Kiwi Spitfire

Thanks for that Ralgh, always good to learn a little something about different aircraft, couldn't be bothered wading through the systems manual to find out myself, was just mentioining similar systems on aircraft I have worked on/flown. On the P-3 Orion we have a ram air aux vent valve that precluded pressurising on the ground and our outflow valve works a little differently, and I only worked on 747/767/A320 at AirNZ when I was a AMEL so they might have slightly different systems but the pack doors definately ring a bell now thanks for that, been flying the P-3 for too long :unsure: Also I never said you 'couldn't' pressurise on the ground, just that you would have to manually carry this out, obviously every aircraft pressurises a little on the ground when you close the door, (to the point it is hard to open the door again with aircon on in the P-3), and I believe pax jets such as the 73 etc pressurise a little more at higher power settings to smooth out the change once airborne. I was asuming we were talking about down to say -5,000'+ etc so replicating in-flight diff levels. Aircraft don't just do this all by themselves sitting on the tarmac... Being a military aircraft we don't get too 'carebear' about peoples ears or if it is a little uncomfortable when we close the door etc haha so don't worry about little pressure changes, we open and close the main door in flight all the time to chuck stuff out, and also have a pack of tubes we deploy out of the belly of the aircraft for launching buoys - you definately feel that if the taco doesn't check you have depressurised first before opening the door to lower the package :blush:. Some of our pilots are more 'military' than others so to keep ahead of the aircraft we have to sometimes increase the cabin depress rate to over 1,200ft/min...which you feel, but isn't as bad as the aircraft catching up with the cabin alt and then depressurising at 4,000ft/min! Interesting in the PMDG NGX by manually closing the outflow valve all the way with aircon on the cabin doesn't pressurise - is this how you do it in the 'real' thing?

As you stated the classic had an air/ground switch which enabled manually pressurising the cabin on the ground. I think you will find modern aircraft have this switch tied in to the weight on wheels switch, automating the procedure and subsequently the aircraft will not pressurise untill the aircraft leaves the ground, and will depresurise upon landing...(but it should have done that already before touching down). These aircraft will require either pulling the air sense CB manually, or may have a specific test switch to enable pressurisation on the ground. (We actually use this test switch in flight in the P-3 in a pressurisation emergency) You may notice the Ram Door Full Open annunciator light on the NGX - this indicates the ram air doors are open and effectively behaving like wide open outflow valves, making pressurisation impossible. These should open automatically on the ground, and close upon liftoff allowing pressurisation. Hope this helps a little - Also, you mentioned cracking your window when you pressurised the classic on the ground, are you unable to manually position the outflow valve on that model?

Interesting - I have never had to use the gear to slow the NGX, just the usual speedbrake to flight detent when requested by the FMS - which is pretty standard for all aircraft these days. very rare to see a modern airliner not use the SB on descent for at least a portion. Saying that - using the gear is a perfectly valid way of slowing an aircraft on descent/approach under less than favourable circumstances, and yes we do it in the P-3 Orion is if looks like we are a little high/fast for one reason or another with no problems at all. It is a little amusing however seeing some of the reponses from the 'professional sim pilots' who think that using the gear is 'not correct, cheating,wrong' etc. ^_^ A point to note - I see in the post above EGLL had to use the gear to slow down, be careful that you don't chuck out flap too soon on approach....this will NOT help you slow down and stay on profile easier, you may notice the aircraft will actually attempt to slow to the applicable flap speed by raising the nose, and from there you will be asked for Drag Required etc etc. Better to ensure you are slowing on profile and look good before hamstringing yourself with flap too early. So your example is yes you must make sure the MCP speed is correct (it should be following the FMS profile anyway correct?) - so at most you should only need flight detent speedbrake maybe a little up to the point the engine spools up to maintain speed (at which point pull in the SB) and start feeding out flap. Also - just a query, why would you have a 15kt tailwind on finals may I ask? My approach may not work in this case....I wouldn't know as I am pretty old school and try to land into the wind, not with it

Generally HYD overheat is either caused by a. Low fluid level b. Faulty hydraulic pump internal cooling or c. Insufficient fuel in the tank to cool the hydraulics. That is just real aircraft - not sure about PMDG 737 specifically.

Ummmm - Not to diminish the spotlight on your 'experience'....but I think you will find I was tongue in cheek referring to the 'designers' comments at the end of the video :huh: Us Kiwis have a fairly dry sense of humor at times....

Yea - and he still hasn't! lol. But we can rest easy knowing it's not a problem with the aerodynamics...just a few minor design difficulties with the gear etc.

Sounds like a problem with cheap pots - I had a similar problem with this stick approx 2 weeks after purchasing it. Was a loose wire from the rotation pot in the base of the stick. I would either return it for replacement before it fails completely (or better yet refund...and buy something reliable like a logitech)...or just do what I did and open up the base and re-connect/solder the loose wire back into place. In the meantime - just put in an adequate centre-deadzone in the tail rotor/rudder axis to remove this off-centre movement. While the idea of the twin throttles and customisable grip etc are all great ideas, I have seen a lot of people have had problems such as this - personally I just went and got a TM Warthog HOTAS - never looked back!

