[OK, please excuse my click-bait title,...🙂...but, frankly, as you'll see, below...there is some truth to my claim. This post was triggered by a couple of factors: (1) A few 737-300 repaints (of a freeware model) I came across, in the Library today, and (2) An interesting article I read titled, "The Airport Where Every 737 Takes its First Flight...". The Airport being referenced, here, is Renton Municipal Airport (KRNT), (IATA and FAA LID) 3-digit codes, for which is "RNT" (sounds like "Runt"...Oh well...let's not, then, take the literal meaning of the word...)...]

So, first of all, please find, below, at the start of my image set, 3 screenshots of 3 different airline liveries from a (freeware model) 737-300. The rest 17 pictures belong to an ultra-short, but full (FMC/LNAV/VNAV guided) (virtual) flight with the Wilco/feelThere 737-300, which SIM, I was reminded of only because of these freeware 737-300 repaints...

The B737 is (has been) a perennial favorite in our SIM. I guess, there is something "original" and "historical" about that plane that draws most of us to it, and, though we may all have surely travelled in it, we all may not be actively flying it in the SIM. The two most exciting new plane introductions, I can recall, of my ~20 year SIM life, was when the two 737NG (payware) offerings were introduced, nearly B2B, as I recall, and I was in the (joyous and excited...🙂...) crowd...in the respective forum...now, flash forward to MSFS, and, I can only imagine the level of excitement, when the much-awaited 737 will be released in MSFS...(hopefully soon enough, and, also, hopefully, the download servers can handle the type of demand for it, never before seen in any of our SIMs past...🙂...).

The 737 variants range from the Original (-100/-200), Classic (-300/-400/-500), NG (-600/-700/-800/-900), to the latest MAX (7/8/9/10). The very first 737 (-100 variant) had flown, in service, for Lufthansa, in 1967. This post is about the 737 Classic, (by that, I mean this plane is not only a genuine (and now rare) "Classic", but, it was also actually called "Classic"). In particular, I focus, here, on the first of the series, the (-300). We may recall well the 737-400 that came with FS9, giving us the first taste of a 737 SIM, albeit, a stock plane...and then the numerous (payware) 737 variants followed, from the premier developers. However, the 737 Classic (unlike the later 737 variants) is hard to come by in payware, and, hence, hardly ever seen around here, and, likely, will not be seen soon in (newer) payware either (btw, CS/Milviz offer 737-100/200/ADV, but not the -300). In this post, for illustration, I'm using the feelThere/Wilco 737 (Classic) payware pack, which contains all the three (-300/-400/-500) variants. Among the three, please note that the -500, is, in fact, the shortest (not the longest) variant, as you might expect, shorter than the -400 by nearly 20 ft, that's because, the -500 was an after-thought, meant to be a direct (and more modern) replacement of the 737-200, development driven by customers (who didn't forget the -200 so easily)...!

The 737-300 (by far, the most successful model of the three) holds a special and significant place in the 737 lineage. Gone were the (slim and pretty...🙂...) P&W JT8D (low-bypass) engines (those ones might have been a bit smoky and noisy, but, were certainly graceful, compared to these humongous ones on the twins of today...), by then, the venerable JT8D had already played its momentous role in aviation,...so, entered the (high-bypass) CFM-56 series, that would go on to power all the 737s, all the way to the modern -900 variant. And, purely visually speaking, here is the other most notable feature: When we (meaning non-pilot amateurs, like I'm) wish to quickly tell apart a 737 from a 320, we may try to spot the non-circular engine nacelles/intakes of the 737 (a distinctive flat-bottomed look, often nicknamed the "hamster pouch")...a (hallmark) 737 look that would carry forward till the -900NG model. [Side Note: BTW, this familiar "hamster pouch" look is now gone from the (latest) 737 MAX (LEAP) engines (also by CFM), due to several engineering factors...] The -300 would be also the first to introduce "glass" into the 737 cockpit avionics in the form of top-bottom (757-look-alike) PFD/ND LCDs...though this "rustic" looking cockpit (see images below) seems a far cry, from that of the modern 737NG/MAX...

