kmanning

Hi all, In the actual 737NGX, you turn the yoke either fully left or right and you let go of it, does it actually return to center? Ken.

Thanks Simon, I'll look into that FSForce. But are the forces realistic? I keep my force feedback turned off in the sim because the feedback forces are over exaggerated and are not realistic, and just aggravates my flight. Ken.

That's correct. The USB that provides axis control was always connected. Ken.

No, it's not the joystick and I didn't think it would be. The problem was most likely because I didn't have the airplane trimmed correctly. At first, I've always had the impression that once you set the take-off trim, it would take care of all phases of the flight, but it doesn't. When you think about it, the auto-pilot has not even been engaged for it to take control of the trimming. So, immediately after lift-off, you have to trim the airplane so that you're not having to keep constant pressure on the yoke. In the PMDG 747-400, I could engage the auto-pilot but it kept disengaging, most likely because I didn't have the plane trimmed correctly. But I was able to engage it, only for a few seconds. I did get a yellow message, and I think it said something to the effect that it required action from me. Ken.

Hi Jim, I don't use the force feedback either, and never liked it. When I trim my airplane, I use the 2 buttons, but they are side-by-side rather than one being on top of the other. What is the best joystick that is 100 accurate to use with airliners? I was thinking about the Saitek Flight Simulator Yoke with the Throttle Quadrant. But I'm not sure if it will have, or simulate the return to center force. But I like the fact that it's shaped like the real aircraft yoke. You mentioned that yours has a smooth pitch and roll axes. Mines has always been a little too sensitive. I know the sim has sensitivity controls, but it doesn't seem to have any effect, no matter where I put the sliders. So, I just leave them in their default position. Another problem I don't like is that when I rotate, there's a little delay with the nose coming up and wind up going a little past V2. And there is also a jerkiness, meaning that it's not a smooth rotation but seems to just jerk up, or pop up all of a sudden. And the same thing happens when landing. When the wheels touch down, everything just jerks, pops to the ground all of a sudden. Or do I need to post this under hardware? But thanks guys for explaining things. Ken.

Hi guys, I've been going over all this information about trimming the aircraft and it seems to all make sense. So, what I gather is that the auto-pilot does not like it when the plane is out of trim, or you have to constantly keep force on the control wheel. It's by design that the airplane has to be trimmed before the autopilot will engage. So, what I will do is reconnect the cable so that the joystick will provide the return to center force. I wish there was a way that I can turn that on when flying commercial jets and turned it off when flying general aviation. This return to center force will work in P3D but there will be no return to center force in FSX. By the way, I found what I've mentioned about when not to use the trim in that 737 FCTM. I knew I remember reading about it, but it says that you never use it during the take-off phase, that is, when you're going down the runway. But you can use it after you're airborne. Ken.

Yes. It's the Microsoft Force Feedback 2 which I had for years. The one thing I don't like about it is that it's not 64 bit compliant. I think I agree with you. I've noticed in videos how the pilot, at Vr, would pull the yoke back, but then it seems that immediately after lift-off, the pilot moves the yoke forward, and this is probably the center position y'all are referring to, or maybe near center. Ken.

I assume you're referring to the force feedback cable. It was already disconnected when the issue started. Ken.

That's basically what I was comparing it to. Where did you get that I removed the springs or any of the parts from my joystick? I have not removed them. I just have it disconnected from the cable that supplies the force feedback. My joystick is a force feedback, and can be turned off in the simulator. But for P3D simulators, if this cable is plugged in, it not only provides for feedback but also return to center force. In FSX, it only provides force feedback but with no return to center. Ken.

Well, it does have a return to center, but it does not use springs. Anyway, I have that turned off because the return to center action is not realistic to a real yoke in a actual aircraft. In a real aircraft, you can freely move the yoke back and forth and there's no return to center force, but that only applies when you're sitting on the ground. When you're in flight, you have aerodynamic forces acting on the control surfaces that put force on the control wheel. Therefore, the aerodynamic forces that some of you refer to are only being simulated by that return to center force. Yes, it stays on put when I have achieved guidance cues by following the flight director bars and a V2 + 20. This tells me that the airplane should be in trim. But let me mention that when I release the yoke, it is not centered because I'm in the climb. The yoke is pulled back, as it would be in the real aircraft. Yes, that's true that I cannot feel if the plane is in trim, but I could look at the PFD flight director bar and that should give me some cue as to how much to trim. If I continue to have issues with the auto-pilot not engaging, I'll just turn the return to center position back on so that I can feel the trim. But I've always used the flight director bars as a guidance as suggested in the manual. Ken.