Same for me too - 747-400 is still my favourite widebody aircraft, so waiting patiently for V2 to come out and just flying my 737-800NGX around for now (and loving it). Just last week I was actually in CAE's Virgin Oz 777 sim in Sydney flying around and landing etc (777 so stable and easy to fly with heaps of grunt, and gentle to land!), but still not swayed...747 all the way!

Thanks for that Julian, so pretty unreliable real-time weather in NZ then. Yes having just got back into FSX...I have noticed that the 'head-in-the-sand' approach seems the general way to go for a lot of developers of FSX add-ons regarding problems. Take the money and run I guess... :huh: Shamelessly though...I have to say A2A's customer service is second to none...and the beta testers test new aircraft and core updates tirelessly till they are good to goooo... :lol:

I solely run ASN with live weather also, with the no downloads on approach - and have noticed... 1. that the weather in ASN does not match the weather out the window in RL (NZWP...not a proper reporting station?), and 2. that the ATIS does not report what the actual weather is in the sim...had 8/8th cloud cover and the ATIS was reporting sky clear?? Does it put the weather on 'hold' if you are doing circuits also, and does anyone know why I am seeing such wild weather inaccuracies. At RNZAF Whenuapai it can be blowing a gale and raining outside...and I get a light cloud cover and maybe 12kts in FSX via ASN with clear skies and unlimited vis reported?

Found another thread - EDIT: I just figured it out it's not the liveries it's a problem with FSCaptain. FSCaptain inserts a few lines in panel.cfg and I guess this triggers this error. I reverted back to original panel.cfg and no more error. Which resolution of displays are installed if there is no green check mark? From looking at the displays (have seen them both high and low res) - I would say your displays keep the resolution you had before FSC added a line to the panel cfg. I seem to still have high-res as was set before I tried FSC.

I have seen a few posts like this : first and foremost - don't try and fly a complex SID departure into an FMS programmed step climb followed by a hold into a last minute wind-changed STAR down to an offset localiser approach followed by a go-around to hold due to weather minimums...on 1 engine! The PMDG 737NGX may be able to do all this easily...and you will be able to as well in time - guaranteed! Just take some time with the basics and then ramp up. Spend a lilttle time with the tutorials or head-down in the FMS if you want - or set up a simple straight out departure, and just head direct to a nearby intersection - then just chuck the departure airport back on the end again and go in using basic HDG, ALT HOLD, and SPEED AP modes...or even better no AP at all! Then crack out some visual circuits, great way to get a feel for the aircraft. Then just progress to more complex instrument flight and delve a little deeper into the manuals. Maybe research a little on holds, or sort a nice short route with a standard SID and STAR, set no weather and just fly it a few times. In RL aircraft conversion courses, especially in the military, it is keep up or get kicked out...force fed massive amounts of information that you better remember. But this sim is yours...take your time and get there in stages. I am re-reading the RL P-3K systems manuals every week.. and have been for years and still don't remember everything perfectly. You certainly don't need to either - manuals that massive are there for your reference - use them as such. I guarantee you will enjoy the 737NGX a great deal more if you don't let it overwhelm you with complexity and thousands of pages of manuals, and just slowly discover what it can do - nothing like making that aircraft your own and having full control over her - eventually! B)

While I do have the NZNI and NZSI, I can't comment on the other global products you are asking about, as mmann is correct - you won't get a better display of NZ scenery than the two specific products you already have. However I can help you out with the mesh question. Essentially this is the 'framework' underneath the scenery display so to speak. From the pic below you can see that a series of points are joined to make a mesh type structure. The elevation of these points is very accurate, usually via satellite - and the closer together they are then the more accurate the resulting terrain will be with regards to having bumps hollows and cliffs of the correct 'resolution'. You will have noticed if you have your graphical settings to the right in FSX that you can easily navigate around NZ using a VNC by looking out the window picking landmark hills, gullies etc - thanks to a good 'mesh'

What a strangely titled thread....something akin to "Man Eaten by Shark' ....attached to a video of a frog sitting on a rock doing nothing on youtube, in an attempt to get the view count up.. Perhaps something along the lines of 'Vector Light Tool with UTX lowering my FPS' may be more relevant....

If you are after something a little more 'Old-School' away from the fancy computers while you wait for the DC-6 - A2A's awesome B-17 Flying Fortress is worth a look! Very nice aircraft to both hand-fly, and set on AP....after you figure out how to use that archaic C-1 autopilot! The B-17 with A2A's Accu-Sim add-on features amazingly detailed engine and systems modelling - everything from oil viscosity to fouled spark plugs and inertia starters - gotta take care of this ole girl! Check out all the amazing features of the classic A2A B-17 here, and with Accu-Sim here!