leftseatguy

Michael, Right, why didn't I think of that? Its so obvious when I think about it. Anyway thanks for taking the time to put me right. Dennis HIckman

Sorry I don't think I explained the problem very clearly. What I was trying to say was that I get confusing information shown in the IDENT page of the CDU. Under NAV DATA the following is displayed: AIRAC - 1513 DEC10JAN06/16 and on the bottom line I get a the following report message: NAV DATA OUT OF DATE (current date is 23/12/215) Dennis Hickman

For some reason, even though I updated via Navgiraph Data manager to the current AIRAC 1513 I get a message on the bottom line of the CDU saying NAV DATA AIRAC -1513 DEC10JAN06/16. Does this indicate that I have a problem, if so could someone please suggest what I need to do about it? Many thanks. Dennis Hickman

Hi guys! I seem to have really started quite a lot of responses to my original question! Thanks very much all. For what its worth I just thought I would give you a small update on my latest attempt to hand fly for an fairly extended period the PMDG 737-800ngx. I took off from EGKK with an average sort of load and fuel and climbed to 10,000 feet without any problems without autopilot. Having levelled off at that altitude I reduced the throttle setting to what I thought would be an appropriate setting for a cruise at that altitude (just a rough guess). Thereafter I did my best to hold that level by making adjustments to the pitch every time I saw the altitude changing up or down. I found this very difficult to achieve until I started trying to use the trim to reduce the tendency to climb or descend. What then happened was that I realised that was not in control of the speed. So I am beginning to realise that its really a balancing act which has to be practised to coordinate yoke, throttle and trim in order to get the aeroplane to fly straight and level. Having flown single engine light aircraft (for real ) I can certainly understand why this is. I must admit that at first I didn't find it easy to fly straight and level, but it does seem a lot more difficult in a commercial airliner and is going to need a lot more practice on my part! Just as a footnote, I would just add that I managed to get the aeroplane back on the ground (at the airport) with a little help from ILS. So the whole flight was manual - almost!! Dennis Hickman

I'm unsure whether its just me or if other people have similar problems but I would be interested to hear your comments about the following: My usual practice with the 737NGX is to take off and climb to initial cleared level with autopilot off, making use of the flight director bars to monitor my progress. However, when I reach the cleared level I find I am constantly having to adjust my pitch to try and hold the altitude. I realise that the trim setting is there to control speed rather than altitude so adjusting the trim seems to have little or no effect on the pitch and therefore my ability to keep the aircraft level, whereas in an GA aircraft it is course normal practice to adjust the elevator trim as required for each vertical manoeuvre, such as when levelling off after a climb or descent etc. Actually I raised this question at a recent meeting of my local flight simulator group and the answer that I received was that real world pilots have the same problem which is why hand flying in level flight is more often done with autopilot engaged. I should add that I normally hand fly the final approach and landing as much as I can, because that's much more fun! Comments please? Dennis Hickman

Great ! thanks for that. Not a problem, that's just what I wanted to know. Dennis Hickman

Thanks Kyle for your quick response. The reason why I wanted to be able to cancel LNAV and/or LNAV was that there are occasions when I would like to take over flying the aircraft manually, typically on the approach if I want to deviate from the STAR (when not online). Maybe I have not really understood something fairly basic! I have got so used to flying the 737NGX with over 500 hours logged, so I need to get more into the 777. I have on line access to all the PMDG documents for this aircraft, and have printed off copies of the Introduction and Tutorials 1 and 1.5. As I see it I really need to do more study, as I am sure its all there in the manuals!. Dennis Hickman

Macaviator, Could you please tell me where to find that information about disarming LNAV and/or VNAV in flight, and in which manual? I have only just started learning to fly the 777 after many hours on the 737ngx. Thanks Dennis Hickman

Hi Andrea, Absolutely right, I should really have looked at the manuals. I found the knob anyway, I didn't even have to refer to the manual, its so obvious!. So thanks anyway for your reply. Cheers Dennis Hickman

Guys, Is there any way to adjust the brightness of the speed, heading and altitude readouts on the MCP? I found last night that as it was getting dark towards the end of my flight on the 737ngx that I just could not read these displays. Cheers, Dennis Hickman

Yes I know I could print them but it would take me ages to do it for number of pages involved and then there is the cost of the print cartridges. I just wanted to know if there is a more local supplier to save me (1) having to print them, and (2) could sell them without that horrendous shipping charge from the USA? It rather sounds as though the answer is negative. Just thought I would ask! Thanks anyway. Dennis Hickman

Hi Guys, I just downloaded and installed the PMDG 777 and I would have really liked to order some of the excellent hard copy documents which they sell for that aircraft. Unfortunately the shipping costs from USA to UK are well above what I can afford. Does anyone know whether it is possible to obtain any or all of them from sources ideally within the UK or at least in Europe where the shipping costs might be lower? Dennis Hickman

