Are airline specific options just a marketing gimmick?

[Boeing or not going 578]

The freighter has supernumerary signs as mentioned above. On the overhead you should see the SEAT BELT sign with OFF/AUTO/ON

 

If you are in the main cargo deck the sidewall lights flash for several seconds. In the crew rest area you have the normal pax signs.

 

Not what I'm talking about. PMDG airplanes with the "accurate configuration" claim had no electronics or no smoking signs enabled in the freighters.

Also, check to ensure the livery is listed with that little sign that shows that it's an accurate config, otherwise, I think it was left at the PMDG default.

 

Right like I first said I downloaded all freighters with the listing as accurate config. First on the list was Air France. And guess what? In real life AF does not have tcas range arcs Yet PMDG accurate config does.

 

See what I'm getting at? it just seems this accurate config is not really true, or there are at least bugs. Can someone from PMDG address this?

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

First on the list was Air France. And guess what? In real life AF does not have tcas range arcs Yet PMDG accurate config does.

 

What's your source?  PMDG has people verify the configs before they're added in.  Someone must have either said AF had them, or they simply missed the item when configuring the setup.

 

 

 

See what I'm getting at? it just seems this accurate config is not really true, or there are at least bugs. Can someone from PMDG address this?

 

Somewhat...I wouldn't go as far as calling it a "marketing gimmick" though.  That sounds they're being intentionally misleading and that there's no recourse, when in fact there is: the user can simply fix it by making the appropriate adjustments in the PMDG Setup menus, and the user can also submit a ticket at support.precisionmanuals.com.  If you feel that configs are incorrect, then you should submit a ticket.

 

My thought, though, is that you didn't run the Ops Center or FSX as an Administrator, which causes issues in writing and storing files in protected zones.  I'm basing this diagnosis on the differences between your notes and those who are seeing different configs.

[denthibbe 18]

I have downloaded every freighter repaint listed as having an accurate airline option file from PMDG and noticed most of them are wrong. With basic things like no freighter has a passenger smoking or electronic signage. All the European airlines should have C as the default temperature and Kg as their weight. And some carrier specific like Air France does not have TCAS range arcs or angle of attack indicator you can tell just by looking at airliners.net pictures even. So what else is wrong?

 

Is the carrier specific claim from PMDG just a marketing gimmick?

 

I have the impression that you are actually stuck with the config of 1 specific installed livery of yours.

Therefor make sure you don't have a 'fixed config' value set in your aircraft options :

PMDG SETUP--> AIRCRAFT --> fixed config : this should not contain an aircraft registration code otherwise wahtever the livery loaded, you will end up with the same aircraft config over and over.

[Yosm 19]

Did you use the right REG when selecting your plane in FSX????

 

Thats where the specific settings come in. So make sure you use the right REG that is on the plane to get the right config.

[kevinh 409]

Did you use the right REG when selecting your plane in FSX????

 

Thats where the specific settings come in. So make sure you use the right REG that is on the plane to get the right config.

PMDG use the aircraft registration to name the panel config, but it's the livery you choose in FSX that is important. That livery and registration combination remains unaffected by whatever registration you may select in the FSX menu. Doing that only changes your ATC callsign.

 

 

Is the carrier specific claim from PMDG just a marketing gimmick?

How is adding such a powerful feature a marketing gimmick? The feature works, so it's not a gimmick, but if some of the selections are wrong then they can be easily changed by the user. Also, not all the PMDG liveries are marked as being verified so there may be some assumptions made which aren't correct.  Non verified liveries cannot be expected to be 100% accurate.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

Doing that only changes your ATC callsign.

 

I thought that there's some guidance out there to leave the reg in the Aircraft.cfg (and therefore FSX) as whatever it's set at, because it's used by some background process.

 

I could be wrong.  I searched for it, but didn't spend too much time on it.

 

EDIT:

Found it:

 

 

Do NOT edit the tail numbers manually, these are required to be what they are in the aircraft.cfg so that the options inis and stuff work correctly.

[Boeing or not going 578]

I'm not editing anything or having run as administrator problems. Air France 777F does not have tcas range arcs or angle of attack. PMDG accurate config does. My source is an airliners.net search that points out the obvious. So I am wondering whether all the accurate configs truly are accurate, that is all.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

My source is an airliners.net search that points out the obvious.

