Litjan

Updated September 2023, Version 1.5 Hi everyone. While it seems to be the economically "smart" thing to do to NOT talk about the shortcomings of your product (and then sometimes to just ignore the complaints after you cash in the money), we are trying to run things a bit differently here at IXEG. I would therefore like to share a list of things that will NOT be in version 1.5, and also give a little background of why, and wether we are planning to add it later. I will try to make this list as encompassing as possible, if I forget something, please don´t sue me! I will add/remove from this list as warranted. Aircraft visual 3D model Ancilliary vehicles (catering, fuel truck, loading crew) - this is now accomplished by using the XP11 native ground vehicles, the docking locations for those are correctly added in planemaker. Cockpit keypad entry mechanism Omitted due to security reasons. Deployable emergency slides.Omitted due to time constraints, planning to add later. Deploying oxygen masks. Omitted due to time constraints, planning to add later. Sound effects/visual model for passengers and their (assumed) behaviour. Too complex a simulation off it´s own, most likely won´t be added for fear of having something repetitive or cheesy. Cabin crew voice interaction. You can communicate via menues that are invoked by pressing the cabin call button, though. FMS Pilot entered HOLDS. While we have database-inherent holds (like at the end of a missed approach), we won´t feature the HOLD page where you could enter all sorts of HOLDS. Omitted due to time constraints, definitely planning to add later. RTA feature. Omitted due to time constraints, planning to add later, but low priority. OFFSET feature. Omitted due to time constraints,planning to add later, but low priority. ABEAM points (after shortcutting route, for example). Omitted due to time constraints, definitely planning to add later. You CAN enter stuff in the FIX page, and "find" a PBD point that way (enter a fix, enter a radial and a distance to see the green radial and distance-circle) Entering descent wind forecast (normal wind entry on PERF INIT page possible). Display of "RTE DATA" on EHSI/map, i.e. showing ETA and restrictions next to waypoint. You can see that on the LEGS page, for now. Omitted due to time constraints, definitely planning to add later. Automatic entry of performance data (weight, etc.). We might include that for the "ready to fly" scenario, not decided yet. For now it must be entered manually, if FMS performance assistance is desired (not mandatory). Fully working PROGRESS page - we started to code it, but much of the things shown are placeholders. We expect this to be one of the first things we will add soon after release. Full VNAV functionality for descents with speed and/or altitude restrictions. The FMS gets confused by changing the cruising altitude while enroute and multiple descent restrictions and restrictions of a certain type. Basic unrestricted descents work, though. GUI Dedicated flight-planning software. We feel that this is not necessarily within the scope of our add-on. We model the plane like you get it after delivery from Seattle (+ free lifetime fuel!). There are plenty of flight-planning solutions out there, we include a basic "ballpark" fuel calculator. Complex and visually appealing load+trim software. We feel that clicking empty seats to fill them and pulling sliders to load cargo is fun for a few times - but really all you get is a weight and a center of gravity. And you might just as well set those directly in the gui. We have simple sliders and click-buttons for that (or you can use the default X-Plane menus). No way to output any CDU, EADI or EHSI onto an external device like iPad or such. Would like to have that (especially for cockpit builders), though. Exception: it is possible to use AirFMC, available at the Apple App Store. No pop-out 2D displays of flight instruments/CDU/EFIS to make reading or entering stuff easier, no hiding of yoke to not obscure view. We feel that the ergonomics (or lack of) an airliner cockpit is an important part of the experience, so we don´t want to "help" too much. We have "preview pop-ups" of the EHSI when making changes on the EFIS control panel to help you see if you have the right setup. Other systems Wxr radar returns can only be displayed on the left EHSI/map. Omitted due to time constraints, definitely planning to add later. Terrain colour display can only be shown on the left EHSI(map. Omitted due to time constraints, definitely planning to add later. Operating circuit breaker (CB). We decided that most CBs will never be moved in normal operation. We will add moveable CBs with the yellow collar later (to be used in abnormal situations), and possibly some others as well (standby altimeter vibrator!). Automatic startup/shutdown "macros". Won´t add that. This plane is about realistic operation (it´s not hard!). If not desired, just select "ready to fly" or "turnaround-state". IRS using "false" position. It is not possible to deliberately enter a "false" position and have the IRS align to that. The entry will be rejected unless reasonably close to the real position. In the real plane the GPS would also "correct" your wrong entry (if close enough) or warn you. A position far from the old "shutdown" position would be rejected once. A wrong latitude would be detected during the alignment process...It would be a lot of coding effort to maintain a "wrong" position with the corresponding effects (map-shift, etc.) A dedicated way to fly the same plane together in multiplayer. Note that SmartCopilot has made great progress in making our plane flyable with a crew of 2, and while not perfect yet, it is working very well, going by user reports: http://forums.x-pilot.com/forums/topic/9714-smartcopilot-first-attempt/?page=1 Volume control for radios/navaid ident checking. We have implemented a better volume (more loud), but it can not be adjusted yet. We are trying to be as upfront about the shortcomings of our model as possible. I have myself bought many aircraft for flight-simulations boasting great things, only to be disappointed. I want to avoid that for everyone, so if you find a "must have" feature on this list, I encourage you to hold off on purchase until we added your feature in a later patch. I could make a feature list of things we have that would take you hours to read, but instead you can assume that our plane can do everything that the real one does, except for the things noted above. Cheers, Jan

Thanks for helping out, guys!