Thank you guys, all fixed now I have the latest update 1.10.6461. Brilliant! Dennis Hickman

Pete, Many thanks for your reply. What is an oc? also when you say click on the ngx do you mean the NGX folder or one of the programs within that folder? I can't find any way of finding the version number installed. I have windows 7 and fsx.. Dennis Hickman

I have just been having loads of problems trying to get sp1-d installed from DVD. I followed PMDG's instructions on how to do it very carefully and when I tried to run fs2crew I got a message indicating that I needed to update 737 NGX to sp1c. I am not sure if this could be a problem with fs2crew, or that the NGX update was not successful, so how is there a way I can check the actual version of 737 NGX is actually installed? Dennis Hickman

After recently installing Pointsoft's PRO, I seem to be not getting a few callouts from fs2crew; notably '80 knots' and 'positive rate'. Just wondering if this might be a result of this recent installation, or is there anywhere I can check to find out in any of the fs2crew files?

I realise that you posted this a long time ago Ed, but I have just seen Plan G in action during a meeting of my local flight sim group and it looks very impressive and easy to use. I am just wondering if anyone knows if the Plan G team have done an IFR version yet or are planning to do so? Dennis Hickman

Guys, A huge thank you to all who have taken the time to reply to my question. You have given me lots of great ideas and I am going to take a bit of time to discover which of them will be the most appropriate to provide the information that I am looking for. Basically I think it boils down to the ability to show the following information when required: The names of the VORs (e.g. Compton for CPT, Southampton for SAM etc) Progress along the flight planned route in terms of the current position of the aircraft superimposed over the route line on a map Airspace boundaries (TMAs, CTZs etc) Danger areas, and areas of high terrain etc. All of this in line with real life procedures and practices as applied to jet airliners such the 737-800 which I normally fly. Once again, many thanks for your suggestions, I am sure there has got to be a best solution to all of this. Cheers, Dennis Hickman

Guys, I have a question which I hope someone may be able to answer: During the course of flying the PMDG 737 NGX along flight planned routes I often don't really have much idea as to where I am in relation to towns and cities on or near my route. I noticed this particularly on a recent flight over the Philippines and into Taiwan where I crossed a number of islands on the way. It would have been nice to have had some idea what they were called, and perhaps the names of some of the towns. Is there some software available which would provided an online map which I could refer to during the flight? I look forward to hearing from you soon. Regards, Dennis Hickman

Dave and Matt Many thanks for your responses. Having watched a couple of youtube videos, I am now trying to use the string fixed to the screen technique (actually a piece of red cotton!) and I think that might eventually get me there. At the moment, My biggest problem seems to be maintaining the centre line as I get nearer to the touch down, I think I tend to over-correct and end up going too far to one side and then to far to the other, so that when I do touch down I am nowhere near the centre line! I just know I will crack it one day, so I will just have to keep trying. . . Dennis

OK I now have a brand new pc, so I'm getting around 30 fps now. The other thing is that I have installed FSiPanel which does exactly what I want in terms of setting up the scenario for repeated approaches. So far I have done something like 10 or 12 approaches using this software addon, BUT with varying degrees of success. I know I just have to keep practising, but I don't seem to know quite how to improve. In the past I have done lots of landings with GA aircraft, but getting my current aircraft (737ngx-800) to (a) line up correctly with the centre line and (b) flaring at the right point and with the appropriate pitch angle continues to be a real problem to me. I am not sure what I am doing wrong so any guidance would e much appreciated. Cheers, all. Dennis Hickman

Guys! Its all come good! | am not quite sure what I did but all seems to be well now. I have just downloaded and installed three liveries, so thanks very much for your responses. Its good to know where to come for help. Cheers all. Dennis Hickman

Thanks Kyle, Yes there is an odd one there in addition to the four correct ones, so I wonder if this is blocking something? The file name is: aircraft.cfg_old C:\FSX\SimObjects\Airplanes\PMDG 737-800NGX WL Type CFG_OLD Dennis

I wonder if anyone could help me; Having downloaded and installed a livery for the PMDG 737ngx I now find that it is not shown in the list of variants in fsX. The livery in question was Ryanair, which I had been flying for several weeks. I tried to re-install it and several others, following the instructions given, but I cannot get it to show on the livery manager page, even though the show all liveries box is ticked. The only ones that do show are the PMDG house liveries for the 737-800 and -900, each with and without winglets. I am running FSX with VFR airfield scenery and have recently installed UK2000 Gatwick and Stansted Extreme as well as FS2Crew. I think I first noticed the absence of the Ryanair livery after installing the VFR airfield scenery, but I cannot be sure about that. I think I must be doing something wrong, so I would much appreciate any ideas. Cheers, Dennis Hickman

Hi chaps, Problems gone!!! Have just purchased a new machine from wired2fire, and everything is now working absolutely fine. Many many thanks for all of your very helpful advice and comments.. Cheers, Dennis