PMDG 737-600 Observations

[RJC68 823]

9 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

Some of you guys seem to be forgetting that I have flown the PMDG 737-600 in P3D for years with the CH Flightstick Pro joystick without experiencing any controller issues whatsoever. Now, maybe MSFS is much more sensitive to control input than P3D. I do not know. I am just trying to understand how to compensate for this, and find the correct setup that works for my controller.

Does this stick have Hall effect sensors?

If not it could be the pots just getting noisy with age. Do you have the same issues with other aircraft or just the PMDG?

I recently discovered an issue on my TCA sidestick recently, I was using the Yaw axis for the tiller and it started to become very erratic. I realized when I looked at the sensitivity graph in the control section the yaw axis was jumping all over the place. I took it apart and cleaned it then did the mod I found online and it worked for a while but still started playing up again. Turns out Thrustmaster put Hall effect sensors on the pitch & roll axis but cheaped out on the Yaw axis.  

[Christopher Low 5,406]

My joystick has potentiometers. I will probably need to look at getting a new controller at some point, but I doubt that anything worth getting will be cheap. I have just spent £135 on 19 separate addons today (taking advantage of some nice discounts), which is the first time that I have spent a significant amount of money on a flight simulator in years.......and I still have a few more in my sights

Edited December 22, 2023 by Christopher Low

[Christopher Low 5,406]

I have just made an RNAV approach to runway 3 @ KFLG Flagstaff Pulliam (UK2000 scenery), but I noticed a couple of issues.

• The COURSE indicator showed 214 degrees, even though RNAV 03 was indicated on the FMS
• There was no purple glide path indicator on the MFD, even though G/P was highlighted in green, and the aircraft seemed to be following the correct glideslope

Is this correct for this airport, or is there an issue with the airport addon or the navigational data?

[Christopher Low 5,406]

I encountered a similar scenario at KGYY Chicago Gary Regional (UK2000 scenery) when on an RNAV approach to runway 12. When I activated VOR/LOC, the course indicator switched to 273 degrees. I must be doing something wrong, or picking up a VOR beacon from a different airport? I did not have a problem landing, but I do not remember ever noticing anything like this when I used P3D....

On a side note, is there a MOD that corrects the models for the large circular oil tanks? Seeing sets of houses in these locations affects the realism.

Edited December 26, 2023 by Christopher Low

[jrw4 626]

Perhaps I am missing something, but if you're on am RNAV approach, why do you expect the course indicator to be involved? RNAV approaches in the PMDG 737 family are all LNAV/VNAV approaches flown with reference to lateral and vertical guidance provided by the FMC. There's no need to set the course, or at least that's my understanding. There are a lot of YouTube videos that provide useful guidance for making such approaches in the Boeing jets, so if you find anyone setting the course, please let us know.

Best wishes everyone for a successful 2004.

[Christopher Low 5,406]

You are almost certainly correct, John. I tended to press the VOR/LOC and APP buttons out of habit in P3D, even with RNAV approaches. However, they did not seem to cause any problems there. I will try to resist the temptation to touch them from now on!!

[Bobsk8 12,921]

1 hour ago, jrw4 said:

Perhaps I am missing something, but if you're on am RNAV approach, why do you expect the course indicator to be involved? RNAV approaches in the PMDG 737 family are all LNAV/VNAV approaches flown with reference to lateral and vertical guidance provided by the FMC. There's no need to set the course, or at least that's my understanding. There are a lot of YouTube videos that provide useful guidance for making such approaches in the Boeing jets, so if you find anyone setting the course, please let us know.

Best wishes everyone for a successful 2004.

Yeah, all you  have to do on an Rnav approach is hit the App button after you select the approach in the FMC.. 

[jrw4 626]

I would offer as an excellent tutorial this video

Although the PMDG family is equipped with the IAN mode, it appears that most airlines only make use of LNAV/VNAV mode for RNAV approaches. Note that the APP button should not be depressed for LNAV/VNAV approaches. A different problem that folks encounter with ILS approaches is pressing the APP button before the aircraft has acquired the glide slope. This will put the plane into LOC/VNAV mode which is not what is usually desired. Things get confusing because this also engages IAN which makes the PFD look like it's doing a precision approach. 

I believe that this was also the case in P3D, but honestly I'm not sure. I was doing it wrong for years.

[Christopher Low 5,406]

One aspect that I had not thought about with respect to my "turning slightly to the left on the ground" comment concerns the runway undulations. I was aware that the runways in MSFS would not be flat, but I had not considered the possibility that they may also not be level from side to side. If this is the case, then maybe that is why I felt that my plane was moving off the centreline. The fact that it sometimes moves slightly to the right is probably an indication that this is correct. It is not the wind, as I have tested with zero wind speed conditions.

As for the IAN and RNAV approaches mentioned above, I am now sticking to the rules!

[MDFlier 2,031]

1 hour ago, Christopher Low said:

One aspect that I had not thought about with respect to my "turning slightly to the left on the ground" comment concerns the runway undulations. I was aware that the runways in MSFS would not be flat, but I had not considered the possibility that they may also not be level from side to side. If this is the case, then maybe that is why I felt that my plane was moving off the centreline. The fact that it sometimes moves slightly to the right is probably an indication that this is correct. It is not the wind, as I have tested with zero wind speed conditions.

As for the IAN and RNAV approaches mentioned above, I am now sticking to the rules!

Remember to look at the wind socks before takeoff.

Does it start off in a left turn and continue pulling to the left consistently throughout the TO roll to rotation, or does it start partially down the runway? Just trying to figure out if it is a wheels thing, or a wind thing. It seems like SU14 made ground handling better for me. I was having all sorts of weird issues taxiing the 738 (some, but less in the 737) prior to SU14. Oddly enough, I was in the beta and the issues were still there, so maybe PMDG fixed something. I rarely read the PMDG release notes, so its possible.  

Edited December 29, 2023 by MDFlier

[Christopher Low 5,406]

It is an MSFS thing It is simply much more sensitive than P3D, and therefore I need to become accustomed to it.

On a side note, I have noticed something when saving a flight at the runway threshold. In short, the runway marking textures are crystal clear when I am setting up a SAVE file in my PMDG 737-600, but when I load the saved file at a later time, the runway markings (white centreline/any yellow taxiway lines on the runway etc) are blurred for a short distance in front of me (and to the side). The bump mapped runway textures are fine. Has anyone else noticed anything like this?

Edited December 30, 2023 by Christopher Low

[billgustaf 27]

I went to the Leo Bodnar and could not find this product even using their search tool. It seemed everything was hardware. Could it possibly have been re-named or removed?

(Program like DIView (free utlity from the LeoBodnar website) to inspect the output of the joystick)

Thanks for any updates on this!

[Bob Scott 7,760]

4 hours ago, billgustaf said:

I went to the Leo Bodnar and could not find this product even using their search tool. It seemed everything was hardware. Could it possibly have been re-named or removed?

(Program like DIView (free utlity from the LeoBodnar website) to inspect the output of the joystick)

Thanks for any updates on this!

https://www.leobodnar.com/products/BU0836/DIView.zip