baw716

To Robert and all at PMDG:We are all understandably thrilled that the release of this amazing add on is just days away. While I won't speak for the community, I think all will agree that we are extremely thankful for the hard work that you and your team have put in to bring this aircraft to market. It is my belief that it will set the standard for years to come in our "world" and it is my hope that you will have the financial success that comes along with the kind of quality product that PMDG has produced.I wish you all Godspeed and Good Luck in your release.Kind regards,David L. LambPMDG Supporter andFAA Licensed Aircraft Dispatcher.

Hmmm...to buy a Level-D 767 or not to buy? That is the question...OK, first, let's talk about 767s. PMDG doesn't make one (can't speak for the future tho). So we are down to the Level-D 767 and the Captain Sim 767 at the top end of the spectrum (I own both, so I only speak from my personal experience and as such, this is my personal opinion). Oh, and for clarification purposes, we are talking about FSX..not FS9.In this case, this is no contest. Level-D for the 767-300. If you want realism, the Level-D has what you need and more. If you are looking for a 757, on the other hand, Captain Sim has the best on the market. As for a Level-D 757? I'm not holding my breath.Now, to those of you who have commented on Level-D vs. PMDG...folks, give me a break. You are comparing an apple to an orange.There is no question, none, zero, nada...that each PMDG aircraft that has been produced has been better that each of its previous aircraft, and they were great to start. PMDG has set the bar much higher with the 737NGX and yes, while I am an obsessive, compulsive simmer like the rest of the bunch on this forum, I don't think it's fair to compare the 737NGX to the Level-D 767. They are two completely DIFFERENT airplanes to begin with. The Level-D bird has been around for a long time (think FS2002) and set the bar very high for quality and yes, PMDG has met and so far exceeded every expectation that we have had for quality of the product. Considering what else is on the market, there is no 767 product that compares with the Level-D, period, full stop.So, at the end of the day, what should one purchase?Hmmm, let's see:1. 767-Level-D.2. PMDG - everything they have made.This presumes, of course, you are looking for realism. I certainly do.Any questions??? (lol)Dave LambProud Owner: Level-D 767PMDG: 747-400X/747-8/MD-11/JS41 and soon...737NGX.

I'd like to post a question to the moderators and to the forum group regarding hardware. If this needs to go into a separate thread, perhaps the moderators can tell us that...since the hardware discussion is off topic from the forum topic.Here goes:1) What will be the "optimum" hardware configuration to run the NGX properly, and at what cost (EUROs or USD is fine)?2) What is a good compromise between cost and functionality - understanding that the CPU/MOBO is really at the heart of this issue - and how much would something like that cost?I have my own ideas, but before I go off and spend over USD1000 to upgrade my hardware, I'd like to get a better feel for what will get the job done. Do I upgrade my existing config or buy a new box and build one from scratch?Again, this question pertains to all new aircraft, but especially the PMDG aircraft due to the level of sophistication that will be involved in this new aircraft.What are the group (and moderators) thoughts?Thanks and kind regards to all,Dave Lamb

To Robert Randazzo and the PMDG Team:I had the occasion of reading this post from Robert this morning which has now been locked:Captains-After much deliberation and a few years of work, we have finalized the release date for the PMDG 737NGX.As of this point, I am superseding any previously announced released dates with the following information: The NGX will be released when it is finished.It may release this week.. I might release in 2014.You will know when it is released because we'll tell you.If anyone would like to complain about the fact that creation of this incredibly feature rich product is taking longer than planned, please let us know and we'd be happy to provide you with an unmonitored email address to which you may air your displeasure. :( My response is very simple:BRAVO!! BRAVO!! BRAVO!!I've stated (more than once) that we must let the PMDG do their work without pestering them about release dates. If you (the flightsim community) are unhappy about that, I do feel your pain, but I suggest taking a chill pill...it will be done when it is done.Again to the PMDG Team: BRAVO!! BRAVO!! BRAVO!!and my best wishes for a successful launch (when YOU are ready)...Kind regards,Dave Lamb

