russert

IRL, a stabilized approach and landing within the TDZE and on center line is far more important than a 'soft touchdown'. A 3 fpm landing 3,500' down the runway is a terrible landing.

Even when it is a visual approach, we always plug in some sort of approach into the MCDU. Usually (90% of the time) it will be an ILS. If there is no ILS, I will usually plug in the RNAV (we aren't approved for LPV yet, so just LNAV/VNAV mins). Exceptions are places like KDCA river visual 19 where you can use the VOR or LDA-Z. On a clear day, I will sometimes turn off the FD and AP but we will always have either the ILS, RNAV, or another kind of approach plugged in for backup.

I jumpeated on a United 738 a few weeks ago and even with 800+ hours in the NGX and a real ATP in the E-170/190, I still felt a little behind the curve on the ground. A lot of it comes down to the SOPs and flows. The mental feel of being in the actual thing is way different than a desktop simulator. I have no doubt a simmer could hand fly a 737 on a clear and perfectly calm day with no ATC going VFR, but one definitely won't be able to push back from ORD and make it to 28R/EE during rush hour.

The way I think of it is private carriage vs common carriage and small vs large airplanes (common carriage = holding out (advertising) by offering to transport persons or property from place to place for compensation). Private carriage would imply the owner of the aircraft picks who gets to fly on his airplane and is not offering the airplane out to anyone who pays. Common carriage implies that anyone can come to you, give you money, and get to fly on your airplane. Private Carriage Small airplanes - part 91 Large airplanes - part 125 Common Carriage Small airplanes - part 135 Large airplanes - part 121 Common carriage will be more restrictive than private carriage (since customers are paying), and large airplanes will be more restrictive than small airplanes. Non-scheduled isn't always part 135, as large aircraft will fall under Supplemental operations under part 121.

Looks like the LVZ VOR is 4.2nm away, and it's frequency is 111.60. Whether or not it works in FSX, you would tune in the VOR into your nav equipment (nav 1 or nav 2) and press the nav audio button on the audio panel to listen to the voice transmitted over the VOR frequency.

When I'm out instructing in a C172 and all I want to do is go home and fly the NGX.

I remember my first solo because, well, it was at night! But wasn't really a big deal to me -- I was actually more comfortable landing at night than during the day (because of my schedule I was forced to fly after 5-6pm back in high school). The solo was more of 'Oh cool, can I go flying solo now all the time?!'.

It's not uncommon to be 'cleared to land, number 5' at Deer Valley, Phoenix AZ. From experience on some very busy days, the pattern is so tightly organized that one plane may touch down around 3-5 seconds after the plane in front lifts off. If tower wasn't able to clear you to land until the traffic in front had cleared the runway and then someone else jumped on the frequency to report inbound 10 miles or ready for departure, you would be forced to go around as the tower would not be able to issue you a landing clearance in time! So it increases efficiency and if you're too close to the other plane (or it's still on the runway), you simply go around -- it's not a big deal.

I've always thought that was the Milky Way. Anyway, I have never been a big fan of it either.

Thanh007,Just zoom in a little now and it should get better. I'm at 1.475 zoom with 3x26" (gives me the most realistic FOV in the case of if I was looking through the monitors into the real world, but TrackIR is also beneficial for that kind of setup too). About the CDU, you would need to going to the panel.cfg for the aircraft and adjust the size_mm=, window_size=, etc, for the CDU window. Sorry -- I can't tell you exactly what figures to change it to to make it more scale, as I never use 2D, but maybe someone else can advise.

I've seen the plane there a few times at IAH. It's a real flight AFAIK. FYI it is a PrivatAir 737-7AK BBJ -- registration HB-JAA.

My story is definitely a lot like the previous posts here regarding childhood memories. My earliest memory was getting to go in the cockpit of a BA 747 from the UK to the US (after drawing the pilots a picture of the plane), and since then my life has revolved around flying. Got my PPL and instrument at 19 and haven't looked back. I can never wrap my head around very wealthy individuals (movie stars, etc) that have millions of dollars yet never want to fly or own a plane. Unfathomable to me!

Thought I'd add these pictures to this thread.I was plane spotting today at KPHX, and saw a SWA737 with a relatively unusual (to me, anyway) vortex off its right wing.http://www.flickr.com/photos/russellmjohnston/5685623020/sizes/l/in/photostream/http://www.flickr.com/photos/russellmjohnston/5685053853/sizes/l/in/photostream/It was visible all the way from take off to as far as I could see.

I'm pretty sure the post above is what you are looking for. His set up is pretty much the same as mine, but I don't curve my screens due to the image stretching experienced on the far left and right screens (since I'm looking at the screens at an angle, they kind of cancel each other out).Portrait would be the same thing, just sideways.

Yep. Once you run the bezel correction right after applying surround mode, the new resolution is created and shows up in the FSX settings.I just went ahead and tested FSX out in portrait mode and it worked fine. Although I like the idea of the portrait mode, I think I prefer landscape, as the portrait mode got a little claustrophobic to me and I like how the peripherals in landscape mode give a sense of speed and actually being there.