Another lump of coal: PMDG Update [24DEC22]

[Bobsk8 12,754]

5 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

I flew airline jets for years without an EFB.  In reality.  Looking back, it's just astonishing that I lived this long.

Or, well, no it's not.  Because it matters very little to the flying of an airplane, and I kept myself fit enough that the lugging around of 50lbs of paper didn't destroy my back.  😁

An EFB in a sim is pointless.  It's just another window open on your screen that displays charts.  Navigraph (and other solutions) already do that.

You're staring at one big electronic display.  The whole thing is an EFB 😁.  What I want is fully AIRINC-424 compliant nav data; something that actually effects capability of the aircraft in the sim.

I use Avliasoft EFB. and thousands of flights, every aircraft I fly, and I wouldn't be without it. 

[RichieFly 732]

15 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

... Because it matters very little to the flying of an airplane, and I kept myself fit enough that the lugging around of 50lbs of paper didn't destroy my back.  😁

 

Ha! Gave me a chuckle. The worst part of being a captain was being responsible for lugging and maintaining the Jeppesen charts for the entire US. 

Kids these days don't know how good they have it 😉

I used to walk barefoot uphill both ways to school and back every day in the snow while fleeing from bears and wolves.

[Cognita 1,089]

25 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

An EFB in a sim is pointless.

I see your point. For me, as an end user, a well laid out EFB that includes aircraft interactions in addition to performance calculations is important. Is it absolutely necessary, of course not, but it makes my simulated flight much more enjoyable -- clicking around on the FMS works, but it is a clunky, very 2011 implementation of something that has been done very nicely by other developers. And it seems many people appreciate it. 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Cognita

[V1ROTA7E 718]

It took me a long time to get used to having an EFB at work because I have always been from the "paper doesn't run on batteries" school of thought. But once we got them and started trusting them for things beyond charts, they're incredibly useful, and I felt embarrassed that I was so skeptical for so long.

36 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

An EFB in a sim is pointless.

I respectfully disagree. Flying an airliner is a 2 to 4 person job. How many times have you asked your FO, "hey can you look this up quickly?" or "what's the Log-On for San Francisco?" Having an EFB in the sim, you can quickly and easily look things up without ALT+TABbing out. And, honestly, I'm a pilot....not a dispatcher, not a fueler, not a wing walker....I like to get in the jet, sign the paperwork, brief, and go. If an EFB can reduce sim workload, all the better. I think the best example of an EFB in the sim is the FlyByWire. It's missing a few, very minor things that would reduce workload even further, but it's extremely feature rich, intuitive, and easy to use. 

Now if there was a true ACARS system, then yes, I'd agree, having an EFB wouldn't be as necessary. But, it'd be great to look at your paperwork with..again, no need to ALT+TAB.

[Cognita 1,089]

5 minutes ago, V1ROTA7E said:

Flying an airliner is a 2 to 4 person job.

This is why an EFB is so convenient and helpful. Not only are we the pilot and co-pilot but we also have to be loadmasters and dispatchers and concentrating these functions into an easy to use and intuitive EFB really helps a lot -- it is one of the principal reasons I prefer the FENIX to the PMDG. 

I have the impression PMDG is a pretty small core team -- those that can really write the code and test properly -- and this may be why development is slow and well behind the curve. I can understand that and I am not too hard on them; but I get a bit of a bad taste when they speak and charge like they are the ultimate developer.  Some humility on their part would go a long way I think. 

[jon b 2,050]

I fly exclusively in VR so I find the EFB very useful for navigraph charts 

[bendead 1,085]

1 hour ago, Stearmandriver said:

An EFB in a sim is pointless.  It's just another window open on your screen that displays charts.  Navigraph (and other solutions) already do that.

Funny, on the Fenix I am using the EFB for a lot of thing, but never for what you said.

Loading fuel, passengers, controlling pushback via the FMS, is that really better? 

Being able to fly RNP is really nice, but a screen with a cool UI that allow you to control everything that is sim related, is better and should get priority

[DAD 2,653]

 

2 hours ago, Stearmandriver said:

It's just another window open on your screen that displays charts.

That is exactly NOT the case for the kind of EFB I have in mind like the FBW, Fenix or 146. their EFB do exactly NOT require to open another window running LNM or other stuff. Which is what I like. But to each their own. Merry Christmas 🎄🎁 

[Brandon01110 407]

3 hours ago, Stearmandriver said:

An EFB in a sim is pointless.  It's just another window open on your screen that displays charts.  Navigraph (and other solutions) already do that.

I use VR and therefore do not have multiple windows on several monitors to use for charts.  Having charts integrated in a EFB is exactly what i have been missing. 

[Farlis 2,288]

2 minutes ago, Brandon01110 said:

I use VR and therefore do not have multiple windows on several monitors to use for charts.

I take it you are not on any Meta/Oculus hardware then?

[speedyTC 195]

16 hours ago, Nuno Pinto said:

They're perfectionists

 

😆🤣

Good one, Nuno! I needed a good chuckle.

[speedyTC 195]

16 hours ago, Nuno Pinto said:

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by speedyTC

[speedyTC 195]

Disregard...double post.

Edited December 25, 2022 by speedyTC

[matsout 28]

I'm a PMDG fan, I love the 737, but I'm also getting tired of the way PMDG does things and agree that they are quickly finding themselves behind the curve. Yes the technology they are using behind the scenes to make it all happen might be innovative... great, but they arwnt the only ones developing aircraft for MSFS, as others have mentioned there's other developers both freeware and payware that have outdone PMDG.

It astounds me how some companies have been able to implement features that the oh so innovative PMDG just can't.

[pete_auau 1,163]

20 hours ago, DavidP said:

Seriously, all this handwringing over an EFB - how did aircraft fly without them?

Imagine  how  they flew  with out  them in the past