 

I wouldn't exactly call that obvious, because I think your method is a bit flawed:

Of those Airliners.net photos is that only three of them are LRs, and none of those three show TFC on the display.  As such, you cannot say for there are no range rings for TCAS.  They wouldn't show without TFC being on.

 

There's one 200ER pic from over a decade ago with no range rings with TFC displayed, but again, that's a different aircraft, and it's over a decade ago. 

 

The pictures of the LR don't show the AoA indication, so you may be right on that.

 

Honestly, I hate to be blunt, but I'd trust an inside source telling someone what's in the aircraft over some internet sleuthing via pictures on A.net.

[Boeing or not going 578]

If the airline had tcas range arcs as an option the Air France Cargo 77F picture showing TCAS OFF warning it would show the range arcs as well.

 

If the airline had angle of attack indicator in the upper right of the pfd it wouldn't have the radar ground distance that says -4 feet instead. I have only researched AeroLogic and there are similar problems with that too.

 

I don't mind you being blunt, I'm just stating the facts I have presented prove that the config is wrong or at least has bugs.

[WotanUK 289]

If the airline had tcas range arcs as an option the Air France Cargo 77F picture showing TCAS OFF warning it would show the range arcs as well.

 

If the airline had angle of attack indicator in the upper right of the pfd it wouldn't have the radar ground distance that says -4 feet instead. I have only researched AeroLogic and there are similar problems with that too.

 

I don't mind you being blunt, I'm just stating the facts I have presented prove that the config is wrong or at least has bugs.

 

As suggested above, if you know the configurations why don't you email PMDG with them?  I might be wrong but i don't think that PMDG did many of these themselves, they were from keen eyed individuals such as yourself providing them; i am sure that they would welcome your input.

 

As for "marketing gimmick"...where do they even mention this on the purchasing page?  It's a nice to have, personally i don't really care one way or the other, i change the options anyway to my liking, just my personal thoughts. 

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

If the airline had tcas range arcs as an option the Air France Cargo 77F picture showing TCAS OFF warning it would show the range arcs as well.

 

You might want to look at your systems studies again.  TCAS OFF means the transponder mode is not either TA or TA/RA, meaning the entire system is disabled.  Regardless of that condition, the rings would not display unless you had TFC enabled, which, as clearly indicated in the picture, is not.

 

I'd suggest having a look at the manuals prior to making similar assertions in the future.

 

FCOMv2 tells you a lot about TCAS, and when TCAS info is displayed on the ND (TFC enabled, or an active alert/advisory), and the QRH clearly indicates the reason for the display of TCAS OFF.

 

 

 

I don't mind you being blunt, I'm just stating the facts I have presented prove that the config is wrong or at least has bugs.

 

Discrepancy != bug

 

If you think you're an authoritative source on the matter:

support.precisionmanuals.com

 

Let 'em know.  They're going to ask you for sources, however.

[FLEX1978 373]

This all lost any credibility the moment the op mentioned airiners.net as a source.

I find it amazing that some simmers still believe that aviation is so rigid.

 

You can have multiple aircraft of the same type in the same fleet with different configurations & options.

[LHookins 3,102]

 

 

I find it amazing that some simmers still believe that aviation is so rigid.

You can have multiple aircraft of the same type in the same fleet with different configurations & options.

 

That make their head asplode. 

 

Hook

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

I find it amazing that some simmers still believe that aviation is so rigid.

 

Yep.  BTW, what's the CI that you always use?

 

 

 

You can have multiple aircraft of the same type in the same fleet with different configurations & options.

 

Don't get me started on [a certain watersport's] E145s...

These tail numbers have plug doors, so they'll need airstairs.  These tail numbers have incorporated stairs.  This list of [ever-changing] tail numbers are APU-inop, so go find a start cart.  Oh, and by the way, your gate planner is just going to roll the dice as to where the plug doors are going to go, regardless of where you normally store the stairs.  HAVE FUN!!!

 

...and Mesa had a mixed fleet of HIDs and incandescents.  Some crews would leave the HIDs on occasionally, in the middle of the night, and would show up to me with lighted wands and sunglasses on.  The mirroring of the lenses reflected and they'd quickly shut them off.  If you're looking for a quick way to go temporarily blind, though, that's a good way to do it.  haha.

[KriVa 307]

On the same note... I could tell you a story or two about our factory new 737NGs. It often seems like the options were just chosen through a random number generator. Only our three newest NGs have pretty much the same options, but even they still differ in the details.