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A reader on the iFLY support forum by the name of Sergey raised a question about Mike Ray's article "Transitions" featured in the latest issue of Computer Pilot Magazine which can be downloaded free.I emailed Mike about a possible error in the article. He kindly responded and I'm posting his comments here along with my emails to him:#1:Dear Mike,In the latest CP magazine on page73, you make a comment that the speed bug on the 737 is exactly 10kts wide. There is a discussion about this on the iFLY support web site in the ‘Pilots Lounge’ section and the consensus is that the bug is NOT 10 kts wide, but possibly only 5kts wide. Other panels also confirm this and I’ve even measured it on the screen. Also, when set resting on a speed mark, the top portion does not touch the next upper speed mark which is +10kts. We would appreciate your comments in the thread if possible. I’m including the link to the topic. http://ifly.flight1.net/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=5954&title=mike-ray-transitions Hi James, WOW!!! You guys really are paying attention! I assume that you are on the iFly forum. This niggling detail is a throw-back to my days on the “real” Boeing 747-400. Whether it was by design, or by accident, the airspeed bug on the “UAL” PFD was “just about” 10 knots in width and the pointer was “just about” 5 knots from the bottom of the speed selector. This is just a simple gouge to make a quick estimate of the speed to select. Let me go up and crank up the PMDG 747-400 and the PMDG 737 NGX and the iFly 737 NG and see what their speed bugs look like. I’ll try to remember to get back to you. Mike Captain Michael J. Ray, PresidentUniversity of Temecula Press, incwww.utem.com#2From: Mike Ray [mailto:mikeray@utem.com]Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 8:15 PMTo: 'James Dowgialo'Subject: RE: Speed bug size Hi James,OK … I can absolutely confirm that the width of the speed bug is … are you ready …5 Kts. The consensus is RIGHT!However, since I get to write the articles, I get to make mistakes that no one is supposed to notice.Good on all you that caught me. Mea culpa!Here’s the deal on using the width of the speed bug; since it is common practice when flying the line, that you set your speeds +5 or 10 Kts to account for wind gusts or turbulence or stupidity on the part of the crew. The width of the bug makes a nice reference. That’s all … it keeps you from having to do some basic math. Let’s see … 143 plus 5 equals … ? By the way … go to this website: www.halldale.comThen select the “MAGAZINES” from the toolbar.Then select the CAT (Civil Airline Training),Select Digital issue: CAT 5/2011Go to page 16.In that article you will hear them mentioning that there will be a major airline pilot shortage … and gives details.Nice read … and I’ll just bet that someone reading the CP magazine and sharing on the iFly forum will be one of those pilots. Happy Simming,Mike #3:Thanks Mike for the confirmation. I have all of your previous articles printed and in a binder next to my computer. I’ve learned a great deal from them as well as others whom have contributed their knowledge. I’ll keep this article too, although there will be an asterisk on page 73 next to the ‘bug’ size reference. I cannot take credit for this discovery though, that goes to the original poster who goes by the name Sergey. Yes, I dreamed of becoming a pilot in my youth, but at 67 years young next month, that is not now possible. But thanks to the great developers of in-depth aircraft, I can live a portion of that dream. Keep up providing the great information you have in helping us to become better pilots. Jim #4: Hi (again) James, I can’t seem to get on the iFly forum … So I am asking you if you could post my response regarding the 5 Knot bug thing for me. Thanks,MikeHi James … it is early morning (OMIGOSH … 4 AM) and I can’t sleep because this speed bug thing has me “bugged”. I can absolutely confirm that the speed bug is “5 Knots” wide. I said in the CP article that it was 10 Knots wide … I was wrong.So, just to make certain that we are both talking about the same thing, if you place the bottom of the bug on a speed value, the pointer end would rest on a value 2 ½ Knots “above” that speed.That speed then becomes the selected speed for the auto-flight system (or if flying manually, the Flight Director). These are nice little additional speed touches to avoid over-speeding during the extension of the flaps. The selection of the airspeed during the actual approach is somewhat more complicated.Here are the guidelines for speed selection during an approach … and these are specifically from my experience at United Airlines.We start with the approach Reference speed or “Vref” as the basic raw speed for the approach … and in the sim, you get that from the CDU when you select the “flaps” setting you intend to use for landing. I suggest that simmers write that down, because I can’t seem to remember it when I need it. The actual TARGET speed for landing is the Vref corrected for the actual wind component at the runway. And a short wind component discussion might be in order. The wind has two specific attributes that we are concerned with … and these are reported in the ATIS weather or by the controlling agency (usually the Tower or ATC): GUST and STEADY STATE. They say it like this, “ The wind is XX Knots from XXX gusting to XXX Knots. So we know 3 things about the wind. The direction it is coming FROM, the steady state component and the gust component.Here is the “rule”. Set your REF bug at REF (from the flaps driven CDU value) + ½ the STEADY WIND “component + the FULL GUST value.The maximum allowed wind correction should not exceed 20 Knots. The key feature here is the “component”. For example, If you are landing on Runway 9 … That is, the airplanes “track” over the ground when it is aligned with the runway will be approximately 090 degrees magnetic. The reported wind is probably NOT actually coming from exactly 090 degrees even though the operational runway is usually “into the wind”. So just what part of the wind is the “component”? This is a geometry problem … and there are wind component charts in the handbook that cover such things, but let’s say for our example that the wind is from 120 degrees at 10 knots gusting to 20. How much additional airspeed should we add to our Vref to be in compliance with the SOPs? We don’t need to add the whole 5 (½ of 10 Knots) + 10 (20 – 10) = 15 Knots. We only need to correct for that component or part of the wind that is opposite the track of the airplane. So you take the 15 Knots and correct it using a simple “wind triangle”. Roughly, we come up with a headwind component correction of about 13 Knots. I can teach you some simple techniques to address this issue with using a calculator … usually a “WAG” (or “estimate”) works just great. If in doubt … add 20 Knots. That will fir all the cases. Anyhow, since you guys are into the exact details of the problem, here is a nice “wind Triangle” computer you can use.http://www.luizmonteiro.com/Wind.aspx#WT I am sitting here thinking about this and wondering about this. Would be too complicated and not interesting to attack this issue in greater detail in a whole article in the CP magazine? Let me know what your thoughts are on that … I can probably twist the arm of the editor.It is obvious that I will have to correct my “error” from the last issue.Looking forward to your response. MikeI hope all enjoy Mike's correction. Jim D.

