alvin

A related question - is anything known about the timeline of NGX SP2 release? I am fully aware that PMDG guys have now full hands of work with fixing tons of rare issues with the T7, and then they will focus on the 300ER version, but since for now I am fully faithful with the 737NGX, I am quite interested in seeing SP2 coming alive.

Rob, if Paul is not correct in your opinion, please say where. For me it is an interesting discussion on what would be the (hypothetical) consequences of violating autoland legal requirements, especially those concerning airport certification (despite your dispute over terminology). Until now I didn't see any point where you two would really disagree (except the terminology, again). And no point in making personal comments not based on arguments.. cheers, Jakub

Hi Chuck, I too found this feature missing. I have written a small script in Python for accelerating the failures. The script reads the times when next failure of each type is going to set off, and dividies them by a set amount. So in a way it works as if the time was passing faster. Makes flying much more exciting. It also notices when the failure counters get reset because a failure actually occurred (it stores all necessary info in its own file). If you want the script (you need Python installed - its free) just PM me. Jakub

I think OP refers to the situation when AT stays in ARM mode for a longer period of time (after initial RETARD), and thus the throttle is under the direct control of the pilot. I too find this behavior, and I have to press F1 every now and then to lower N1 to its current minimum. I'm using Logitech Force3D pro joystick, but I don't know whether this is hardware issue or it has something to do with the NGX or FSX itself.

I must say, the hydraulics preview is awesome. Lots of things not covered in FCOMs, excellent work!

Hi guys,In my case the oil scenario was somewhat different - I had let my oil deplete just naturally (service based failures turned on, but no relevant failures active). Right engine went to 0, left had still something like 55%, and of course I was curious how will it break. There were no negative consequences of no oil (it actually went later to -1%), and when I reloaded the plane I started with 462384729347214% of oil (or something like that).

Ahh, didn't think about that one - sounds simple and working and I will try this next time - thanks! James, thanks for the extended info! Usually I had the impression that vatsim controllers overestimate the descent rate of 738ng, since after I assumed normal descend rate will be sufficient on base leg (throttle down, flaps 5, gear up), actually I should have used spoilers / extra flaps / gear down to match the descend path proposed by the approach controller. So I thought that maybe he was expecting me to expedite descent, by giving that information. Bert, thanks, you are right, although in the context of what I wrote above, I had the impression that it is something in between - maybe not an instruction, but rather a suggestion. Jakub

Hi Noah,I don't use RC, actually this instruction was given to me by VATSIM controllers, last time by EGKK_APP, I also saw it on at least one STAR chart describing a CDA procedure. The thing is that the lateral path to touchdown is not straight (it was always issued to me when I was on the base leg, vectored by the ATC), so simple putting a circle 25nm around the t/d point would not work.

Hello,what is your method of complying to ATC (approach) instruction such as "25 miles to touchdown" and adjusting your descent rate - do you compute it in your head, or there is some FMC trick that allows you to help yourself with that? I was a few times surprised by this instruction, and twice ATC had to adjust vectors because I was descending too slowly.. all bestJakub

You might be right, but when I checked FCOM I am still not sure - is it the computed a/c position that gets updated (with priority to GPS, then radios), or also IRS position gets updated?If the latter was the case, the IRS drift should be 0 all the time when GPSes are on, because IRS internal position would be all the time updated using the computed (and very close to the true) position? Andrea, thanks, you are great as always. I need one clarification: what is the meaning of the areas 'replace - 1 flight' and 'replace - 2 consecutive flights' Jakub

Hello,Does somebody know what is the IRS drift rate for IRSes used in the b737-800? I was testing this error in the simulator, and after ~10hrs I have average drift rate ~ 0.1nm / h, which seems to me a little low, at least when compared to b737 accidents caused by IRS misalignment.Jakub

Hi Andrea, thanks for the answer! Interestingly, the differential pressure also changes, so the moves of the pointer seem to only reflect this.Jakub

Hi,When the plane is on the ground, and I switch pressurization to manual mode, fully close the outflow valve, and then switch back to normal or altn mode, the plane pressurizes the cabin for a few seconds, and then depressurizes it. Is it some kind of system check?btw1 - FCOM documentation on pressurization is scarce at the very least; there is even no depiction or explanation of the cabin alt and press diff panel, or am I missing something?btw2 - I was delighted to see how opening doors changes pressurizationbtw3 - am I right there is a small bug there - the pressurization system should not be able to to the above thing, when packs are off?cheers,Jakub

As far as I remember this is beacuse the battery bus is powered by chargers (that are powered by GND power) (see the electrical system chart in FCOM2);what was puzzling for me in that scenario (gnd power connected, but switched off), was why battery is not charged, even though chargers are powered - Robert Randazzo replied that this is because battery tie breaker is opened when gnd power is off, and this mechanism is provided in order to protect the battery from overcharging.

