Ya but a true artform comes when one HAS those stick and rudder skills AND the knowledge, ability, capability, to fly with either, to the same ATP standard, WHILE knowing which of the levels of automation is appropriate!   ^_^

 

The Children of Magenta is a must watch...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0rYX-Jn6o8

I have never thought of AVSIM as being a Confessional. Premier resource, etc. etc., but Confessional, no. And, I guess that forces all of us into little funky collars with a strip of white showing.

 

I will have to add that to our site's meta tag description for the search engines.... "first aviation simulation related confessional - step right in and bare your soul!"... :Big Grin:

An FMC is really a nice piece of equipment but can really make an Auto Pilot Junkie out of the finest pilots.  Over in the GA Bizjet arena, most of us, while having fully capable FMC equipment make a point not to let the FMC handle almost the entire flight like as they mandate in the airlines.  Most of us will hand fly to cruise altitude and hand fly down, we also will hand fly approaches every so often to keep the "feel" of the aircraft fresh.

 

If you simply take your time and learn it feature by feature, you'll find a new aspect to I'm pretty sure you will find fascinating Stan. 

 

 

I have never thought of AVSIM as being a Confessional.

Where is Father Bill.  I need to confess that I have been thinking about experimenting with FlightGear. :Devil: 

Oops!

 

I was in exactly the same boat, having come up from older FS versions that didn't have an FMC. It seemed so complicated and, well, daunting, that I didn't know where to start. My first "FMC" flight was with the PMDG 737 and Tutorial 1 and I am so glad I did it. Of course you don't want to be using an FMC all the time but it's a huge part of aviation and it is really cool. And a great sense of satisfaction when you complete your first one. Especially after waiting this long!!
 

Stan,

 

Funny you mention that, I'm in the same boat! I have been simming since MSFS V1.0, and have a PPL since 1976, but have never taken the time to learn the FMS that is availabe in the newer aircraft. I fly mostly GA because that is what I enjoy the most, but working my way up to learning the FMS....Have the QW 146 and the PMDG 737 so I'm going to give it a shot!......along with VATSIM. Not that the FMS is that difficult, just hard to get away from my favorite GA aircraft.....yikes!

 

Cheers

Martin

My confession: I start my flights with the engines running* because I'm too lazy to start from C&D.

 

* Except on the NGX where I actually figured it out. No clue on the T7.

My confession: I start my flights with the engines running* because I'm too lazy to start from C&D.

 

* Except on the NGX where I actually figured it out. No clue on the T7.

That is not too far gone.  Now, if you said you started with engines runing ON THE ACTIVE RUNWAY well then there would be no hope.   :lol:   Not that I do that or anything of course.

The Children of Magenta is a must watch...

 

"What's it doing now?" lol, classic.

Over reliance on technology and a lack of good old stick and rudder skills.

 

Your right as far as Flt 214 goes.

 

Asiana Flight 214 was not a technology issue. The ILS was out of service as scheduled for runway 28L and NOTAM was issued. Flt 214 was approaching VFR Hands on, AP was turned off. The pilot brought the Aircraft in too slow and too low at 1,600 ft. A couple of in cockpit Aborts by crew members were called out, seconds before impact.

I concur that the NGX-tutorial is great if you want to start learning FMC's.

 

For a less complex FMC, I would recommend the Majestic Q400. Which does not require you to fiddle with performance data and cost-indices, but mostly focuses on the navigation part....

 

On the other hand, but I think you will regard this as a positive, the Q400 does not allow you to engage the AP after T/O at 400 AGL and disengage the AP after the aircraft has autolanded itself.

 

The VNAV is not as sophisticated as on the 737 of 777 and there is no autothrottle in the Q400.

I too have ben simming for 15 years and have also not learned to use an FMC.  I bet their are thousands around like us too.

 

That's because I'm focussed on low and slow - Microlights, Cessnas and Gliders, mainly, though I also occasionally fly jets and twin props.

 

I also focus on trying to get things as real as I can with addon airports and photoscenery in the areas I fly, etc.

 

I really keep meaning to get around to learning how to use an FMC, but never do.  I've got the freemium 757 which has one, though I'm not sure it's all that realistic.

 

For a simmer though, I'm not sure how much point there is in setting up a flight on the FMC and then giving yourself little to do for the next 3 or 4 hours of flight.

 

IAN

I'd recommend (if you have it) the PMDG NGX and its accompanying tutorials. Tutorial 1 is well done and for GA guys like us, all we need to know. The NGX can do a lot more but I done really care for my style of flying. Tutorial 2 has more advanced stuff.

I'm essentially in the same boat as the OP. In your opinion, is the tutorial for the T7 as helpful for GA pilots as you say the NGX one is? 

My FMC is a pen, a chart and a stop-watch