january

Boeing has a training product called "Flat Screen Simulator". It appears that it might be a competitor for P3D. One wonders if that may be the reason PMDG does not offer their new B777 for Lockheed's Prepare3D. That is: because Boeing made PMDG privy to many tech aspects of the 777- it would be illogical to allow a serious training version of that sim to be used on a competitor's software. The absence of a 2D version of the Triple 7 makes me wonder if PMDG might be doing that for exclusive use by Boeing for professional training. After all, the FAA requires the visual attributes of 2D presentation ie Virtual is not acceptable since instruments,switches and buttons are not in fixed locations. january

I wonder how many folks realize that 50% of our doctors and teachers graduated in the bottom half of their class! I also heard of a statistician who drowned while wading across a creek that had an average depth of only two feet. january

The high rate of younger people getting into grave difficulty with mortgages, student or car loans and credit card debt, is a powerful indicator that basic math skills are not being acquired as part of common curriculum in the ed system. One wonders if the inability to cope with basic mental arithmetic may be a root cause. IPads are no substitute Is the TimesTable no longer being taught? (Or is that now, simply where the New York or London newspapers are found?) Additionally, student views on what pay and salaries will be upon graduation, lead me to wonder where they obtain their career information. Probably Facebook I suppose. january

The best definition of intelligence i've come across is simply- "The ability to adapt readily." One wonders if the young of today are so dependant on "hardware" that they are losing the ability to survive (adapt) without it. There is no substitute for logical thinking - espec. the ability to do fast, if only simple, mental arithmetic computation for daily decision comparisons. Such as- how does job offer A, with a weekly salary, compare with B at a monthly salary? Or C with an hourly rate? Ah well, in the absence of logic capability, those job offers are unlikely in the first place. january

One has to wonder at the connection between unemployment data versus popular lack of language (both spoken & written) and math skills. january

How things have changed! My high school days in the 1940's comprised grades 9 to 13 - the latter including 2 English subjects, a language, 3 maths and 2 sciences plus a hitch in the school Cadet Corps. ( I was 2IC in my last year and also led the Bren machine gun team. And yes the school had its own rifle range in the basement! And no, this was NOT a private military academy but a public high school in Toronto.) Given good marks in Gr 13, you were finally deemed fit for university or the working world. Part time jobs were standard- those who didn't have one were seen by their peers as not very ambitious. i started mowing lawns at age 10 - in Gr 13 I worked every afternoon & all day Sat. in a gas station, and Sat. evenings running a pop concession at a local high school dance. A good way to chat up the girls! Bought my first house at age 24, and made it a boarding house for my university pals for a year before getting married. I won't recommend the above for all today- it no doubt was a legacy of growing up in the depression and war years. But it sure helped when I hit the adult years! january

Yes, for sure. LM is not in the entertainment business but a few bucks from that source helps to pay the rent and cover some costs of development. Since Boeing is also now in the business of simulator training via their "Flat Panel Simulator" offering, one wonders if we might someday see a PMDG 777 version in 2D format, and offered EXCLUSIVELY by Boeing. (This would also explain why there is no 2D version in the current 777 offering.) (Since the FAA will not approve Virtual display presentation for professional use, that might be solved by a 2D version of T3, just for Boeing ! ) january

Boeing is becoming very active in simulator training- including the use of what they call "Flat Panel Simulators". LM & Boeing are competitors. Therein lies a good reason for BOEING to not allow the PMDG 777 to be used on P3D. Do a search on "Boeing Flat Panel Simulator". Interesting question is: What simulator software is Boeing using? january

A remarkable video- I continue to be amazed that the pilot can maintain situational awareness given the pummeling his body is taking. A long time ago I played with aerobatics on my FS triple screen setup. Even with no physical motion, the optics alone would occasionally leave me a bit queasy. I decided then to decline any invitation to ride as a fighter passenger at airshows! Flying an Immelmann manoeuvre in FS9 was stomach churning! january (Inverted over CYYJ. The horizon appears to bend in screenshots because they don't take into account the physical positioning arc of the monitors.)

