777simmer

ok...if he just wants two different VORs for the sake of having it...then I agree...no point in that. I thought he had a reason similar to those I mentioned. (Besides for tuning proper nav aids during approach, autoruning is used so the FMC can keep updating its RADIO position and compare it to IRS and GPS position. So I agree, no need to mess with that part of auto tuning.)

there are many reasons to manually tune stuff. The Auto tune often does not tune a freq untill LNAV is already on an inbound course....if I want to see the inbound VOR course needle BEFORE intercepting this inbound course then I would need to manually tune this. If you are cleared for an approach that you do not have in your database you can often use an overlay procedure. For example flying an NDB (not in database) you could use the ILS if it has the same inbound course (be carefull to also check the missed approach). However, if this NDB requires a VORDME as well then you need to manually tune this as autotune would select the ILSDME. If you are flying an LNAV departure and want to preselect a VORDME because your EO SID (Engine failure departure) is different and requires a turn at a certain distance then you would manually tune this VORDME before take off. etc.

No, the real airplane will not do that. Or at least, it should not and I have never seen it. But that does not mean it cant happen or will never ever happen. Many things can be coded wrong and these bugs will then be corrected in the next database update. We have had all sorts of bugs in the past......like the aircraft turning in the wrong direction (left instead of right) immediatetely after take off as the SID required a 180 degrees turn to a waypoint behind us. The only thing you can do is revert to HDG mode, and trun/fly as required. Then, usually when you put the active waypoint on top again, all problems are magically solved.

Ha ha...that is actually a nice one.....the only thing is that this TRANSFERS the whole EFIS control function from the L/R (as selected) EFIS control panel to the CDU. In other words your left or right EFIS control panel no longer works then (failed)....or at least, it shouldnt work anymore after that.......I have not tried in the PMDG though. That is actually the reason this function is there in the first place....it allows setting stuff on your PDF even with a failed EFIS control panel. Anyway, If you enter the minimums into the CDU they should only appear on the PDF that you have failed the EFIS control panel for. The other side minimums still need to be set with the normal selector. Unless you simply choose to not set the minimums on the other side at all. However, the "approaching minimums" and "minimums" call, are linked to the Capt side minimums. So they must be set. And so, to make use of this little trick You would have to fail the Capt side EFIS control panel :-( If the PMDG allows the use of both CDU and EFIS control panel side by side (without failing the EFIS control panel) then this is quite a nice little find :-)

Everybody uses his sim in different ways. I dont do real time long haul flights.....actually, I never even cruise or if I mustt then in fast fwd mode. I mainly like to do take off and departures and approaches, landings and go arounds. So I have to set minimums a couple of times every 1-3 hour sim session. Try setting a 1360 baro minimum, follwed by a 200 minimum, followed by an 800 minimum...etc....it gets fiddely! But that is besides the point, all we are trying to do is come up with ways to make things easier....your answere helped nothing. I have changed to that already as well and I agree that it is easier to use. Good one!

I find it diffcult and fiddely as well. Often I need three or so effords because when the airplane is moving around I sometimes loose control of the minimums selector. Maybe we are doing something wrong though....I allways just drag with the mouse and never tried using the mouse wheel for example....dont remember if that even works. But if I am not mistaken you can select a keyboard "key press" to this function in the 777 MCDU options. For instance the "D" for down and "U" for up. Just make sure (to avoid conflicts) that these keys presses are not used by FSX, or by any other addon that you use, already!

I tried in the PMDG777.....no problem here. But I am not on the latest version of the 777 yet. Green lines visible in both Nav display MAP and PLAN mode (not in APP or VOR mode ofcourse).

I had no time to check in the PMDG, but in the real 777 it does not matter if you tune the VOR with RADIAL in your FMC on the Left or right side of the radio page. In either case you get a green radial. So my above comment was not correct.

The left side of the FMC radio page, tunes the captains radio only. The right side of the FMC radio page, tunes the FO radio only. The bearing pointers from both left and right side (VOR/ADF) can be made visible on both Capt and FO display. But if you switch to the ND VOR mode for example, then you must make sure that you tuned the correct side in the FMC. I have not manually tuned VOR courses for a while, but I guess the green lines only appear on the tuned side as well.

