Hello 747 drivers,

I have been considering for a while the purchase of the Boeing 747 by PMDG for P3D, and then I read the post as of a few months back regarding the lack of an update for the ARINC424 specifications and the resulting issues with LNAV when flying DME arcs or RNP approaches. Taking this into consideration, would you recommend the purchase of the PMDG 747 nonetheless, or is this LNAV issue a deal breaker? I know the MSFS version is due for release sometime in 2023, but I still enjoy Prepar3d, and I miss flying the 747. What is your take? For those who own it, following that post, would you still buy it? Or is it a waste of money, given the complete lack of a yes/no answer from PMDG to a potential fix? What is holding me back is the overall cost ($140 + $70, I am interested in the 474-8), for a product that might never get fixed by the PMDG team, while keeping the cost high and with no notice regarding the LNAV issue, which I found out on my own. Any insight and feedback will be much appreciated,

 

Enrico

Hi Enrico. I do own the 747-400 and -8 addition and have had many enjoyable hours flying these models. Not being a real pilot, I may not be sophisticated enough to miss the LNAV issue you mentioned but it is not a deal breaker for me. If you are going to stick with P3D it is IMHO worth the money but if you are waiting on the MSFS version only you can decide. Keep in mind PMDG can take a long-time creating models so 2023 is not a sure thing. PMDG with all their arrogance do make the best Boeing sim planes. I guess that is what it is. 

Edited November 28, 20223 yr by Patco Lch

Agree with Patch. It is a good plane and the LNAV issues you have mentioned haven’t caused me to enjoy it less over the past few years. Only you can decide if the cost is justifiable. Pmdg does occasionally have sales but I have no idea when the next one might be. 

@enrico68 

As a real 748 pilot, I would adventure to recommend the product. Of course, it's not 100% accurate compared to the real one but, it's a good one. Not even level D simulators are 100%.

Regarding the LNAV, as you mention about DME arcs, fly-over  waypoints you will notice the same issue with the msfs 737, not being fixed. Actually 737 is quite worse in certain situations.

RNP it's not the real issue for them, they have many, but only a very small percentage of people are aware and not happy at all how they keep on releasing products with the same flaws over and over.

I'm afraid that they will never gonna fix anything for the P3D products despite what RSR claimed and talked down to the people saying about these broken promises.

If you are into 747 and cost is not an issue just go ahead. 

I will say this, when I have to do my refresher I start P3D with the 748 and review some stuff in preparation for my checks. 

I forgot to mention something very important about the DME arcs, they are part of the database, yes you can build them but, it's time-consuming to create waypoints by PBD (place-bearing distance). If that type of approach is in the database fine, if not, you just reject that clearance and request another type of approach or vectors. You not gonna have time to type/create manually that scenario.

Edited November 29, 20223 yr by LRBS
DME arcs note

Thank you guys,

your inputs are welcome, and you all have good points. I will think it over for a few more days before I make a final decision.

Enrico

At least for me, 747 doesn't fly much airport that requieres RF-leg RNP procedure, so it's not a big issue as 737 for me.

Even with somewhat broken database, PMDG still got one of the best LNAV/VNAV here, many sub-study-level add-ons may got the line right, but never able to fly spot on the line anyway (PMDG do have some issue with 90degree turn at low speed though, but VNAV is very fine tuned compare to many others).

The price is heavy, if you are not in hurry, maybe you can wait for a discount.

The ifly 747 is also good and cheaper, for P3D v4, I did hear talk of this being updated for P3D5.

The thing that really sets the PMDG products apart is all the real world options for the systems and avionics are selectable, and the failures menus.

Thats extremely useful if you’re a real world 747 pilot and need them for revision, for normal A to B sim operations they aren’t needed unless you particularly  like beating yourself up.

On 11/29/2022 at 10:28 AM, enrico68 said:

Thank you guys,

your inputs are welcome, and you all have good points. I will think it over for a few more days before I make a final decision.

Enrico

I have the PMDG B744 and B747-8 from PMDG.  They are OK.  I also have the Aerowinx PSX B744 with the NG package which has many of the features not supported by the PMDG B744.  The Aerowinx PSX B744 is designed to be used for home cockpit builders and is also used by some real world B744 operators in their training.  I use it on a single monitor and computer.  

I now only fly the Aerowinx PSX B744 using P3dv5.3 as the scenery generator.  There is also an interface (3rd party) that allows the use of the new MSFS scenery.  Something that I really like about Aerowinx is the constant update and maintenance with a very professional forum moderated by the developer.