PMDG secret project

[learn-by-flying 37]

My thought is the DC-6 is the X-Plane project. In some thread regarding the DC-6, I remember RR stated, "We're doing something different with this one". The DC-6 is my most highly anticipated release in a long time. So if it turns out to be X-Plane, I hope there's an FSX version as well. Now I'm getting way ahead of myself. No one really knows but fun to speculate I guess.

Best,

Brian

 

Someone look at the screenshots RSR posted, maybe we can tell what sim they were taken from.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

My thought is the DC-6 is the X-Plane project. In some thread regarding the DC-6, I remember RR stated, "We're doing something different with this one". The DC-6 is my most highly anticipated release in a long time. So if it turns out to be X-Plane, I hope there's an FSX version as well. Now I'm getting way ahead of myself. No one really knows but fun to speculate I guess.

Best,

Brian

 

 

Someone look at the screenshots RSR posted, maybe we can tell what sim they were taken from.

 

It's definitely FSX from the pictures (tree and runway/taxiway textures/signs):

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/361760-secret-project-1-this-one-is-a-classic/

 

Plus, this one is Secret Project #1, as you can see in the title. I'm pretty sure the other secret project was the OC, so I think that covers the secrets (I think someone mentioned there were two a while back). Granted, the X-Plane thing still hasn't been stated, but I'd argue that they're just making it more of a surprise than one of the aforementioned secrets.

[FleaJump 7]

Antique aircraft that are no longer in commercial service are only of passing interest to me, and learning to operate such moldy oldies would entail lots of time and considerable effort consumed in acquiring a skill that has no real-world application whatsoever, which would be comparable to mastering an extinct Amazonian tribal language that is only of significance to anthropologists and historians who waddle about in the dingy hallways of academia, muttering to themselves.

 

Were I a gambling man, my money would be on seeing a PMDG 787 emerge from the swirling mist in the none too distant future, and when that occurs, I will join the customer stampede with my credit card at the ready.  

[KriVa 307]

If we're discussing hopes and dreams... I'd like to see a decent, PMDG level, helicopter. Something like an MD902 or NH-90.

I'm Pretty sure this would be out of their comfort zone, but it would be nice nevertheless.

If I'm not mistaken, there isn't a complex helicopter out there in the fs(x) world yet?

[Paul_Smith 92]

 

 

...learning to operate such moldy oldies would entail lots of time and considerable effort consumed in acquiring a skill that has no real-world application whatsoever,...

Ha...

 

Learning to actually fly the plane as opposed to just supervising it has some pretty significant benfits when things start to go wrong. On your next flight, try simulating a Trolly Dolly spilling coffee and your glass displays going dark. Now get your passengers home safely. 

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

and learning to operate such moldy oldies would entail lots of time and considerable effort consumed in acquiring a skill that has no real-world application whatsoever

 

I'd be careful when using black and white terms. Buffalo Airways still uses a DC-6, which negates the no real world application point, simply because 'no' implies "absolutely none," which isn't the case. Additionally Red Bull owns a DC-6. I believe the DC-6 still sees some reasonable cargo use in some of the rugged areas of the globe (as mentioned in the DC-6 announcement thread, one of the PMDG developers went to Africa to do all of the recon/data work).

 

Granted, it's not like there are jobs all over the place, but sometimes it's the rare job found because of a rare skillset that not only lets you enjoy life, but also get paid handsomely. The odd case of the moldy oldies is that there aren't many original pilots who are eligible (or capable) of still flying them, and some operators like the nostalgia. If I had a DC-6 type and a company put out an announcement that it was hiring DC-6 pilots, I'd be in a very good negotiating position.

 

At the very least, it made me appreciate what I have even more when I look back at how manual and task-intensive everything was. In a 777 not much thought goes into the engine start: turn the knob to start, flip the fuel switch up. In a DC-3? You and the crew go out and walk the props through to detect hydraulic lock, which is also repeated as a precaution right before the actual engine start by using the starter to walk the prop through a cycle before turning the mags to BOTH, and there's a whole flurry of activity beyond all of that (adjusting the mixture, using the prime switch, and so on). After that, of course, you have to wait for the beasts to warm up.

 

I'm with you on the 787, though. That could be a fun addition, despite being heavily automated.

[FleaJump 7]

 

 

 

I must confess that I actually would like to get around to learning the principles of VOR navigation using nothing but the alchemy of a steam-gauge flight deck, with not a glass panel in sight, and, to embark on that journey I bought the uber-realistic Leonardo Maddog MD83, and the very detailed Dreamliner 727, both of which are highly regarded by sim purists, and are in service with quite a few airlines and cargo haulers worldwide, despite being many decades old.

