Litjan

I would certainly encourage everyone to also get the new 767. It looks to be an amazing piece of work, and why restrict yourself to just one aircraft (other than monetary reasons?). Remember, the one who dies with the most aircraft in his virtual hangar, wins! Jan

There are also different processors in use in real life - we got an upgrade in hardware once, and it was like night and day. Then I transferred to the 747, they had the old processors and it was like a trip to the past! Jan

That is correct. We also have a few in Europe (I know of some in EDDF and I think also LSZH). No way of knowing if those will get more numerous (remember the MLS disaster?). It requires the airlines to invest money, something that they REALLY don´t like... Jan

It is. These are "normal" standalone GPS/GNSS approaches, down to a non-precision descision altitude and RVR. This is an example for that type of approach: https://skyvector.com/files/tpp/1513/pdf/00237RRZ6L.PDF The GBAS approaches are to CAT I and better minima, they are precision approaches. Jan

Well, I know what RNP is, but it´s a requirement for navigational accuracy (Required Navigational Performance) and not per se any aircraft equipment. The aircraft equipment on the other hand determines the ANP (Actual Navigational Performance). This in turn determines if an aircraft is certified to be satisfiying certain RNP´s. The 737´s I flew (and the one we model), satisfy RNP 1 for terminal procedures (P-RNAV), and also the RNP for GPS standalone non-precision approaches. It can not fly the new RNP AR approaches with GBAS (comparable to CAT II/III approaches), because it only has a single FMS and a single GPS receiver. It would also require an onboard receiver for GPS correction data, and an upgrade to the FMS. I don´t really want to add this to the list, though, because it is not something we ever set out to model - this technology is now just slowly starting to get into service, and I doubt that many Classics will receive the necessary upgrades to be able to fly those (if it´s even possible at all). Jan

What is RNP equipment?

We are not going to rush it. It will be done when we feel that we can release it without being ashamed. We are not going to release without our internal minimum feature set. We have never promised that it would be before Christmas, 2015, or even this century, if you read all the statements we have made precisely. No one is entitled to a release at or before a certain time, and if the release date does not fit your schedule, you are more than welcome to pass on this product. . The team has - over the development timeframe - faced many unforeseen events and unplanned obstacles. Several babies were born, family members have been severely sick or even died, jobs have been lost, the team has had personal changes, development goals have changed... I know that everyone is excited to see this plane out, and so are we! Please realize that we are not taking this long to piss anyone off. I know many of you say "just release it, I don´t care if stuff is missing!" But please take a look into the support forums of recently released planes - people are NOT content with the "just release it". They will say so, but then bitch about every rivet or seam that is not exactly like they saw on airliners.net. In conclusion: We will release when ready. It might even take another 5 years, if WE feel that we need the time. Oh, and don´t cancel your skiing vacation to play the 737 just yet. No amount of moaning will change that, except maybe for the worse, as our motivation to finish it suffers. I know it´s hard to stand the wait, but even if you throw yourself on the floor and thrash about with arms and legs, this will not go any faster...(though maybe it will releave the frustration, so maybe give it a try!) Cheers, Jan

That is correct. We are making a simulation. If operating a 737 realistically (within the confines of a PC simulation) is too tedious, there are always youtube videos of real flights one can watch .

I was in contact recently with a Captain from Aloha Air Cargo, they got some of Lufthansa´s old 737-300s. So I guess there IS still life in those old ladies... . Cut a big hole into them, though! Jan

I´ll try to stay under that time!

No, we haven´t. I plan to make a quick video soon, it will be boring and nerdy, however. It will be showing how to add/edit/fly an SID, FMS behaviour, VNAV editing (adding/deleting speed and altitude restrictions), T/C calculation change, CLB page behaviour, etc. This will be a milestone video, showing what Tom has accomplished these last few weeks. Once the plane is feature-complete and we are satisfied that we have reached a "releasable" status, we are going to have a countdown to release, with periodic releases of the 6 tutorial videos I have prepared (to go along with the written tutorials). At least thats the plan! Jan

Yes, full support, including editing, adding or deleting restrictions, changing runways, adding transitions, etc. Also correct "magenta" including turn-radii, bypass behaviour, etc. Also conditional waypoints like "when passing 800..." or "fly until intercepting radial..." Correct fly-by and fly-over waypoint behaviour, etc. Jan

I use mostly the SHIFT-9 "3-D Cockpit Command Look" view. Then click the right mouse-button to pan, mousewheel to zoom. Also use keys "forward, aft, left, right, down".

