Hey! What's She doing here...

[petermcleland]

...at Bremen :-roll Must be some sort of "Goodwill Visit" :-)

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3c34679359c72d08.jpg

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3c3467e15b2b6e05.jpg

Seriously though...this was my first go with Text-o-Matic. This is an application that comes bundled with the Dreamfleet B734. It enables you to create new B734s with over 200 free liveries that you can download from Dreamfleet. Stardust here is just one of them and I created this aircraft with just 4 mouse clicks in Text-o-Matic.

I just don't know how you guys who have not got the DF734 can possibly live without it :-lol

Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[YPants]

Nice shot as ever Peter. I also used the DF737 Midland livery for a while too because I kept putting the thought of learning to use text o matic off. When I finally did, I thought 'geess, why didn't I do this ages ago'. It really is that easy. maybe it's the way to go for changing liverys.
Regarding the EDDW scenery. Dont get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for freeware deisgners, they are worth their weight in gold. I installed the scenery and it looks fantastic. Prior to installing the scenery, 2k2 was very stable, after installing the EDDW scenery, probably 4 out of 5 flights will lock my system to the point where it needs a reset :-( If I remove the add on from the library, 2k2 becomes stable again. This happens only when I fly around europe.
I have RTM several times. Have been tempted too e-mail Oliver, but with it beeing such a popular bit of kit, I'm sure he is inundated with mail at this time. Before I do, I was wondering if you, or any other person reading this post could possibly shed some light on the subject?

Many thanks and kind regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3c31e7ec56fc4170.jpg

[Jeff S KDTW]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-03-02 AT 10:09AM (EDT)[p]Nice plane......;-) try them all,.....the planes that is. ;-)

[hr]http://home.earthlink.net/~snyders2000/737l.jpg

[marthaj]

Hey pete how much is the DF737 in serling pound ive seen the price in dollars is $29.99 but what about the good ol british £

[petermcleland]

Richard,

I'm pretty sure that you are running out of memory when using Bremen....I get pretty close sometimes and I have 512Mbs. I use something called Memturbo to keep an eye on it and reclaim some if necessary. Try running EndItAll before starting FS2002 and see if there is any improvement. I have had it lock up when multitasking.

Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[steve7fm]

Ah, my fav DF737, i love the Stardust. my other fav cos i like the colours is:

http://www.smafie.co.uk/df737-ct2.jpg

http://www.smafie.co.uk/gos-sig.jpg

[petermcleland]

Martin,

I think that is about £21 and I reckon that is astounding value for money :-)

To be quite honest...the Dreamfleet B734 is a whole new Flight Simulator on its own. One of the beauties of it is the fact that it handles manually better than any other FS2002 jet, so if you want to, you can get in and fly it around without using the Autopilot. On the other hand, it also offers the finest implementation of the Flight Management Computer yet written (IMHO) so you can also get down to some really serious and realistic airliner flying with all the controls just as they are for real.

However, if you take this last route...then you must be prepared, like a real Airline Pilot, to do the conversion course. The average conversion course in British Airways takes about 3 months...the Dreamfleet B734 conversion course consists of reading and properly studying the various excellent manuals provided and I would recommend that you do this :-)

Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[YPants]

Thanks for the resonse Peter. I'm only running a P111 650 with 256memory. I am soon to get a new comp though I hope. Could you tell me where i can get that 'memturbo'? Sounds like it may do me a favour.
Thanks again,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3c31e7ec56fc4170.jpg

[marthaj]

ok thanks alot for the reply now i must go and make my mum and dad a cup of tea and then ask them nicely wish me luck

[petermcleland]

Good Luck Martin,

Perhaps it can be a Birthday present or something :-)


Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[petermcleland]

Yes Steve,

I agree, the colours on that livery are very smart...We are really spoilt for choice :-)

Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[petermcleland]

It's called Silicon Prairie Software...MemTurbo. I hesitate to recommend these sort of things but I find it useful in recovering and scrubbing RAM and also for keeping an eye on exactly how much is free at any time. Trouble is...I can't remember where I got it :-roll

Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[petermcleland]

I will Jeff...I will...I will...I will :-lol

How many are there :-hmmm

Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[YPants]

It's ok Peter thanks. I hunted it down and found it at CNET. You were exactly right. I landed at EDDW, and kept my eye on the free ram. It went into read so i left it, and my system crashed. I Filed the flight again, and had to recover my RAM 3 times from approach to taxi. It kept it out of the red though, and thankfully got the full treatment from the add on :7

By the looks of the programme, FS2002, coupled with the Gary Summons scenery, and EDDW are major memory eaters. I suggest any one using 2k2 with sub 256 ram, to think about getting 'ramturbo'

I know this is a screenshot forum peeps, and I'm ever so sorry to gabble on.
Kind regards, and safe landings,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3c31e7ec56fc4170.jpg

[petermcleland]

Great Richard,

Glad it was helpful :-)


Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[jyotig]

Peter

Does the FMC in the DF737 work with the FS2K ATC environment? I just purchased the thing over the web (I'm not about to download 45 MBs using a dial up connection) when it occurred to me that FS2K might not recognize the flight plans in the FMC.

Mark Gibson

[Jeff S KDTW]

There are a TON of them--actually I'm missing one in my signature banner. :-)

[hr]http://home.earthlink.net/~snyders2000/737l.jpg

[petermcleland]

Mark,

No...FS2002 ATC does not see any other flight plans other than those made in the FS2002 Flight Planner. So it does not see any FMC flight plan or FSNav flight plan. However, you can persuade the FS2002 ATC to expect the same route by importing an FS2002 flight plan into the FMC and then working on it there. Then when ATC clear you for normal navigation...you can engage LNAV and the aircraft will follow the route that ATC expects.

You can not persuade ATC to expect any altitude limits though. ATC only knows your cruise altitude and it simply invents an initial limiting altitude...when it releases you from that, then it expects you to leave the limiting altitude and climb to cruise. It knows absolutely nothing about SID or STAR altitudes so...if for instance you are on VNAV and the FMC levels you at an SID limiting alt of 6000...ATC will ask you to expedite your climb and you will have to come out of VNAV and use FLCH or VS for the rest of your climb.

FS2002 ATC is only very simple and will not do SIDS and STARS. I believe this is only right and proper....most people just want to fly and interact in a simple way with ATC.

Dreamfleet's B734 goes way way beyond this and enables full SID and STAR compliance by the FMC.

So Mark, the short answer is the first word of this missive...No :-roll

Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[jyotig]

Peter

Thank you for the information. Actually, I've been flying a few routes in Central Asia where the ATC really doesn't work too well anyway. I've found myself cancelling flight plans and hand flying the default 737 in a number of situations (Afghanistan in particular). That's not to say that I don't like the ATC in FS2K--it's made the whole experience a lot more fun. But, I'll probably use the FMC to plan more routes now that I have it.

Mark

[Dave_West]

Hi Peter,

Beatiful pics mate, as usual. I think we are both obviously massive fans of EDDW2000.

I notice you are also a big fan of the Dreamfleet 734. I have been contemplating purchase myself for a while now. For one, I am wanting something to do in FS2002 while I wait for the 767PIC to get patched and secondly, I reckon it would make a perfect partner for the PIC in my hangar. One for long-haul, one for short hops. I have been put off, however, by some reviews I have been reading. Can you comment on any of this?:

The first thing that we noticed was that when we selected LNAV after take-off, the aircraft began to jerk and bounce around in an ungainly manner. This was particularly noticeable during steep turns. Rather than being smooth, the aircraft jerked around to the desired heading in a manner akin to an AI aircraft following a curve on a taxiway…. Totally unconvincing!!! Upon levelling out, there was an irritating pitch oscillation that never quite went away. We attempted various graphics settings to achieve a better result but alas to no avail - on two machines of the same specification we should add.

