747 Tutorial Videos

[godimaginedme 25]

Hello all,

I recently started making tutorial videos for the B747 based loosely on my company's procedures. The first flight is from PHNL to YSSY and is broken down into stages. This series doesn't really cover systems or anything in too much detail, but they do go over operational procedures. This first set is really just surface level point A to B; operating like a real 747 pilot. 

DISCLAIMER: I don't claim to know everything!! If I do say something wrong or misleading, I can definitely do my best to find the right answer and correct it. For example, in the first video, I got confused with the CWT (Center Wing Tank) fuel, and when to turn the pumps on before flight. The pumps should only be turned on if there is 7700kgs or more of fuel in them. Shows how often I fly with the CWT pumps required to be on! 😄 

If you'd like to follow along, all of the information you need to complete the flight is in the video's description. The flight plan information is based off of a real flight from my company, obviously with secure information removed. I am really very eager to give back to the flight sim community with these videos, so if there are any requests with the 747 specifically, I'd love to fulfill your requests. I was thinking about doing a video or two on how to deal with an engine failure at V1, two engine approaches, as well as various other emergencies. I'd also be happy to talk about the airplane's systems in more depth. This first set of videos is really just to get the ball rolling. I hope you find them informative and fun!

Andrew Purdie

 

Qualifications: PIC rated B747 First Officer

 

 

Edited April 27, 2018 by godimaginedme

[Qavion2 39]

Thanks, Andrew! Great to see/hear a pilot's perspective.

Would you be able to post a copy of the Route. I had trouble reading your flightplan and CDU entries in YouTube. Some waypoints I was familiar with and for some you spoke them aloud clearly, so I was able to form some kind of route.

 

Just a few comments/questions (if I may)

Those (almost) vertical stairs look like maintenance stairs. I've had the (dis)pleasure of using those to check lower door seals on departure.

@3:40 You have circuit breakers at the 2nd observers position?

@11:05 The selection of waypoints is not quite as logical as you might think. Some time ago I was playing with the real FMC (at Sydney). Using YSSY as the origin. On the LEGS page, I entered the following:

YSSY
SY (in Australia)
TGO (in Germany)
SY (there was an SY in Germany)....

The FMC automatically chose the Australian SY for the second SY (without bringing up the choose waypoint prompt). Thankfully, I was only playing around with the FMC and I didn't have to figure out a workaround. Perhaps it would have been ok if the aircraft had been closer to the station.

@24:40, the 1st Obs Audio should be set to the NORM position (not Captain's side). If you put it to the Captain's position, this will disable the controls on the Captain's Audio Selector Panel (including the speaker selection).
@25:08, I noticed that the fuel crossfeel VALVE lights didn't show the valves "in transit". Perhaps a sim-ism?

I see you picked up the FUEL LOW CTR comments as being incorrect. With the new software, a few of the messages are now generated by fuel quantity values rather than pump pressures (the "PRESS" lights in the pump switches will continue to behave normally).

By the body gear steering not being active, you're putting load on the main gear during tight turns and wearing out the tyres faster. The main gear leaves skid marks on the tarmac at any speed because of gear geometry. The nose gear has a lot less load on it. It will skid if you're going too fast.

1:07:55 "The nose gear is way behind us" ... This must be a physical/optical illusion. In reality, the nose gear is only about 8~9 feet behind you.

Cheers

JHW

 

Edited April 28, 2018 by Qavion2

[godimaginedme 25]

Thanks for the feedback! 

The flight plan information is in the description of the video as well as the performance data. The 3rd video in the series has some real edits with charts and whatnot so it is a little easier to follow. 

That's interesting to know about @11:05, thanks for clearing it up!

At 24:40 it is in the NORM position haha, that was me being lazy and not actually verifying. You are correct. 

@25:08, I never noticed that before IRL, only demonstrated in ground school. I know what you're talking about though, you'll get a "VALVE" light in the garded X-Feeds. I'll check the next time I fly.

 

@1:07:55, you are correct, I guess what I was trying to get across was that since the rest of the plane is so far behind you, you have to overshoot a bit to line up correctly.

Thank you for clearing up fact about turning when the body gear is locked out. 