It is my understanding that many school districts no longer teach handwriting- why should they when everyone has a Blackberry or IPad? Which raises the question as to how a high school "grad" would sign his own name to a job application or a paycheque. january

Mulally is now 68 years old. I somehow doubt that he would be interested in taking on the overhaul that is needed at MS. january

At the 2000 AVSIM conference in Seattle, a university researcher in sleep deprivation, told our audience of a flightcrew that was returning to the US from an extensive tour to Asia. For the final leg across the pacific, the captain, being aware of crew fatigue, asked the senior flight attendant to look in on the flight deck every 20 minutes or so. Hours into the flight, another cabin attendant became alarmed when her supervisor had not returned from the f/deck. She then checked herself, only to find both Captain and FO sound asleep- and with the FA supervisor asleep in the jumpseat- her chin resting on the back of the captain's chair! january

Like all great ladies, the true beauty is inside! january (747-400 photo by Manuel Marin, with permission.)

In September 1939, Herman Goring famously said "If one enemy bomber reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Goring- you can call me Meyer!" Perhaps one may assume that Herman subsequently revised HIS thinking? january

Many years ago- I think about 1962 or 3, I was aboard an Air Canada DC8 starting a nightime, low vis. approach into Toronto YYZ, when there was a terrific roaring engine noise and what seemed like vibration heavy enough to tear the airplane apart. We passengers, sporting very alarmed faces, looked about at each other seeking reassurance. The date was only a short time after another AC DC8 had unexplainably plunged into a field at St Therese, Quebec with the loss of all souls aboard. After what seemed an eternity- certainly long enough for all to have offered a few silent prayers- the noise and shaking diminished, including from both airplane and passengers!! And then to our relief, a voice over the PA said "This is the captain- we apologize for the unusual noise and vibration of the last couple of minutes, but due to a late clearance, we've been using reverse engine thrust to descend more rapidly than usual." So, at least in those days reverse thrust was used while airborne! january

It would seem that many T7 pilots have little interest in the cockpit panel artwork. A quick survey of 40, T7 contest screenshots showed only ONE of the cockpit panel and 39 pics of the airplane as seen from the outside! january

Can you try using the same resolution for both monitors? Perhaps a conflict there.. january

It's been a long time since i worked with multi mons- but if I recall, each view must be completely within its own monitor- if even a tiny wafer of a view remains outside that monitor, you get a catastrophic frame rate drop. Be sure to size the image to fit within its monitor. january

Jim- you are quite right- it is a hodgepodge of 2D pop-up panels and not very true to life- except that all gauges and instruments are fixed and instantly available relative to the pilot's eyes. My intent with the pic, was to show the need for "width" in panel display But you miss the point that a 2D full width triple monitor panel could perhaps be created from existing virtual, "works of art" panels. What I'm lobbying for is to retain the superb virtual panel artwork but provide an option for it to behave in a manner like fixed real world cockpit panels- no panning / no zooming and fixed relative to the pilot's eyes. That requires WIDTH which can only be achieved with multiple monitors. (Or multiple projectors as in commercial simulators.) january

If 2D panels are obsolete, why does the FAA refuse to accept virtual panels in "approved training devices"? The reason is that REAL aircraft instrument panels do NOT zoom in & out, up & down, nor twist around in sync with the earth's horizon. The FAA requires that any instruments, gauges, switches & buttons shown on such a device, must remain in a fixed or unchanging location. The idea being that the trainee pilot needs to learn these exact locations by rote- without having to think about it. In a virtual system, the instrument panel is synched to the horizon. In a real aircraft, the panel is "synched" to the airplane AND to the pilot's eyes & brain - regardless of aircraft attitude. Just imagine trying to fly inverted with a virtual aerobatic plane! ------ That said, market place economics undoubtedly have led to virtual technology leaving 2D as an "also ran". But I wonder what would happen if a developer were to simply chop his virtual panel code into three, fixed 2D segments- to be displayed synched, side by side on multiple monitors. Perhaps there is a whole new market out there for a truly wide screen simulation that more accurately represents what a pilot REALLY sees!!!! (Three very cheap 19" monitors, all running at modest resolution for high system performance, will produce a panel image of about 50" width- not too far from the real world size. And yes, simple bezel adjustment will make 3 separate images appear as one- just like the windows in your car.) january Fokker 100 on Juneau approach (AMD XP 2200 @ 1.8 GHz)