I recommend purchasing Mike Ray's sim manuals. He writes them in a "non-technical" fashion and while the "Boeing 700 series" and Airbus series manuals are written for simmers, the A320, 737, 757/767 and 747 manuals are written for actual pilots. I have the 320, 737, 757/767 and 747 manuals. You'll learn both systems and procedures and in this respect, I think you find it a little humerous as well as extremely informative. They aren't cheap...about $50 a pop...start with the 737, since PMDG will be coming out with that aircraft next for FSX.As for the actual procedures themselves, for me (and I only am speaking for myself), I started a long time ago hand flying my landings and to this date, I still hand fly my landings except in Cat III conditions (which tend to be hard to duplicate in FSX...depends on your weather engine and the quality of your rig). If we are talking about approach and landing and use the 737 for example, I will fly the approach on autopilot and autothrottle (selected speed) down to the final approach fix. I then fly a CDAP (constant descent angle approach), using Mike Ray's 3 degree (-800fpm) rate of descent. I'll set the altitude to TZDE plus 50 feet, set the vertical speed to -800 and come off the a/p and a/t before the FAF. By then, I am using the ILS and flight director for guidance, keeping my rate of descent constant at -800 fpm all the way to the threshold, VREF + 5kts (plus wind adjustment to max +20kts) from FAF to threshold, then at 50ft pull off the throttle. If I am high on the approach at 1000 ft AGL, I do an automatic go around (which for me is easier handflying because I just firewall the throttles, pull up the gear, flaps 20 and get to a positive rate, reset my altitude, speed bugs and kick the autopilot/autothrottle back in. If I'm more than 1 mile out and lower than 1000ft AGL, same thing, firewall the throttles and go around.For touchdown, at 50ft pull back just slightly to achieve about a 200fpm rate just before touchdown and hold it there until the mains touch. I fly the nose wheel to the runway and then engage reverse thrust...not before the nosewheel is on. If you pull the reversers and are slow you might stall the nose wheel and bang in on the runway resulting in an FSX crash (which will ruin your entire day if you don't have FSX save). Stay off the brakes (autobrake only) or if you have a long enough runway, don't use autobrake, let the reversers slow you down to 80kts, stow the reversers by 60kts and progressively apply manual braking. Be gentle when doing this, brakes are pretty effective on the 737. Don't exit the runway faster than 25kts on a high speed or slower than 10kts period. Once you are slow, you want to get off the runway as quickly as you can.Important notes and disclaimers: What I've just described is for an airport that has a straight in approach and a 3 degree glide slope. There are variations on this theme for other types of approaches and would make this post far longer than it already is now.The one comment that I've seen on here and is absolutely correct. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. I've been doing this a very long time and I still get it wrong sometimes (especially in very high wind conditions or high angles of descent (I tend to be high and fast). The other thing is don't take what I tell you as gospel. Listen to the other virtual (and real) pilots on this forum. Each will have a slightly different take on the same procedure, make use of all of their collective knowledge...and finally, get knowledgeable about the systems. Having it all set up before you start your approach will make your life much easier (and your landings much more proficient) if you have your procedures locked down in the box and in your head before you start down.Best of luck and welcome to this crazy hobby of ours. Actually, it's not a hobby, it's a passion.Cheers,Dave LambCaptain, British Airways Virtual

Having read Tawanda's comments (and I understand they are meant to be "tongue in cheek"), I have to say that even the fact that a real pilot is asking those questions on this forum is indeed impressive and indicative of the high quality of the products that PMDG has put out to date and the rather salivary reaction on the part of the FS community in anticipation of the release of the 737NGX. I believe it bears a little reminder (operative word - LITTLE) that there are some significant limitations in FSX that PMDG must work around to make the sim as "real as it gets". To date, PMDG has done spectacular work and as much as I am salivating with the rest of the FS world over the release of this aircraft, I also know that the bird has to be as bug free as possible and they won't release it before it's ready (unlike some other vendors who pushed their "A"ircraft out the door and is living the nightmare of trying to fix it and the credibility hit they've taken as a result..and their product is nowhere near as sophisticated as this bird will be).As for the hardware requirement to run this bird correctly, it might be helpful to understand in advance of the release what level of hardware will be required so that those of us who have medium range boxes (I have a rather good system, but it's not high end) will make a decision to either upgrade equipment or decide what level of compromise we'll have to make. As for the question of price point, my answer is...I don't care. If the price point is indeed $70, then it's worth it to have a bird that will do as advertised. However, shelling out another $500 to have the machine to run it properly is an investment question that might be helpful to have answered, so that we can properly decide on how much upgrading (and what kind) will be required for us to properly utilize this amazing machine that will be the PMDG 737NGX.My thanks to PMDG for their hard work and my kindest regards to all FS members of this forum.Dave Lamb

