I’ve gone through the flight tutorial on the PMDG manual, but I’ve tried applying this to other airports.
To be honest, the sim is so intricate and detailed it’s almost like I’m having a different experience every time I fly.
I flew out of LOWI/26 via SID RTT3X.
On the ground, I set up all the legs on the flight computer (etc), both flight directors ON, heading aligned with runway, LNAV + VNAV on, altitude set to cruise. (Basically following the same procedure in the PMDG manual)
I engaged full throttle, took off and like magic the aircraft is following the flight path and climbing… great!
Today I did LOWI to LOWW again, except this time I had to take off from RWY08.
I followed the exact same procedure, but it did not follow the flight path. I was manually flying for a bit, but it just seemed to me that every function of the autopilot wasn’t working. I disengaged then re-engaged the autopilot but this did nothing either (in the A320 this seems to fix the problem sometimes)
It’s basically quite hard for me to ask the right questions, because I simply don’t know what’s going on.
Does anyone have any 737 manuals which I could download (short of having to download a real 737 type rating text book?)
Hello, I’m going to take a risk here and take a guess about what may have happened on that 2nd flight. Chances are I’m going to be wrong but here goes: there needs to be a waypoint aligned with the runway/departure heading that is not too far off for LNAV mode to engage. If one does not have such a waypoint in the FMC then the A/P will not work as expected (for a newer pilot). When this happens to me, I have to takeoff in HDG HOLD mode then navigate to the first waypoint either by hand flying or changing the heading to intercept the flight planned course; then engage LNAV, etc. Like I said, this may or may not help you but it’s good to keep in mind for non standard departures.
For the PMDG 737s my rule of thumb is not to get a “manual”. Instead:
Search for a reference checklist online
Watch tutorials (you may wanna look for flightdeck2sim and A330 Driver)
Read the 737s real world FCOM
For most “study level” airliners you can use real world documentation or documentation/checklist from other simulations too (like P3D or X-Plane).
Also be aware that certain departures may have specific rules or are bugged in sim (sometimes the 737 tends to make a turn on the wrong hand), however also the real autopilot is not bug free on the 737, so you either have to correct it manually or try some different mode
Glad to read that you are aware of that parameter of the A/P, and like I said, i probably guessed wrong. That said, was the waypoint on the chart also in the FMC? Anyway you are asking the right questions after all. The post above is better advice than what I suggested. Good learning!
This is what I mean, the sim is so detailed that I have a slightly different experience each time I fly. There’s obviously gaps in my knowledge.(I only discovered the 5° deviation rule yesterday).
But that’s such a fine detail that isn’t in the PMDG manual.
Looks like im going to have to get some proper reading materials