Overtemp solo doesn't seem to work - loaded from a clean panel now. No trip off and no master caution. It also didn't trip any other failures after some time of flight.Jakub

Thanks, really sounds like a solution! Does it mean you always start each flight with loading a fresh default panel?Jakub

Fred, yes and yes: master caution was there, and I tried the trip reset, but the light didn't extinguish.Jakub

Thanks guys for the helpful comments!I always use "continuous" states - after each flight segment I save my flight and panel, and then reload it for the next leg some time later. So no default panel, for a many segments now.But, the picture seems even more complicated:I started the flight with 3 failures on (Engine #1 overtemp and overpressure, and #2 bleed air valve failure). The last failure was probably caused by the first two. However, I had no TRIP OFF light at take-off, so I pretended I didn't notice this (how would I know in RL). After the abovementioned 1hr of cruise flight, at the time the screenshot was taken, I had 6 failures. The three new were: apu bleed, eng1 bleed, and eng1 9th stage bleed; I assume they were caused by the eng1 overtemp and overpressure failures.So now the virtual life of my virtual plane is spared by this probable bug, because even if I wanted to use APU bleed now, I wouldn't be able to. Another thing is why I didn't get TRIP OFF light after engine start.. but its interesting to see "bad" air from an engine can actually damage valves in other parts of the aircraft. Jakub

The panel states were generated by NGX SP1b, so this should be ok. What I did though, was artificially increasing frequency of failures 13 times: by changing values of timers in the airframe .ini file (dividing second values in Failure Items section by 13). This should not however influence how bleed air systems logic... I think.Jakub

Hi,During today's flight I've got quite interesting pattern of failures. I have an impression that something might be going wrong here, but before I submit a ticket, I want to make sure I understand everything.Just after engine start, I noticed bleed air is not produced by engine #2; I closed the respective engine bleed valve, and elected to take off anyway using bleed air from engine #1 only (according to the procedures I should have used APU too, but I did not), with the isolation valve opened automatically (auto mode).After over 1 hrs of cruise flight, BLEED TRIP OFF light on the left side illuminated, indicating overpressure or too high temp coming from engine #1; according to FCOM 2.20.1 engine #1 bleed valve should have automatically closed, and that should leave me without any bleed air! But this did not happen - there was still pretty nice duct pressure - you can see it in the attached picture. Am I wrong somewhere here?thanks,Jakub

Paul, I think there is nothing wrong with suggestions like this, as long as they are phrased as ideas/suggestions not as demands. Some potentially nice ideas have already been put forward in this thread as a result of discussion on how to simulate icing (I am speaking about the flight model, not visuals), so it I would say it is quite a constructive topic.As a developer I would be quite interested in ideas of users: ideas that are not feasible, have a poor ratio of coding effort to gain, or are just not well thought out, are quite numerous - but there are always a few jewels among them, or at least something that might inspire a very clever solution. Without discussing and challenging the limitations of FSX, all these wonderful ways how to bypass them wouldn't be found. And of course in the end it is developers' right to decide to what to code, and what to leave out. But as long as the discussion is constructive and not demanding, I wouldn't treat it as challenging the developers, but rather as something that ultimately could turn out to be something useful.cheers,

To Steffen and to the OP,there is also an online course for flying VFR and IFR with ATC - that explains everything from scratch:- you get online exams within a VATSIM controlled airspace- you get video lectures,- you learn how to use maps and charts,- have examples of phraseology for specific exam.In total there are 14 tests (3 VFR and 11 IFR), and all of that within the very professionally organized Los Angeles ARTCC airspace. You learn different classes of airspaces, different approaches (visual, LOC, VOR, ILS, LOC BC, DME arc), SID and STARs, holding, missed approaches.. its a lot of fun!The only drawback is that you have to conform to pacific time zone, which can be pain if you live far away.I still have the final IFR test to pass myself. :)http://pilotcerts.la...c.org/page/Homecheers,Jakub

Ok, thanks guys, now I see where I was wrong. In a later phase of my flight indeed the center tank started to be emptied, but only after left tank went below 50% of capacity, exactly as you wrote.

Hi,I have a question concerning necessary actions for managing center fuel tank pumps. It's rather a small detail, but it made me think about this.FCOM offers three alternative procedures with respect to center tank pumps management for climb/cruise: I understand NGX has automatic shutoff logic, so the only thing we should worry about is to turn center tank pumps off when low pressure gets illuminated?One additional thing that puzzled me was the scavenge pump. It seems to be not working, at least in my case. I switched central pumps off after 2hrs of flight, but the fuel in central tanks keeps switching between 0.47 and 0.48. FCOM2 says that scavenge pump is on once FWD fuel pump was turned on (it was), and is operational for the rest of the flight. Did I confuse something, or it is a bug?best,Jakub

Had the same issue - no failures, IRS set, yet yaw dumper didn't want to cooperate (I didn't try FLT CONTROL B off/on thing though). The flight was successful, I didn't notice any difference actually! cheers, Jakub