[18OCT17] So what is going on at PMDG?

[thibodba57 462]

17 hours ago, Boomer said:

Shhh...EFB for the 748...shhhh...

Trust me when I say.  The EFB Boeing has in these aircraft are woefully out of date and not at all user friendly.  Your iPad is a lot more capable and easier to use.  It’s what we use in the plane. In fact our latest aircraft the EFB was removed and cup holders installed.

[Boomer 1,619]

How do you reference an iPad whIle taxiing or flying?

[vc10man 732]

12 hours ago, Chock said:

Try the QW 787 or the FF A350 and you will. Or ask anyone flying the real thing who doesn't have to hump a flight case with a ton of paperwork shoved into it about and clip a dog eared approach chart onto their yoke lol. Having the SID or STAR on a big screen just to your left in the P1 seat is great for hand flying the departure or approaches. You don't want to let George have all the fun do you?

Even if you don't want to use it for your flights themselves, having the tutorials an reference manuals available in the VC or even on a linked tablet which mirrors it is great. It puts an end to all that alt-tabbing to a PDF nonsense when learning the things.

There was a great video posted here a few days ago of a BahamasAir captain bidding farewell on his last flight after 35 years service, in a 737-500, and although the aircraft did not feature a full-fledged EFB, nevertheless, they had an iPad or similar displaying the route.Additionally, on the Just Planes Air Canada 777-300ER dvd I've been watching, both the Capt and the FO go to great lengths to eulogise the benefits of their EFB.

[pedrotrindade 335]

6 hours ago, mcbellette said:

... I was surprised and disappointed that PMDG chose to announce the updates for the 737, 747 and 777 product lines via Facebook while no mention was made on this forum. At least none that I could find. Could you please ensure that in future such updates are posted here as well as on Facebook and vice versa? I don't often go onto Facebook and never go to the PMDG page on Facebook, so it was just sheer dumb luck that there happened to be a post that popped up on my Facebook feed about this update.

+1, I don't have a FB account.

[Nuno Pinto 1,395]

Things, as always, are moving forward. Facebook whether people like it or not, is a powerful communication tool, so naturally people tend to use it more to spread the news.

I don't like it THAT much either, but you can't control people.

[thibodba57 462]

48 minutes ago, Boomer said:

How do you reference an iPad whIle taxiing or flying?

It’s on an X Grip Ram Mount at shoulder level.  The Jepp App is set on the Taxi Page.  It’s a lot more interchangeable than paper and the Boeing EFB.  I can change between Reference pages for instance Gates and the main 10-9 page with the swipe of two fingers. 

10x better than looking down past your knee for the in built EFB.  The ND taxi diagram is way better than the EFB anyways.  The EFB is really used for terminal procedures and it doesn’t do it very well

[scandinavian13 5,192]

Regarding the Facebook commentary, if it bothers you that much, simply open up the Operations Center from time to time. You'd have to open up a browser window and consciously check AVSIM for an update here, and you'd have to do the same to find it on Facebook. The OC method is the same amount of effort, but requires fewer steps.

If you're disappointed it was only via Facebook, and not here, then you've likely come to an expectation that we usually also post here because we do. Let's spare the melodrama on the realization and understanding that we do usually post here, and that everyone would've been notified anyway had they opened the OC. We missed it this time, and, in the grand scheme of things, it's not like this update added revolutionary functionality, or fixed showstopping bugs. Not getting the update as soon as it came out shouldn't be something to get upset over, particularly in this case.

[pete_auau 1,158]

7 hours ago, Anders Bermann said:

Come on, Chock!! I didn't mean, I couldn't see the benefit in the real aircraft! I said in the VC - Virtual Cockpit! I didn't say, that I can't see the benefit of an EBF AT ALL. Please read what I said, before twisting my words.

I have already tried it in the planes you describe and in the Captain Sim 777 and I still can't see the benefit - unless it can be made as a popup!  The job of viewing the EFB in the VC requires zooming to be able to see the charts correctly and panning the view away from instruments and view outside. It's quite a difficult task doing while on final approach or while trying to concentrate on a million other stuff. My personal opinion is, that I find it a gimmick but not really useful. Again, if it could be made as a pop-up I would find is useful - but then I would rather have an external app - I have the AvailaSoft Electronic Flightbag, which is great and I use it for every flight.

