neilbradley1

Hi david,I to fing the ACARS event times very handy. However I don't think you can reset them as the ACARS was not something that was intended to be simulated in the NG. Hoepfully when NG2 is released the ACARS functions will be more complete.Neil Bradley

I had this problem sometime ago and it was associated with the GoFlight throttle quadrant. In spite of many suggestions that were offered to resolve the problem it persisted. After I uninstalled the throttle quadrant (while it worked I was very happy with it) I have had no repitition of the problem.Neil Bradley

After about 500 hours on the B737, as a rule of thumb for flight planning 3300kg/hour for the flight fuel - including the time interval to an alternate, 2400kg for the fixed reserve, 500-1000kg for taxiing depending on the traffic at a given airport and taxi distances and 2000kg/hr for holding (traffic/weather). Some countries require an additional variable reserve for turbine aircraft that is 15% of the total flight time. This all works for me and I have found it fairly accurate. Hope that helps.Neil Bradley

I have found after checking a few airports in AFCAD that the ILS range has been set to a default of 27 miles. Before flight you can change this to a more realistic 40-50 miles (line of sight) subject to terrain blocking the signal. I understand the problem as it has happened to me on a number of occasions. Flying the PMDG B737 in these cases I will have the runway centreline displayed on the ND so if the ILS is not up as I close the extended centreline, I either use the heading command or swith back to LNAV until the ILS signal is received.Neil Bradley

Or if you are tuned to the destination VOR/DME and it was showing say 90 miles, then take 30 from that and adjust your descent to be at the new level by 60 DME.Neil B

Also note that you can initialie the ACARS - FLT NUMBER and FROM TO - and first the first flight it will give you OUT - OFF - ON - IN times at EVENT TIMES. For subsequent flights I have found that you need to restart FS.Neilb

Neil, I think one of the AI programs (can't) remeber which one enables you to set a speed for taxyiing aircraft up to 35 Knots. Ir does make a difference in places like LCY where they have to backtrack.Neil B (A retiered Oz ATC)

Come on Matt,With PMDG I believe the old addage applies - 'You get what you pay for.' If you want a cheap and nasty rendition then look elsewhere and be disappointed.NeilAdelaide SA

Well it can happen. You may have not have seen this from Australian Aviation:QANTAS 747 LOSES POWER IN FLIGHT NEAR BANGKOK: A Qantas 747-400 en route from London to Bangkok lost all main electrical power while on descent into Bangkok on January 8.The aircraft, operating QF2 and carrying 344 passengers, reportedly operated the final 15 minutes of its flight on backup battery power only after water from a galley contaminated the main electrical racks shorting out all of the aircraft's AC power generators. The backup batteries have a capacity to provide basic cockpit instrumentation, communications and emergency lighting for between 60 and 90 minutes. The aircraft landed safely.Qantas and the ATSB have confirmed an investigation into the incident is underway in conjunction with CASA, Boeing and Thai authorities.Neil

Me to. I have just done a KPAE to KSFO and the TCAS only displayed conflicting traffic. Quite unrealistic.Neil Bradley

Yes, that's my experience. I feel it could be a lot tighter for departures. In the US where ATC are permitted to use discretionary landing and take-off clearances, RW ATC would use 2-3 miles as the cut-off for a landing jet aircraft to judge whether or not they could get a departuring medium category (B737) jet away away in front of a landing jet. The cut-off moves out as the weight of the departing aircraft increases. If a B747 on a long haul flight has to stop at the holding point, then it is going to take a while for him to spool up and move onto the runway. These spacings and cut-offs are all part of the training of local controllers and are based on long and sound experience. Where discretionary landing and take-off clearances are not permitted then to spacing is greater.It is probably asking a lot of JD to factor in all the variables, altough if a landing aircraft has three to five miles to run, maybe a line up and hold would be appropriate. So long as the departing aircraft is at least 6000 feet down the runway and airborne before the landing aircraft crosses the threshold the runway separation standard has been met. NeilYPAD

Try Disc Trix - Ultimate Defragger. I have been using it for six months and very impressed.NeilYPAD