Why stumble around in the dark looking for a switch? All you need to do is map a key or a button to the switch you wish to engage. FSUIPC (reg ver) does this easily.Jim D.

In Timothy Metzingers Vol 2 tutorial on the PMDG 737, he indicates that the changeover from kts to Mach occurs at 20,000 ft or above. Jim D.

A good place to start is by reading the documentation that comes with the programs. Also, do a search on recording FS and you'll find all you'll need to know. It's like the saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach the man how to fish and you feed him for a life-time". Jim D.

Switch over to Plan-G, the best free planner out there. Well documented and a pleasure to use.http://www.tasoftware.co.uk/forum/ Jim D.

I am no expert by any means regarding hardware for the computer. But I have done a lot of reading on the web in reference to the different GPU's out there. The result was total confusion. Yes, I know the 580 is the top card, but also at a top price, beyond my budget. I also saw that many were having very good results with some overclocked 460's, so that is what I searched for. After buying a couple of different ones and then investigating them on the web, I returned them. I finally settled on the ASUS ENGTX 460 TOP Direct CU as the reviews indicated that it was an outstanding card, already overclocked but with the ability to add to the overclocking. I purchased it from AMAZON for about $180.00 and I received it in 2 working days. I haven't installed it yet, but I am confident that I made the right choice. It will be installed with my new Intel i2500K CPU and a new ASUS MB, the P8P67 along with 4g of Corsair Vengance Memory. Jim D.

I just purchased the above mention GPU for $129.00 and wonder if anyone has experience with it for FSX. The 560, 570 and 580's all rise significantly in price. Thanks for your observations, Jim D.

I have a suggestion about the missing textures but not in regard to the disappearing runway. Try placing the texture files in the main FS texture folder. I've done this with other sceneries that displayed the same issue and that fixed it. Can't guarantee that this will solve it, but trying won't hurt.Jim D.

Hi Clayton 4115.I had forgotten all about this thread as the last entry was in December until yours.The following is the FSUIPC instructions for setting up an axis to control the landing gear. It is found on page 43, 44 of the installation guide for FSUIPC. There are two illustrations showing what to do. If you have problems, repost and I'll give you some guidance.Jim D."Now for the slightly more complex right-hand side of the Axis assignments section. Here are two pictures that I‘ll explain, as examples:44In this section you can set up two 10 zones (ranges of values) on the current axis that will each, separately, trigger a control. The controls are any of the button/switch controls that you can assign in FSUIPC‘s button section—all are listed in the drop down according to the same rules as on the Buttons + Switches tab. Those controls which take a parameter can do so here, and you can enter an offset too for the FSUIPC offset controls. Everything is exactly comparable to assigning buttons, except that the trigger is related to the values arriving from the axis.First you set the range of values in which this action will occur. The little spin control on the left selects which of the 10 ranges you are now setting (you can go back and change or adjust them using that spin control). Then you simply move the lever to the two extremes of the range, clicking the ―From‖ button at one end (the lower number) and ―To‖ at the other (the highr number). If you get these the wrong way round, no matter—FSUIPC will still understand. The values should be different, though.The check boxes ‗Up‘ and ‗Down‖ allow you to select whether the action is to occur when the axis is moving from low values to higher ones (―Up‖), or the other way (―Down‖), or both. This allows you do have different things happen one way than the other.You can assign one control to be sent when the specified zone is entered, and a separate one to be sent when the specified zone is exited—both or either, your choice. Check the box to the left of the relevant drop-down to enable it.In the example above, I have programmed a joystick lever to operate the Gear. When the lever is pushed away/up, into the higher range (6400 to 16383) I get a Gear Up, when it is pulled to me/down, into the lower range (–16384 to –13783) I get a Gear Down.Other points to note here are: You can have the ―entry‖ control repeat, at about 10 or so per second, whilst the axis remains within the range—just check the ―control to repeat …‖ option. To delete any one of the 10 separate ranges assigned here, just find it and use the ―Delete This‖ button. To delete all the ranges (but leave any axis assignments on the left-hand side) use the ―Delete All‖ button."

