indyrocks

Even the "No Electronics" sign is soon to be obsolete since the FAA, CAA, and most other regulatory agencies have relaxed the restrictions on the use of electronics during all phases of the flight. I flew on B777's from 3 different airlines in the last few weeks, and all of them permitted the use of approved electronics from gate to gate. I was able to keep my IPhone and Nook e-reader on during the entire flight, although the phone was in airplane mode. The only non-approved electronics are those that transmit a voice signal (e.g. cell phones that are not in airplane mode). If they haven't changed their policies yet, all airlines are likely to adopt the new policy soon. An example of that new policy can be found here for American Airlines, and here for British Airways.

Patrico: One of the best gifts that I've received recently was a copy of a book called "Microsoft Flight Simulator for Pilots: Real World Training". It is very well written, with a 4 1/2 star average based on 138 reviews. It is well worth the $12 - $15 that it costs on Amazon. I have a private pilot's license, so that part of the book was more of a review. (If you've never taken any flight instruction, or if you're in the middle of that instruction, you'll find that it is very useful in that regard. The title says it all.) I was most interested in the sections on Instrument and Commercial flying. The book clearly explains the various phases of an instrument flight, from Clearance Delivery to Ground Control to Tower to Departure Control to Center to Approach to Tower to Ground. My only complaint is that the graphics are all in gray-scale. Some color here and there would have been good, but it would also have increased the price. Anyway, perhaps a late request to Santa? Or a visit to a used book store, which is where my 'Santa' found my copy.

I use Dropbox to load up any documentation that I want to read through. Than I can use WiFi on my Nook (or even my IPOD) whenever I get a chance to read it. With Dropbox, I can keep everything stored in the cloud, or I can choose to download it to my device if I'm not going to be near a reliable WiFi connection. That way I took all the T7 (and Majestic Q400) documentation with me to Europe a few weeks ago to pore through on the long train rides or the quiet evenings. It was especially interesting reading about the 777 while actually on a 777!

Since the current colors were selected by Jacqueline Kennedy when the 707's were being used, there is a lot of sentiment regarding them. Even generations later, there is a powerful mystique surrounding the Kennedy name. It would be very unpopular to change it just for the sake of change. Besides, when you see either of the 2 aircraft up close, it's a beautiful classic livery. It certainly doesn't look 50+ years old!

Necroposting. I love the new term (new for me, anyway). Thanks Kyle.

You might try checking the PMDG Operations Center. Even after I installed SP1c, there were still updates there for the -200 and -300.

I don't think I've ever seen so many unanimous opinions on an avsim forum! I'll add my voice to everyone so far -- if you can only buy one of the two products, then I would recommend ASNext. I have been a REX user, and still use their textures, but the ability to use a fully-functioning radar was just too much for me to ignore. (The 737NG from another company :wink: actually used it first, so I get to enjoy the radar in two different aircraft. I'm surprised more aircraft developers aren't adding the ability to their products. It would breath some new life into older models.) ASNext is relatively expensive, but it enhances your flying experience so much. Without it, you're not using the -200LR and -200F to their fullest. At some point, you will want to buy the 777-300ER. It is different enough to almost qualify as a new product. But that can wait until you've flown the -200LR and -200F models so many times that you're becoming bored, although that's pretty hard to imagine.

Same here. After the update to SP1b, I noticed two things... All of my custom internal and external views had been replaced in the aircraft.cfg files with the default views. All of my -200LR airline repaints were gone from the FSX Free Flight list; only the PMDG house colors remained. Strangely, my -200F and -300ER repaints were fine. On a hunch, I opened the Operations Center to see if there were any messages. Lo and behold, there was just such a message waiting for me that said something like "we have detected that some liveries have been deleted". (I can't remember the specific wording.) When I ok'd the software to replace those missing liveries, they were all back within a few seconds. The custom views were not replaced, however. Since I've been down this road a few times before, I had my custom views saved to a separate, read-only file so it only took a couple of minutes to re-install them in all 3 aircraft. Lessons learned... If any changes have been made to the aircraft.cfg files (e.g. custom views, Shockwave lights, edited exits, etc.), keep backup, read-only copies in a separate folder. This is especially important before starting any upgrade because there might not be any warning about replacing edited version with a default version. (I learned this one with other aircraft.) Check the PMDG Ops Center every few days. You never know what might be waiting for you.

