DJBradford

I paid $85 for shipping. High I know but the package was very big and weighs 6.3Kg so I'm not surprised. As for import taxes or VAT, I don't seem to have been charged anything (or at least haven't been given a bill yet). I think it has something to do with these being classed as books.David Forgot to add there was a cheaper shipping option with delivery estimate of about 2 weeks.David

Hi PMDG fans,So I got my chief set today (just a couple of hours ago) and thought I would give a very brief feedback of it. I'm sure you'll understand that I haven't read through the 3000 pages just yet so this really is a quick first impressions review of the set. But from having flicked through all the books and read through some pages I can say without doubt this is beyond anything PMDG has ever done. Just to let you know a little bit about me before you decide if my comments are trustworthy, I'm a university student in the UK hoping to become a pilot. In fact my interview and skills assessment for my potential flight school (oxford aviation) is on 22nd december so wish me luck. This is the first set of manuals I have bought from PMDG so I can't really make any comparisons to the manuals for the MD-11 but if they are anything like this they must have been amazing (but I'm sure these are so much better!).I have included a few images giving you some close up shots of whats in the books, there's just a few to give you an idea of what you'll get.So opening the box everything is nicely laid out, although one thing I would say to PMDG is that things seemed a little loose in the box. Mine arrived in perfect condition but if there was a particularly heavy handed handler along the postal route there may be a potential for a little damage.When taking everything out and skimming through some pages of each book you get an idea of the quality everything has been produced to and why the set was the price it was. The package weighed 6.3Kg, thats alot of paper, and good quality I would add too. Its not the type that tears easily just by flicking through it which you'll do on many occasions I'm sure. The good print quality on top makes for fantastic reading. There is a huge amount of content covered in all the manuals, far too much for me to list but hopefully the pictures below will give you an idea. Every part seems well explained with a vast amount of detail. Just flicking through I noticed they even tell you how and when people on the ground are injured my moving aircraft and how to avoid this. The manuals are filled with detailed diagrams like of where the wheels are positioned during taxing, where all the flight controls should be with an engine out and where the emergency exits are! This all aids you in your understanding of the material. To keep them safe, the larger manuals (FCOM volumes 1 and 2 and the FCTM) are kept in nice big binded folders. All the manuals have nicely labelled dividers and are filled with contents lists to help find what you want quickly.Once past the giant manuals you then get onto the smaller QRH which really makes you feel like a pro. I think the QRH is a good example of why it's nice to have printed manuals rather than relying on pdfs even if you print them off. It's going to be great having the little book at hand, professionally organised and sectioned with colourful dividers. It has all your troubleshooting instructions, performance tables, checklists etc. Like the manuals the print quality is excellent and the coil binding makes it really easy to scan through and find whatever you're looking for. The laminated checklist which you get in both the captain's and chief's sets are a useful addition. They're fairly brief which is suspect they're supposed to be. But it's nice having something which won't get damaged during their repeated use and possible drink spills.In the image above you can see some of the extras you get with the chief pilots set. The lights and switches guide is a particularly nice addition. It is nice knowing where everything is and more importantly knowing what the switch actually does rather than just blindly following a checklist. This manual is printed entirely in colour and must have taken a considerable amount of time to put together (it doesn't appear to be a manual from boeing as they're not mentioned). The diagrams of the switches and panels don't seem to be shots out of the sim but computer drawn diagrams highlighting important features. You also get the large schematics of the aircraft. They're a nice little addition if you really want to understand how the aircraft works. They show systems around the aircraft and the panels in the cockpit that show you how these systems are performing. Again, fantastic print quality. The next addition you get is the jeppesen charts which I believe go with the tutorials that will accompany the software on release (correct me if I'm wrong). The maps cover Logan International in Boston and JFK in New York. It's nice to get your hand on some proper charts and have an opportunity to fly in and out of some key big airports in the proper manor.Finally of course you also get the posters of the cockpit in the chiefs set. I haven't checked these out yet lol but I'm sure they're great too. They came in a nice container though.Of course the big factor which will determine a lot of peoples decisions on whether to buy the sets or not is price. Personally, I think they are well worth it and when you have them you can understand why they are the price they are. I think the chief's set is a great unltimate set of manuals to have but if you wanted to try to keep the costs down, the captains set is fantastic too and contains all the must haves. They key addition you're getting with the chief's set is the lights and switches manual and the jeppesen charts, but these won't be necessities for everyone. As for shipping, I live in the UK so shipping was quite substantial but international shipping on a large 6.3Kg package is going to be expensive. It's a decision that each person has to make on their own, but the price for the goods themselves I would say is excellent and worth every penny, especially for true enthusiasts. If these are any resemblance to the quality and detail of the 737NGX, then it is going to be the must have addon for FSX ever made. One final point worth mentioning is that some people were worried about being charged importation taxes. I don't seem to have been charged but will update you if I get any kind of bill in the post. If you have any questions I will try to help :).David Bradford