Hi there,

 

So recently I started flying with the NGX 737 and I've been looking around how to use the FMC. And now I know the basics of entering a route etc, but when it comes to selecting a sid/star and the right transistion I kinda get stuck

 

So I have a few questions about that.

 

1. When I select a sid or a star(selecting the sids and stars that PFPX gives me), some transitions pop up, but do I even need to choose one, and if yes, which one? Or doesn't that really matter?

 

2. Is there way to check on a chart? Or somewhere else?

 

Regards,

 

Casper

Hi Casper, welcome to the PMDG forums. Please note the pinned forum rules and the requirement for full names on our posts here.

 

Absolutely important you have charts, there are many free sources depending on the part of the world you are flying.  Easiest in the US is to use flightaware.com where they have both real world routes and charts.  Best maybe to start with real world routes and become familiar with several locations. There are many short to medium 737 routes, too many to even suggest without knowing your interests.  I use Navigraph for both the navdata, which you need to keep current if you are going to fly real world routes, and for charts. I find their pricing reasonable. 

 

It goes without saying that you have to fly the Tutorials that come with the NGX.

For American coverage, airnav.com has all charts. I did not know Flightaware also has charts now.

 

If you do not have charts, and select a STAR and runway ILS or RNAV for example, you can sometimes cheat by looking at the legs page and the transition for that runway from the approach is usually listed already, so just select it in the approach transition section. - David Lee

just to add  there are  some  good utubes out  explaining  on how  to pick  the sids/stars  etc

 

here  is a  example

These two videos by Kyle Rodgers could be helpful -

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEwvDVM-k54.

In addition to watching the above referenced vids, if your attention span is short or scatter brained (like mine), I'll offer my advice.

First of all if you're flying current routes, or plan on flying with live atc such as VATSIM you really gotta subscribe to navigraph. It's very reasonable priced, go for the 1 year subscription.

If you don't have navigraph, your STARS int he FMC will not make any sense. I found this out quickly.. you'd be surprised how much has changed since they came out with the info that comes with the NGX download. 

 

The STAR selection isn't intuitive at all. If you don't have a chart in front of you, you will not be able to pick a STAR for arrival to an airport. You could choose several STARS that will give you runway options in the FMC, and you could execute them, and it will fly you where you told it to fly you. However, it is unlikely that you'll guess correctly, and you'll end up flying past the airport and doubling back or something like that.
 

I'll use Pittsburgh as an example. 

You're flying into Pittsburgh from Chicago. Which STAR to choose depends on which route you take. If you're just sitting at the gate in chicago and you pull up the Pittsburgh arrival in the FMC, you could choose any of the STARS... but like you said, without a chart or a route, it's impossible to know which one to take. 

So the first thing is to pick a route... how to you want to get to Pittsburgh? You could fly east first, then south - or you could fly south first... then east... 

HMM, well does it matter which direction I take? In this case yes... because if you approach Pittsburgh from the NW, you'll choose the JESEY2 STAR. If you fly south and then head east, you'll choose the FEGWA2 STAR. Pittsburgh has 4 STARS, and which one you pick is dependent on which direction you are coming from (NW, SW, SE, NE). JESEY2 corresponds with the NW, FEGWA2 corresponds with SW. 

 

But none of this is intuitive, and none of this info is in the FMC. You'll have to go to AIRNAV.com and actually look at the STAR charts for any of this to make sense in your head. 

Of course, you could cheat and check flightaware, simbrief, or a host of other sites. I got the hang of it by planning my own routes using a site like skyvector in conjunction with airnav.