We have some code in place to switch the plane into a flyable state if you use X-Plane´s "position onto final" buttons on the local map. There is another way I use to "set myself up" wherever I want, either at a 10NM final or at 37.000 feet mid-air: Spawn the plane on the runway. Set up flaps the way you like. Use the local map to position the plane, set the desired altitude and airspeed. Click close. Now the plane is where you put it, raise the gear, turn on the autopilot and autothrust and click ALT HOLD. Now you can take over from there... As far as more screenshots and video is concerned: They are coming. We are pondering to release the videos I am making to accompany our written tutorials. There will be at least 6 of them, and I think we will space them to lead up to release. That being said, we won´t really start posting them until we have a "finished product" and what is remaining is documentation and packaging. Our beta testers will also be free to share their impressions before we release, so there should be a flurry of media in the timeframe before release. Cheers, Jan

This is correct. Our 737 will have only one FMS, just like most of the Classic 737´s out there. So it´s just one computer connected to two control-display-units (CDU´s). If the one FMS fails, you loose it all. Therefore this (our) model would not be allowed to fly in the North Atlantic MNPS airspace. That being said, I can guarantee that our FMS will not fail on you during the transatlantic flight, and I will not rat on you for taking the trip with just one FMS, either. If you want to take the trip "full realism" you have to take the detour out of MNPS airspace, maybe top off the fuel in Keflavik, then over to Iqaluit or Gander. Depending on the headwinds... The challenge is actually in getting this setup working. You can enter stuff on two different "keyboards", but need to keep tabs on each one, update information on both...its not trivial. You can have the LEGS page on both CDU´s, and both pilots *could* be editing away, that stuff makes a programmer drink too much coffee... Having two or more FMS computers is easy. You just say "we have 5 FMS computers". Thats it. They all share and sync information (kinda like a raid 1 harddisk system). All computers have the same information. Unless all 5 fail, nothing happens (except for the error message that they failed). Jan

Yes.

I agree about the offset - but in reality this is mostly handled with headings. This is not only easier for the pilots and ATC, it is also more efficient (to fly a detour it is less way to fly a "triangle" as opposed to joining an offset distance and then rejoining later). But this should be no excuse for not having an offset feature, just an explanation why we decided it is ok to ship the initial version without it. The RTA mode is supposed to "adjust" your speed so that you arrive at a specified fix at a specified time (RTA = required time of arrival). I have used it once on the 747-400 when we were supposed to not arrive "too early" over a fix to cross Afghanistan airspace. It didn´t work at all... Yes, wind prediction for navigational purposes will be available. It will influence time and fuel predictions, climb and descent path calculation. OPT CRZ altitude calculation is not dependent on wind per se, and the FMS doesn´t adjust OPT ALT, even if multiple wind levels are known and input. OPT ALT as suggested by the FMS is based on weight and cruise speed, only. In reality a different wind level can make a less "optimum" level more desirable, of course, but the FMS won´t help you making that call. Jan

The real FMS has OFFSET and also RTA. I am not sure if holding patterns are adjusted for wind correction, but the rest of the routing isn´t. Our FMS in the initial release version will have no OFFSET and no RTA. We plan to add those at a later time, but I think - except for the sake of completeness - these will not be missed for V1.0. These are features that are rarely if ever used (I haven´t done so for a single time in ca. 6000 hours of 737 flight). The manual says nothing about wind correction for holding patterns, and I think for most windspeeds it will be sufficient to calculate the holding pattern with 25 deg bank and then use up to 30 deg of bank to stay in the turn if the wind isn´t favourable. We will see when we fully implement holding patterns (they are not in the initial release, except for some standard holdings at the end of missed approaches). Jan

The whole speedtrim system isn´t very intuitive, unfortunately. It wasn´t designed to "help" the pilot, it is more of a safety system. Like Hotdawg said, it was added to "enhance" the speed stability of the aircraft. Especially in some situations can become hard to handle during large power change, and if the pilot isn´t very attentive, a dangerous situation (low speed, high pitch) can develop that - due to low elevator authority, it can be hard to recover from (full forward yoke is not enough). In practice the speedtrim system is often found working "against the pilot". If you want to fly faster, the speed trim wants you to fly slower! The plane will not start trimming unless you deviate from the "target speed", so if you fly with a wrong trim setting, but are at the correct speed, you still have to "push" on the yoke. It´s not an autotrim - and this plane is not an Airbus...fortunately . Jan

