PMDG 747-400X tutorial guide for total newbies Vista 64

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

I hope this helps out newbies to start enjoying PMDG's excellent 747-400X the day you buy it, without the need to study 100s of pages of documentation and tutorials, searching aviation-related forums endlessly, getting frustrated and pulling your hair out (hahaha), when after repeatedly trying to fly your favourite 3 hr flight (or better yet a 9 hr altlantic crossing) things go exponentially wrong when all you want and deserve is a perfect autolanding after your newbie status is testing your patience to the breaking point.Of course, I am only trying to help out others with some points here and it is not my intention to bash any aspect of this excellent product (beware on this forum - do not bash and sign your name at the bottom of your post or you will get in trouble and be casted out survivor style - hahaha), only to point out some outdated published directions that otherwise not known will further needlessly and painfully test your patience.First of all - if you thought that trying to learn default 747 in FSX was hard, be prepared for a learning curve, size and shape of which will depend on how much realism you wish to attain. Yes, even with this 747-400X you do not have to follow every aspect to realism (from pushing that battery button during startup to selecting approach based on the current wind conditions and traffic). Once again, this will probably upset realism addicts, but a happy realism medium is possible for you to enjoy.Here's your starting point:http://smithplanet.com/fs2004/pmdg/NormalProcedures.pdfThis is the shortest possible manual you will ever find - this is for you if you on your first out of the box day - just want to start on the active runway, set conditions to fair weather and day to summer dusk (a must to enjoy scenery and the beautiful cockpit lighting that unfortunately in the default 747 looks like someone just walked into a room, flicked the switch and turned on and that old chandelier (hahaha)) and get it off the ground.I would suggest that you skip the start up sequence and go directly to selecting pmdg 747 from the aircraft selection menu and place yourself on KLAX rwy 25R - this way you're ready to go. Just follow all directions except the start up parts.As far as start up sequence:I'm not sure about "Set all four ELEC ENG CONTROL switches to NORM" direction - for me this did not work - but they come on automatically if you follow the normal start up procedures from cold and dark state as per PMDG Manual/Tutorials (one thing here is that since the tutorials are not fully illustrative, you will have to either print it out or continuosly switch screens between the manual and tutorials to follow directions and find the buttons to push - having it open on the screen vs. print outs allows you to search the manual for what you need to follow the directions instead of flipping thru hundreds of pages - a near impossible task - so if you prefer that, have a laptop for documentation and your main superquadcore for the sim).Another excellent resource is:http://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/747.htmlAnd this is a fully illustrative tutorial for a flight from Heathrow to KLAX - if you're in for a fully realistic 10 hr+ experience (start up + flight) depending on how long it takes you to correctly follow directions and pause the game in order to follow all steps.http://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/downloads..._1.0_206648.zipIf you have managed to get the pmdg 747 onto the 25R rwy at KLAX, here are the directions to follow as per Jared "Smitty" Smith's lifesaver for the impatient and frustrated (hahaha):Go to Add ons on task bar, select PMDG, fuel and select 1/3 tank - no need for more for this short flight.Go to page 9 - follow "Open the FMC" directions - click thru IDENT and POS INIT (IRS and GPS is aligned for you when you skip cold and dark start up and start on the runway via standard FSX loading) and click to RTE (botton pf page 13)Follow the directions on pages 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19Skip pushback and start (pages 20, 21, 22, 23 as we're ready to roll).Go to page bottom of 23 - turn taxi lights and navigation lights (bottom of Overhead panel) and set the cockpit lights (bottom left of overhead) to your desire (I find that flight at dusk gives you the best combination of beautiful skies, setting sun, scenery visibility and cockpit lighting). If by now, it's getting too dark for you - just reset the conditions to summer, dusk.Follow directions on the rest of the pages.For TO/GA - if you prefer 2d cockpit - follow the directions and press the screw. If you prefer to take off in virtual cockpit - go to Addon taskbar, select PMDG, keyboard commands and select T on the keyboard or whatever you like - just make sure that you remove that command in FSX first so there's no conflict.Don't forget "At about 10 miles from the VCV VOR, set MCP ALT to 0." as you're flying and getting all excited on your first day out of the box.That's it - I hope this works for you. If you need more info - just reply to the post and I'll do my best to help you out - god only knows how I wish I found a post like this when I got my newbie hands on the 747-400X.Now you can start reading those hundreds of pages if you so desire.A couple of other pointers:rt2 and rte flight plans files can be opened with Notepad - go ahead and take a look at the format - it is mostly departure airport, navigation waypoints with GPS coordinates and arrival airport. Depending on how and with what the plan was generated - it will sometimes contain the runways for dep and arr as well - as ours did - so you don't have to do that later when you approach the arr airport.Some (if not most) PMDG FLIGHTPLANS provided are outdated. If you want to try some - go ahead and choose the CO-ROUTE to load one up. If you get error "NOT IN DATABASE" in FMC - it is because the rwy and navigation waypoints are outdated and/or not in synch with the PMDG database.Use www.simroutes.com for your flights instead - it will allow you to export files in pmdg rte format - but it will not provide rwy information - so you will have to learn how to enter approach info into FMC once you're up and flying.If you want to generate your own, more detailed plans, with rwy info - I think FSBuild will allow you do that.You can open the World map and see the waypoints on the map as you approach them (some with not show - ex. RX-22 as FSX and PMDG database do not match 100%).You can fly without plans at all - enter waypoints yourself using FSX map (again - some will result in NOT IN DATABASE), but I was able to enter direct from KLAX to VOC, then to MORRI (as RX-22 is not on the FSX map) and then direct to rwy 22.747-400X will run on Vista 64x with FSX SP1/SP2 or FSX SP1/Acceleration - for me the latter offers more stability (less crashes).

