PIC B737 Classics Questions

[thrakete 0]

I bought the PIC 737-300/400/500 package a few weeks ago, and have been pretty much limiting my time to learning it's capabilities since then. I think they did a great job, it is reasonably priced, and I have had a lot of fun with it. I have found the manual is somewhat out of date and incomplete however (so what's new?), and that the FMC is capable of some things not mentioned or explained.The only area I am still having trouble with is a completely automatic VNAV descent, approach and landing, using STAR data. If I handle the approach part of the flight in the conventional FSX fashion (using the autopilot or hand controlling), everything, including Autoland works perfectly. However, the FMC seems unable to handle from TOD to landing in VNAV mode, regardless of the care I take in programming the legs. Loss of control usually occurs in or near the Glide Slope. I suspect that part of the problem is the slow Flight Sim Autothrottle response that tends to overshoot, then overcorrect.The manual in the package is well detailed until you come to the approach portion of the flight, then suddenly changes to a few generalized comments on how to accomplish it with autopilot control.Anyone running the terminal VNAV portion of this software successfully that would care to share some pointers?Thanks, Regards,Thrakete

[Daveo 36]

I bought that last year only because the NG is taking forever. I like the AC though. As for the manual I never really read them too much unless I run into a problem. I usually just hop in and takeoff. As for VNAV and the auto land once Im established I turn it off and the autothrottle. I found the autoland works better if your lined up around 15 miles out versus a real short final if possible. I also had better results with it with the wind shift stabilization checked in FSUIPC. If I'm not mistaken and I can't remember now I think there was something you could change in the aircraft.cfg to cut down on the wild banks on approach, best to check on their forum.

[Guest firehawk44]

"I have found the manual is somewhat out of date and incomplete however (so what's new?), and that the FMC is capable of some things not mentioned or explained."The 737 PIC was originally developed by Wilco several years ago for an earlier version of FS so I can see how the manual appears to be out-of-date. I doubt FeelThere or Wilco will ever update these manuals. The manual provides basic instruction on programming the FMC and, if you want to get more detailed procedures, you can purchase commercial books on programming the 737 FMC. Wilco and FeelThere have several references on their websites to commercial products (if you are interested in buying one of these commercial books, I highly recommend googling the books as you may find them much cheaper elsewhere). I believe, as you probably do, that the manual provided with the product should be as complete as possible but evidently we are not paying for anything past the basic information. I have had no problems with programming the 737PIC FMC. I always manually enter the NAV data for the appropriate ILS as well as tell the FMC which runway I have been cleared to land. When you enter the runway in the Dep/Arr page of the FMC, make sure you subsequently check the legs page for any discontinuity. That will mess your approach up if not fixed. The 737PIC is not the NG model and therefore the technology is probably fairly ancient. That's why Captain Mike Ray, in one of his many books on the 737PIC, also recommends manually entering the Nav data for the Captain and the First Officer. This way, there should be no conflicts. If you're not doing that, see if that fixes your problem.Best regards,Jim

[scoob 18]

Thrakete:LOTS of details, links and information on driving the 737classics in the old support forum -http://iemit.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=15conduct a search to find information.if you have question(s) not answered search/post in the new forum -http://forum.iemit.comregistration required--edit: clarity--

[spesimen 135]

>If I handle the approach part of the flight in the>conventional FSX fashion (using the autopilot or hand>controlling), everything, including Autoland works perfectly.>However, the FMC seems unable to handle from TOD to landing in>VNAV mode, regardless of the care I take in programming the>legs.hi, i don't think you are the only one who had this problem... i rarely fly this bird these days and went back to the lds/pmdg stuff because of this problem, i could never hit a crossing restriction correctly unless i ended up handflying it or using v/s, at some point it would usually flipout during the vnav descent and stop following the vertical path correctly...in the 747/767 i have no problem and the FMC programming is very similar. their forums seem sort of useful but i was unable to register there after trying with 3 different email address which all were not accepted due to some weirdness in their policy. (of course, i was able to buy with paypal from one of those addresses lol..)i agree though it is a pretty nice plane other than that and i had fun with it too, they have a lot of cool liveries also.cheers,-andy crosby

[thrakete 0]

Hi, and thanks to all who responded.To clarify, I have no problem at all with the FMC or the airplane in general until the approach phase. I have found that hand programming the errors out of the approach legs as suggested works, but what I am essentially doing is making up my own STAR for each landing, and it's a pain in the nether regions. What I now do is use the default FSX flight plans for the J routes as a basis for flight path programming. I then cancel the IFR Plan immediately after take-off to avoid conflict with VNAV, reinstate it after I am at cruise altitude, and then use ATC in IFR mode for the rest of the flight through landing. Everything goes very well using this method, but of course I am giving up the VNAV descent and approach.This eliminates a lot of work, let's me interface with ATC, and permits landing even if the field is IFR Only. Autoland still works fine if I want to use it, but I usually prefer flying the Glide Slope by hand. I find that going this route, I use the plane quite often, and I think it is a good product for the buck.I have also written myself a 6 page step-by-step "Manual/Checklist" which I find easier to use and less prone to errors than trying to use what comes with the plane.To philosophize for a moment, I have concluded that for my own tastes, there can be too much Realism in the sim. It sometimes means boring, repetitious set-ups, and fully automatic flights that put me to sleep. That's why I often go back to the GA planes with only basic systems for a while.Thanks again, Regards,Thrakete