Lee,Thank you for the wonderful HD repaints. Question for you: Any chance you can do an Alitalia MD-11 (old livery)? I am an ex AZ guy and that plane was well, the only one you could fly ex LIMC without having to do 360 degree turns to get enough altitude to get over the Alps. When you have time...Thanks and kind regards,Dave Lamb

Ah, Frank...The bird will come out when it comes out. Every PMDG bird is a marvel, period full stop. That said, you should go over to Aerosoft and read their support forum on the Airbus X and the serious beating they are taking while they are working out the bugs that got through their beta testing. They are communicating very well with their customers and making fast and serious progress, yet they are still getting the crap beaten out of them. From what I've seen of this NGX, it's going to be PMDG's best work and we need to stop bugging them about deadlines. I'd rather wait to get an airplane that has a minimum number of bugs (and it will...every new a/c has some) rather than purchase a product that put out there before it is ready and then be p/o'd about the fact that it doesn't work.As they have said, it will be done when it is done. Can we please leave it at that??Dave Lambbaw716

I have yet to enter the discussion on the point of the NGX, because frankly, well it doesn't matter all that much since it will be out when it comes out...However, this question of the 7 in touch screen and "immersion" is an interesting idea. While I agree that it doesn't give as much immersion than the Engravity FMS (which is about about USD1000), I would imagine that having a small second screen for the FMS will make things a little easier. I can think of numerous applications for a second touch screen beyond just sim flying (and btw, I like the idea about using it for charts as well), I would have three screens (30", 20" and 7"), for USD200, it's not that big a spend in the grand scheme. I'm going to give it a try and I'll let you know how I get on...it will be interesting to see how it goes and if it doesn't, I'll simply put it in the box and send it back. Isn't that what "returns" are for? At Amazon.com, it was $207 incl shipping.Cheers,Dave Lamb/baw716

Hi, I have Level D 767 and Win 7 x64 and am having few (if real any problems). We had some buggy issues with VNAV when my brother in law flew it a couple of weeks ago, but since then, I've used it and had no real problems. OF course, be aware I run FSX and have a fairly powerful PC with a setup specific for FSX (I run it on a separate 1TB internal hard drive) and deactivate some of Win 7s graphics, but I'm getting quite good frame rates (depending upon scenery complexity).Bottom line, install it and run with it. You shouldn't have too many problems, especially if your system can support X64 platform.Dave LambCaptain 767-300British Airways Virtual

Greetings all,I recently read an article that suggested to speed up FSX, install it on a separate internal hard drive. In addition, because there is software I want to run (PSS777 is one example) that cannot be run on FSX, I want to install FS2004 as well. As a side note: I have FSX running fine on the original drive, but it is starting to crowd the drive a little which is having an effect on overall performance, especially when running multiple programs and FSX (e.g. Active Sky and FSX do not operate well together on C: drive).I purchased, installed and formatted the D: drive, installed FS2004 (I already have FSX on the C: drive...this was a test) and it seems to run without problems...FPS in the 60 range with all sliders to full. The problem developed when I attempted to install the Just Flight (PSS) 777 Professional. Of course I installed FSUIPC3.96 and then installed the PSS777...then I opened it up (Cessna first) then discovered that when the 777 panel loaded, everything loaded except the font displays, etc; no letters/numbers on the PFC/ND/CDU, etc. Question 1: Is there something that I might have missed installing FS2004? Question 2: Is there something in either the PSS or FS9 program that required any system files that may be located on the C: (primary/OS drive)?Here is the computer configuration:Custom built (socket 775) Core 2 Quad 9550 (12MB L2 1333MHz FSB)RAM: 8GB DDR3 1333MOBO: MSI P45D3 Platinum (ATX, P45, 7.1, GBLAN, PCI-E: 2-16X, 2-1X, 3-PCI, 4DDR3, 6SATA, 1IDE, HDMI, firewire.Graphic Card: Nvidia GeForce 9800GTX 512mbHDD1: 1TB Seagate 7500HDD2: 1TB Seagate 7500 <===NEWTwo Optical Drives (one DVD/CD-RW, 2nd DVD/CD-P).External: WD 1TB 7500 HDD (for backups)Sound: Creative SoundBlaster X-FI Xtreme AudioOS: Vista 64 bitNote: HDDs are not configured for RAID.I'm going to install PMDG hardware to see if I run into same problem or if this is isolated to the 777Prof.Any ideas or suggestions most welcome!ThanksDave Lamb(baw716)

