Just another stupid question

[Guest ManDay]

Sorry, another question by me: Where is the auto-pilot main switch in the Boeing 747? I just accidently killed 230 people because I despaired finding the AP-switch in the virtual cockpit :/

[Highmike 68]

The 747 VC was definitely botched. I've never been able to find an AP master switch on the MCP, so I use the good old Z key on my keyboard. If you have tooltips enabled then you shouldn't have too much trouble finding the other switches there by mousing over them. It's a bit of a mess. The Altitude Hold button is, for example, way out of place below the Heading selector knob.Mike.

[Guest ManDay]

Not only that. I'd rather say the VC is garbage at all. Half of the knobs I need is not there or at least without any function. Requires me to open up the 2D-cockpit and click it their.Other question:I just tried to fly from Frankfurt (Ger) to Marseille IFR. Approaching Marseille ATC told me to descent way too late. Therefore I had to breakaway.Then I checked the GPS-Device for NAV on 32R and it told me ILS freq was 111.15 - hence I set my nav1 to 111.15 and enable it. Change the NAV back to NAV mode from GPS and checked the display.but for no reason the ILS( and everything) was display perpendicular to the direction it actually was. therefore changing to keep steering by NAV sent me out to nowhere again.whats am I doing wrong? can you try to approach marseille/provence 32R for me and tell me whether your NAV works there?

[Highmike 68]

I just flew the pattern VFR, and the ILS seems to be working okay. Did you set the ILS course to 315? I never got any ATC directions so I couldn't tell you whether there were any ATC anomalies, other than to say that FSX ATC has always worked okay for me. I haven't seen much of Europe in the autumn because I usually fly elsewhere, but I've got to say that Marseille sure looks good in the autumn.Mike.

[Guest ManDay]

Oops. I'm not a real-life pilot. I didn't know (or rather - i forgot) to set the ILS course. Stupid mistake. I'll just fly it again and this time I wont listen to the atc.Can you tell me what is the eventual difference between vectors approach and all the other approaches (like "ob" and whatever)?PS: Having the CPU-Core-Temperature up to 70

[Highmike 68]

To tell you the truth Man, I don't think that setting the ILS course makes any difference to the functioning of the AP during an ILS approach. It's mostly to give you an indication of what direction you want to go in. On the other hand when you are using NAV1 to track a VOR you turn the course knob until the VOR indicator needle lines up with the centre of the instrument. This tells you what direction to fly in to get to the VOR station, or it guides the AP when the NAV mode is selected.If all this is as clear as mud then have a look in the Learning Centre for info on instruments.As for your CPU temperature question, I believe that the AMD processors operate at higher temperatures than the Intel ones. I think that 70 C is not unusual for an AMD. If your system is crashing then temperature is definitely a possible cause. I live in Australia where it gets pretty hot in the summer months, so I have the side cover of my box permanently removed, and a big fan pointed at the CPU. Mike.

[Guest ManDay]

Ive got an Antec 900 Case which means I ve got 6 120mm Fans + 1 200mm Fan installed. This should be cool enough.Its a 6600 Quad. Idle-Temp in Windows Vista is about 40 degrees celsius core. CPU temp is most likely to be arround 40 in FSX but its the temperature of the cores which goes high up to 70

[Highmike 68]

You may have read that they have a ground speed of around 500 knots at upwards of 30000 ft with a good tail wind, but the indicated air speed will be no more than about 320 knots. I think the 747 overspeeds at around 340 knots IAS.Mike.

[Highmike 68]

I've just read your post again Man, and I think it says that you hit the NAV button during an ILS approach which will in fact give you lateral guidance to the runway but no vertical guidance. I may have misread you Man, but when you are lined up on the runway, say 10 miles back from the threshold, in HDG mode, below the glide slope, and the slope indicator is active then you hit the APP button to activate the ILS.I hope this is not too confusing for you.Mike.