MS ESP is the commercial use version of FSX SP2 and was renamed by Lockheed Martin as Prepare 3D when they purchased rights to it in 2009. FSX is not rated for flight training - the rating applies to the training device itself and how it functions. One of the FAA requirements for device certification is that any instruments, gauges, switches etc remain in a fixed location on the unit or display screen. So panning and zooming is not permitted in an approved device but presumably 2D format/presentation could be acceptable. january

LM almost certainly put a provision in their agreement with MS - that they would have EXCLUSIVE use of FSX for the duration of the contract. (I think it highly unlikely that MS sold the rights in perpetuity.) Don't expect any licence agreements to others in the near future. A related thought re P3D and the decision by PMDG to NOT provide an FX 2D panel for their new 777 : A professional version of 777 running solely on the P3D platform might command a significantly higher price and be a nice additional source of revenue for PMDG. Remember that PMDG originally started as an organization publishing training manuals! And Robert Randazzo is a professional pilot. If such proves to be the case, the P3D version would have to be in a 2D format, per FAA regs that require all instruments, gauges, switches etc to be in a fixed location - panning & zooming not permitted. That might explain the omission of a 2D panel for FX T7 users. january

My understanding is that the FAA has mandated that with any simulator used to qualify for flight training- any gauges, instruments, switches, buttons etc shown on the display, must have a fixed location on the display. (ie panning/zooming not permitted) That follows the logic of a real flight deck where everything on the panel is fixed- ALWAYS in the SAME spot, as expected by the pilot(s). And that is what you get with 2D presentation. Here is a 5 year old screenshot of the PMDG 747 in 2D with just about every popup available for that old lovely lady- INCLUDING the 1st officer instruments - AND triple 2D views LFwd,Fwd & RFwd - all synched into a single - 135º panorama, where you need no panning nor zooming. Sadly this approach seems to be dead. Enough said. january (Turning left over English Bay, near Vancouver BC.)

Thanks Ron- had a look thru' those but didn't see what I had in mind. Best description of my thinking would be a converted "virtual and unzoomed" panel that was modified to "2D" so it does not roll and pitch- but always remains constant or fixed, relative to the pilot's eyes. As is the panel in a REAL airplane. If one used a fairly large screen- perhaps 40"+ and as close to the pilot's eyes as possible, then there should be no need to zoom in/out. A 2D fixed panel containing all instruments in the real thing would be a joy to behold! (Modern Virtual panels are works of art, so why not offer them also as 2D in a triple segment, fixed format? Virtual panels are relics from the days of very small monitors when popups were the only way to make all instruments available to the sim pilot, Virtual allowed the whole panel to be displayed but needed zoom capability) (Earlier I had suggested monitors as large as 60-65" and only 2-3 ft. from one's eyes. That turns out to require monitor resolutions only found in medical imaging- so scratch that- unless one has a fat wallet.) january

For what it's worth- A 64" (diagonal) monitor has a screen width of about 58" & height 34". (+or-) The B737 real world - main instrument panel (pillar to pillar) is 1515mm or about 60" wide and 17 1/2" high. What resolution would be needed to avoid graininess if such a monitor was positioned about 24" from the sim pilot's eyes? In a 2D triple views (Lfwd, fwd,Rfwd) arrangement, there would be NO monitor bezels and the pilot would have an uninterupted view of 135ºwith no zooming or panning needed! The views would touch each other and the instrument panel would be lifesize!! I wonder if triple monitors are about to become obsolete! january