Now, about the atypical (SIM) flight, I've selected, for this post: My [ORIG], KRNT (Renton Municipal) airport, is next door to the Boeing facility where every 737 is built, and, every 737 has also made its first flight from KRNT...(one of the first things I'd noticed during my visit to the Boeing factory, is the B2B take-offs of 737s from a nearby Rwy)...! KBFI (Boeing Field), my [DEST], is where the 737s land and are prepared for their delivery flight (i.e. readied to finally leave home, so to speak, to all corners of the world...). Of course, we must not forget the KSEA (Seattle-Tacoma) airport. KRNT/KSEA/KBFI, I noticed, today, form a small triangle (please see the SimBrief MAP, below, where KRNT/KBFI are clearly marked, and I've also identified KSEA as the location of the bottom-most WPT (SEA VOR), (to southwest of KRNT). So, interestingly, all new 737 a/c perform their first flight from KRNT and are then flown to KBFI for customer preparation and delivery. The distance between these two airports is just about ~5 miles...hence the justification for my title...🙂...but, more seriously, here, for my test-flight, I've followed the (FPLN) route [KRNT DCT SEA DCT LOFAL -> KBFI], as indicated/suggested by the SimBrief screenshot, with a total distance of ~60 nms.

So, please find, below, a set of images (4th-thru-20th) for (launch customer) Southwest 737-300, lifting off (southward) from KRNT (Rwy 16), then, immediately, making a sharp right bank (under LNAV/VNAV guidance) towards SEA (VOR), see close-up of ND, onward to the northernmost WPT (LOFAL), and eventually arriving in KBFI and landing on ILS Rwy 13R (to my surprising and delightful sighting of Mount Rainier, from the cockpit, dead ahead, far, along this 13R Rwy direction - see screenshot). On the Renton tarmac, I've performed a (Tutorial based) Cold & Dark start-up. This 737 is no PMDG, but, myself, being not particularly a perfectionist (neither an aspiring pilot...but...just being out for a bit of fun...🙂...), it met all (my) basic expectations w.r.t Autopilot, Autothrottle (a 737 first in the -300, btw), and FMC/LNAV/VNAV etc. I did have two CTDs, though, while working on the OH panel,...not sure why...

Hope you enjoy this collection of pictures, from my (fictitious) flight, of this "Classic" 737, a plane that was extra-ordinarily popular (and modern) for its period, and was also the evolutionary origin of (and pre-cursor to) the modern 737NG, as we know it today,...(but, rarely seen (or to be seen) around here (or in the sky)...)...!!

Thanks for your interest and comments...! Good flying...!

[Wilco (737-300), Orbx (PNW)]

Very nice set of shots! 🙂 

So i, nice set of shots and a fine plane..

cheers 😉

Great shots and a fantastic plane.  Wish she was available in MSFS.....would love to do some obscure flights in areas she still flies in.

Alaska738, pmplayer, Steve, et al.: Appreciated much...!!

 

1 hour ago, Steve Dra said:

....Wish she was available in MSFS.....would love to do some obscure flights in areas she still flies in.

NP, I will fly them for you...Steve....🙂...while you please fly the (MSFS) DC-6 for me...🙂...Seriously, Steve, there are a few of these diehard 737 Classics still around flying...it looks like...

Closer to home, Canadian North’s (current) fleet has a mix of -200, 200C, -300, -300(QC), -400, and -400C aircraft, at least, in its holdings,...and, their livery, you might know, has changed after the merger with First Air...(the Polar Bear and Midnight Sun, seen in my first shot above, is now gone...I'd really liked that paint...)....

Southwest seems to have retired all -300s in 2017, their first (and the first ever) 737-300 (N300SW), is now displayed at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field in Dallas, TX, which I'd visited/seen a couple of years ago...

28 minutes ago, P_7878 said:

Southwest seems to have retired all -300s in 2017, their first (and the first ever) 737-300 (N300SW), is now displayed at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field in Dallas, TX, which I'd visited/seen a couple of years ago...

Well...if you were there on Saturday, April 27, 2019....you probably saw me as I was there too.😉

(I live about 10 miles from it, took me 8 years living in Dallas to finally make it there) 🤔

 

17 minutes ago, Steve Dra said:

...(I live about 10 miles from it, took me 8 years living in Dallas to finally make it there) 🤔

Yeap...that's the one....🙂....

It's always like that Steve...I was in Chicago and had travelled 1000 miles, and you, at 10 miles from it, had not probably seen it yet...🙂...

