Two hours in a real 744 Sim

[martybuzz 2]

Firstly I would like to say thank you very much to Captain John Bartels for giving the opportunity of a lifetime and for also being very very patient with me. As the 744 is my favourite aircraft, I never thought I would actually get to sit in the cockpit of a real one, let alone attempt to fly it. Also, a big thankyou to the staff and the instructor at Qantas for making it all happen. The relaxed, but very professional way everyone conducted themselves that I met stuck in my mind.Also, owning PMDG’s 744 add-on was a big help. It taught me all the systems and the FMC. Also within the limitations of FSX, it is surprisingly real in the handling characteristics, especially in Roll and Pitch, well done everyone at PMDG. As I go through, I’ll mention where things differ, of course, apart from the obvious.The sim was booked for two hours between 1700 and 1900 hours. John had a class, so I spent the day in Circular Quay. As I’m from Melbourne, I had a nice day walking around taking happy snaps. We arranged to meet at the Qantas Security Office at 1630 hours. As all the paperwork was there, I signed in, got my Visitors Pass and when John arrived we walked through to the Sim Building. When we entered, what first struck me was how clean everything was! We walked past various sims including the 767-300, the A380 (Which I had a quick peek in) and on to the 744 sims. The 767 was in use and it was fascinating to watch the sim from the outside moving around and wonder what was going on inside. We located the roster for our sim which was number 7 and found our entry.I was then introduced to our Instructor (Steve). He was going to sit in the back and program the sim to what we asked. Luckily Sim 8 was available as number 7 was U/S. Steve asked me what Flight Sim I had at home and I told him, adding I had the PMDG 744. He said tells all new F/O’s on the 744 to buy PMDG 744 as it helps teach the systems.We then got an OH&S briefing from Steve and we walked into the sim. To say I was like a big kid at this stage was an understatement! I took the left hand seat and John took the right hand seat which, as he said, “Felt a very strange place to be.” Sorry John. Though John has swung to the dark side and flies the A380.As you can see by the picture (we paused the sim so I could get this pic), the sim is based on the Rolls Royce engines so the Upper Eicas had EPR, N1 and EGT. The lower when in ENG display had N2 and N3. When I strapped in, Steve turned on the full motion. This made the walkway at the back of the sim fold away and pressurizes the hydraulic jacks. When I looked outside, the graphics were very good. We were sitting in Taxiway A1 at Sydney with engines running. You could make out the Domestic Terminal and everything else around the airport. What really stood out were the runway markings and lighting. As I was going to fly a Sydney to Melbourne sector first as the PF, Steve loaded 25 tonnes of fuel for us. I can’t recall the take-off weight, but it was quite light. John loaded up the FMC for a derate take off at flaps 10 with a DEENA departure off 16R and Wollongong being the transition. I confirmed the overhead fuel panel was set to Fuel Tank/Eng and double checked it on the lower eicas.I had a quick play with the Control Column. There is no notch or indent when the Ailerons are neutral, it just springs back. It’s the same in the same in the elevators.We called “All set” and it was time to get going. I pushed the toe brakes to release the Park Brake (That’s the only way to get it off!) and straight away we started moving forward at idle thrust. So many things were going through my mind at this stage. I remembered not to turn too early because of the main body gear so I grabbed the Nose Wheel Tiller and turned on to 16R. The tiller pushes forward and backwards and thanks to John, I found pushing forward makes you turn right.Strobes on, landing lights on, VNAV, LNAV, Flight Director and Auto throttle set I called, “Setting thrust.” I moved the throttles forward (which they do quite easily) to about 1.2 EPR, let the engines stabilise and pushed the TOGA button. The sim is very good at simulating acceleration and even the bumps of running over the centre line lights which of course I did! Steering down the runway with the rudder pedals is quite smooth. Trying to keep it just right of the centre line is another thing. John calls 80 knots and I confirmed off my speed tape. V1 called and I took my hand off the throttles. I think my heart rate about now was about 160. All I kept thinking was “don’t scrape the tail” by rotating too quickly. As I had never flown the 744, I wasn’t so sure of how much elevator input was needed and how much of that was translated into the actual movement of the control column.“VR” was called and I pulled back on the column and we lifted off. Thank god, I didn’t over rotate. I pitched up smoothly as I could to about 12.5 degrees because we were very light. Positive rate was called and through my very dry mouth I called “Gear up.” I was expecting the controls to be heavy and the actual aircraft slow to respond, but boy was I wrong. The actual aircraft is very responsive at this weight and did not need much control input. A short time later I called “LNAV” as it lit up on the FMA and became active. Then I called “THRUST REF, VNAV SPEED” and I started following the Flight Director. If you know the DEENA departure you fly a bit of a dog leg as soon as you are airborne. This is where the real thing differs from PMDG. Following the flight director in the real thing is a lot harder and a lot less forgiving.Having full motion on, I could feel the movement in both pitch and roll and as I concentrated on the commands of the Flight Director, the sim moved up and down and left and right as I had a very personal argument with it.The trim is very quick and very sensitive. I couldn’t believe that something over two stories tall (The trim Actuation Unit in the tail) would be so quick! I had the opportunity in Longreach to climb in the tail and take a picture of the Trim Unit. It is very big.I hand flew the departure and a lot of the cruise so I could get the feel of things. Plus I think John was having fun torturing me. We climbed to Fl390, which was non-standard, but hey, we were in the sim. Once trimmed in the climb, you can just about let go of the control column and just turn it slightly to keep on track. I called for “Centre Auto Pilot to command” so I could have a look around at the cockpit and scenery outside the window. Once set, I could catch my breath. You can hardly hear the engines from the cockpit on take-off and once up to cruise speeds, you just hear wind noise.A couple of aircraft flew underneath us and you could see their TCAS paint on the ND. It was just amazing! John pointed out that once the Auto Pilot is set; you really have to fight the Control Column to get it to move. It was like trying to move a car’s steering wheel that has power steering with the engine turned off.If everybody likes this report I’ll keep going in Part Two, the approach and landing. We also did an Autoland at minimums and also an engine out after V1, but before VR.Buzz

