Jet Tech

I can only reference the 747-400 on this but when we operated short reposition flights on an empty aircraft the Captain would typically remind the F/O to keep moderate nose down pressure on the control column during take off to avoid a tail strike at light weight even with Derated Thrust and then allow it to slowly rotate at Vr. It was also a handful to land since it just never seemed to want to get back on the ground and would float forever.

Markus, All of our upgrades come with the 5 Minute or 5000 Ft guarantee, whichever comes first. 😛 If I were to guess (and strictly a guess) I would bet that real upgrade runs in the 1 to $1.5 Million range per aircraft depending on how heavy the wiring modifications are. I know that adding FANS capability to our early Whales was a massive undertaking.

Ronny, Open a support ticket in the portal with all of your pertinent information and we can get it sorted out for you

Hey Ken, That typically means the current Base installer that you have isn't current enough to update. Simply download the latest installer from your PMDG Account and install that and then run the Updater and that should correct the issue.

As outlined in the Introductory section of the manual on Acars, there is a 900 second "Reset" circuit that runs after shutdown. If you leave the aircraft at the gate for 15 minutes while prepping, fueling and loading and maybe getting a snack and some coffee for you next leg it should reset once the 900 second counter expires. If you save the flight right after shutdown, the timer state is also saved so you will have to wait for the remainder of the clock to run out before it resets for the next flight.

HI Markus, If you bring your older 747-400 into the PMDG Mod Center in VA we will gladly upgrade the avionics to the current standard for a mere $5.5 Million per aircraft. A real bargain if you ask me. The work is top notch. 😄

"Suitable" is the key word of the day. There was a diversion to Midway Island several years back for a shattered windshield because it was identified as a "Suitable" airport by the dispatcher working the flight. The amount of damage the aircraft took landing in a swarm of Gooney birds and the fact they had to build wooden stairs to deplane has since redefined that definition a bit.

James, You may see an Authorization from your credit card provider but no double charge.

Dr Quavion :P Looking through the Schematic manuals it looks like our first 10 birds didn't have the Auto Reset system installed but the last 6 did. I know our company policy was to always perform the Auto Reset check after any alternate extension to make sure the motors make the full circle back to normal and didn't stop half way around. The second point I think is just a safety precaution as the doors should be locked out as described but you know Boeing doesn't want to take the chance one isn't locked and takes someone's arm off accidentally. They certainly move pretty quickly

Alexandre, Rene is correct and in theory the Alternate Extend should open the doors on the ground as well as in flight but the only reason to open the doors on the ground is for maintenance. Leaving the gear doors open (particularly the body gear doors) can damage the gear doors due to the way the Body Gear doors rest on or near the tires at low weight. If the aircraft is loaded or refueled with those doors open it either jams the doors (best case scenario) or breaks off the hinges. We typically open the doors for whatever work or inspection needs to be done and then immediately close them up to prevent problems. The second issue that comes into play is that once the Alternate Extension has been activated, you can't close the doors on the ground. You need to cycle the gear handle to reset the system or cycle the manual gear door release levers (which aren't modeled) to allow the doors to close again so not something I would recommend. Hope that clarifies

Romain, My suspicion based on what your describing is a Panel state issue since it would highly unusual to have 2 random failures occur on the same side like that. You indicated it was a custom short panel state. Did you create it from the latest version default state or was it one created from another state? Also if you don't reload that panel state do the faults clear?

Gents, In breaking with the Great tradition of not commenting on these things, I will actually comment on this one. This actually took a lot of digging to uncover but the System Schematics for the ASCTU do contain a "Close command override" circuit that will allow the activation of the High Stage valve to allow air to the Thrust Reverser CDU PROVIDED that the Overheat condition is not ACTIVE. As the Good Dr Watson previously noted, the overheat switch sends the command to the ASCTU which will close the PRV and HPV valves and latch them closed. This allows the air in the Engine bleed air ducting to the Overtemp switch to cool (since no air is being provided any longer) and actually reduces the temperature in the circuit without resetting the valves (Due to a Latch circuit in the ASCTU) but it does allow the Close Command Override circuit to Open the High Pressure Valve on Reverse Thrust command and allows the Reverser to operate since the Overheat Switch is not Actively sensing an Overheat condition (since the bleeds were closed on initial sense). As modeled our Bleed Air Overtemp failure is not a Switch Failure but an actual Bleed Overtemp condition which will after closing the Engine Bleeds (Automatically from the ASCTU) will allow the system to cool and reset. However if the Bleed is reset the fault will re-occur and lock the valves closed again. Hopefully this clarifies the issue once and for all. Any concerns please contact your local Boeing Rep,

HI James, As I told you in the support ticket that you submitted for this issue, I have submitted it to the team to review the logic and operation.

Hey James, Well then, Challenge Accepted Find TO2 Departure a small bit of Sim Video that illustrates very nicely this phenomenon with the PW4056. Remember now, GE's are controlled by N1 so it wouldn't make sense for N1 to change on the controlling parameter.

James, This is actually correct behavior. EPR is calculated by the EEC using Probes and has no true relation to N Speeds through moving air. As the aircraft accelerates and decelerates the EEC will Maintain EPR in Normal mode and adjust N1speeds as necessary for changing P2/T2 on the inlet probe and turbine exhaust probes adjusted for Temp. Perfectly normal behavior for PW4056. Now if the N1 speeds are changing on the ground when not moving that would be a different issue.