Can anyone help with 737NG from PDMG?

I think GPS Kid is the best person to explain that to you....

Sorry to say, yes, the GPS has been replaced with the FMC, most annoying at times . There are also files on the FMC and how to use it, you would probably need to read them before programming it, if you don't know already. It about 40 pages long and I still can't fly the plane properly, it also kills FPS but never mind 😀.

To start the engines manually, I *think* that you do it like any other plane, but you need to click the YELLOW WARNING button in the top left hand corner of the panel, once you are starting the engines and it lights up.

I'm not sure whether everything works, but I think it does 😕

Hope that helps a bit

Hi,

737NG is sold as a "full airliner simulation" and as such is the only add-on where you can truly say that it operates 99% the same as the REAL plane.

It is incredibly complex, as you're no doubt finding out, and it took me around 3 months of study and practice to be able to operate all aspects of the Aircraft - a lot of people give up on it, and REALLY lose out !

Let me answer the Question about the GPS first... in reality, Airliners don't have simplified GPS systems like the FS9 default one, with a simple link to the Autopilot. The NG like most Airliners has a FMC which manages all aspects of flight.... so you need to read the manual for the FMC pretty much before you do anything. When you able to programme a route in it, and set up the Vertical Navigation settings (altitudes and speeds) you'll be able to use the LNAV and VNAV modes on the Autopilot, and the automation is amazing - your plane will climb, accelerate, descend, decellerate all on it's own, it's very clever stuff. So in short, no default GPS screen but that's not what this add-on is about - it's about full realism.

STARTING THE ENGINES MANUALLY :-

- Ensure the battery is switched on (towards top of overhead panel).

- Press APU START (towards bottom of Overhead Panel).

- Open the Throttle screen and make sure the fuel switches are set to CUT OFF.

- Switch "APU BLEED" ON... (Top right of Overhead Panel).

- Swtich Ignition Selector to RIGHT (Bottom middle of Overhead panel).

- Switch 'Right' Igntition switch to GROUND. (Bottom middle of Overhead panel).

*** close the Overhead panel for now, as the Starters will now be running on Engine 2 ***

- Look at the N2 dial in the ECAM (Engine Data) displal on the Panel.... When the dial reaches 19%, open up the THROTTLE page and switch the RIGHT ENGINE FUEL switch from Cut-off to ON.

- The RIGHT engine will roar into life and the N1 monitor will spool up to 23%.

*** The RIGHT engine is now running ****

- Open the Overhead panel and switch the Ignition selector from Right to LEFT.

- Move the 'Left' Engine Ignition switch to GROUND. (Bottom middle of Overhead Panel).

- Close the Overhead Panel and monitor the Right Engine N2 rate until it reaches 19%.... then open the THROTTLE screen and swtich the Right Engine Cut-off switch ON....

*** The Right Engine will now be runnung ***

- Open the Overhead Panel and turn the APU OFF. (Bottom of Overhead Panel).

- Click the GEN1 and GEN2 buttons ON to turn on the main Generators (Bottom middle of the Overhead Panel).

- Turn the Yaw Dampers ON (Top Left of Overhead Panel).

- Click on the YELLOW WARNING light on the Left of the main Panel.

Now as for whether all the buttons work, well if you forget to do any of the above steps, the engines will not start ! Try starting an engine without switching APU BLEED on for example and see what happens...

Good luck.

I too use the 737NG and it took me the best part of 3 months (3 to 4 night a week) and now I can't go back to the default FS9 aircraft as it seem so unreal to fly. It is a remarkable add-on.

Patrick

The manuals for this aircraft are good, but there are better sources for learning it! Firstly, if you look under the start menu in windows-> all programs-> pmdg simulations-> 737 flight manuals, you should find many more helpful texts than the actual books themselves. The "Normal Procedures and Checklists" is an especially handy document to have printed and sitting next to you while you prepare for your flight. This walks you through ALL of the buttons and switches all over your cockpit. After you go through this 3 or 4 times, you should be familiar with the operations of most of the switches (as well as their locations). Be patient!

