Has the development team been updating this pre-release version since it was available to the public?

Just now, B777ER said:

Has the development team been updating this pre-release version since it was available to the public?

No.

It's not that old of a buid, either. This is the buld released last Friday.

Folks have been saying it's first build streamers got, but that is wrong.

26 minutes ago, sloppysmusic said:

 Their peak for me was the 747_400 qots2 and - 8 expansion. 

I agree. There are a few of us on this forum who were involved in their 747 project and fought tooth and nail with them. Despite having thousands of flight hours in these airplanes, we still had disagreements. Apparently, "they knew better" and always rushed to release the product despite certain issues. I never flew the MD11, so I have no comment on that one; it wouldn't be fair. Again, they can do it, but.........

Speaking of PMDG and their 737 NG, when switching the transponder to anything else but Standby, that will also enable 'Squawk mode C' in vPilot. However in this iFly 737 MAX, is the transponder supposed to be linked to the vPilot transponder?

The transponder in the MAX is a bit different to what I'm used to in the NG. I've noticed there's one knob where you can choose from Off/Auto/On IIRC (don't have the aircraft loaded) and then there's another knob where you can choose between ALT OFF, TA/RA etc.

Been playing around with this tonight to prepare myself for my first flight online on Vatsim tomorrow if time permits and want to make sure I'll be able to use the transponder as it's supposed to be used without any issues to avoid annoying ATC and other pilots.

Thanks in advance for any input from those of you who already flew this bird on Vatsim.

Edited October 17, 20241 yr by WebMaximus
Grammar issue

I do enjoy the flight dynamics and the sounds. The sounds are the reason I keep flying the the max. However, I find the systems simulation to be weak. I turn on the battery switch, and the fuel temp jumps to life. Not so on the real aircraft. Fuel temp requires ac power.  The electrical system simulation needs much work. Bat volts always at 31 v. should vary based on battery charger powered or not etc. ac loads on the gen always 71 amps. No variation in loads as recirc fans, fuel pumps or elect hyd pumps turned on or off. Flight recorder OFF light should be illuminated on the ground with both engines shut down. These are just a few examples of system issues I have found. Having said that, it is early access. Has great potential. Looking forward to see it mature over the next few months.  And the sounds! Fantastic.

Great feedback and let's hope the devs will take this kind of feedback on board and have these kind of issues addressed.

If they do, this will become the best 737 ever for us flightsimmers!

Edited to add, if they will also have it updated to make full use of what MSFS2024 will bring to the table in terms of improved flight dynamics, even better! 

Edited October 17, 20241 yr by WebMaximus

15 minutes ago, WebMaximus said:

Speaking of PMDG and their 737 NG, when switching the transponder to anything else but Standby, that will also enable 'Squawk mode C' in vPilot. However in this iFly 737 MAX, is the transponder supposed to be linked to the vPilot transponder?

The transponder in the MAX is a bit different to what I'm used to in the NG. I've noticed there's one knob where you can choose from Off/Auto/On IIRC (don't have the aircraft loaded) and then there's another knob where you can choose between ALT OFF, TA/RA etc.

Been playing around with this tonight to prepare myself for my first flight online on Vatsim tomorrow if time permits and want to make sure I'll be able to use the transponder as it's supposed to be used without any issues to avoid annoying ATC and other pilots.

Thanks in advance for any input from those of you who already flew this bird on Vatsim.

Yup, the Max transponder controls vpilot, and the ident button works as well. 

One annoyance I found - the audio control panel doesn't work fully with vpilot.  Basically, what's tuned in com 1 is what you're transmitting on (and you can listen to what's on com2) regardless of tx or receiver selection on the ACP.  So, fully functional for Vatsim, but missing those little QOL touches from the PMDG like being able to set up your freqs but then not have to listen to the chatter until you're ready.  Oh well, minor point.

32 minutes ago, SetSpeed said:

I do enjoy the flight dynamics and the sounds. The sounds are the reason I keep flying the the max. However, I find the systems simulation to be weak. I turn on the battery switch, and the fuel temp jumps to life. Not so on the real aircraft. Fuel temp requires ac power.  The electrical system simulation needs much work. Bat volts always at 31 v. should vary based on battery charger powered or not etc. ac loads on the gen always 71 amps. No variation in loads as recirc fans, fuel pumps or elect hyd pumps turned on or off. Flight recorder OFF light should be illuminated on the ground with both engines shut down. These are just a few examples of system issues I have found. Having said that, it is early access. Has great potential. Looking forward to see it mature over the next few months.  And the sounds! Fantastic.

I hope that you have been providing this feedback to them via the forum. 

27 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

Yup, the Max transponder controls vpilot, and the ident button works as well. 

