era66

I'm watching Smithsonian Air Disaster episode about the Quantas A380 flight 32 that blew its #2 engine at FL080 outbound from Singapore. The problem was communicated to the flight deck crew via ECAM indicators along, of course, with the obvious sound of the explosion. The captain sent his 2nd officer to the passenger cabin to look out the window for a visual check of the left wing, which had a 2 foot hole puncture and leaking fuel. By this time, the flight deck crew had already extinguished the fire from engine 2, although no one really visualized the fire spewing from the engine. My question is, why aren't these large airliners equipped with multiple modern, small video cameras positioned to monitor and focus on the critical parts of the plane (e.g. engines, wings, tail, cargo areas, gears etc.) with zoom and angle controls so the flight deck crew can visualize problems involving critical areas? If the manufacturers can install cameras that show passengers a forward view of the plane from the top of the tail during flight, why can't they do the same for something more useful? Would appreciate any comments, specially from real life pilots and engineers era66

Anyone know of husband and wife team in the flight deck? . . . And who the pilot in command is? era

Just curious . . . Any real life commercial pilots out there who are rated in both Boeing and Airbus (for example, interchangeaby flying B737 NGX or A320 routinely)? Are there regulations or specific conditions by the airline industry or FAA (or other government bureaus of other countries) regarding this? era

I recently bought the A2A Piper Cherokee and am still getting use to how realistic it feels to fly. No doubt I'll need practice. One thing I can't seem to understand, which someone hopefully can explain, is that on take off and initial climb, the plane always want to roll left regardless of the wind direction, even in calm winds. I find myself wrestling with the yoke to keep it level. Is this realistic for this plane? What's the proper procedure then? era

Here's the scenario: I'm coming to the approach phase of my flight (commercial airline flight) and, low and behold, ATC assigns a different landing runway than what I originally entered in the FMC along with the STAR I entered. My question is: Are there freeware or payware apps that I can instantaneously access that will show me just the specific STARs available for the specific assigned runway. Most apps out there gives you a long list of STARs and it takes time to sort them to see which will take you to the assigned runway. Unless I "pause" the sim, I would already be within final before I figure out what STAR to use. Would appreciate suggestions please. By the way, the same scenario happens on departure and SIDs. Thank you. era66

Thanks, guys . . . Will take a look at vroute. Also makes sense not putting any SID or STAR too early. I wonder how often these changes before and during flight in real life? Era

Anyone know of any apps (freeware or payware) or web source that I can QUICKLY use to find the appropriate SID during departure, or STAR during arrival, depending on which runway I was directed to use by control? Sometimes, I find myself ready to taxi only to be told by ground control to takeoff on a different runway than the one I've already programmed in the FMC, or I'm coming in on an approach via a STAR already programmed into my flight plan, and approach will instruct me a different landing runway. I use PFPX as my flight planner, but it's annoying to have to "pause" the sim, reopen PFPX and go through all the steps to see which SID or STAR to use based on which direction (i.e. north, south, east, west, etc) I was originally heading to or coming from before the change was issued. Thanks in advance for any info you can share. Era

I noticed that there is a "push" operation in the speed dial in the MCP. Does it have another function other than displaying the speed when it is not displayed while on VNAV? era

I'm trying to assign a key command to disengage autothrottle with the joystick in the PMDG 737 NGX. I open the FMC, click on Setup, Key Command, Options, Autoflight, and A/T Disengage. I then enter the key command: Ctrl + Shift + R , but soon after I press Shift, the command changes to Shift + Ctrl + R. I tried this several times and Ctrll+Shift always flips to Shift+Ctrl. I tried this with the PMDG 777 just once and it kept the correct order of Ctrl+Shift+R. Anyone else experienced this problem with the NGX? Anyone know of a fix? Thanks, era