Yes, it needs to be mentioned, if that's part of the actual procedure. Being a basic part of the initial training does not cut it. I'm not saying that a 737 pilot doesn't use the trim after take-off, but a new comer flying the PMDG 737NGX for the first time is not going to trim the airplane if it's not mentioned in the manual. He's going to use only the technique that's mentioned in the manual. Ken.

Hi Kevin, No, I'm not having to move my joystick just to maintain the pitch. The only time I'm moving the stick is when I rotate to raise the nose up and then pitch the airplane so that it follow the flight director commands. Once I have achieved that, it stays there for the most part. In other words, I'm not having to move the joystick back and forth just to maintain a certain pitch. That's basically what the airplane is doing. Ken.

Yes, that's basically what it does when I have the flight director bar and airspeed on cue, that is V2 + 20. It doesn't lose airspeed. It will maintain V2 + 20 as long as I follow the flight director bar commands. This is usually when I engage the auto-pilot. Yes, I understand. But what I'm confused about now is that I'm being told that I need to trim the aircraft after take-off, and I've never had to do that in the past. I've always just pull back on the yoke at Vr, pitch the airplane to about 15 degrees and follow the flight director commands to maintain a climb of V2 + 20. Then I was able to engage the auto-pilot. I went back and reviewed all of the manuals for this phase of flight, including the tutorials, and none of them mentions anything about trimming the aircraft during this phase of the flight. It just mentions the procedures I've just mentioned above. I've always assumed that the trim control automatically adjusts to different phases of flight, and that's the noise that one hears in the cockpit. The yoke has an electric trim control but it was my understanding that the FCTM discourage pilots from using them, and recommend that pilots use the yoke during this phase of flight. Ken.

Hi Kevin, I see where you're coming from. Since you say that I would go by the feel of pressure of my joystick, I would trim it so that it will be in trim when the joystick is in it's center position. But my joystick is not set for return to center position. In other words, there is no pressure. It moves smoothly as in the real aircraft when you move the yoke. Ken.

I've never had it to go to CWS. It would just never engage when I press the auto-pilot button. But I do need to check the null zones to be sure they're not tight. They should be fine because I've never moved them, and should be set at their default. I prefer the realistic. Ken.

Hi Kyle, As far as I know, I don't think another assignment is using the axis for the trim. The only one I've made changes to are the ones assigned by the FS2Crew for the PMDG 737NGX. I'm using the C and F keys. Let me be sure I understand your answer because it doesn't quite makes sense to me. When you said "No Climb." did you mean no pitching of the nose, because when the airplane is taking off, it's in the climb. I don't press the auto-pilot button until I've achieved a constant pitch, following the flight director bar, and when it's fixed, I then press the button. I agree with you that I would have to have the plane trimmed to where it maintains the same direction it's going. But when I set the trim prior to leaving the gate that's given by the FMC, is that exactly what I'm doing, setting the trim for this take-off pitch? And when the flight director bar is fixed, its it not trimmed to the point where the auto-pilot should engage when I press it? I think I would rather use the more realistic setting. I'm begging to think that the problem is in my controller. Ken.

I did not say it was the airplane that was causing the issue, and NO it's definitely no me for I'm using the correct technique. You've also have missed the point. I already know that the real aircraft auto-pilot will disengage if you put pressure on the control wheel, but that is not what's occurring, although it has done this with the 747. It WILL NOT engage when I press the auto-pilot. I've also mentioned that I set the trim control prior to leaving the gate, and I've always done this, as well as in the 747. When I'm in the climb, I'm following the flight director bars, as I'm supposed to, and it's right on the money when I engage the auto-pilot. So, there is NO reason for it to not engage, unless something is wrong with my controller. I've calibrated and I don't see any problem with it. So, what else is there? The technique I've used is by the manual, so it's not human error in this case. You say it sound like the trim axis is not being set to zero, and that's what it sounds like to me, But as I said, I set the trim to the correct position prior to leaving the gate. How do I check to make sure the trim is set to zero as you say? The FMC gives a trim setting of around 5.5 to 6.0. Is there something that I might have ticked in the FMC menu options settings that could cause it? The only thing I can think of is my controller. Let me mention this because this could play a part. I have the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2. Will disconnecting the force feedback cable cause this problem? I disconnected it because I don't like the return to center force that occurs in P3D. If I use FSX, I don't have this return to center force but when I fly using the P3D, the joystick has the return to center force, which is not realistic in the real aircraft, not in a real Cessna nor the real 737. Ken.