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

Word of caution:Do not use FSX Map waypoints to manually generate flight plans - it might make 747 behave unpredictably - the FSX Map and PMDG database simply do not belong together for flight plan design (sometimes it will work, sometimes it will not - so don't waste your time). Just use simroutes.com for rte, load them via co-route, then use DEPARR to select arrival rwy and approach. You can do this all before you take off.

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

Geoff and others:Here's another important aspect of PMDG 747, or two to be exact:1) Once you get bored of sitting there and watching autolands and want to actually fly it - here's what you do:- once established on final approach and you have the LOC / G/S needles tracking all you have to do is to disenage A/P (disenage bar or press Z - for some reason Z doesn't work for me although it is selected in FSX controls menu) and A/T (over here it is your choice - you can either disengage it to get full control of the aircraft and you control the thrust and speed, or leave it until just before touchdown and disengage it. The height/distance you want to do that is up to you - you can even do this while still in LNAV/VNAV mode - you don't have to be in the LOC/G/S mode. As long as you have the tracking needles - it's all yours to most likely crash on first attempt - hahaah.Details here:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...46606&mode=full2) YOU CAN SAVE FLIGHT JUST BEFORE LANDING TO PRACTICE !!!Yes - it is possible !!! I would suggest you pause just before T/D - save the fligt using FSX sace flight menu - do not save the panel state as well - FSX save flight is all you have to do. THEN, and here's the trick:Load saved flight - DO NOT CHOOSE the PMDG 747 beforehand (loading PMDG 747 on top of 747 might cause problems), de-pause it - wait for the panel state to load and you'll see that LNAV/VNAV is on PFD but SPD is gone (A/T not loaded) - all you have to do is - press HOLD on MCP, then press SPD - once you see SPD on the PFD - switch back to LNAV/VNAV on MCP !!! Thazz all girls and boys !!!Now you can practice landings all you want - the only patience req'd is for the T/D to landing - I hope you can live with that. I wouldn't recommend that at later stages as you might have problems with getting control of it after T/D.Once again, I'd like to stress that I'm a newbie myself and no expert like gurus or real life 747 pilots - this is simply a result of me asking endless questions and getting answers from helpful experts (that probably hate me by now - hahaha).I hope this works for you.Enjoy !