Rwy 14R/32L is being demolished to provide land for a new "western" passenger terminal, as well as a new entrance on that side of the airport. One of their points of emphasis seems to have been removing crossing runways and the very unpopular LAHSO operations. See this for more details. Regarding the runway usage, KORD currently has 4 active east-west parallels (soon to be 5), as well as 2 other pairs of parallel runways. And yet, with 8 active runways, there have still been 1-2 hour delays the last few days. Bad weather causes flights to be delayed, leaving the airport in "catch-up mode" for hours afterward when all those runways are put to use.

There is a new program from FSPS called FSX Fiber Acceleration that is designed for just the sort of problems being discussed on this thread. Basically it acts like a live scenery configuration editor that tweaks your fsx.cfg file on the fly, without actually changing that file. Although I was a bit skeptical, I agreed to try it out for a couple of friends on my computer. They had been experiencing OOMs when using the ConcordeX; neither of them own the PMDG 777. (I should mention here that I don't have any OOM problems with any of my aircraft, including the 772 and 773. I'm very happy with my FSX setup just as it is.) After a couple of days of testing, I had to admit that the program does exactly what it claims to do. One of the friends has purchased it and has had great results so far. The other friend is ordering it in the next couple of days. If you're as leery as I was, then have a look at a couple of YouTube videos, including one from Froogle, that show FSX Fiber Acceleration in action. Their reactions were positive as ours. Also, you can try FSX Fiber Acceleration before you buy it. You can download a trial copy that gives you 5 trial sessions of 60 minutes duration.

I had the same issue last night, using the -300. It was one of the rare times that I let VNAV initiate the descent. (I normally start 10 - 20 miles before the TOD in VS mode with a gentle 1000 fpm descent. When the LNAV 'catches up', I let it manage the rest of the descent.) But as I was diving at 9000 fpm, the error messages lit up like Apollo 13. I didn't think to write down those messages since it took me by surprise on only the 3rd flight for that particular aircraft. I remember a couple of hydraulic failures were on the list. Anyone have a clue yet about what's happening?

It's fine on my aircraft. Right-click to open the clear cover, left-click to push the button.

I made the switch from REX to ASN and I haven't regretted it for an instant. For one thing, it was getting to be nearly impossible to keep up with the various versions of REX. (To be completely honest, however, I do use the cloud/sky/water themes from REX.) But I made the switch a couple of months ago when iFly started supporting ASN's weather information for their new radar. And now that the 777 versions support it as well as automatic loading of winds aloft, I couldn't be happier. Yes, it's a bit pricey. But well worth it IMHO.

I found all of the B777-200s and B777-300s on FlightAware this afternoon and added them to a spreadsheet. All B777-200s (which are listed as B772 and B77L on FlightAware), sorted by Flight Number: https://app.box.com/files/0/f/0/1/f_19224515329 All B777-300s (listed as B77W on FlightAware), again sorted by Flight Number: https://app.box.com/files/0/f/0/1/f_19221066655 I tried to eliminate multiple occurrences of the same flight, but I may have missed one or two. Also, the numerical sorting is not perfect because the multiple-digit flight numbers don't use preceding zeros in the number. (e.g. Flight AAL84 must be listed as AAL0084 for it to be sorted correctly). If you don't know the ICAO airline code for a particular entry, you can find it here.

Although the AVSIM server is sometimes painfully slow, I have been able to get into it without difficulty. And I don't need to log in each time since I created a shortcut from within a logged-in session and use it to start each new session. Just remember to select "Remember me" on the login page.

I haven't been back since I posted my question yesterday. First, thanks to everyone who contributed. I have learned quite a bit from your comments. Second, thanks for not letting the discussion degenerate into a Boeing vs. Airbus argument. Some experts have pointed out elsewhere that the PF's experience — he was an experienced A320 pilot who was transitioning to the B777 — probably influenced what he believed was happening. One other question. One of the board's findings (#14) mentions an irony... If Asiana Airlines had not allowed an informal practice of keeping the pilot monitoring’s (PM) flight director (F/D) on during a visual approach, the PM would likely have switched off both F/Ds, which would have corrected the unintended deactivation of automatic airspeed control. I've always thought that the flight director's purpose is to help the pilot keep the aircraft on the correct 3D path through the sky. Why would the flight management software be designed so that simply switching the FD off has such a dramatic effect on airspeed control?