I've been very angry about this but the auto-pilot has not been engaging when I press it. It has done this on the 747 version 3 for the P3D and the 737NGX. Last night, I was flying the 737NGX and after departing Charlotte International at about 2 to 3 thousand feet, I pressed the auto-pilot button and it will not engage. What's the damned problem? I was not able to engage it until after reaching 37,000 feet, and after about 5 to 10 minutes, it finally engaged. It has engaged in the past and I'm using the same technique as I've always have. Yes, I've set the trim control, but the FS2Crew always comes behind me and resets it, but as far as know, it still should work. It is NOT doing what it's supposed to do. Ken.

Hi Kevin, I think I found the problem. To be sure, would someone tell me what the latest version is for the PMDG 737 800 / 900 NGX based package for FSX. I think I have an older version. I tried to check for the latest version on the PMDG website but nowhere does PMDG show the latest versions for their products. Ken.

Hi, Well, I updated all the PMDG aircrafts, including re-installing the 777 and the 747v3. But instead of having 5 notifications, I'm getting 2 notifications every time I open the PMDG Operation Center, and it's on the same aircraft each time. One is the 737NGX for FSX and the other is the PMDG 737-600 / 700 NGX. But the Operation Center has not prompted me to download a new full version of the 737NGX. I clicked OK to update them. But when I run the Operation Center again, the same 2 aircrafts appear every time, as though I've never updated them. I believe if the Operation Center has updated them, there should be NO notifications when I run the Operation Center again. Ken.

Okay, I got it. I think I do recall that there's a 777 that needed to be installed. It did prompted me to download the full version but haven't done that yet because I've haven't flown it in some time. I guess I need to start keeping them all updated, rather I fly them much or not. Thanks, I'll go and get this done now. Ken.

Hi Paul, I do not see anywhere on the PMDG website from my account page to download the latest Operations Center installer. Where, specifically is it? Ken.

Hi, The PMDG Operations Center is one tool used to update the PMDG products. When I first open it, It would say that I have 6 new notifications, meaning that new updates are available. I run these updates by clicking the OK button. Then when I go back and open the Operations Center again, the same 6 notifications are there again, and I've just updated them. Why are these notifications keep prompting me to update them when I've already ran them? Ken Manning.

Hi Umberto, Yes, that's what I was thinking. And here's the strange part: I never did use the catering service but yet, it shows up in the content error report. But everything was working fine and there were no missing textures on the services I was using. The services I used were the boarding, the jetway, and the pushback. Here's what showed up in the error report regarding the GSX: error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.86] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_LM.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.87] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_SP.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.88] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.89] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_LM.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.90] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_SP.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.91] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.92] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_SP.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.93] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_LM.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.94] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.95] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_LM.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.96] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_SP.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.97] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.98] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_SP.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.99] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_LM.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.100] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.101] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_SP.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.102] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_LM.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.103] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.104] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_SP.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.105] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_LM.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.106] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.107] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_SP.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.108] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_LM.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.109] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.110] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_SP.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13)[error.111] error=Texture GSX_CATERING_1_LM.DDS failed to load (FE_REQUEST_STATUS==13) Of course, the GSX is not the only one giving error reports. It's the PMDG, the Cessna 152 and 172 by Carinado, and a few others, and I did not see anything wrong and everything was working. So now, it seems that all this stuff about Content Error Reporting is new to everyone, even the developers, and no one from LM has provided any information as to the meaning of these errors and how to fix them. So the questions are why is the Content Error Reporting these errors even though the textures are showing up just fine? Why is the PMDG reporting fx effects errors when there are no issues regarding the effects? I did turn off the so called head Movement because it's not realistic to me and makes it that much harder to keep the mouse curser on the item you want to click or turn. Could that be the reason for the fx effects error repot? Will turning things on or off, or ticking or unticking boxes in the Options/Applications menu give or cause content error reports Ken.

Well, I knew the AS was one of the requirements to make it display on the ND, but I was wondering if the Rex Weather radar had been implemented to work in the PMDGs so that I won't have to go and spend another $50.00 for another weather engine. Ken.