Why some airline companies won't allow the first officer to taxi the plane to the terminal, doesn't make sense at all. If the first officer is allowed to fly the plane at 35,000 feet in the air, and take control at the critical phases of flight (take offs and landing), what is the big deal in allowing them to taxi the plane on solid ground? Would be nice to get comments from commercial pilots out there. EA

Didn't know this . . . Makes sense. Thanks Mark EA

I've noticed in real life flight deck videos that when the first officer lands a plane, and at the end of the roll-out, the captain takes control and does the taxi to terminal. I'm curious why this is? EA

Haven't bought the A320/321 update version yet, but do I need to uninstall the older A320 Extended version first before installing the update? Elmo

Thank you for your comments. These are helpful! All I need to do now is find room for a 42" or 50" LED HDTV Regards!

Just curious . . . Anybody know what size of high-def flat screen TV would show actual size panel gauges in a forward view of the windscreen using a 0.7-0.8 zoom?

When a commercial airline arrives at the gate, and before the flight deck crew leaves the flight deck, what systems are left "on" and what systems are turned "off" (along with the engines of course)? I read from somewhere that the flight deck is not completely "cold and dark" when the plane is at the gate waiting for the outbound crew to board. Is this true? ERA

Over the past several years, there's been fantastic improvement (thanks to payware and freeware developers) towards realism in FSX when it comes to animation and visual rendering of clouds/weather, as well as overall water textures, and most definitely in sceneries and aircrafts of all types. But there is one visual/animation effect in FSX that has not received as much attention for improvement compared with other aspects of FSX, and that is the beach/surf wave animation. As far as I know, I've not come across any freeware or payware that shows significant, "jaw-dropping" beach/surf wave animation. I don't have the technical know-how, and therefore don't know how difficult it may be to create a realistic beach/surf animation with the today's computer technology and FSX limitations. Any thoughts anyone? era

Based on all the comments about REX 4, I've decided to take the plunge and buy it. Last Questions: Once installed, will the REX 4 textures I choose automatically replaced my current texture theme from REX OD? Is there anything else I need to do, or can I just start FSX from REX OD? Many Thanks! Elmo

Still confused: Is REX4 a "replacement" or an "upgrade" to REX Essential Overdrive? Is it a stand-alone software, or does it require REX Essential Overdrive? It seems that REX Game Studios is unbundling the older REX Essential Overdrive into separate packages of REX4 Texture HD and the upcoming REX Weather HD. With both of these newer software, will REX Essential Overdrive be obsolete? Elmo

Absolutely incredible and wonderfully insane!!! This belongs in a museum at Boeing or Smithsonian Air and Space, not to mention Ripley's Believe it or Not! . . . and he should be paid for it sweetly (actually, it's probably as priceless as the Mona Lisa)!!!

There's something peacefully satisfying in small general aviation airports, specially in the countryside. You've definitely captured this in your Hawaii sceneries, George! Your work is nothing short of EXCELLENT! A big "MAHALO" to you for your generous contribution!

I didn't think so either, and it makes sense regarding ratings for other planes within the same family. It would be interesting to hear comments from real world pilots about this. Any commercial pilots out there care to share your thoughts? Specifically, even if you have type ratings for both Boeing and Airbus, would you interchangeably fly one then the other on a daily basis? Is this a safety issue? Thanks.

Does "Crew Alertness Monitoring" actually exist in the real 777? Elmo

Don't know if this question has been asked already: Are there real life commercial pilots out there that are rated in both Boeing and Airbus planes? If so, do they fly a Boeing one day and then an Airbus another day (such as for a company like United that has both Boeing and Airbus equipment)? Is this even allowed by the company? I do this with flight sim (PMDG 737NGX or PMDG 777 and Airbus Extended X), and I easily miss critical details that I should (or should not) be doing with one plane versus the other Elmo

Does anyone have any clue to this problem? FMC was programmed for cruise at FL380. A few minutes after reaching top of climb, the 777 climbed to FL400, uncommanded. Is this a bug? If so, is there a fix? Thanks, ERA