paradoxbox

Do you have FSUIPC? And, or, do you have a second controller or joystick? I.e. you have a yoke + a joystick, connected at the same time? If you have a second joystick, disconnect it while you're flying. This will probably stop the problems. If you are using FSUIPC, make sure that you have not got an axis bound to throttle in FSUIPC as well as having the axis bound in FSX. PMDG recommends you bind throttle ONLY via the FSX controls menu, not via FSUIPC, due to "issues" Besides that, make sure that you have no mysterious buttons bound to "fuel cutoff" switches which could result in your problems. I can't think of many other switches that would result in all 3 engines shutting down other than a switch that has been mistakenly bound to "cutoff". FWIW I had similar issues with the 777 until I learned to disable or disconnect my joystick when I was flying with my yoke.

717 should have a lot of similar systems to the MD-11, a lot of the FMC logic and autopilot systems seem to work the same way, same as the MD-80/82/88 etc. series. MD-11 sure is more interesting than your average ultra-computerized Boring oops, Boeing, 777. Don't get me wrong, I have both the 200LR and 300ER but the MD-11 is a lot more exciting to fly thanks to the high speeds and high wing loading, the third engine, interesting and innovative systems and features, etc. I mean, look at that weird square 80's style cockpit. So ridiculous. Right? But...then... it starts to grow on you, gnawing slowly until you start to fall in love. And then there is the "lady" to tell you about things like stabilizer motion and FuhhhLAPS! Did you know MD hired a bunch of voice actresses to do those recordings and eventually they just went with a lady who was already working there to do the whole thing? And who doesn't love the dial-a-flap mechanism? I have to say, I thought it was all bizarre when I first stepped into the MD-11, but once you get used to those things, you start to miss them in other aircraft. It also helps that either MD or Airbus decided to borrow a lot of ideas from eachother in the CDU interface since the MD-11 looks a heck of a lot like an A320 or A340's. After a few years of flying the "Other" company's A320 add-on, switching into the MD-11 was surprisingly easy since most of the FMC stuff was very similar. A 717 won't be quite the same, but should still be somewhat interesting since the systems are fairly different from your typical Boeing tubeliner. I'm still wondering when PMDG will do a 767 or 757 - the 767 is one of the most produced Boeings out there and its future is guaranteed as long as the USAF is using it as a tanker. Airlines keep ordering the 300ER model to this day. I see a lot of job offers for 767 pilots in Asia as well. Though the 777 is undoubtedly the king of long haul, the 767 fills an important gap in medium density long haul and medium hall, and high density short haul routes. The 767 and 757's have similar CDU's as the rest of the Boeing stuff but the cockpits themselves are hugely different, they're like a cross between a 737 (classic type) and a 747-400, a hodgepodge of electronic and analog gauges. Fantastic if you're a 757 guy going to a 767, but confusing if you're a 777 FO going to a 767 captain etc. The Level D 767 is showing its age with a lot of features not being simulated, PMDG could step up to the plate..! I have heard LVLD may come out with a 757 but it's been a loong time.. If only the masses understood how much fun cargo flying is - no crying babies, more varied destinations, fewer automated landings, etc.! The MD-11F and 300ER are loads of fun. From a business perspective the Cargo division is probably the only thing that keeps a lot of airlines from going bankrupt. There is way more money to be made flying cargo in a profitable business than there is in Passenger operation, where margins might be lower than 1% overall. Go and give the DC-6 a try if you have the stomach for it - that thing takes proper skills to keep it in the air.

Okay, I think I have tracked down the issue, at least partially. The inability to hold/obey altitude commands seems to have been a controller issue that ONLY affects the MD-11, for some reason it was not registering my yoke as centered. It must have been a very very small centering error. In any case I increased the PMDG deadzone and disabled yoke movement AP override and it seems to be OK, for now. I will carefully monitor this in future flights though. James Burke

Bump for this thread, I had this exact same problem. Have flown hundreds of flights without issue, I believe that the problem was caused as someone mentioned earlier, because I changed the step climbs on the init page after getting some updated weather and fuel figures. The aircraft would not obey the MCP altitude no matter what. I ended up cancelling the flight and diverting shortly after I reached FL300 because the autopilot was misbehaving too badly. I want to chalk this up to user error but it looks suspiciously like a bug. James Burke