I have never in my life changed the default flight. Allways left the Trike as default. And still I had the see through engine problem, freezes and FSX crashes out of the blue after a year of no problems. So I dont think it is related to the default airplane being the Trike, or Cessna or whatever either. Something has corrupted something though. And since a fresh uninstall/install of the PMDG777 did not help me nor the OP, it is either: - a PMDG setting that is not changed by uninstall/reinstall of the 777 (just like product key and 777 settings that remain the same after an upgrade of the product.) Maybe the problem lies within the PMDG Ops Center. Post#2 fixed things through the Ops Center He could try updating it....doesnt hurt does it?! Believe it or not, I have seen performance improvement after an Ops Center update in the past. - or it is a problem inside FSX...going to be hard to find. - or even worse, a problem inside windows. If the only problem that the OP has is the see through engines, but otherwise everything is fine then I would probably disregard it.

I used to have the "no fans" problem as well in the preview window. No idea what had caused it......all was fine with the 777, and then all of a sudden, one day things got bugged....see through engines :-( It came with slower FSX performance as well, like the flight would freeze, and FSX would crash. I tried everything but could not fix things. An PMDG777 uninstall/reinstall did not help me either. But with the new 777 update available since yesterday, you might as well try if that helps things! In my case, back then, only once I overwrote my Win7/FSX install with a backup image did this problem go away. If you dont have a backup image then........ :-( I hope you find the cause and are able to fix things without a reinstall of FSX.

The 2D panels that are available are the MCP and the CDU. Additionally, all six 777 displays are available as 2D panels as well (also called 2D popups). PFD (L/R), ND (L/R), Upper center EICAS display and lower center EICAS and checklist display. If you use a 2Dpopup instead of a 777 VC display, then the respective VC display (for example the PDF) goes black. Any other 777 panel (overhead/pedestall) you have to look at and press buttons on via the virtual cockpit. I use OpusFSI to create fixed camera views so I can quickly switch to them by the click of a joystick button. But PMDG created default views can be used via the "A" key also. All 2D panels/popups can be moved anywhere/to any monitor (connected to the same graphic card) and can be resized as you like (even in FSX full screen mode).

Yes, correct. One of THE most important chapter to read through is the "AUTOMATIC FLIGHT" chapter (Chapter 4) in the PMDG777-FCOMv2. It starts on page 295 according Goodreader on my iPad. This chapter tells you exactly what each button on the MCP does, when a certain mode can be engaged and how it can be disengaged. Glad we got things sorted out :-)

Mm...well, if you are up to speed on things then I think we have a language barrier problem here :-( Cause I have no idea what you are trying to do! 1) "So STAR SVD1F SVD radial/course out 210 could be used with TRCK" ?? You want to track radial 210 outbound from SDV? You can do that with anything you like....as long as you stay on radial 210 it doesnt matter how you did it. With Lnav...with HDG SEL....with TCK SEL with nothing but your hands steering the 777 around without FD and without AP....whatever you want. There are simply different options and it is your job to choose the one that makes most sence or you feel most comfortable with. 2) "and also with A/P on or off?" ?? You want to fly without AP and without FD?. In that case there are no modes to select on the MCP....no Lnav, no TCK SEL, no HDG SEL....you are flying the conventional way. Or do you want to fly with FD but without AP? In that case see 1) 3) "If AP is on what is engaged on the MCP? Heading select? " You need to read the book about the PFD annunciations! It will tell you on the PFD what is engaged.....not just Lnav/HDG SEL/TCK SEL but also AP or FD. "AP" will be indiacted on the PFD if the autopilot is engaged. "FD "will be indiacted if the autopilot is not engaged but the flight director is on. Heading select (just like TCk SEL and Lnav) is a mode that the AP can follow, or the FD can give steering commands which you can follow (AP disengaged). If this does not help then you need to explain in other words please.