I recall they had done a good job with displaying it and providing close access to it...

Nice Shots! My favorite plane,  The Classic 737-300.   May I ask, how did you get it to run on FSX/FSX-Steam or for that matter in P3D in Windows10?   I have the Wilco/Just flight DVD version for FSX and I could never install it on Windows 10.  It just doesn't want to install with the current version of Windows 10.  Please tell me how.  I would appreciated much.

Thanks!

Hi F1Fan:

Thank you and glad for your interest...! I am probably using this a/c SIM after a gap of, at least, 3 years...🙂...but, for my post, here, I didn't have to install it, since it was already there in my FSX/SE system....

Just now, I did a bit looking around...

First of all, you say, above, you have the "Wilco/JF DVD Version for FSX"...OK, I see that on JF Website, it's titled "737 Pilot In Command - Evolution".

But, it appears the one I own and running, here, is not that one. I don't have any DVD of it, and, the one I've is actually a Download direct from the Wilco Pub Website. If you check there, it's titled, "Super Guppy Evolution (former 737 Pilot in Command Evolution - FSX/P3D)"...so Evolution of a (former) Evolution...🙂...BTW, I noticed also that product is available only as "Download" not as "DVD". That is the version which seems to be working well for me (FSX-SE/Win10), though I did read about some compatibility concerns, there,...but, it indeed works well, as I've shown in my post here...

I cannot comment about P3D version compatibility, though...

Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised, during the post, how good this Wilco 737 Classic add-on is, considering that's the only Classic 737 Payware I'm aware of. BTW, you may recall Mike Ray's 737 Manuals (I used to have a copy of the manual, but cannot find it now). His (737) books are quite wonderful, imaginatively illustrated and easy to follow...he wrote the Wilco 737 PIC Tutorials, as I recall...

Please PM me for further details, if needed,...Good-luck...!!

37 minutes ago, P_7878 said:

Hi F1Fan:

Thank you and glad for your interest...! I am probably using this a/c SIM after a gap of, at least, 3 years...🙂...but, for my post, here, I didn't have to install it, since it was already there in my FSX/SE system....

Just now, I did a bit looking around...

First of all, you say, above, you have the "Wilco/JF DVD Version for FSX"...OK, I see that on JF Website, it's titled "737 Pilot In Command - Evolution".

But, it appears the one I own and running, here, is not that one. I don't have any DVD of it, and, the one I've is actually a Download direct from the Wilco Pub Website. If you check there, it's titled, "Super Guppy Evolution (former 737 Pilot in Command Evolution - FSX/P3D)"...so Evolution of a (former) Evolution...🙂...BTW, I noticed also that product is available only as "Download" not as "DVD". That is the version which seems to be working well for me (FSX-SE/Win10), though I did read about some compatibility concerns, there,...but, it indeed works well, as I've shown in my post here...

I cannot comment about P3D version compatibility, though...

Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised, during the post, how good this Wilco 737 Classic add-on is, considering that's the only Classic 737 Payware I'm aware of. BTW, you may recall Mike Ray's 737 Manuals (I used to have a copy of the manual, but cannot find it now). His (737) books are quite wonderful, imaginatively illustrated and easy to follow...he wrote the Wilco 737 PIC Tutorials, as I recall...

Please PM me for further details, if needed,...Good-luck...!!

Hi P_7878

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.  Yes, the version I have is the "Just Flight Pilot In Command" DVD for FSX that they sold to computer retailers like Microcenter.  Yes, it is a Wilco product that Just Flight sold for them under the Just Flight name.  I do remember and still have the manual that includes Mike Ray's tutorials of the 737-300 which was great and funny too! 😊

So you have the Super Guppy Evolution" version direct from Wilco.  I know about that version but never really thought about getting it at the time since at the time of that release it didn't get favorable reviews. All the reviews I read thought the older version "Pilot In Command" was the better 737-300 version.   I'm assuming that this new Supper Guppy version got updates by now and it is much better or equal to their older version I guess.  

I am going to look into the new you have since I still have FSX and would love to fly the 737-300 again even if it is on an the old FSX.   It was so much fun to fly it.  I remember the awesome sound of the trim wheel of the plane.  It was my first true semi-high-end level plane for me that I learned a lot from.

Thanks again P_7878, very much appreciate the time to reply back to me!

Thank You!