JaneRachel

Hey Rudy, There is only ADF1, it is a quirk of the NG's (the real NG!) that ADF2 switch is there but non-functional. Boeing adjusted equipment to remove the second ADF in one of the NG upgrades, but left the switch in the cockpits. all the bestJR

no no, don't mess with FSUIPC as this is NOT an issue or bug. you will get this happen, complete with the warning alarm in the real aircraft if you are only running on battery power. This means you have not provided another source of power to the aircraft. Ensure that the engine generator switches are on, if your engine is on. If you are on the APU, ensure the two APU generator switches are on. If you have selected the ground cart, ensure that its switch is on. This alarm does mean you have not properly engaged the electrical source on the aircraft. It also does not mean that your battery is flat. It just means you are using it without any other source of power. It is a warning to tell you to set up another electrical source rather than just the battery. Again, this is the same with the real NG - nothing to do with battery life in FSX or anything like that. hope that help!JR

I am with Mike, the best aircraft ever to fly in FSX or any desktop sim! seriously! JR

yes, there is an initial setup phase, that is unavoidable as much of the systems are developed outside of the normal FSX systems. we do have testers with multiple displays (I have two) and have had no problems at all.

honestly, I don't think anyone will be disappointed with performance. The entire beta group have been really impressed with frame rates!

Hey Gang, People have been asking about wing views and wing flex. These shots out of Honolulu show a couple of the default wing views (there are quite a few default wing camera options - I didn't use any camera utility). If you look carefully on the engine shot you can also see the wing tip flexing as I was passing through some chop.

I just had to share my thoughts with you all after another successful landing in the NGX. I am totally, totally (did I say totally!) entranced by this aircraft. In my personal opinion (and no I am not being paid, cajoled, blackmailed, held at gunpoint or otherwise coerced or bribed), this is really the finest airliner ever to take to the skies in FSX (or any desktop sim). Why, because so often when we buy an FSX aircraft some parts are better than others. We might find a great external model but poor systems, or great systems and shoddy VC graphics. The list of permutations goes on. For me, the NGX is really the first aircraft where the bar has been raised in all categories. Fantastic visuals, both inside and out, incredible systems modelling, sounds that redefine realism. Everything has come together to real create something incredibly special. Are there any negatives. Well, I find it hard to fly any other aircraft in FSX now, seriously! I have been flying her some weeks now and still find little nuances that I had missed. There is so much attention to detail. Sure, we have all seen thrust levers in a virtual cockpit before, but how many are fully functional. Yes, you can set your desired thrust, but what about those little buttons on each side of the levers to disconnect the A/T. Well they work in the NGX, along with TO/GA. You can even pull on the reverser handles with your mouse and see them beautifully animate if you really want to. That is the tip of the iceberg but illustrates the point that if you see it in the cockpit it actually does something, down to every switch and gauge. It is not just animated but works in accordance with Boeing specs. It does what it is supposed to do, with no "sorry this is an FSX limitation", or "partially modelled", each element does its job for real! One little switch on the overhead may have been researched for weeks by the team, referring to some very smart pilots and 737 engineers, along with enough technical reference to fill RSR's house! I find the depth of detail so staggering that it is a bit of a game to me to find something that is out of place (of course, this is a good thing on a beta team). I speak to RSR most days and this usually involves me researching some obscure nuance of the real aircraft, buried at the back of a manual. I then ask Robert, "so can it do this?" I have always got the reply "of course it does, go and try!", along with a detailed synopsis of that function and incredible little details that bring the aircraft to life. An early question, "so Robert, is there a delay when engaging the autopilot", rather than the sudden engagement we see in lesser sims. The answer is you will see a small delay necessary to pressurise the FCC hydraulic actuators. Change from CMD A to CMD B, the new side will take slightly longer to engage, because in addition to pressuring CMD B, the CMD A is depressurised! Another question, are the differences in slat deployment modelled if I select the Short Field Package - The answer "silly question, of course that is modelled. Go take a look at the external model too and you can see it on the wing with retraction and extension speeds as per Boeing specs. See how the speedbrake has an higher angle with the Short Field Package - Change back to a regular NG, realtime from the options menu and see those wing animations change instantly to reflect your new chosen variation" I have been trying this approach daily for some weeks now with ever more obscure systems questions, with everything from little known FMC features to hydraulic pressures. So far I have yet to find a question on an aircraft feature that is not modelled in the NGX. The team and the beta testers show you screenshots and Nick has shown you some wonderful videos, but, guys, this is the tip of the iceberg. Once you get into that cockpit and see for yourselves the staggering depth and detail you will be overtaken both by immersion and delight. Once you fly her you will want to shout from the rooftops like those of us in the beta group about just how incredible this aircraft is. I am not given to exaggeration. Seeing her is great, flying her is a whole different ballgame that will blow your minds. Perfection in motion! JR

yes and lots of them. Well over 500 sounds recorded from a real NG are in the sim. You should hear what Armen has done with the engine sounds right throughout the thrust range. The guy is a genius!