If the procedure is in the database, then, if you want to make full use of the 777 navigational capabilities, select it amd use Lnav to fly it. (And Vnav as well once you know how to use it) NDB, VOR and their missed approaches are most often in your database. Selecting the VOR16 approach into LOWW for example will draw the magenta lines on your navigation display and thus Lnav can be used to fly the approach. Either you follow the Flight Directors or you can let the AP do all the work. The missed approach is drawn as well, including the holding pattern, and if you perform a GO AROUND then Lnav command the FD or the AP accordingly Selecting the approach from the database will (should) also cause the FMC autotune feature to automatically tune the required navigational aids. This is a nice feature because some airline SOP require you to check with VOR needles (and DME if DME is required for the procedure) that the procedure is flown correctly by Lnav. Just the same , an NDB approach can be selected from the database and flown with Lnav. And again, normally that is how approaches are flown these days....with Lnav (and Vnav). The autotune feature is not available for NDBs however. If you want to (or have to depending on SOP) check that Lnav is flying the approach correctly, then NDBs have to be manually entered into the FMC NavRad page to the ADF pointer appear on your ND Cicling procedures are not in the database. Those you will have to fly with HDG or TCK SEL (or completely by hand with both FD and AP off....you can still use the ND track line to see where you are going though!) Ofcourse I would use TCK SEL and I would keep the AP engaged because it is much easier to fly a downwind track of 161 degrees with TCK SEL than with HDG SEL when you have for example a crosswind wind from 030/20kt. As soon as you have selected an approach from the database there is no need for TCK or HDG SEL anymore (except for using those basic modes to intercept your Lnav track). Why would you want to be messing with TCK or HDG SEL mode to try and stay on that magenta line if Lnav will do that for you much easier? Only when Lnav is not available (approach not in the database/GPS or other system faults (FMC failures) that made Lnav inop, only then would you HAVE TO use basic modes like TCK and HDG SEL to follow the VOR and NDB needles. You would be flying an approach the conventional way in that situation because the Lnav magenta line would not be available. By the way, even an ILS could be flown with LNAV and VNAV....simply do not arm the LOC and GS but keep Lnav and Vnav engaged instead. Not something you would normally do since an ILS is such a precise and easy procedure, that it makes no sence to use Lnav/Vnav for it...but it is possible.(VOR/NDB are not precise nor easy and Lnav and Vnav help a lot there!) LNAV and VNAV would be flying down the ILS path in that case, and since the FMC autotune feature would have autotuned the ILS frequency, you can check if LNAV/VNAV is doing a good job by looking at the LOC and GS pointers (they will stay white (not engaged=white) and are called ghost pointers in that case). I am not the person to ask for videos....no time to figure out how to do that, I am sorry.....I hope this helps a bit though.

That is what I never understood either....why, if you model an airplane outside FSX would you not model correct rudder/yaw behavior as well?! I guess the answere is: because the base FSX code does not make that possible. Accymetrical thrust condition and crosswind landings are really great and challenging things to practice. Too bad FSX is not good at this :-( I heard that even more modern software like Xplane is not that good at it.

1)As engine thrust decreases as the airplane is faster as well as when the airplane is higher, the resulting yaw with the loss of an engine is also less then when the engine failes at V1 or Vr or V2. How realistic this is simulated is hard to tell unless you would have had a couple of real life engine failures. In the Level D sim I never felt the need to apply full or hard rudder to compensate for yaw with an engine failure at cruise FL. Ofcourse there is yaw at cruise level, but way less, and since you dont have any reference to ground track up there you notice much less of it either. The bigger problem you face at cruise after an engine failure is that you cant maintain your altitude and have to start a drifdown procedure (use the FMC for this), while staying clear of other traffic (off airway heading), while communicating to ATC about this, while doing checklists! Additionally FSX has the problem that rudder is simulated completely wrong. Just try it, kick full rudder in any airplane, hold the rudder and see how the slip indicator self centers, like an auto rudder feature. The result is that you cant practice cross wind landings with side slip nor engine failures with use of rudder to correct for yaw. 2)correct, the 777 Fly by Wire system compensates for pitch up due to adding thrust and for pitch down effect due to decreasing thrust. Quite nice during short corrective bursts. But wha many forget...the 777 does have a (simulated) conventional trim behavior. So as speed changes and you get out of trim the nose will pitch up or down (after a 2-3 seconds) to find its in-trim speed.

