on by a per system basis and set it to 1x (which I assume uses the same failure models as the 'Service-Based')?  I know those are both options in the failures feature and I just want to make it clear that I'm not wishing to set self triggered failures.

Anyone able to answer those last two questions?

Taking a part out of the Introduction Manual, this is mentioned under the 'System Failure Sub-Section':

 

<SERVICE BASED FAILURES: Allows you to interact with the service based failures just as you would in the top menu described above. (Will be grayed out if service based failures are not selected active in the top menu.)

 

What I have noticed is that it is greyed out either way, even with Service Based Failures turned on under 'All Systems'.  Has anyone seen differently?  This was also why I was under the impression you could turn on Service Based Failures for 'All Systems', and which would in turn enable this open to Enable / Disable within a sub-system; so that I could then disable service based failures under specific sub-systems.