I have just taken off in bumpy weather from Honolulu with the NGX. The wing flex was a joy to behold. I ended up being totally entranced with the wing views, including some extremely realistic vibration motion as I was pushing through some choppy cloud! Use one of the wing cameras and you would think you were looking out from the real aircraft. It is scarily realistic and immersive! JR

Scott, that is absolutely correct,all the bestJR

Hi Scott,yes and yes :)all the bestJR

I have been involved in many beta's - not just in the flight sim world. Quite often people test, make their comments and off they go. The PMDG beta team and development team have become like a family over the years and I honestly believe that shows through in the products as everyone knows their role and can have candid exchanges of views and ask questions without fear of causing offence. Many of us have been involved in the first 737 from PMDG, back in the days before I had grey hair! It is a very close knit relationship between us all. We all keep in touch all the time, regardless of whether a product is in beta or not. It sounds corny, but it really is a special group of people.In my wider experience as a simmer and my role at PC Pilot Magazine, I also see that camaraderie across the whole flight sim community, developers, publishers and simmers. It is a fantastic community and one that I am really proud to be a part of.JR

absolutely the opposite actually. I suggest a day of lots of excited posts and swapping of stories on the day of release of the NGX. That was more Clay's style!He was an incredibly enthusiastic member of our beta team and always had a story to share over the years I got to know him, from piloting the B-52 to flying special flights to rescue horses after Hurricane Katrina. He was thrilled with the public reception of the MD-11 and he would love all the buzz around the NGX.JR

my other half is big into World Of Warcraft, so I have plenty of time to fly whilst orcs are being slaughtered at the other end of the room. It works out quite well :)

my first flight with the NGX was a return trip from Manchester to Gibraltar and I have done a fair bit around the Greek islands. Although I have the aircraft already, on release day to celebrate I plan to fly to Manchester from Boeing Field as an "official" delivery handover flight.JR

unless you are in the polar regions and then alignment takes longer - yes that is modelled in the NGX too :)JR

short answer, yes absolutely that can happen! so remember to use anti-ice :) JR

I would read what Jack Colwill has to say above. Jack flies the 737NG on a daily basis for a major operator. He knows the NG like the back of his hand.On an ILS approach, incidentally, most airlines do put the gear down just prior to G/S intercept as mentioned by a few people above.

I should also point out when you hear the term "idle reverse", this actually refers to my parking my car and is not related to aircraft as people wrongly assume. I am way too idle to reverse into a parking spot! Any reference to NON-NORMAL checklists actually refers to why the parking space suddenly appeared smaller when I tried to reverse into it and what checklists I should follow for reporting the damage to the car behind me whilst some irate guy is looking at his bent car and telling me I am not normal. ;)I would work my way through a lot less cars if they had the benefit of a pushback tug at my supermarket too!JR

setting up failures is great if you want to practice a procedure related to that failure. The wear and tear in-service system is great if you want to fly with total realism. It forces you not to make assumptions about the state of your aircraft and be very aware of what is going on and adherence to checklists.JR

nothing time expired as yet as I keep resetting the clock for various testing reasons. However, plenty of DBJ (Destroyed By Jane!) failures that I have deliberately attempted.Some particularly "amusing" ones included yanking at the controls deliberately whilst the autopilot was engaged and repeatedly doing so until I broke the FCC equipment and rendered autopilot A useless :)Another great bit of fun to run up a bill is to repeatedly RTO the brakes until they fail, get ridiculously hot and turn the pads into a personal barbecue plate for the crew! Also recommended is retracting the gear in flight with really hot brakes and watch how it "warms" the wheel wheel, sometimes leading to a wheel well fire.

hey Martin, each livery is seen as an independent aircraft, each with its own service clock and component status. The in-service failures are timed around real wear and tear values, but if you want to accelerate that process you can use the failure triggers menu to set a failure to happen at a time of your choosing, so if you want failures in a shorter time it is really easy to do,all the bestJR

Nick metioned it in his video but the sounds are nothing short of fantastic, all recorded from a real NG. The team had access to a real aircraft during development and recorded everything in great detail. This all is fed into a custom sound system, as there is 3D environmental sound well beyond the capabilities of the default FSX sound system.I can let you into a little secret and share that there are 521 separate sounds within the sound set! In external view you can even position yourself to hear the wing fuel pumps and electric hydraulic pumps! PACK's, APU etc, all layered appropriately. The most comprehensive sound set ever created for FSX externally and in the cockpit? I think so!The NG drivers in the tech group can often tell which systems are running or not by picking out individual items in the cockpit sound ambience with their ears without even needing to look at switch status!JR

I am not going to discuss another company on the PMDG forum, except to say, I love that B-17! With your mindset you will not be disappointed with the NG.

all of the failures are accessed through pages of the CDU. There are a huge amount of failures that you can trigger to practice your procedures, covering all of the aircraft systems in some detail. Those failures can also cascade through other equipment if you do not respond appropriately. You can set these up however you want and whenever you want them to trigger. You can, of course, also fly with no failures.Another option, which I personally find the most interesting is an option (again it is up to you) to use in-service failures. This means that parts will wear out over time just from the wear and tear of every day use. You can choose if and when to service your aircraft, responding to a problem or a general service of everything, or even a preventative service. In short, things will break and wear out in exactly the same way they do in real life. The team have even monitored the life of each component based on the specs given by the manufacturer of the real equipment!Of course, if you abuse the aircraft you can also break things. You will also see things that I would not necessarily call failures as that is a strong term, but consequences. For example, the air con struggling to keep you with a high cabin temperature with the doors open when sat on the ramp on a very hot day, leading to duct overheats etc.For me, personally, the in-service failures are fantastic, giving the ultimate realism.All of these failures are options. You can fly without them triggering. That said, the in-service failures adds a whole new dimension that it would be a shame for you to miss. There are literally hundreds of components monitored for wear and tear. No random number generator creating failures but actual systems modelling of real-world equivalent wear and tear. It is amazing!PS The pages you see on the CDU on Nick's video have been revised somewhat and are now more intuitive but they are a guideline.JR