However, the most distressing moment in the flight came when we selected the Level Change function to climb to a new Flight Level. For reasons which we do not understand, the climb rate was a skimpy 300fpm to 500fpm and all of the time, the indicated airspeed dropped back until we eventually stalled! In other words, the level change function does not seem to be connected to the auto throttle! Of course, at this point, in true FS2002 style our IFR clearance was cancelled! The manual addendum suggests that this function has been modified to ensure that target speeds are not exceeded. However, we found the function to be unusable.

Another serious problem that we encountered related to ILS capture. Our approach into Salzburg was virtually straight in from about 29 miles away. In other words, no steep turns were required to capture the ILS and yet the DF737-400 still failed to acquire the ILS at all! We are aware that many pilots have written to various forums complaining about poor ILS capture in FS2002. We have found that, on the default aircraft, this is not generally a problem provided that the localiser interception is made from a relatively shallow angle. Thus, we found the DF737-400 interception of the ILS to be worse than the default aircraft performance. In a later flight from Salzburg to Vienna, we had precisely the same experience. Thus on both flights we found ourselves having to fly the ILS approach completely manually.

With regard to your comments on being cleared to climb above the SID altitude above, is it not possible to delete the altitude limit from the FMC, and continue with VNAV, when you get the clearance?

Best Rgds,
Dave.

[petermcleland]

Well Dave,

You do have to learn to fly the aircraft...do the conversion course. People seem to think they can just jump in and fly anything...well you can, if you use the stick and throttle and believe me the DF734 is one of the best in this respect.

However, when it comes to handling the FMC, it is a different matter...this is NOT a toy FMC, it is very realistic and very full of features...It is definitely NOT for just jumping in and pushing buttons.

I don't experience any of the crap in the bold print of your post. Here is what I wrote to someone yesterday who made the following comment:-

>"The FMS is simply not able to keep the plane in control. This problem is not unknown of course, the support forum is loaded with it."<

That was the comment... this was my reply:-

Actually, I am able to fly the entire flight using the FMC from 400 feet
after take-off to a full Autoland at destination...even when that
destination is Garry Summons EGLL.

Provided there is no altitude limit below 10000 feet, the entire flight is flown to within Instrument Rating limits. If
there is an altitude hold below 10000 then, on release for further climb...the 250knot limit is exceeded before being brought back under control. It even managed an Autoland at Bremen yesterday...I think the idea of that in a real aircraft would be preposterous. So, I am very pleased with
the performance of the FMC and delighted with its built in SID and STAR maps...I think it is a masterpiece :-)

End of quote :-)

I'm afraid the Dreamfleet 734 is just too good for the average "GAME PLAYER"...it is not a game, it is a Flight Simulator and a very good simulation it is. There are really well produced manuals for it and the Quick Reference Manual and the FMC Manual should definitely be printed and studied carefully...they are your conversion course.

Many people may find this too much...it is certainly too much for a pure "Gamer". Even I don't use it all the time, but if I want to do a properly planned Airline flight from A to B...it is the DF734. If I want something more relaxing, then it's off to Akutat with the Turbo Beaver or some such...drag and drop a flight plan into FSNav, kick the tyres (sorry..floats) and off I go...A monkey could do it :-roll

With regard to your last question...no, I'm pretty sure the FMC will not permit the changing of an SID limiting altitude. You have to change to FLCH or VS. I believe that is how it is on the aircraft as well. I could be wrong on this, but if so, I'm sure someone will correct me :-)


Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg

[Dave_West]

Thanks for the reply, Peter.

I accept your comments entirely, with regards to not taking the time to learn to fly the aircraft and accept that this is probably the cause of most peoples woes.

I found the DF forum (on this server) after my post and read a lot more. I agree, the SID/STAR preview (although unrealastic) does sound very useful and it has a lot else to offer such as the textomatic, beautiul modeling and all the eye-candy.

Thaks for your thoughts,
Dave.

[petermcleland]

You're welcome Dave,

I hope you get it...I certainly enjoy all aspects of the package :-)

Regards,
http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3ba871e238a74fb8.jpg