Old thread is old, but ... After just starting to fly the MD-11 more than I used to, I have got to say ... It is a sweet plane, and OP is right, I can only imagine 777's being profitable for airlines that already have them in passenger versions and are planning to operate them for eternity then convert them to freighters once eternity is finished..! The cargo capacity is nearly the same, though the 777F range is better, there are only a few routes in the world that can routinely fill up the aircraft with cargo and still need huge range. Almost every other route is better off having a layover somewhere central to distribute the cargo. Really wish the MD-11 had weather radar modeled but even without it, it sure is an interesting airplane to fly. It is obviously not as polished as the 777 in terms of the flight model and the FMS but it is still very, very good. I am glad I bought this add on, and I am ashamed that I never flew it as much as I am now - you guys are missing out if you only fly 777's! James Burke

I have gotten my PMDG 777 working perfectly with my saitek autopilot panel and my switch panel. But the problem is LINDA only remembers the settings in the original aircraft I did all the programming in, which was an Air Canada 777-200LR. I'd like to be able to fly the 777F and other carriers as well, but if I choose a different plane, it doesn't remember the controls. I haven't found an easy way to save my Air Canada LINDA commands and easily import them to each other livery. It would be a LOT better if I could just have the commands applied to the entire set of 777-200 and 777F files. Any help? James Burke

IMO you're a little harsh Brian, not everyone knows how to use this software and to be honest it is pretty complicated. I consider myself a PC expert but I found the setup process of LINDA and Spad to get the multi-panel (not the switch panel) to be quite complicated and time consuming. I have been able to get both the multi panel AND the switch panel working within FSX. Unfortunately the multipanel numerical values won't match what the VC values say, but that's not a real big deal. I'm also uncertain if it's just me but, it seems as if there is a hard-coded switch function on the switch panel for fuel pumps. Even when flying in the 777 if you hit the fuel pump switch it will activate a non existent fuel pump and you'll hear the sound of a small aircraft fuel pump turn on. I believe this may be hard coded as I unmapped all switch and keyboard controls. Anyway check out youtube as someone made a video on how to program the saitek multi panel using Spad, FSUIPC, LINDA, PMDG FMC Keystroke commands and the use of Spad FSUIPC Virtual Buttons. Very complicated but it works. James Burke

I love the MD-11 In my opinion the flight computer is very similar to the ones found on Airbuses In fact, when I stepped into the pmdg MD-11 for the first time I had expected major problems learning how to program the MCDU, but I immediately realized how similar it is to an Airbus, I was able to get it going in seconds. The autoflight system took some getting used to however... Really unfortunate that it didn't sell well, but there are not as many people who want to fly cargo aircraft as PAX aircraft. People want to be able to recreate the flights they often fly as passengers. I still fly the MD-11 on vatsim frequently though. James Burke

I have the Cessna Yoke and I have no trouble controlling the aircraft at all. Throttle is smooth and responsive. James Burke

Hi all I've put in a lot of time in the PMDG777 as I do mostly pacific crossings from Tokyo to wherever. At the moment I'm wrapping up a flight from Toronto to Tokyo with auto time compression set to 8x. Something strange has been happening on this flight though. When the aircraft reached its first step climb point from 30,000 to 32,000 feet, the aircraft commanded a height of 40,000 feet by itself and attempted to climb there despite being unable to even achieve that altitude due to being over weight. I thought that maybe I had mistakenly entered that figure on the legs page so I didn't think much of it, but it happened again at the next step climb from 320 to 340 - the plane commanded 40,000 by itself again. I reset the flight cruise altitude in both the VNAV page and confirmed on the legs page that the current waypoints were set to 340 and the step climb would be to 360. When the plane reached the step climb point, it AGAIN started going up to 40,000. Can anyone give me some advice on what's going on with this? It's the first time I have seen this kind of behavior but to be honest the auto-step climb feature has been a little bit flaky for me - it works sometimes but not always as I expected it to or as I programmed in the flight plan. FYI I am using PFPX imported flight plans. James Burke