After a long time and several posts asking about study level aircraft, I finally purchased the PMDG 737-800. I'm totally lost now and have a lot to learn but I'm glad I made the purchase. I was following along with a video and managed to start, taxi and take off. However, I couldn't figure out how to use heading (since I needed to vector) and for some reason the nose pitched down and I crashed due to overspeed.😱  It's all a learning curve though, so Ill get it eventually. I found the PDF and will use that. Video's tend to ramble a bit and I can follow along with a PDF so much better. I just hope it is as good as the one FBW has for their A320. 

I also purchased A Pilots Life 2 and like what I am seeing so far. Havn't been able to do the first flight due to not knowing how to operate the 738 so can't say much about it right now. 

Anyway, had to share my excitement. Hopefully Ill complete my first flight tomorrow!

Just now, Lotharen said:

After a long time and several posts asking about study level aircraft, I finally purchased the PMDG 737-800. I'm totally lost now and have a lot to learn but I'm glad I made the purchase. I was following along with a video and managed to start, taxi and take off. However, I couldn't figure out how to use heading (since I needed to vector) and for some reason the nose pitched down and I crashed due to overspeed.😱  It's all a learning curve though, so Ill get it eventually. I found the PDF and will use that. Video's tend to ramble a bit and I can follow along with a PDF so much better. I just hope it is as good as the one FBW has for their A320. 

I also purchased A Pilots Life 2 and like what I am seeing so far. Havn't been able to do the first flight due to not knowing how to operate the 738 so can't say much about it right now. 

Anyway, had to share my excitement. Hopefully Ill complete my first flight tomorrow!

Congratulations! Many of us started just like you. There are plenty of video series out there that can help get you started. I personally recommend 737NGDriver. He does great work with his videos and doesn't ramble too much. Have fun!

https://www.youtube.com/@737NGDriver

737NG Driver is good.  Flightdeck2sim is good for 737 procedures too.  He tends to just focus on X-Plane with their Zibo mod, but he's a real world pilot and has posted some educational videos too.  They make it look easy, lol

In terms of learning, I think the 737 is one of the easiest jets to learn.  Perhaps I wouldn't say that if I knew how to fly an Airbus.  They are very different IMO.  I can get the 737 in the air in less than 30 minutes.  It important to program everything correctly and have the AP mastered for basic flight.  Flight directors on (FD), VNAV/LNAV armed.  Can use heading mode as well.  After take off you can turn AP on at 400 feet.  It's also helpful to have auto-throttle turned on and TOGA set for takeoff.  Provided you have entered all the data into the FMC correctly, it will command a speed that doesn't require manual throttling. You could also use level change with a correct speed and it'll go up fine that way as well.  I'm wondering if you didn't set the MCP up properly?  With a correct altitude (6,000 feet or something even higher), flight directors on, auto-throttle on and TOGA engaged, VNAV and LNAV or HDG mode active.  Press CMD A (or B) and the autupilot will take over.  The only time you should have a problem is with improper FMC programming or inaccurate autopilot settings.  If CWS (control wheel steering) comes on, then you selected a mode that it won't accept.  Not sure how else you ended up in a dive.

These are really fun to fly. Once you get a good "flow" in proper start up, takeoff and climb/cruise procedures its all a breeze.

@Orlaam I think I messed up the programming somewhere along the way. When I attempted to put my ZFW in it changed it to a different number and I couldn't change it to the figure Simbrief gave me. Ill see what happens when I give it a try tomorrow. I'm excited to tell you the truth. I learned to fly the Airbus first and this is something entirely different. I kinda like how its a bit more hands-on but I have to get used to it and that will take several false starts lol.

1 minute ago, Lotharen said:

@Orlaam I think I messed up the programming somewhere along the way. When I attempted to put my ZFW in it changed it to a different number and I couldn't change it to the figure Simbrief gave me. Ill see what happens when I give it a try tomorrow. I'm excited to tell you the truth. I learned to fly the Airbus first and this is something entirely different. I kinda like how its a bit more hands-on but I have to get used to it and that will take several false starts lol.

If you got the Airbus down, then the Boeing will be easy.  The beauty is that you take a lot of that knowledge to other Boeing aircraft and it's very similar.  The numbers you get in various places never match.  If I plan a 120,000 lbs zero fuel weight, the FMC will change it to 119.8 or something, lol.  Simbrief seems to default to kilos and I use pounds, so I always have to change that.  Same with Vref numbers  Some apps that generate V-speeds are often different by a slight margin.

I see, I entered something like 58.9 and it changed it to 98.2 or something like that. So weird. I will have to pay attention to what unit of weight I have it set to. Thanks for that!

1 hour ago, Lotharen said:

I see, I entered something like 58.9 and it changed it to 98.2 or something like that. So weird. I will have to pay attention to what unit of weight I have it set to. Thanks for that!

That sounds like pounds and kilograms doesn't it?  Maximum ZFW is 61.7k kilos or 136k lbs.  There's  a setting in the FMC to change from one to the other.

Actually, that's not right is it? You don't enter ZFW at all.  The FMC knows the empty weight.  You enter the number of passengers and weight of cargo (exc baggage) and the FMC adds it up to come to the ZFW.  (Sorry, bit rusty, flying the Fenix A320 until PMDG get their EFB sorted out!).

But you DO need to select kilos or pounds etc.  

 

the official introduction and tutorial PDFs are quite useful.

You always remember your first crush!

7 hours ago, Lotharen said:

@Orlaam I think I messed up the programming somewhere along the way. When I attempted to put my ZFW in it changed it to a different number and I couldn't change it to the figure Simbrief gave me. Ill see what happens when I give it a try tomorrow. I'm excited to tell you the truth. I learned to fly the Airbus first and this is something entirely different. I kinda like how its a bit more hands-on but I have to get used to it and that will take several false starts lol.

Use the tutorial flight that comes with the aircraft, it is in the documents folder. It covers everything step by step. 

Popular YouTuber MenTourPilot is starting a free 737 virtual course tomorrow night which you might be interested in. 

 

Edited February 28, 20233 yr by mikethe6th

6 hours ago, ailchim said:

Actually, that's not right is it? You don't enter ZFW at all.  The FMC knows the empty weight.  You enter the number of passengers and weight of cargo (exc baggage) and the FMC adds it up to come to the ZFW.  (Sorry, bit rusty, flying the Fenix A320 until PMDG get their EFB sorted out!).

But you DO need to select kilos or pounds etc.  

 

You can input the pax and cargo seperately and it will total it up to the ZFW (which includes the empty weight of the air frame plus the weight of the pax & cargo. The only thing ZFW does not include is the weight of the fuel).

Conversely, if you input an actual ZFW, the plane will use it's own formula to come up with a number of passengers and the amount of cargo to meet the ZFW number that you typed in. It does, as previously mentioned, do some sort of rounding to make the numbers work.

Edited February 28, 20233 yr by MDFlier

Ahh okay. So I could just use the 'random' option instead for that? I was just trying to make it match what I had in Simbrief. I found the tutorial PDF and a good checklist so I'm going to give it another go this morning/afternoon sometime. Thanks your your help everyone!