 

After muddling my way along for a while with that pair of old-school jets, it began to dawn on me that I had become accustomed to the convenience of simply programming  the FMC in my Level D 767 and PMDG Boeings, and had become a tad lazy, I suppose, when it came to really understanding the systems of the earlier generation passenger jets.

 

The upshot is that my Leanordo MD83 and Dreamliner 727 never did get much use, though I didn't uninstall them either.   I still have it in the back of my mind to get my money's worth out of the MD83 and 727 birds, and the hoarder in me can at least feel a bit smug that the ideal tools to learn are in my hangar, for when I do build the resolve to master the art of flying like it used to be done.

 

So you did see through my smoke screen Paul.  A good part of the reason I turn my nose up when I hear the term "steam gauge instrument panel" is simply that I wish I knew what all those dials are for, but would rather conceal that fact with swagger and attitude ha ha. 

 

Regards from Tony

 

  

 

[Alan_A 1,650]

 

 

A good part of the reason I turn my nose up when I hear the term "steam gauge instrument panel" is simply that I wish I knew what all those dials are for, but would rather conceal that fact with swagger and attitude ha ha. 

 

Now here I was going to jump back on the DC-6 bandwagon and say something along the lines of, "if you're against moldy oldies, you ought to tell Rob Randazzo to stop wasting time and money on his restored DC-3"... but you went and posted something reasonable and took away all my pleasure in escalating a flame war.  Can't a guy pick a good fight around here?

 

If it's any consolation - thanks to the time I've logged in A2A machines, I'm completely at home with the old snarling oil-leaking things... but I have a reaction similar to yours when confronting an FMC-driven airplane.  "What's it doing now?!" etc.  

 

Think we should swap aircraft for a while?  B)

[FleaJump 7]

I realized almost too late Alan, that the AVSIM forum is not the place to make sweeping declarations, so I had to go into damage control mode for a moment there he he.

 

On a serious note though, I will at some point force myself to go back and learn in a methodical manner how to operate the Maddog 83 and Dreamliner 727, at least to the level of competence where I can carry out rudimentary navigation using them steam gauges.    

 

Kinda like getting around to mowing the lawn, I do have a habit of putting things off a bit longer than I ought to, but oddly enough chatting with real pros in these forums can be a very good motivator to sit down and engage in some purposeful study sooner rather than later.    

[Alan_A 1,650]

 

 

I realized almost too late Alan, that the AVSIM forum is not the place to make sweeping declarations..

 

On the contrary - it's a great place to make sweeping declarations, as long as you don't mind a bunch of sweeping counter-declarations flying back at you...

 

Also - there's nothing wrong with staying in a comfort zone.  We're all prisoners to some degree of our flightsimming circumstances and our starting points.  My first flight simulators (c.1986) didn't offer GPS or FMCs (they were scarce in the real world then, too), so I had no choice but to learn VOR navigation.  FMCs are a second language to me, therefore a steeper learning curve.

 

Also, I'm pressed for flightsimming time.  It's perfectly possible to scramble an A2A warbird.  A PMDG airliner, not so much...

 

The PMDG DC-6 (or 3!) will be like an old shoe to me.  But I'll stretch myself to modern heavy iron, too.. Promise!

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

My first flight simulators (c.1986) didn't offer GPS or FMCs (they were scarce in the real world then, too), so I had no choice but to learn VOR navigation.  FMCs are a second language to me, therefore a steeper learning curve.

 

Yeah - same. I think this is why I have little to no patience for the crowd who just slave themselves to the box and don't put any thought to it. It was all VOR to VOR (occasionally NDB), in an ugly Lear, with expired Jepp Charts from my neighbor.

 

No frills.

 

Does that make me one of those unruly old timers?

 

Next I'll be telling people to get off of my lawn.

[rototom 198]

 

 

and learning to operate such moldy oldies would entail lots of time and considerable effort consumed in acquiring a skill that has no real-world application whatsoever,

 

Are you aware that in a persons real world journey to becoming a pilot with all the required licences and ratings that these skills you speak of are all mandatory?

[~Craig~ 10]

Not gonna happen  :smile2:

 

 

how do you know Tom, my dads name is Tom and he can't be trusted.

 

......best post on this thread. 

[xpdevs 1]

Are you aware that in a persons real world journey to becoming a pilot with all the required licences and ratings that these skills you speak of are all mandatory?

True. You wouldn't get a private licence without knowing how a VOR works.

[CaptCraig 226]

Are you aware that in a persons real world journey to becoming a pilot with all the required licences and ratings that these skills you speak of are all mandatory?

 

Not if you do all your training in glass

True. You wouldn't get a private licence without knowing how a VOR works.

 

knowing how a VOR works and working with an old steam vor is very different.