I've been wondering about the HOLD mode as well, but at the other end of the flight. The paragraph on p. 99 that Marco cited refers to its use during takeoff. I'd like to know more about the HOLD mode during approach and landing, especially with the release of the NTSB report on the Asiana 214 accident at KSFO. (As most of you probably have heard, Boeing is held at fault to some degree in 4 of the 40 specific findings.) How accurately does the PMDG model reflect the real-world functionality of the autothrottles in FLCH mode during approach?

Are you planning a transatlantic flight with your T7 today? If so, you'd be one of the bright dots in this North Atlantic Skies video clip.

It's not the same without Carly Simon singing "Anticipation". An example of the late 70's ad campaign (starring a very young Corey Feldman, with the late Casey Kasem as the announcer) can be found here. Of course, plastic bottles were not in widespread use then.

I generally do flights on which I have been, or am soon to be, a passenger. The aircraft type on the actual trip doesn't matter, it just needs to be "long-haul". For me that usually means US to/from Europe (mostly UK), with an occasional visit to Hawaii or Tahiti. We haven't been anywhere in Asia yet, but my other half is starting to weaken on that point. When selecting the departure city and route, I look for "interesting" weather (low ceiling, thunderstorms, thick fog, etc.). The flights that I have 'flown' the most on a PMDG 777 (all of them round trip)... KORD - EGLL (I've flown this on a number of aircraft types and on a number of different airlines) KDFW - EGLL (The last two trips to the UK, one on a BA 744 and the other an AA 773) KJFK - EGPK (I flew this a few times on BOAC/BA Super VC-10's to visit my grandparents in Scotland. The VC-10 was an amazing aircraft that is often unknown to other pilots.) KORD - EGPF (a now-dormant AA route that was flown with B767s) KJFK - LIRF (a trip last spring, without the EGLL connection) KJFK - LIMC (a trip coming up this fall -- I may have fallen in love with Italy) KSTL - EGKK (an old favorite from TWA days. AA is fine, especially since we often upgrade, but I miss TWA.) KSTL - PHNL (another TWA favorite; KSTL is so handy to my home KIND, but sadly not a hub any longer) KLAX - NTAA (from a trip years ago that was flown on a chartered Hawaiian Air DC-10 before and after a very memorable 10-day Renaissance cruise)

In question #8, I don't think you mean "transcontinental" for the last choice since that's already covered by other descriptions in the list. For example, the transcontinental route New York–Lost Angele is within North America, which is already a choice in the list. I think you mean either intercontinental or transoceanic. The term intercontinental is more common, and would cover routes like London-New York and Tokyo-Buenos Aires. It's especially well-known in aviation thanks to the revolutionary Boeing 707-320 Intercontinental aircraft that had the range to be the first truly intercontinental jet airliner. But intercontinental does not apply to flights to/from islands like Hawaii, Tahiti, or the Seychelles. So the better, most inclusive term for the survey would be transoceanic. For forum members whose first language is not English, "trans" means across and "inter" means between. So transcontinental means across a continent (e.g. Los Angeles–New York), and transoceanic means across an ocean (e.g. London–New York or Honolulu–Tokyo). Intercontinental means between continents (e.g. London–New York). Yes, that High School Etymology class can really help you at times.

When you're flying and decide to change altitudes, you can enter the new one in the ASN flight plan and it will update the winds. If it doesn't have values for that altitude, it will interpolate between the altitudes for which it does have specific values. BTW, you can use Notepad to change the altitude/flight level in the flight plan file before you start your flight. I usually use FL320 for westbound flights, and FL330 for eastbound flights.

Above FL280 I always switch to Vertical Speed mode for the rest of the climb to cut out the oscillations the VS goes through at higher altitudes. I gradually decrease the VS as the climb continues, always keeping it 800 ft/min or more. I started doing this because whenever my climb rate was less than 500 ft/min, the Radio Contact 4 controller would "remind" me what my assigned altitude is.

That will give me a chance to check this tiller thing out, since I just purchased the Q400 a couple of weeks ago. What a coincidence. I haven't done anything more than start it up and taxi a bit. The Q400 seems much more involved than the 777 to fly so I've been putting off flying until I have the time to do it justice.

Thanks for the explanation. I know there are times when rudder-only steering is recommended (e.g. above 30 knots), but I've never concerned about that distinction. You really do learn something every day.