AvA757Pilot

I just wanted to say how I am continually impressed by the Avsim commmunity. A small example: About a week ago it was announced that Southwest Airlines is debuting a new livery. Tonight in the daily file library upload notification there was a repaint file for the 737 in the new SWA Heart One livery. The dedication to produce a freeware repaint so quickly is demonstrative of the good spirit of this fine hobby. Thanks to those of you who give so much of yourselves for the enjoyment of others.

I am pretty sure, although there is a little room for doubt. The manual instructions say to "click on the left screen" to open the marshaler. I am assuming that was a typo and should have said click on the left screw. So what I am doing is a) opening the VM panel (either from the Main Control Panel or from the FS View drop down menu) b) clicking on the GPU CON button to connect the GPU-as I said earlier, it (the GPU) does appear as it should c) clicking on the left screw and every other button on the VM panel All that happens, other than the GPU responding, is that the arrows in the Chocks In and Chocks Out buttons on the VM panel move. Nothing else occurs. I checked to ensure that Windows Media Player is installed and properly functioning.

I can open the VM panel and the commands to connect/disconnect the GPU work as they should. However, clicking on any of the other buttons on the VM panel does not produce the marshaler as visible...and yes, I am in windowed mode on a Win7 64 bit. Thanks

I continue to familiarize myself with this airplane and I am very impressed but there are a few VERY minor issues I would like to mention and see if anyone else has noticed: 1) The red beacon light is very weak and the flashes appear to actually be coming from behind the light and it is not illuminated when viewed from the front of the airplane 2) The NAV1/NAV2 annunciator light will not extinguish 3) The landing light and taxi light seem to pulsate as if in sequence with the strobes

Thank you Pete. It was the 'show all variations" box that was the problem...I never noticed that one before.

I downloaded and installed the C337 in FSX but the only aircraft choice is a bare white exterior texture (beautifully drawn by the way but still not too colorful). Should there be standard paints available or do I need to download repaints?

1) I have noticed recently that my landing and taxi lights do not work in the 2D cockpit view but are present in the VC view and I do not know why this would be2) I am curious as to why on many ILS courses the INIT REF page will show one course setting but when the ILS signal becomes active on the PFD a different course will appear (usually off by a digit). I would suspect that it might be related to changes in AIRIC information but wouldn't both FMC and PDF read the information from the same source?3) I recall a few years ago that there was available a gauge to put the clock on the main 2D panel of the 600/700 so it would be visible in the M and Z modes. Does anyone have the file for that?Thanks

I certainly agree with the points raised by Anthony and I see that the impression I was gave with my original post was vague and for that I apologize. Such was not my intention and in hindsight it is clear I should have been more candid. The article is for Computer Pilot Magazine to which I am editorial assistant and a long time contributing writer.The only reason I did not go directly to PMDG with this request is due to the fact that previous messages to them on different matters have gone unanswered thus diminishing my expectations of receiving a response at this time. I posted here because of the fine quality of PMDG products which speaks well to the high quality of its tester base.I am not looking to obtain trade secrets with this article. My intention is to explore the process of beta testing since most simmers only see the finished product and may be unaware of the testing and tweaking that must take place in order for that product to be released.Again, I am sorry for any false impressions or suspicions generated by my original post. I assure you, my intentions are honorable as I have the greatest respect for the development of new products and would not do anything to impair the ability of the developers of same to bring their creations to market and to realize a fair profit for their efforts.Roger Curtiss

I am conducting research on beta testing for an article to be published in a flight simulation magazine. I would greatly appreciate hearing from EXPERIENCED beta testers to answer some questions on the subject.Thank you

Yes, I may have glossed over the Flight1 registry tool mention. I did happen to find it in another posting- ran it and indeed, it seemed to have solved the problem.

Point well taken. You are correct that I was commenting on the fuel planner (specifically, Ross Carlson's 737NG Fuel Planner) thinking it was part of the load manager and that was just wrong. However, that confusion on my part aside, it still does not change the fact that altering the taxi fuel amount makes no change to the aircraft takeoff or landing weights. So- if I add 8000 lbs of taxi fuel (or any amount- I am only using an extreme and unrealistic example to demonstrate the point) it changes the ramp weight but the system assumes that all of that fuel will be burned on taxi out and does not make a change to the takeoff or landing weights. Even if that fuel is included as part of the tank's weight then it should be added to the gross weight for the entire flight-not just for taxi out. In simple terms- the amount shown as Taxi Fuel should actually be labeled Taxi-Out Fuel by the way it is calculated into the aircraft total weight.As an aside- I always start FS then run the load manager then copy the ZFW weight and enter that on the fuel planner page. That effectively changes the aircraft weights accordingly.

...however, as long as Dave brought it up- I have found another quirk on the fuel page. The figure entered for taxi fuel is assumed to be for taxi out only. Changing that fuel amount only affects the taxi-out weight, no change is made to the takeoff or landing weights. As a practical matter I suppose it makes little difference- once you have landed with your reserve fuel still intact there is no reason some of it cannot be used for the taxi in but for the purist it would seem that any unused taxi out fuel should be factored in for the takeoff and landing weights.

I have a similar problem on occasion that manifests itself in one of two ways. The first is that the compass and ND will show my heading to be approximately 140 degrees from what it actually is and this will make it impossible to use LNAV and track the flight plan course. Even if I get the airplane properly lined up on the course line it will deviate and the DME will increase instead of decreasing even though it appears I am headed toward the next waypoint.The second instance will be that compass and ND are correctly oriented before takeoff and I engage LNAV after departure and am initially able to track the course line but the aircraft will deviate from the proper course by up to about 5 miles. The deviation is not so severe as to miss the waypoint but it is not smoothly tracking the intended course line. This occurred recently and I was unable to have the autopilot properly sense the localizer and smoothly follow it.

While it looks like you have close to 400 mi of extra range the insufficient fuel warning may appear because of the amount of reserve fuel you have designated whichwould effectively reduce your available range.

I did the old tried and true shutdown FS and restart it. Sure enough, when I did that and repositioned the airplane at KSEA the compass/ND headings were working just fine. So it is an intermitent thing and I suppose I can live with that...until 737NGX arrives!Roger Curtiss