One annoyance I found - the audio control panel doesn't work fully with vpilot.  Basically, what's tuned in com 1 is what you're transmitting on (and you can listen to what's on com2) regardless of tx or receiver selection on the ACP.  So, fully functional for Vatsim, but missing those little QOL touches from the PMDG like being able to set up your freqs but then not have to listen to the chatter until you're ready.  Oh well, minor point.

Hmm...that's odd but guess I must have missed something. Because when I was trying this out tonight when just sitting at the gate with battery on and ground power connected, moving the dial from STBY to ON or AUTO didn't change to mode C in vPilot.

I also noticed what you said about not being able to fully control what you're listening to. A minor issue like you say but still quite annoying since I find it very convenient being able to dial in a frequency without having to listen to it. I many times use COM2 for listening to ATIS where it's very nice being able to choose when to hear it when you already have ATC tuned in on COM1.

1 hour ago, SetSpeed said:

I do enjoy the flight dynamics and the sounds. The sounds are the reason I keep flying the the max. However, I find the systems simulation to be weak. I turn on the battery switch, and the fuel temp jumps to life. Not so on the real aircraft. Fuel temp requires ac power.  The electrical system simulation needs much work. Bat volts always at 31 v. should vary based on battery charger powered or not etc. ac loads on the gen always 71 amps. No variation in loads as recirc fans, fuel pumps or elect hyd pumps turned on or off. Flight recorder OFF light should be illuminated on the ground with both engines shut down. These are just a few examples of system issues I have found. Having said that, it is early access. Has great potential. Looking forward to see it mature over the next few months.  And the sounds! Fantastic.

Great observations but don’t mean anything unless you let them know via official support channels.

Well broke down and brought it. So much for waiting for 2024. Lol. This is a beautiful plane. Inside and out. The purchase and installing was smooth. I hadn't bought anything from F1 in years. But there was my account still intact. The liveries right there for installation. One of the smoothest purchases and installations i ever had. Thanks to the developer and F1.

Back to the plane. Again, the plane is beautiful inside and out. Numerous special aspects about this plane including the washrooms, overhead lockers,  lighting all with great fps at 4K.

Since I've been flying PMDGs planes for years and for MSFS 2020 737-7 to 900ER, 777-300 I'm obviously going to compare.  This plane wins hands down in aesthetics. The EFB is excellent. Some improvements are needed but I'll leave my observations below. Aestheticially it's even better than Fenix. That's not to denigrate Fenix of course.

My main thing is to set the plane up, program the FMC, taxi, flight, descent, ILS landing. On each of these it accomplishes it's task. I've reviewed numerous Youtubers and observations here so those issues i won't have to echo here particularly from A330 Driver who is a pilot and had about 100 hours in the Max. I'm sure the developers are using his observations to implement improvements.

Suffice it to say, I'm extremely happy with this plane as it has to be my goto plane for the forseeable future. Hopefully it will be ready to go in FS2024.

 

 

 

 

 

Just a note.

I flew the Max8 Cancun to Corpus Christi yesterday.

The flight went really well with a fully programmed EFB and FMS.  VNAV and LNAV worked fine with the RNAV-X into 31.  All was good, worked well.

Sounds are amazing - immersive and the texture quality is great.  Just make sure that you don't load the iFly Plug In before you start the sim.  You have to start the iFly Plug In after the sim has loaded.  just a note in case anyone is having issues.

Jase

 

3 hours ago, SetSpeed said:

However, I find the systems simulation to be weak. I turn on the battery switch, and the fuel temp jumps to life. Not so on the real aircraft. Fuel temp requires ac power.  The electrical system simulation needs much work. Bat volts always at 31 v. should vary based on battery charger powered or not etc. ac loads on the gen always 71 amps. No variation in loads as recirc fans, fuel pumps or elect hyd pumps turned on or off. Flight recorder OFF light should be illuminated on the ground with both engines shut down. These are just a few examples of system issues I have found.

I guess these are issues that will be apparent when you fly the MAX IRL. I don’t, so luckily I’m blissfully word not allowed*. Some simmers e.g. @sloppysmusic will take a deep dive into the FCOM and that’s fine. I guess there are many approaches to simming.

Edited October 18, 20241 yr by Cpt_Piett
*i%norant

Has anyone been able to get the GoFlight MCP PRO working with this aircraft?  I have access to both GoFlight Interface Tool and SPAD Next.

Usually with GFIT I can at least get some basic functionality, but no luck so far.  Thanks 

I picked this bird up yesterday, and it’s a beauty. I am having an issue using the mouse to select settings in the cockpit. For instance, I was trying to set the ND selector to map, but the knob wouldn’t turn, so I couldn’t follow the magenta line. Anyone else have this issue? Perhaps I just need to restart, since I only had time for the one flight so far.

Cheers, Pete