Mike777

Appreciate that! Mike

RSR said here (first post): "We are working to publish a rollup-update for FSX/FSX-SE users. That should drop before the weekend, we think." Mike

Am I correct in thinking that the 777 will be updated for FSX soon after the issues with the 777-300 for P3D V4 are worked out? Thanks, Mike

Reminding others about the rule benefits the person not following it, since otherwise that person's posts may be deleted, and he or she won't know why. Mike

The NGX doesn't seem to place heavy demands on the sim. And I think when PMDG updates it for P3D they will also update it for FSX, possibly including an improvement to performance. The recently released and just updated 747 QOTS runs more smoothly than their 777, and they have said they will be updating the 777 soon as well. You might want to see how the NGX runs on your Dell before upgrading. Regarding the CPU, it depends on how recent the I7 is, and how many cores. I only have an I7 -300 series that's more than 5 years old and NVidia 560M card -- all this on a laptop, so I can't upgrade w/out buying a whole new computer. My CPU, which is quad core, is supposed to go up to 2.9 GHz on heavy demand. It's not great but it's acceptable. I use DX-10 preview which has helped, and get the latest drivers from NVidia (but with care), use NVidia Inspector, keep most sliders to the left, Scenery at Normal, Autogen at Sparse. Recent payware scenery updates run better than their earlier versions in some cases. As I understand it, DX-10 shifts some of the load from the CPU to the graphics card, so it depends what graphics card you have. Also the Steam version of FSX runs better than the original boxed version, and is sometimes on sale for as little as $5.00 Mike

I don't find it to be very realistic. If there is a crash on landing it resets to maybe 10 seconds before touchdown, which provides insufficient time to take control and eliminate the problem that led to the crash. Even worse with an aircraft like the PMDG 777 which has about a 20 second countdown. Years ago in FS9, after a 14 hour flight to Hong Kong's Kaitak, I did a decent landing, but as I was taxiing off the runway I hit some invisible scenery obstacle and the sim reset to a typically useless point in the final approach. No more crash detection after that! Mike

I just recorded a flight using the PMDG 777 in FSX-Steam) on the famous Kai Tak IGS approach and the replay was not accurate. The speed was too high and even worse the aircraft turned well before the proper turning point and started to fly into buildings. Flight Control Replay did load the starting flight situation properly, which it has not always done. Instead of adding all kinds of features like voice control I suggest that you test it thoroughly with all the aircraft and all the sims you are claiming it is supposed to work with. You also need to give clear instructions as to how to operate your program. Mike

Hi Stephen, Yes, I have an idea: turn off crash detection! It's pretty useless and unrealistic. You will know if you have done a hard landing and you will get obvious warnings if you over speed or have a tail strike. Mike

There's a known issue when the flaps are using FSUIPC (this is in FSX) that the flaps look like they are up but the sim sees them as down. However that happens in all modes, not just LNAV/VNAV. But I agree that the OP should try eliminating FSUIPC to see if the problem goes away. Mike

I agree. Let's stay focused on the OP's question. Mike

Hi Jack, If you are trying to avoid downloading a large file by purchasing a boxed copy of the NGX, unfortunately you will still need to download updates, which usually involves downloading a full installer. As Kyle Rodgers of PMDG said, you will still need to download an up-to-date installation file to get weather radar. Mike

I don't view the initial approach as especially difficult -- like following any approach to intercept an ILS and then following an ordinary LOC/GS. The tricky part is the turn, lining up properly with the runway (especially in a cross-wind), descending at the right rate. Of course that part can't be done with the A/P (and if someone believes the Land 3 annunciation he/she will be in for a bit of a surprise). Mike

If the nav info is installed from the link that Manny gave you certainly can fly RNAV using the FMC on autopilot until you have locked onto the localizer and GS, and you can continue to descend on the GS using the autopilot until you come close to the turning point. the ILS IHK 109.9 is for Runway 31, the reciprocal of 13 so no, it wouldn't be a good idea to use it! The info you provided on tuning SL ADF and CH VOR gives a good basis for cross-checking the course being flown in autopilot RNAV. Mike

Hi Kevin, You have a good point! My experience is more with the 777 on this approach. I do have a saved flight w/ the 777-300 (Asia's World City livery) that's a little closer than SL. It does tend to float up in altitude a bit, and it's a little unpredictable. But once the countdown is done it does go back to following the VNAV path and does capture the Localizer/GS. Probably not a good idea to be going more than 200 knots at the time the flight is saved. One trick that works pretty well w/ the 777 is to put it in slew mode (Y) while paused, unpause, let the countdown happen, then take it out of slew mode. I don't know how well that works with the 747 QOTS though. Mike

Hi Jack, The 777, 747, 737 NGX currently sold by PMDG are for FSX and P3D. IMHO your best bet is to buy them directly from the PMDG web site as downloads. That way you will receive the current versions, and you will obtain updates very quickly. They all have weather radar but they all need Active Sky Next or Active Sky 2016 for it to work properly. Mike