I ordered the new 737-800 X2 sim from Ariane and what I got I didn't understand. No executables, and no instructions. It took going to the forums to get an idea how this works, but from what I gather, there is an activation key (which I have sent an e-mail to obtain), but does it include an executable that will open the files? Right now, they cannot be opened as there are no programs associated with them.Or did I get this wrong??It's a little aggrevating, considering between the plane and the airline package the whole thing cost $148.00. That's the most I've ever paid for a sim and the worst documentation as well. Not very good. If I don't get an activation key soon, I'm going to file a complaint with Ariane, then my credit card company. It is riduculous that we have to wait up to seven days for a product this expensive.Again, did I get this wrong??Any thoughts, thanks!Dave

>I'd say we're all real grateful to both of you guys. Keep it>coming. Makin' it real makes all the difference. A big AMEN to that one!BTW, The change to 16C/34C has to do with two things:a) confusion over taxiway T, which looks suspiciously like a runway, it runs nearly the entire length of 16/34C and is very wide. We had one Aeroflot driver actually try to land on Tango, which precipitated a lot of hand wringing at the Port of Seattle.:( the construction of the new 16R/34L, which will be a little shorter than the previous one (now 16/34C). While the runway will not be completed for another two years; the work is being started on laying the foundations for the concrete, so POS decided to go forward with the renaming of the runways. I guess if an Aeroflot driver can miss it, with the new runway...someone else could with much more dire consequences.Again, thanks for all the hard work on keeping the SID and STARS updated. It's a big job and having it updated makes a huge difference in flying, especially online.Cheers,David LambSenior Captain, United Virtual Airlines

I might be wrong about this...but I don't think so. It would seem that the FS2Crew procedures for the PMDG747 may be based on UAL procedures. They seem to be very similar to the procedures outlined in Mike Ray's book (especially the CDAP approach -800fpm on the final, which is a callout on the procedure).I agree with the premise here...Mike Ray's books are outstanding. That said, without FS2Crew, you are flying the bird doing the work of two people...and it really does take two people to fly the aircraft, especially if something goes wrong and you have to pull out the non-normal checklist. The rule there is: Fly the airplane, fly the airplane, fly the airplane. Usually, the other guy is working the checklist. Pretty hard to do when you are by yourself.The only thing that FS2Crew could do to make it more "realistic" is to put you in the Captain's seat. In other words, make it interactive, where you, as the captain, call for the item, checklist, etc. instead of pushing a button where the FS2Crew captain is talking. This is the only part of FS2Crew that I find somewhat hard to use, since I am used to calling my own checklists. However, voice response is expensive technology and to have it respond logically would take an enormous amount of programming, which would make the product ultimately cost prohibitive.So, finding the balance between the two, use FS2Crew and Mike Ray's book as the above poster has mentioned...it really is the best marriage of the two worlds.Cheers,David LambSenior Captain, United Airlines Virtual

Robert,I have not posted on this forum before; however, I am a regular in other places...Your point above is very well taken. It is for that reason that I will wait until you have made your decisions about which direction you will head and once your products are ready, then I will make the appropriate upgrades.There are many factors that go into the decisions you have to make; not the least of which is the fact that you are a business and there needs to be a certain return on your investment. As I see it, this is an investment, an investment in a hobby I have spent thousands of dollars to support. We all must work together to advance the quality of what we purchase.To my bretheren, I appreciate what you say, but Robert is right. The work PMDG does keeps getting better and better and while we are all anxious to move ahead and pull the manufacturers with us, the reality is that it really is the other way around. So, let's be greatful for what we have, and be excited about what will come. We can be well assured that PMDG will get it right...they haven't disapppointed so far.Cheers,David Lamb/baw716