As far as setting up the FMC, the tutorial at the back of the main instruction manual (not the FMC manual) should help with that. Programming is fairly straight forward once you learn the tricks. For instance, when you're programming your route to and from an airport with all the waypoints, bells, and whistles, let flight simulator set these up for you. Set up a flight plan like you normally would, using high-altitude airways. When you get to programing the route in the FMC, open up the knee board and go to the nav-log page. Right before you is the name of every waypoint on the left to be entered on the left column of the FMC, and the path to get there (I.E. J2😎 which goes on the right column.

I too was completely overwhelmed and discouraged upon jumping in the cockpit. I'm pretty sure I had alarms and bells yelling at me for the first 4 hours straight. After that I learned how to silence them but still couldn't operate it! I can proudly say that after many on line tutorials, example flights, etc. I can now fly this plane confidently.

Thanks for the replies, very helpful 🙂

About the checklists - I did 'check' them out (snigger) but one thing I found annoying was that (off the top of my head) it says "switch on the engine start switches" - WHERE are the engine start switches?!?!

Thanks for the tips on the FMC but I'm really not into it that much to waste half my life learning about it or some other aspects 🙂

Dave

Does the 737NG kills your frame rates? I am really worried about that because I want to buy it. To say the truth, I wanted to buy it like 4 months ago, but I never did. Why? Because some people told me that the 737NG kills your frame rates. You are only going to be able to fly it if you have a good video card. That's what people told me about that aircraft.
I have a Nvidia 5600 FX. It is not the best video card, but I really enjoy my simulator. It is really smooth for now. My frame rates are normal (10-35 is my average)

Ok, maybe I am going off topic, but I just want to know if the 737NG will lower the frame rates.

That's all. And thank you.

It does for me, it gets jittery (if thats a word) and the aircraft skips up the runway 😂 If you have around 30 FPS now, then you might not a have a problem with it, as you could fly it with 15FPS.

I agree with 99jolegg about the frame rates. If you have a ninja-turbo-bast PC then you are laughing. My 1700+ with a Radeon 9800Pro really struggles.

Fair enough for those that aren't up for learning it - it does take half a lifetime and you have to be up for the challenge!

For those that are qualified Rated NG pilots, try this challenge !

- Complete a flight that uses a SID during the departure.

- Ensure all of the VNAV data is entered for Altitude and Speed, for each Waypoint.

- Enter a STAR for your arrival.

(don't use ATC for this flight as it won't agree with the SID or STAR).

- above 500' after take-off engage AP, LNAV, VNAV only and if everything has been set up correctly in the FMC but also in the MCP, your plane will ascend, follow the route (right from the beginning), descend, and land... all you will need to do is set flaps as the plane starts decelerating during approach, and of course switch to APP mode to get the Localizer / GS ready for landing.

Tip: The MCP Alt display overrides the FMC's settings (!!!) so set your cruise alt in the MCP at the beginning, then a soon as you are at Cruise alt, set the MCP alt to 00000, to free the FMC to manage your descent.

Clever stuff, and if you achieve this, you have the NG sorted !

Thanks GPS Kid,

I have done the - engage AP, LNAV, VNAV (I always adjust the Alt in time before getting to the next waypoint), but did not know about setting the MCP alt to 00000, to free the FMC to manage your descent.
been flying the NG for 5 months and did not know this.
Learn something new everyday here!

Patrick

I just got a similar product, the Airbus A330/A340 Professional pack. It REALLY is very good. Better frame rates than the 737 pack and the aircraft is a JOY to fly.

Still got the FMC tho 😞

Dave

The Just Flight A330/A340 is indeed excellent. You should try looking a bit more into the FMC instructions for the A340, once you get to grips with what each FMC page is asking for you'll soon be fully programming it within a couple of minutes and seeing the effects it has on flights.

They are essential to all modern Airliners and when you get your head around them they are a BIG 😂 not a !

Patw - Have you got the 737NG - 800/-900 upgrade yet from PMDG ?

A new Panel, TCAS2 unit and new models and liveries.... (although essentially the same plane).

The-GPS-Kid wrote:

You should try looking a bit more into the FMC instructions for the A340,

You're probably right. I notice that on the various flight displays it shows all sorts of stuff like waypoints. Hmmm...

The-GPS-Kid wrote:

Patw - Have you got the 737NG - 800/-900 upgrade yet from PMDG ?

Is it free? 🙂

D.

I personally think the Airbus FMS/FMC is much easier to use than the Boeing one. Much more user friendly...pretty much like everything on the bus! Still prefer the 757.