Where's Kyle when you need him..........One word, Manuals.

It seems to me you are going the wrong way about it.

 

The autopilot disengage bar is not for normal use, rather for non-normals (say, you proper disconnect buttons don't work).

The proper way to turn the AP off is to use a yoke button. That we don't have, so PMDG gave us a couple options, map the disconnect button to a key combination via CDU, or use a hidden clickspot on the MCP (both are documented in intro manual). Once you get the AP disconnect button set up, you will have to press it, wait about 1.5-2 seconds and then press it again to silence the warning. That is the same as in real life, apparently in case someone happened to press the disengage button twice really fast by some error (that can happen if you reflexively grab the yoke in the wrong place for example)

 

If you have ever seen air crash investigations episode about Eastern Airlines Flight 401, you will see why an autopilot that always sets off an alarm that cannot be cancelled within 1.5 seconds is a good thing.

(in that event, a pilot disconnected the autopilot by accident (leaning forward in seat), and didn't notice till they basically crashed).

The proper way to turn the AP off is to use a yoke button. That we don't have

 

And you claim I'm the one posting ignorance? That is funny.

 

 

And you claim I'm the one posting ignorance? That is funny.

 

Are you suggesting that using A/P disengage bar is the normal, or even preffered, method to disconnect the autopilot?

Or that majority of the people here posses replica Boeing yoke?

 

 

 

If you have ever seen air crash investigations episode about Eastern Airlines Flight 401, you will see why an autopilot that always sets off an alarm that cannot be cancelled within 1.5 seconds is a good thing.

 

IIRC they might have gone to CWS mode actually, but good point. AP disconnect aural warning should have prevented that (and would have, if it worked properly, which it didn't)

 

AP disconnect aural warning should have prevented that (and would have, if it worked properly, which it didn't)

 

 

Are you sure there was a aural warning system on this plane?

 

Michael Cubine

I really think you need to sit down and read through the introductory flight, and then read through again whilst doing it in the sim.

 

Loading fuel/cargo through the FS menu has been a no-no on PMDG aircraft for years. FMC setup is a must in an aircraft like this.

Where's Kyle when you need him..........One word, Manuals.

 

haha - I was trying not to say anything.  Like Karl, immediately above, I think the intro and the tutorial would really help this guy out.

 

...seems people are more content with typing out posts, waiting, getting partially confused answers from people who don't have the full picture (through no fault of either party, really), and continuing down that path.

 

Case in point:

Just bought a new car on Saturday.  I brought the manual on the subway to read on the way to work.  The lady next to me gave me an odd look and said "people actually read those???"

 

...except now I'm the guy with driver-dependent presets, streaming audio from his iPhone, a readily configured map (fewer button presses to tell the thing "go home!"), and I now know how to kick the active controls for stability and traction off to truly unleash the thing.  Nifty features in those books that you might not expect.

 

 

except now I'm the guy with driver-dependent presets, streaming audio from his iPhone, a readily configured map (fewer button presses to tell the thing "go home!"), and I now know how to kick the active controls for stability and traction off to truly unleash the thing.  Nifty features in those books that you might not expect.

 

Sounds like you got a Golf R  :wub:

Haha! Kyle, I honestly thought I was the only one that bothers to read those car manuals! 

 

My girlfriend bought herself a Cayenne last year.  After a few days of pure confusion & randomly pushing buttons, I gave in and started studying the manual like an FCOM! Couldn't believe how much tech was going on behind the scenes.

 

After that I read the full manual on my own 4x4, had been driving it for years not knowing what certain buttons do

I read the manual of my car ... and I found out that there is nothing I could do to unleash it!!!   :Cry:

 

(Ford.)

Sounds like you got a Golf R  :wub:

 

Looks like a fun car, but double the engine size, add a fifty horses, and add a back to it (non-hatch - I still can't bring myself to get a hatch, despite the utility).

 

 

 

Haha! Kyle, I honestly thought I was the only one that bothers to read those car manuals!

 

haha - nope!

...but let's be honest: is anyone here surprised?

 

 

 

After a few days of pure confusion & randomly pushing buttons, I gave in and started studying the manual like an FCOM! Couldn't believe how much tech was going on behind the scenes.

 

Sounds like me.  Most of it is intuitive, but some of the cooler features are somewhat buried.

 

That, and this is my first car with push button start (still really freaking weird to me, despite being cool and not having to prod at the column to fit a key in), and I was sitting there going "how the [heck] do you get this thing into accessory mode???"  I actually figured that one out on blind luck, but confirmed this morning with the book.

Are you sure there was a aural warning system on this plane?

 

Michael Cubine

Yes, the TriStar certainly did have an aural warning system. But in that case the AP remained engaged so there would be no disconnect warning. The only aural warning that sounded was the altitude alert as the aircraft departed its set altitude.

That, and this is my first car with push button start (still really freaking weird to me, despite being cool and not having to prod at the column to fit a key in), and I was sitting there going "how the [heck] do you get this thing into accessory mode???"  I actually figured that one out on blind luck, but confirmed this morning with the book.

I hate those things. My dad's Highlander has one, and day we got it, I actually had to read the manual just to figure out how to start the bloody engine. Considering I don't normally drive it, the few times that I HAVE had to drive it, it's always taken me at least three or four attempts to start the engine.

just to add some more "garage talk":

My car speaks and understands 7 (european) languages. But I don't use this voice command function very much. It is actually more a funny diversion when driving LRCs. Really annoying is the fact that my car understands not much of what I say. Instead it expects me to say certain things. Taking into consideration that my car has a female voice the problem might be the same as with my wife; sometimes.  ^_^

Very useful however is the combination of "cruise control" and "variable distance warning". This way I have A/T and TA/RA with pre-selectable "close traffic experience". (My wife hates when I say: look, it put on the brakes itself!)

Unfortunately A/T only works between 30 and 180km/h (19 to 112 mph). 30 km/h is o.k. for taxiing, but 180 km/h is too slow for CRZ on the german autobahn. :blink:

Once I had some nice chimes and a warning list on the "ECAM": something like "cruise control auto off: invalid engine data. check required". Felt like an "alternate law" warning and so I diverted to the next pull-in. After a coffee and restarting the engine everything was fine again...

Always happy landings,

Claus