Buck,Did we forget the nav/position lights?Neil

Give them a break!Have either of you heard of supply and demand? I would suggest that there is very little demand for the Wedgetail 737, while there is an enormous demand for the MD-11, B747 and 737NG upgrades to FSX. So if I were have any say in PMDG's priorities, then the Wedgetail would be way down the list, a view I am sure that would be supported by most of PMDG's fans.NeilYPAD

Jon,Been there, an interesting approach with the ILS off-set, just make sure your approach is stabilised and I suggest you use Vref+10, to give you more control while hand flying the last segment. Set the auto brakes to max and you will stop in plnet of time.NeilYPAD

Mark, while not specific airways, as they vary day by day depending on the upper wind forecast, they could be the non-stop Flex Tracks across the Pacific between Sydney (YSSY) and Melbourne (YMML)Australia & Aukland (NZAK), and the US West Coast. Normally 13 to 14 hours for the B744. NeilYPAD

Sam,I have had the experience of being in the jump seat of a Cathay B744 doing the approach to Kai Tak runway 13. As yo come down the ILS toward the chequer board, it is very sobering to see the high terrain below you and to your left and the multi story buildings crowded right up the airport boundary. The turn onto runway heading is about 70 - 80 degrees and starts at about 500 feet. The thing that makes this approach so challenging is when there is a strong south westerly blowing. This means that all the way into the chequer board you have a significant tail wind, so when the turn to line up with the runway starts, the wind is moving you away to the left. This results in pilots have to increase the bank angle to make it. Problem is as you get lower the long wings of a 747 mean that the starboard wing tip is getting very close to the ground. The Cathay boys got plenty of practice and do a good job (Chep Lok must be boring), but for pilots who flew there infrequently the results were often not very pretty as I am sure most of us have seen from pictures and video clips.The KDCA RWY 19 RNP approach is interesting, but is not complicated by terrain, just the prohibited areas to the east.NeilYPAD

Leffe,Nice screenshots. Where did you get the contrails from? They don't look like default FS trails to me.NeilYPAD

Adrian,May I have a copy?Neil Bradleyneilbradley1@optusnet.com.au

In the book that comes with the CD version of the PMDG NG 600/700 it states that the minimum system requirements to run the program are:- Processor PIII 800 MHz, recommended 1.6 GHz- 256 MB Ram, recommended 512 MB- 3D-graphics card 32 MB, recommended 64 MB- 340 MB free disk space- Soundblaster or compatible sound card- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 or 2002Hope that helps,NeilYPAD

Enrico,The only time you will get into trouble with this is if you fly with a virtual airline that insists when you submit your flight for verification that your planned flight levels are valid.In practice with RC there is no problem.NeilYPAD

Ray,As a retired Oz controller, but still in touch with things I would be only to pleased to assist you should JD decide to go down that airway, (and I wont say a thing about cricket).Let me know if I can help.Neil

Ray,I appreciate the step climb/descent logic being put forward by yourself and JD, and it would certainly apply to North America and Europe. However I would submit that it is not universal. In Australia for instance departures are normally assigned an initial level at clearance delivery (5000 to 9000 depending on location), then the departures controller will assign a level which the ceiling to the departures airspace (around FL190). On transfer to the enroute centre the aircraft is then normally assigned its planned cruising level. That's just two levels before the cruising level. On descent it is similar and usually starts with 'when ready descend to FL...'. Again this is usually to the sector floor where they are handed off to approach. The appraoch assignments are dependant on the traffic flow at the time.My wish list for V6 would be some recognition of this along with mapping of the very large areas of non-radar airspace away from North America and Europe, and thus the inclusion of non-radar procedures and standards. You may be saved somewhat from this by the rapid expansion and use by ATC providers of ADS-B.Keep up the good work.NeilYPAD

JD,Australia has NEVER had varying transition altitudes/levels. The transition level IS FL110 and the transition altitude IS 10,000 feet.I hope that helps.NeilYPAD

JD,I have raised this before. Is it not possible to map the Australian FIR to use the FAA logic as far as airline callsigns go, as Australia now uses the same callsign protocols as the USA?NeilYPAD