fsx-ms I'm really embarrassed....a simmer's confession.

[Patriot3810 182]

I know I'm going to be made to think I'm a dumb simmer here, but here goes.  I've been simming for over 16 years, and I'm embarrassed to bring this up again.  I wrote about it years ago, and vowed I would correct this inadequacy, but alas, I have not!   What am I embarrassed about?   I only use planes or buy planes that use the default GPS gauge.   I STILL do not know how to use an FMS.  Like you, I probably have thousands of dollars invested in this hobby over the years, and I fly every single day, and I enjoy it immensely.  But when a great plane becomes available with an FMS and no default navigation gauge, I don't get it.

 

What's the best way to get this monkey off my back and learn this navigation necessity.  Stars and Sids seem to have me a little confused, and I try to follow discussion here on AVSIM when some of you talk about it.

 

I vow that this time....perhaps this very weekend coming up, that I will try to start a simple flight with an FMS.  Please give me the best suggestions for getting started.  I am tired of being a simmer veteran and not using this realistic way to navigate.

 

Thanks.

 

Stan

i have made some simple videos for the aerosoft a318-a321 pmdg 737-800,pmdg 777-200,300,freight,as my procedures are not perfect,this should help any new comer to learn to fly any of the above planes, take a look,i waited years before i used the fmc myself.hope this helps.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/culleydog34/videos

[Lorby_SI 2,042]

Hi, best way to go about it? Relax a bit and take your time. The FMCs of this world have not been made for computer programmers, they were made for pilots. Those may or may not have an affinity for computers, just like you and me. So these devices need to be simple in terms of airmanship and they are.

 

Airline pilots get the route and the figures they type into the device from their dispatcher. Unfortunately we don't have one of those built into FSX, that is why this looks so daunting. You have to do two very different jobs. One is to figure out what to put in the device (dispatcher) and the other how to use it (pilot). For the first one I suggest reading up a bit on air traffic procedures. SIDs, STARs and waypoints are no invention of the FMCs era - they existed for a long time and have formerly been flown with radio navigation equipment (there is a video on youtube from frooglesim where he does a flight from Gatwick to Amsterdam with a DC-9, there you can see how a SID is flown without a computer). The only difference is, that today you can make the computer fly it for you...

 

There are some good dispatch programs available, like PFPX - or you try and figure out the dispatch yourself. The route and the waypoints are easy, you could use the net or even the FSX flightplanner for that. Departure (=SID) and arrival (=STAR) procedures are harder, you need the plates for your airports for those. Fuel, performance and weights&balances...well you need the charts for your plane, a calculator and a bit of knowledge. But most of the good addon planes help you with this too and calculate stuff for you.or have a separate calculator.

 

As for finally using the FMC - definitely youtube.

 

My suggestion for a good start:

Either the PMDG 737 and frooglesim videos

Or the Majestic Q400 and Airline2Sim videos

Or the easy ones: Qualitywings 146 or 757 and their tutorial flights in the manual.

 

That is how I learned it anyway... 

[gmoneyprs 2]

To echo some of the other thoughts here: FMCs can be a bit intimidating at first because, IMO, they're not very intuitive. I tend to think they were all designed during NASA's heyday by engineers with the thick black-framed glasses that wore black ties with the short-sleeve white shirts. However, this was all mitigated by the fact that the end-users are all nerds of their own flavor so they picked it up somewhat easily. The rest of us are left scratching our heads wondering why something has to be made so difficult.

 

But in the age of the Internet, nothing is all that opaque.

 

And to the OP's question about knowing what waypoints to input, most airlines have a dispatch that proffers "company routes" that are uplinked to FMCs or given to pilots. In the sim world, use PFPX, Simbrief or one of the many other route planning utilities. I haven't used Simbrief in a while but I recall it appending real-world NOTAMs into the output package which is helpful in the case of realizing that the North Dakota airport you'd like to land at because you're at BINGO fuel is temporarily closed so that the Blue Angels can goof around...

[Lorby_SI 2,042]

On my eighteenth birthday my uncle took me on a flight in the DC-10 on the navigators seat, that was already vacant at the time. In those days the procedures were the same, but they used the good old INS systems. 9 waypoints per card and you had to type them in by geographical coordinates. Talk about intuitive. I think the FMS technology has progressed very nicely, those things are robust, safe and easy to operate. You need a few weeks to learn them, like you do for the rest of the plane, but so what? No newbee pilot just jumps into the thing and flies, and with high quality addons we simmers should not expect that either (even when we do).

[spilok 1,136]

What a wonderful bunch of suggestions.  I will start my learning this weekend, for you have given me so much to work with. 

 

I especially like the post that said..."if a 13 year old can program an FMS, then you with 2 masters degrees should be able to do it (or something like that!).  Funny, and oh, so true.  Thanks for a  kick in the a__ __!

 

Stan

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

I especially like the post that said..."if a 13 year old can program an FMS, then you with 3 masters degrees should be able to do it (or something like that!). Funny, and oh, so true. Thanks for a kick in the a__ __!

 

Stan

Glad you liked that Stan, but it's true. There are a ton of youngsters out there, some in jr high and high school who can do it, so there is no reason why you can't as well.

 

The nice thing is that you can go at your own pace and don't even need to be flying while programming, so all your attention can be focused on it. Plus if you fail at first, you'll be in the comfort of your own home with no one to see and you'll be able to simply start over and try again.

 

Btw, I'm not 13 or implying that I am, I was just going off of observations of people in that age group who can and have done it with no problems. Otherwise I would have been an Avsim member prior to my birth, lol.

 

Also I said you had 2 masters, so I apologize if you actually have 3 of them.

[gmoneyprs 2]

 

 

I especially like the post that said..."if a 13 year old can program an FMS, then you with 2 masters degrees should be able to do it (or something like that!). Funny, and oh, so true. Thanks for a kick in the a__ __!

 

Totally true but old age works against us sometimes and leads us to be intimidated by learning new things. The youthful rarely have little such fear and dive straight in...

[PaulGR 168]

Age is just a state of mind  :wink: 

[jcpg 1]

Stan, guaranteed, for an airliner, the B777.   Later B737, which is the most pleasant airliner, in opinion.   By the second flight you'll be good.   Don't start with aerosoft's A319 or A320, cause they a little more difficult but also fantastic aircraft to fly in FS.  

You're a honest, intelligent man.  Thanks for your post.  I enjoyed it immensely and of course the replies and support everyone gave you.  Shows how good Avsim is...

 

Cheers.

 

john goncalves.