You are way above our minimum specs! You will need to unpress your TURBO button to run the 737...

We´ll be there for you when you are back above the surface on your bank account!

Yes - and I was not aware of X-Planes default limitation to 20NMs!

There will be an installer - every time a new version comes out, you get a notification from the store. The winglets can be added and removed with the click of a button, even mid-flight.

I added those to the list for now - sorry ;-) I definitely want to have those eventually, so you have an ally! I remember some of my Captains back then who insisted to always take out the sun-shielding in the eyebrow windows "in case an airplane comes straight at you from that angle"... I guess it could have happened... By the way, the length of the list is nibbling on everyone´s pride here at IXEG - it´s like moving house and you think you have everything in the last truck, only to find out that there is almost another truckload of stuff spread all through the rooms... The list is not final - in both directions. We are still hopefull that we can scratch the odd item off the list, as time becomes available. Tom can´t do VNAV straight for days, he would crack at some point. So that´s when he turns to some mundane 3D, for example. Jan

It would be possible, but not likely included for V1.0 - To tell you the truth, I don´t see this as a big inconvenience. You are not going to write long letters home on the CDU, and clicking the keys with the mouse is pretty fast, for the limited amount of stuff you enter. Certainly as fast as clicking on the CDU to have input-focus, then typing on your keyboard, then clicking on the CDU´s LSK again to insert where you want it. It´s a reality of operation (and I have written lengthy text on those CDU´s...) and something that is presented fairly realistically in the 3D cockpit. Jan

Good videos, thank you. I am not saying there is no wingflex on a 737. Certainly less than on a 767, maybe less than on a NG (not sure if the wing is different), but definitely more than none. We will look into adding it later - but the initial comment stands, it has been shifted down in the priority order as our first objective is to get the functionality of this plane right, then release what we have and keep building and improving on that. We will solicit the opinion of our customer after release and adjust post-release efforts accordingly. If wing-flex is what everyone wants, then wing-flex is going to go up on the list! Cheers, Jan

None of us is that good-looking, though .

Undecided - it is likely that we make the page "operational", so you can enter something. We have to see if its worth adding the data into the calculation, though. X-Plane only offers 3 wind levels (iirc) natively. Even if you have a more advanced weather "injector" in the future, chances are that users will have no way of knowing what the wind during the descent will be - so how can they enter it accurately? If they enter data that doesn´t reflect the reality, then the whole descent calculation will get messed up. We currently envision to take cruise wind into account to recalculate the descent when you approach the pre-calculated ToD. This is also what the real FMS does if you don´t enter a descent forecast (few real pilots ever do...). The FMS assumes a " wind correction factor" for the descent - since the wind speeds usually get slower the lower you get, this corresponds with your TAS getting slower, the lower you get. So if you have a 20% tailwind speed increase, this 20% factor can be applied to the whole descent "angle". In reality, very few descents can be flown "idle" power as calculated. The real atmosphere is just too unpredictable, and even a 10kt unexpected headwind will make you come up short 3-4 miles, unless you add power (which the A/T will do for you in a VNAV PTH descent if you get too slow). The real FMS also has a problem with the "wind-shift" factor. Let´s say you enter a strong layer of headwind. In the long run, this will make your idle-power descent "steeper". The FMS adjusts for that during descent planning, if you enter the wind into the descent forecast page. But as you ENTER the wind layer, initially your IAS will increase (positive windshear). This initial shear is not planned for and surprised the FMS. It assumes that it will need to descend steeper (due to the headwind), but suddently finds that the airspeed increases unexpectedly! This will often cause you to be forced out of VNAV (as the speed gets above the allowed speed error). So in conclusion, VNAV is not the magic bullet and the FMS isn´t almighty or omniescent. It is a 80´s computer facing a very complex and dynamic reality, and while its a great helper, it has it´s limitations. Jan

Well, one thing that always seems to work is some well-endowed female copilot - no matter how bad the 3D-model might be, the male mind seems to glaze over the shortcomings with the power of imagination... . Jan

Good point, added that (and the inevitable mousewheel-scroll and iPad output) to the list... Jan

I do have skymaxx pro version 2, and I used it on some of the movies I made. I feel that it helps with performance compared to the default clouds, for example. Yes, I use a SSD, but if I remember correctly, it doesn´t help much with the loading times. At least not as much as you think it would. Cheers, Jan