Hi all

 

Was wondering, with all the expertise on this forum, if some wonderful person could help me out with me some NGX commands. Namely ground commands for the GPU, chocks etc.

 

Thanks in advance

Whilst on the subject of asking for commands, does anybody know if there is a way to get the FO to turn on panel lights in full, as I have only found the "make brighter" commands that give the light switches one turn and not on fully.

Whilst on the subject of asking for commands, does anybody know if there is a way to get the FO to turn on panel lights in full, as I have only found the "make brighter" commands that give the light switches one turn and not on fully.

Not sure, havent tried in a while. Try "dome light on" maybe? I will have a look at the documentation later and see if I can find anything specific.

 

Sent from my Mobile thing

 

 

Thanks Will, but dome light on is a basic command. The NGX has various panel lighting and back lights that run independent. It is this lighting that I want to control.

 

 

does anybody know if there is a way to get the FO to turn on panel lights in full

 

This is good candidate for custom Voxscript implementtion.

 

There is no built-in command., but you can make it happen.

 

Knowing FO can increment and decrement the switch, create a custom voice command, say "set overhead lighting the way I want it" (or any other voice command you wish), then as part of the sequenced actions, add as many existing "make overhead panel brighter" as necessary to reach the desired position.

So MCE cannot set the lights all the way up in one swoop, maybe that might be something for the next build. What about commands for the GPU, Airstart unit, Air conditioning and chocks.

So MCE cannot set the lights all the way up in one swoop, maybe that might be something for the next build. What about commands for the GPU, Airstart unit, Air conditioning and chocks.

 

GPU and Chocks are handled this way.

 

Establish contact with ground mechanic

 

"cockpit to ground"

"ground from flight deck"

 

Mechanic will say hello and set the chocks.

 

If you need the GPU, ask him

 

"Ground connect electrical GPU" (or any other variation)

 

When ready for pushback or start say

 

"ground are you ready for push?" (or other variations)

 

Mechanic will automatically remove the chocks and ground power.

 

Airstart and external air conditioning units have been left out, but could add them if you want.

So I have managed to set up the lights with the help of Voxkey and Voxscript, however I am having no joy with the ground crew. I contact the ground crew and they respond. I then ask the to connect electrical power and the acknowledge but no GPU ever appears. When I ask to push the mechanic again acknowledges and tries to push, he then ask me to refrain from using brake pressure and when I look the chocks are still in place.

 

 

no GPU ever appears

 

Thanks for reporting this. Issue confirmed and will be fixed in next update coming out within a few days.

Will also add command for airstart and external aircon.

The new GPU and chocks functions are working a bit strangely.

 

Commanding "Remove Wheel Chocks" gets the reply "Initiating pushback to left", which he then starts.  That wasn't what was commanded!  While I agree that commanding the pushback should also remove chocks and all ground connections (electrical, air conditioning, air start unit), I think the Remove Wheel Chocks, should do only that.

 

"Set Wheel Chocks" seemed to work ok on the one time I tried it.

 

"Connect Ground Power Unit" worked ok.

 

"Connect Air conditioning Unit" connected not only the Air Conditioning unit, but also the Air Start Cart.  I think it would be better if these were two separate commands, because asking for air conditioning while parked at the gate, doesn't neccesarily mean we are going to start without the APU bleed air on the pushback.

The new GPU and chocks functions are working a bit strangely.

 

Commanding "Remove Wheel Chocks" gets the reply "Initiating pushback to left", which he then starts.  That wasn't what was commanded!  While I agree that commanding the pushback should also remove chocks and all ground connections (electrical, air conditioning, air start unit), I think the Remove Wheel Chocks, should do only that.

 

"Set Wheel Chocks" seemed to work ok on the one time I tried it.

 

"Connect Ground Power Unit" worked ok.

 

"Connect Air conditioning Unit" connected not only the Air Conditioning unit, but also the Air Start Cart.  I think it would be better if these were two separate commands, because asking for air conditioning while parked at the gate, doesn't neccesarily mean we are going to start without the APU bleed air on the pushback.

 

As far as I am aware, there aren’t any built-in commands to set or remove the chocks.

 

You probably created custom commands in Voxkey that would set or remove them by triggering the relevant key combo.

 

Voxkey doesn’t check the state of the chocks.

 

Current implementation is to relieve users from the need to worry about chocks.

 

As soon as you get in touch with mechanic, and provided chocks can be set and removed for that airplane, mechanic will set them automatically.

 

As soon as you tell mechanic “ground are you ready for push”, mechanic will remove chocks and any ground equipment MCE can control for that aircraft.

No, I don't have any custom voxkey commands for chocks, but from now on, I just won't mention the chocks.  I'll only use the Cockpit to Mechanic/  Mechanic begin push, although if he is going to remove the chocks the first time I get in touch with the mechanic as you say, what happens when I'm cold and dark, and I contact him the first time to connect the air conditioning or gpu...will he remove the chocks right then, even though I'm not close to ready for pushback?

I did another flight in NGX.  This time upon commanding "connect air conditioning unit" the ground crew only connected the air conditioning, correctly, and not also the start cart, as I reported previously.  Upon commanding "connect air start unit", he then connected only the air start cart.  Although whatever happened before was not b.s., I am getting a good result now, and likely my earlier problem report with this must have been a misunderstanding of  precise terminology or a  sloppiness on my part.  Sorry for false alarm here. 

 

The chocks on the other hand are still kind of weird;  I commanded "begin pushback" and he screwed up because the chocks/parking breaks were still in.  I'll figure it out, I guess :rolleyes: