Steve Keaton

Oh and Happy New Year too. -Steven Keaton

Bearing in mind that Colin and I are both offering constructive criticism rather than vitriolic. No one is trying to start a flame war or a PMDG-bashing thread in any way. I firmly believe the PMDG 737 NGX is the greatest single add-on for FSX ever made, and this is quite a high bar to overtake, even with the newer 777. -_- No one is perfect though, with the possible exception of myself. After all, I've never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong. -Steven Keaton

Colin, This is a very well written, candid, and honest observation. I agree with most of what you say, and although I have no buyer's remorse either, I also wish some things were done better (the FBW system in particular). I personally find myself 'flying' the FBW instead of the aircraft because of the way PMDG has modeled a dual mode system (separate maneuver demand vs speed stability mode). One must have a clear understanding of how the PMDG FBW system works compared to that of the real aircraft in order to interact properly with it and maintain stable flight. The real 777 aircraft trims like any conventional plane, intuitively and smoothly. The PMDG 777 FBW seems to always remain two steps or so behind where you want it to be, and this often results in different quirks such as unpredictable pitch oscillations during approach and blowing past trim reference speed unless the controls are properly neutralized after a trim change (so speed stability mode can engage properly). I frequently get the nose up behavior when the PMDG 777 comes into ground effect during landing like others on here have mentioned and I've found a workaround, but it's just not realistic behavior and gets frustrating. Everything else about the PMDG 777 is so perfect that I just wish the FBW was as refined as the rest of the sim. And yes, the PMDG 737NGX is now and forever shall be the high watermark of both sophistication and flight modeling for any desktop flight simulation; it's just so perfect on every facet. The PMDG 777 may be bigger, faster, and have much longer legs, but it's still playing catchup to it's little brother, the prodigy NGX. ^_^ -Steven Keaton

Rob, thank you for your perspective on this. My impression is that the PMDG 777 is not so much affected by the inherent friction problem in the native FSX engine as it is overpowered autobraking from touchdown speed to about 80 knots. It's the initial autobrake deceleration from touchdown speed that seems far too much, although the PMDG 777 autobrakes do seem to modulate better as taxi speeds are reached. Perhaps this results in the same stopping distance as the official Boeing charts, but with a different braking effectiveness in high speed regimes. I would really be appreciative of your running some numbers through your EFB, and I will certainly get those figures to you for comparison. This would be a definitive way to compare the PMDG sim against the performance of the real aircraft! For whatever reason though, the PMDG 737NGX seems to be spot on with autobrake deceleration throughout all speed regimes; in fact, I've always thought the 737NGX was the only FSX aircraft ever developed that finally got braking and ground friction coeffecient exactly right. The PMDG 777 by contrast seems to almost catch an arresting wire right after touchdown with autobrakes, but this is my unscientific impression of course. Manual braking with the PMDG 777 seems accurate too, although I think using the DynamicFriction lua script with FSUIPC does make taxiing behavior much more realistic. From my perspective it just seems the PMDG 777 autobrakes are just too effective in of themselves, irregardless of friction modeling. Thanks again Rob! -Steven Keaton Kevin, do you know for a fact that PMDG's 777 autobrakes actually modulate to compensate for the inherent FSX friction bug? From my experience, manual braking seems to work quite well during rollout whereas the autobraking system seems too effective at high speeds. Thanks, -Steven Keaton

Hi Rob, What is your professional opinion on autobrake stopping distance with the PMDG 777 (under dry conditions of course) compared to the real 777 you regularly fly? Thanks, Steven Keaton

George Costanza and I share the same outlook on self-preservation instincts in the event of a fire. Perhaps this is why the airlines won't hire me... :unsure:

Thanks for the replies guys. Digging into the FCOM a little more thoroughly, the section in volume 2, Chapter 8 on Fire Protection basically states that the fire detection and extinguisher systems for both the APU and engines do indeed have automatic fault detection systems associated with them. If a fire is detected on the ground during APU start (without external power), the fire protection system will automatically both shut down the APU AND discharge the fire bottle. Apparently, all the pilot has to do is run..... I decided to test this with the PMDG 777 and programmed an APU fire to occur 15 seconds after I started it on the ground. APU fire warning activated and the fire bottle automatically discharged whilst the APU shut itself down. Wow PMDG, fine details much? This is good stuff! -Steven Keaton

Hi, I'm sure the FCOM explains my forthcoming question in detail SOMEWHERE in it's cryptic volume, but for the life of me I can't seem to locate the answer I'm looking for. Specifically, in a cold and dark scenario without external power usage, is the APU started without first doing a fire bottle/warning detect test beforehand? When the battery master is turned on from a C and D scenario, the normal standby power mode is not active and the fire protection loops can't be tested until the APU is started and it's generator in on bus. Does the 777 automatically do a fire protection loop test in the background before the APU starts is this condition? It is possible to manually activate standby power via a guarded switch on the very top part of the overhead panel and commence a fire warning system check before starting the APU (without external power), but is this in fact normal procedure or is the automation doing all of this already in a normal cold and dark start up scenario? Thank you, Steven Keaton