I fixed the issue by takinging the MAGDEC file and put it as the first entry in the scenery library. Jim D.

In the REALISM section of FS, check the box that says AUTO RUDDER. For ground control you'll need to assign a couple of keys for the indiviual brakes.Jim D.

Just curious, why didn't you request a lower altitude? It's usually granted. If I'm correct, DC3 usually didn't fly above 10,000 ft. due to oxygen issues as the plane was not pressurized.Jim D.

You're welcome. Glad to be of help.Jim D.

This is a STAR approach. By reading the instructions, you would see that you would be vectored to the final approach and the runway when reaching your final fix. Tuning to the ATIS would tell you which rumway is in use before you even reached that point. The final fix depends on which transition you were assigned to use in the STAR.Hope this helps a little.Jim D.

Did you read my first post?? If you want help, drop the attitude. I'll not be helping you anymore.Jim D.

I realize that this thread is a little old (2009), but the subject interested me since I wanted to add a second keyboard to FS9 to program key functions for overhesad panels.I was using PMDG's 737 and had all the MCP controls, or most of them, mapped to my wireless keyboard. Then I recently bought the iFLY 737 and wanted to expand the keyboard functions. So here is how I did it. MCP still mapped to the wireless keyboard. The iFLY forward overhead panel I mapped to a second keyboard and all works great. The second keyboard is a SIIG.Inc with USB connection. Using acombination of the key assignments in iFLY, FSUIPC and creating mouse macros in FSUIPC, I was able to map practically all of the functions using a combination of the CNTRL+letter keys or in a couple of situations, using the SHIFT+Letter or other function keys as well as the CNTRL+F keys. The reason I chose this keyboard is that it has both CNTRL & SHFT keys on the right and left side making the use of two keys together much easier and it is abot 75% the size of my regular board.So now I have the overhead and MCP funtions without using the mouse for the most part. Those functions not assigned are ones that I didn't use normally.Basically what I'm saying is: It IS possible to use two keyboards in FS9.I'm not sure if any are interested, but I'm posting this in case some are. Pleas note that this did not in any way use the program called HIDMACROS which is for FSX only.I hope that this is helpful to some of you.Jim D.

I don't believe that you can. What you can do is select the saved flight, change to the date you want and the time if necessary, then OK. You're good to go.Jim D.

This method should work in controlling both engines with one axis on the Saitek TQ. In the Axis Assignment section of FSUIPC, check the box labeled "Aircraft Specific". Then clear the axis # selection by using the rescan button. Then move the lever you want to program and in the assignment box below select Throttle 1. In the next line below select Throttle 2. Select OK and both engines will be controlled by the one lever on the TQ.Setting up reversers on the Saiteks has been discussed before. So a search should get you the info you need. I'd go through the process, but I'm trying to ready my wife and myself for a few days out of town.Jim D.

I've used the default key strokes (ALT-W-M)instead of attempting to program it in FSUIPC.

I haven't set up a new email account, original is still in place. I just don't know why a response is not made. I guess I can try to set it up again, althogh as I mentioned, the message says the password was sent to my email.Thanks for the tips.Jim D.

Al,Checking the online server produced no different messages. Also, the requests I've made were done over a two week period, before the holiday, but still no results. I'm a liitle frustrated now. I'll keep trying though. Maybe the password will jump into my brain.Jim

I'm having a problem with Sim Market as I have made several requests to have them send me my password since I forgot what I used before. I even wrote a "Ticket" and have never recieced a response. Any suggestions as to how to contact them? When requesting the password I do see the message that it has been sent to my email, but it never arrives. I also checked the "Trash" folder and nothing there either. I even gave them my Customer ID number.Has anyone else had this issue?Thanks for any help,Jim D.

Have you tried creating a 'mouse-macro' using FSUIPC? That may work if just scrolling the mouse wheel as previously mentioned doesn't. I haven't tried it since I have TQ's in my setup.Jim D.

Did you retart FS after loading the bgl mesh files? Even though the folder where you installed them is active, you must restart FS to activate the new additions. If you did do a restart, then I'm not aware of why it doesn't work.Jim D.

Recently I loaded Win 7 on a new hard drive and have two questions.1. Regarding the UAC control, do you leave it off permanetly or turn it off only when making changes to the flight simulator?2. If I restart my computer, I am required to log into the forums again if I want to post even though I have AVSIM listed in the control panel to 'always allow'. Is logging in each time a requirement?Thanks for the information.Jim D.