Sorry, I didnt read the original post carefully enough. You want to trim pretty much all the time to alleviate any forces on the yoke. It is possible to accelerate to a new speed without trimming, but the further you get away from the "in-trim" speed, the more force you have to exert on the yoke. This makes precise flying hard. If you accelerate a long time without trimming, and then "reset" the speed trim to the new speed by a very brief application of trim, then of course the speed-trim system will have to run for a while to achieve this new in-trim speed. Does this make sense? Cheers, Jan

Which Christmas?

To my knowledge all of Lufthansa´s 737 Classics (-300, - 400, -500) only used the analog mechanical instruments. I can confirm this from 1996 to present day, and I don´t think they had any EIS versions before that... Jan

That is what we are looking at, and have been in contact with those people. We will see how that works out after the plane is finished. Jan

Personally I would love that as well, but again the answer would be: For V1.0 no. For later we won´t rule it out, but it would be very far down on the list (mostly because of the very unfavourable relation between ease of implementation and customer demand). In addition I think that the number of actually in-service aircraft with that configuration will be in the single digits very soon. Cheers, Jan

Without going into details I can tell you that the whole development team did already have their share of strange german food.... Cheers, Jan

"Wo ein Wille ist, ist auch ein Weg". Paypal is really easy to set up - or maybe you know someone with a credit-card. I am sure you can figure something out. The options available are very much the standard for international online transactions. Good luck!

As long as the judge leaves the computer with you, I don´t see a problem with that. Jan

Yeah, you can buy one - but then the trouble starts. Where do you put it? Do you have a licence to fly it? Maintenance costs, fuel, landing fees, flight attendants you need to keep entertained during their time off duty... It just never stops. Not so with our IXEG 737! Install, fly whenever and wherever you want (as long as it is within the approved latitudes) - it parks on your harddrive, no follow-up costs... That can´t be beat . Cheers, Jan

For 76 million dollars you can have a beta tomorrow morning . Cheers, Jan

But you forgot that we are moving in fits and starts....

I see your point. It is one of those decisions between ultra-realism and ease of access. I think, however, that restricting the choice is a bit too harsh. It is not like either gauge form is "easy" and the other one "hard", so there is no unfair advantage of one over the other. Yes, switching gauges or winglets while at 37.000 feet is not realistic, but neither is changing the weather, weight or time of day (and X-Plane lets you do that). And changing gauges and winglets is just "optical" change, no functionality change. We don´t allow access to the "ground services" menu while the plane is in motion, I think that would be too unrealistic. But for ultrarealism regarding changing of aircraft equipment during flight: Don´t do it! Cheers, Jan

Yes, the FMS is the last "big block" that needs to be finished for our initial release version tentatively dubbed V1.0. There will be many versions following up on that one, including many things that we would like to have on the airplane, but won´t have on the initial release due to time constraints. One example is animated cabin doors. We have the gui in place to operate them, but it takes a lot of time to model the animation correctly, and this won´t happen for the initial release, most likely. So if you plan to buy this plane that took 5 years to make to mostly sit and watch the doors open and close - hold off on your initial purchase . Jan

Except for the "historical coolness" factor I see no reason why you would want to use CIVA if you have a modern FMS. Even if you totally dislike putting in "full routes" you can just hack a few waypoints into the LEGS page, and off you go. Of course you can get out your VFR chart and use the stopwatch for some good old-fashioned dead-reckoning as well . We don´t have a skyport for shooting a fix on the sun or stars at night, Omega or Loran C either, though . Jan

Just a little headsup from the development front: This is a copy+paste from our internal Skype-chat, written by me this morning: [09:30:47] Jan Vogel: ok everyone - I am just testing the latest revision, Tom has implemented a change of DEST "on the fly". I am flying over Los Angeles, changing my mind ALL THE TIME - entering new destinations (Van Nuys, LAX, Burbank, Santa Monica, etc...). The FMS is holding up beautifully - this is the way the FMS is supposed to help the pilot, being flexible, easy to use, no "kinks" to avoid... [09:31:01] Jan Vogel: (^) big one for Tom! [09:31:20] Jan Vogel: I am still finding some odd bugs, totally expected, I am really doing some stupid stuff :-) Just so you know we are not sitting on our thumbs, watching you squirm for a release date . Cheers, Jan

Yep, if I didn´t have some special connections, then both my kids would be on the list already so they are elligible for the 737 when they are 21. And if they don´t want it then, we could always trade it in for something else...