And it is also nice to know how to tune VOR fix....so that you are not totally depending on Autotune to tune things exactly how you need them (like when you need a certain radial or DME distance for a procedure)

Heading select is used when ATC gives you a heading to fly or when a procedure requires you to fly a heading (often after take off). Track Select is used when you want to fly a track (which is heading compensated for cross wind). The black lines on instrument approach charts /a holding pattern/a course reversal/a visual circling procedure (downwind/base turn)...those are all tracks and can be flown easily with track select as it automatically corrects for wind drift :-) Most approaches are in your database so you would fly them with Lnav, but if there is little time to program things (below 10.000ft or in busy terminal areas you should not be heads down in the FMC too long...you should be looking out the window and concentrate on flying) you can use direct modes such as Vertical speed and Track Select rather than Lnav and Vnav. Sometimes approaches are not in the database so you would use track select to fly non precision approaches....or, in FSX, use track select rather than Lnav just because it is fun to fly NDB and VOR approaches like that :-) Also, to maneuver clear of a thunderstom, you can use use track select which is easier than heading select. Backcourse ILS are also flown with Track select (or Lnav) because the 777 can not capture a back course localizer.

Using outboard thrust does help a bit in real life and is used. But the nose wheel steering (plus main gear steering) is so good that differential breaking is not normally used. In FSX this is a different story though. I find myself skidding all over the place in FSX....not enough grip it seems. If I taxi with more than 15kt or so, and then try to make a turn with the tiller, it (777-200) simply keeps going straight ahead (pretty much). Differential braking helps a lot in FSX in my opinion and I use it all the time.

Just try non precision approaches then. Fly an NDB or VOR with TCK SEL and Vert Spd mode or FPA mode (flight path angle). Or try it with Lnav+Vnav or Lnav and VS/FPA. Fly full procesures (no radar vectors) with course reversal patterns and vertical profile as published on the approach chart. If you want realy challenging then try basic navigation (Cessna like flying).Switch from ND (EFIS) map mode to ILS or VOR mode and try approaches without a map display and see how good your positional awareness is when you dont have a map displaying your route! Etc. Lnav Vnav followed by ILS is a bit boring yes....but it is also realistic. Nothing makes me more happy after a 9hr night flight than a boring ILS ;-)

I agree...at least aks PMDG what kind of component failures are assumed with the ADIRU AIR DATA INVALID failure activated. I would like to look into it, but dont have the time for that at the moment :-(

Thx for the answere Milviz. I ended up not buying at this time :-( No 2D intrument popups are just really too bad for people like me with several monitors in extended mode (not 2D wide view!). I know about EZdoc...although I use OpusFSI to do the same....but as you know, with each additional FSX window that is opend up to display in addition to the VC on my main display, for example an additional zoom on flight instruments (display 2) and an additional zoom on engine instruments (display 3), frame rate drops considerably in FSX boxed/Steam :-( With 2D popups this is no problem, so I tend to buy almost only aircraft that offer that.

I know....but that is not a reply to my questions!

Hmm I wanted to make use of this offer as the products look very profesional.....nothing "kiddie" about it if you ask me! But, The F4 version I was looking at....the one that can land at a carrier, seems not finished yet? Also, I have recently started using FSX SE. But I also still have FSX boxed including all my previously bought scenery (a lot!) on my second Win7 OS boot disc. The idea is that if I ever dont like FSX SE anymore (maybe an automatic update screws it all up) then I might want to revert to my FSX boxed installation again. But it seems that just to fly the exact same F4 in both boxed and Steam version, I would have to spend another 15€ for two installers?? Can the regular FSX boxed installer not be used to install in Steam as well?....I have two seperate Win7 boot OS....one for FSX boxed and one for FSX SE so even though we are talking about ONE PC, they are not intefering! (I dont use P3D) The other plane I was looking at is the 737200. I love steam gauges and have been looking for a steam gauged Boeing for ever and I dont know how I could have missed this one! Funny enough this aircraft does seem to come with ONE installer tha works in both FSX boxed as well as Steam! So no additional 15€ for an extra installer, correct? Finally, to make use of my 3 monitors I would like to put some instruments (2D popups) on one of my secondary monitors while the VC is displayed on my main monitor. Does the 737200 come with 2D popups for Attitude/HSI/engine instruments/FMC/autopilot panel? Thx