An incredible detail you may not have noticed!

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Finding so many little gems on this plane, it's almost like looking for easter eggs! 

Anyone who's watched the 21st Century Jet series will probably recall a design issue they discovered on the 777 in flight testing when they retracted the landing gear.

There was a significant flutter in the nose gear doors when they were in transit coming up.  Turned out there was a lot of turbulence generated in the gear well that shook those puppies pretty bad. Solution: install some wind baffles in the gear bay.

Modeled on our beloved bird?  

You betcha!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/Steve_Dra/2014-5-10_23-34-23-688.png

 

Since you'd only notice this if when the gear is in transit, and happened to be in an external view at the correct angle to see it, I once again applaud PMDG for adding a little detail that most wouldn't ever see, and even if they did, they'd have to know about this design modification to appreciate how significant this little gem is on our 777.  (Much like the red indicator light in the main gear bay...again that you only see when the gear is in transit and you happen to be in the external view at the right angle.) 

 

Hey RSR, was this that one little gem that if found and posted here you'd give the poster the -300 as a prize for pointing out the level of detail you guys put into this plane, and wondered if anyone would ever notice? :lol:   Well, I did...and I genuinely appreciate the level of effort it took to get this plane as awesome as it is!

 

For those "cockpit only" simmers who never venture out of the cockpit in flight (or ground operations), do yourself a favor and hand the controls to your F/O or Otto, hit the S and A keys and pan around the exterior of this fine machine.  You're seriously missing out on the hands-down best model in flightsim, and I promise your cockpit is just a keystroke away if you're having trust issues leaving your bird in someone else's hands. 

Some points of interest: (I'll list all that I've found so far and also some that are common knowledge if you've followed the development of this bird, may have missed if you're new to the bird or this forum)

• Just the overall animations...smooth, proportional to control inputs and or weather interactions.
• Split rudder
• 3d "bumps" on the starboard side of the rudder...fairings for actuators I believe, but a great little detail
• Rear set of mains pivot in tight turns
• Red light in main gear bay
• The sequence of the gear doors, spoilers, spoilerons, APU inlet door...all accurate and just fun to watch
• Animated flap jackscrews!  That one is still my favorite..and totally unnoticeable unless you get your view just right..but soooo worth it to see it spinning when the flaps are in transit!
• Spoiler actuators...the pistons move in and out with the deployment/retraction, such a nice touch to see when watching your landing in replay as a passenger over the wing!
• Lights....where do I start?  Well...if you never went to the external view at night and pressed the light switches, do yourself a favor: press the left bracket key while in the cockpit to open another window and switch it to external view.  Then start hitting the light switches...PMDG is the only company I know that has modeled the light switches so incredibly accurate!  Look at the nose gear for example and turn on the taxi tight...then the nose landing light...then just the right landing light. Yep...all done separately...every other flightsim plane I know of throws all the lights on.  Retract the gear with the taxi and nose landing lights on...notice they go out when the gear is going up...just like the real thing!  Wing lights...not only are the splashes done separately, the light bezels on the fuse light as well!  Runway turnoff...the bezels light up in the wing root...and can only be seen at the correct angle.  Of course the ground splashes add such an ambience to taxiing at night. 
• Oh, and while you have 2 views open, try this while you are in flight....Jettison fuel from the right, left, or both sides...yep...modeled separately and accurate as well! Switch to the fuel synoptic in the cockpit...I know, right?  Notice the slight delay between when you open the valve and the synoptic indicates the fuel is dumping out of that valve...AND the slight delay when you close the valve and its corresponding icon on the synoptic page..I'm not the engineer who programmed it, but I'll bet that delay is also on the real bird!
• Doors....just open em all and watch! Don't forget to load up a freighter and watch the main cargo door too!  BTW...if you don't know where the E/E door is on the bird...look at the pic of the baffles above, its the little door just in front of the nose gear door.  :wink:
• Wing flex....proportional flex based on weight and weather...load her to MTOW, watch the wingtips try to touch each other on takeoff (hehe....exaggeration of course, but man do they bend!)...then find yourself a good thunderstorm and watch your wingtips dance!
• And of course the baffles in the nose gear well that I mentioned above.

Guys....we all know how incredibly accurate the cockpit modeling and coding is, but they didn't just give us a great cockpit...they gave us the best exterior model on the market too....go admire it and let them know what you think! 

 

Post any other gems you may have found here...I'd love to see what others have found that I haven't yet.

 

 

 

Regards,

Steve Dra

 

[mderosa3 0]

Awesome write up! Every product of theirs is truly remarkable but the T7 is just in a class of it's own....Pure Opulence!

 

Check out the main gears during landing...at the moment of touchdown and the animation and details they've created!

[Kattz 132]

One of the things I've noticed is a slight flutter of the upper rudder in turbulence.  Also the "nodding" effect of the engine nacelles on their pylons in rough air and on landing.  The ticking and slow rotation of the fans and N₁ rotor disc with the engines off while parked at the gate.  Great stuff.

 

I am really hoping that they come back to the NGX and incorporate a lot of the little things on that aircraft as well.  Although a "best in class" aircraft from a systems standpoint, visually and in an audio aspect, the NGX is kinda between the QOTS -400 and the 777-200 IMO.   Still, she is my favorite aircraft to fly out of all of them

 

I think all of us MD-11 owners out here would love to see an update, at least in the cockpit, but that's probably wishful thinking.  I would like to see the SDK released so that we could have an FS2Crew voice option.

 

I am soooo looking forward to having weather radar.  And the new facelift for the 744.  And the T7-300.  I'd buy the PMDG crew a round if I could.

[Jovabra 18]

steven dra,

Are you shure that it is for turbulence? There are also a kind of wheel brake's (not a hydraulic powered brake but metal plate's) to stop the rotation and eliminated the heavy gyroscopic effect from the nose wheels.

Regards Jovabra

[max2770 75]

Nothing comes even close.  So impressive.

[Steve Dra 7,588]

steven dra,

Are you shure that it is for turbulence? There are also a kind of wheel brake's (not a hydraulic powered brake but metal plate's) to stop the rotation and eliminated the heavy gyroscopic effect from the nose wheels.

Regards Jovabra

Hey Jovabra,

I'm going by what I saw on the documentary on the building of the 777.  They showed the video of the nose gear door buffeting...and then technicians installing those baffles to fix the issue.

I've heard that some aircraft employ a "stop plate" to stop or slow the rotation in the wheel well....but looking at the position and curvature of these plates...they would never contact the wheels. And at the angle they are at, if they did...the leading edges would dig into the tires. :blink:

Take a look: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/Steve_Dra/2014-5-11_9-28-7-697.jpg

 

Regards,

Steve Dra