 

I appreciate the information! I've got recurrent coming up, so it's good to know this stuff off hand 😉

[jrs182p 23]

Thanks for doing these videos. Its great to see how these aircraft are operated in real life. I'm only about halfway through the first video so far but will be sure to check out the rest and hope for some more in the future!

[godimaginedme 25]

Here are parts 2 & 3 as well. In part 3, I had to do a Go-Around since "ATC" gave us a bad vector to final :p. Part 3 also has some 'editing' done, as will future videos. 

Also, uploading to YouTube a cockpit settings guide for folks that want to set up their flight deck properly. Of course a lot of the settings are arbitrary and as preferred by the user, but at least folks will have a better idea of how to have their flight deck laid out. 

 

Part 2:

 

Part 3:

 

[Qavion2 39]

Thanks, Andrew. More pearls of wisdom.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see the third one (Seems to be in a newer format... HTML5). Guess I need a new computer 😅

[cgsmithmo 14]

Thank you so much for these videos. Always great to hear from a RW Pilot as to how these are operated.

I have a question as to equipment. On the N475 you're flying, it has the ADF installed(i.e. the gauge under the clock). There are a couple of pictures on Airliners.net that show this is not the case. Also they have separate backup flight instruments, and not the integrated one. Also, no taxi lights. These are the N475, and N477. Can you tell us more about the installed equipment?

[godimaginedme 25]

3 hours ago, cgsmithmo said:

Thank you so much for these videos. Always great to hear from a RW Pilot as to how these are operated.

I have a question as to equipment. On the N475 you're flying, it has the ADF installed(i.e. the gauge under the clock). There are a couple of pictures on Airliners.net that show this is not the case. Also they have separate backup flight instruments, and not the integrated one. Also, no taxi lights. These are the N475, and N477. Can you tell us more about the installed equipment?

funny you ask! I just made another video showing how I like to set up my cockpit. This is true, some airplanes we fly do not have some equipment, or have different things installed. In the video, you'll see how I prefer my flight deck and the most common settings. Some planes have an ADF, some don't (honestly, we never use it if it is installed). I recently changed my setup back to the separate backup instruments because I find the integrated standby instrument a bit too bright in the flight simulator. 

 

4 hours ago, Qavion2 said:

Thanks, Andrew. More pearls of wisdom.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see the third one (Seems to be in a newer format... HTML5). Guess I need a new computer 😅

haha, sorry about that! I'll look at different ways to encode the uploads!

 

[Qavion2 39]

Thanks, again, Andrew. Oddly, all the videos now work for me.

In one of your videos, I noticed that there were no IRS ALIGN MODE memo messages on the upper EICAS. Is this because of the PMDG fast align option?

[johnnycrockett 43]

These are brilliant, thank you for doing these. Looking forward to more!

[cgsmithmo 14]

Thank you soooo much! Very insightful! I understand equipment could and does get changed out during maintenance checks, but still...

How about one for extending runway center lines, and track offsets?

[godimaginedme 25]

15 hours ago, Qavion2 said:

Thanks, again, Andrew. Oddly, all the videos now work for me.

In one of your videos, I noticed that there were no IRS ALIGN MODE memo messages on the upper EICAS. Is this because of the PMDG fast align option?

That is correct. I've since set it back to 'real time' for

 

5 hours ago, cgsmithmo said:

Thank you soooo much! Very insightful! I understand equipment could and does get changed out during maintenance checks, but still...

How about one for extending runway center lines, and track offsets?

Absolutely! I am currently working on Captain and FO flows videos -- but am planning on doing departure, enroute, approach, landing, and emergency tutorial videos. 

[godimaginedme 25]

This is the first video in a new FLOWS series. I'm heading out on a trip today, but will continue uploading when I get back on Thursday. 

 

 

[Ephedrin 418]

thanks a LOT for your effort, Andrew. Tutorials by pilots who fly those airplanes every day (so to say) are worth that much and having them made available "just for fun" means a lot!! Thank you!! 

[G-RFRY 1,708]

Thank you for the video's good way to sit back and learn more about the 747 from a real pilot`s prospective, the more you watch the more you learn.