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfruDpAcJI8

[Guest SkullxBones]

What's your FPS?, looks pretty smooth considering you're in VC with all the ground traffic and weather.I can't see dark videos very well on my old monitor, so it was hard to see what all you were doing, but it sounded like you engaged reverse thrust below 80 knots? Normally you engage reverse thrust after touchdown and disengage at 80 knots.

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

You're so right !!!I keep hitting the F2 with a sledgehammer and the thing won't deploy until the very end - I stopped using autobrakes just to see those things (I love the sound)...What else ??? Gotsta reinstall - my fav - then defrag etc. - what on Vista 64 bit takes eternity...I should've used dusk - but I keep forgetting that what looks bon on my screen will look like s. after compressing on youtube...FPS is pretty decent...I can't tell, but definitely not jerky, Q6600/ NVidia 8800 GTS works well...

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

14 fps worst case scenario...

[Dirk98 354]

>14 fps worst case scenario...Thanks for posting it, Jacobs. What are your specs btw?

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

Our buddy's system is Q6600 / NVidia 8800 GTS / 4 g high end DRR2 - that's all I know - but how's this:When I flew into Mega Airport London Heathrow X - I was down to like 4 fps !!! Even flying into FSX Tokyo will reduce frames to single digits...and all 4 cores are crunching at 100%. It will be some time till you can tame the FSX beast.

[Dirk98 354]

>Our buddy's system is Q6600 / NVidia 8800 GTS / 4 g high end>DRR2 - that's all I know - but how's this:>>When I flew into Mega Airport London Heathrow X - I was down>to like 4 fps !!! Even flying into FSX Tokyo will reduce>frames to single digits...and all 4 cores are crunching at>100%. It will be some time till you can tame the FSX beast.Hehe, do you call it flying? I wouldn't bother trying it in FSX then. FS9 is the best platform for flying Level-D and PMDG in a credible environment and will stay that way for a while.

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

These are worst case scenarios man - you saw the vid - it's smooth and beautiful - i lasted 5 mins in fs2004. Besides, this fs2004 vs FSX argument is getting old. I only write here to save PMDG 747-400X newbies pain. Hahahaha. Seriously...Let me tell you - I have been waiting for FSX all my life - 5 mins in fs2004 vs. so far so good in FSX since its release should tell you something. You just need the specs I gave you - it will set you back - 2 k - best investment you'll ever make. Honestly - stop lying to yourself.

[Dirk98 354]

>These are worst case scenarios man - you saw the vid - it's>smooth and beautiful - i lasted 5 mins in fs2004. Besides,>this fs2004 vs FSX argument is getting old. I only write here>to save PMDG 747-400X newbies pain. Hahahaha. Seriously...>>Let me tell you - I have been waiting for FSX all my life - 5>mins in fs2004 vs. so far so good in FSX since its release>should tell you something. You just need the specs I gave you>- it will set you back - 2 k - best investment you'll ever>make. Honestly - stop lying to yourself.Whaat?! You're like talking to yourself man, I'm from day one on SP2, and my specs exceed yours. Hope this helps. (FS9 is much better platform for Level-D & PMDG performance-wise). Procedures and the workload are largely the same btw. Keep talking to yourself if you like.

[Guest SkullxBones]

I still can't pull the trigger on SP2. I am pretty happy using FSX with the PMDG747. I have the same system as JK and I usually never drop below 12-14 in VC in the most crowded airports and once I am above a few thousand it really smooth. And with SP1 I still get most of my FS9 stuff.

[Dirk98 354]

>I still can't pull the trigger on SP2. I am pretty happy>using FSX with the PMDG747. I have the same system as JK and I>usually never drop below 12-14 in VC in the most crowded>airports and once I am above a few thousand it really smooth.>And with SP1 I still get most of my FS9 stuff.>>I can't go back to SP1 after SP2. Though I still got it on one of the partitions. BTW Super80 is silk-smooth in VC in SP2 and never lower than 30 on final in KSEA with Autogen Dense & Scenery very dense and loads of clouds and rain from ASX. 12-14 frames is a verdict in my books. I don't care. I got all the fun I want from both FS9 & FSX SP2. And SP2 is the best MSFS version ever for sure.

[Guest JacobKoziarz]

Do you have any tweaks implemented ?