Dont  need  to have  a pop up if  your  using  chase plane,

[Nighthwk 566]

I always thought it would be easier just to print the chart out, have it on an iPad, or put it on another screen.

[Boomer 1,619]

18 minutes ago, Milton Waddams said:

I always thought it would be easier just to print the chart out, have it on an iPad, or put it on another screen.

Well I was looking for increased immersion but see my concepts are outdated.  More accurate now would be for me to use my tablet for charts whilst I fly.

[Nighthwk 566]

18 minutes ago, Boomer said:

Well I was looking for increased immersion but see my concepts are outdated.  More accurate now would be for me to use my tablet for charts whilst I fly.

I see where you are coming from for sure.

[GCBraun 2,392]

22 hours ago, scandinavian13 said:

We said it was going to be updated?

So it won`t be? I mean, it was released last year and it is not fully compatible with XP11 at the moment. The P3D version has been released and I would hope that the improvements made to this version would roll back to XP11. At least that is what I come to expect from developers like PMDG. Abadoning a product that is a little more than 1 year old would be somewhat puzzling, no?.

Thiago Braun

[Nighthwk 566]

37 minutes ago, tgcbraun said:

So it won`t be? I mean, it was released last year and it is not fully compatible with XP11 at the moment. The P3D version has been released and I would hope that the improvements made to this version would roll back to XP11. At least that is what I come to expect from developers like PMDG. Abadoning a product that is a little more than 1 year old would be somewhat puzzling, no?.

Thiago Braun

Keep in mind it was never marketed for XP11, it was built and marketed for XP10 with no statement from them saying that it would ever be updated to XP11. It was a test bed for the X-Plane platform, not exactly a release that they would be committed to maintaining like their ESP product line. They said that they'll evaluate rolling back changes, not a definite decision whether or not to update it at all. It seems like the latter is applying here. There's a reason for this, it may not have sold enough to warrant supporting it or they just have too much on their plate with the -8, the JS41, ad their other projects to update a product that sold a lot less than their 747,777 or even their 737.

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Gents,

Normally when I have been on a brief hiatus from the forum, I try to at least be nice for a few days before whipping out the club that I stole from the previous owner, who used it exclusively to kill baby seals.  I see that I must immediately deploy said club, however. 

A few items to bring the conversation back to it's original point:

Post Signatures:  Sign your posts with your full name in this forum.  If you have trouble remembering, then create a signature.  Doing so will avoid you becoming a target of some humorless forum moderator...  (and my club)

Where is our X-Plane update?:  I did not include any XPL related updates in this thread because <drum-roll> I have no new information from that already posted in the XPL update thread also pinned in this forum.  When there is more to say, it will get added there- and I will add it to whatever update thread is created at the time more information comes available.  Easy.

HOW DARE YOU POST ON FACEBOOK:  We use multiple communication venues.  Thank you for the reminder that "no matter what PMDG does, someone will be upset."  Great.  You are upset that we didn't do precisely what fit your expectations.  Great.  Now WE are upset, too.

#ReleaseTheOutrage! 

As Kyle pointed out- normally we do updates across the board- but these were pretty minor product patches and I was busy.  I shall try to arrange my schedule with more care so that I don't continue to similarly disappoint you in the future.  But in the mean time- you can always find information here, in the OC and on facebook.  (oops... i did it again...)

 

PMDG Should do [insert thing PMDG should do] because [option A: It is easy] [option B: some other product has it].  Please.  Don't.

If you find yourself inclined to insert either of those phrases into a post instructing us what to do, please recognize that, like the pain of a heart attack, or the fever chills that accompany the flu, those phrases serve as symptoms we have come to recognize as tell-tale signs that you don't know the first thing about the complexities of product development.  So please- if you are about to use one of these phrases- remember what we have told you- and delete whatever you are about to write.  We will all be better off for your use of the delete button...

(And honestly- having used Boeing's EFB and being a regular user of ForeFlight...  If I were being offered a position flying and the employer handed me the Boeing EFB as a requirement of employment- I would hand it back and then keep looking for a better employer.  )

 

OMG HE JOKED ABOUT KILLING SEALS:  Yeah.  And some of you laughed.  Don't blame me for the fact that some people in this forum have a sick sense of humor.  I stole that club in order to save a seal and only decided later to use it on forum scofflaws...

(And some of you just laughed again!  <gasp>  #ReleaseTheOutrage! )

 

 

 

 

 

[Boomer 1,619]

There's too many seals anyhow.