[Turbine777 13]

Totally Awesome! Congrats Martin, and very well written, thought I was there :)

[Gavin 99]

Of course we all like it and look forward to part 2 :(

[paulnd 0]

I'm very jealous! look forward to part 2.

[tcas_climb 45]

excellent post! Hurry up with part 2!

[Gary A 8]

I really enjoyed reading of your experience Marty, please continue when able.

[por930 51]

Great report Martin, I can imagine the feeling and the heart rate. Amazing isn't it, it is a simulator, yet your mind soon gets so immersed with systems and controls and staying ahead of the big girl, you are "there". Yes, please keep going with parts 2 and onwards.

[jcalder 25]

Awesome! Can't wait to hear more! Also, great pictures!My sister's boyfriend is an Air Canada pilot, he flies the A320 and Embraer. He was going to talk to his superiors to see if he could get me the opportunity to try the 777-300ER full motion simulator this winter. He wasn't sure if he could bring me in or if he'd have to find someone certified on the aircraft. He figured it wouldn't be a problem. I want the PMDG 777 for awhile first though :) We'll have to see how that works out.Jeff Calder

[martybuzz 2]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Okay, now the descent and landing. Unfortunately we didn’t get any pics of this, but we did get some of the Autolanding and the engine out, so I’ll post those as I go.The Approach into Melbourne was already programmed in the FMC before we left Sydney. This was the LIZZI Arrival for RWY 16. Steve asked, “What type of weather do you want?” So I went with just normal weather. In the cruise, the scenery was amazing. Beautiful graphics as usual.Once again, John suggested I hand fly, so at TOD, I pressed the “Autopilot Disconnect” on the control column twice and I had control. You press it twice because the first press sounds the Master Caution and the second press shuts it up!Still in VNAV mode, the Flight Director told me to pitch down for the descent and so started once again my personal argument with it to keep things stable. Only a slight bit of trim was needed and it settled down in the descent at about 3000 fpm. We flew through a bit of turbulence on the way down and once again I shook my head at how real it felt. John called that we were a bit high and suggested I apply some Speed Brake. He warned me there would be a bit of a pitch change, he wasn’t wrong! I fed the Speed Brake in slowly so I could sense the change and straight away it pitched up, but once I got the feel of what was going on, it was fine. Also, when putting the Speed Brake down, you do it slowly so the pitch change is not so violent.As we descended, we passed through some cloud and that’s when I first got a visual on the airport. Approaching 10000, John changed to V/S mode to slow us down. I announced “Speed, Vertical Speed” on the FMA and as John suggested, “Grit your teeth and follow the Flight Director,” which I tried to do as best I could. As we slowed even more, I called for flaps as they were commanded on the Speed Tape. What I was surprised about here was the amount of pitch change when flaps were given, especially from Flap 10 down to Flap 30. As we turned onto finals, the ILS was showing on the PFD and once G/S and the Localiser were alive I called for “Flaps 20” and “Gear Down”Still hand flying it, it was a bit hard to have a good look out the window, but when I did, the runway looked great. The graphics were amazing. Speed was set to VREF plus 5 and I called for Flaps 30.Landing checklists brought up something I haven’t seen on the Upper Eicas. “Speedbrake Armed.” I asked if this is new. Steve said it was a new feature that hadn’t been in long.Following the ILS information on the PFD along came a voice I also hadn’t heard before. It announced, “Radio Altimeter.” I then got the usual “One Hundred Above”, “50, 40, 30, 20, 10.” There were others, but I was a bit busy and can’t recall them. I double flicked the “Auto Throttle Disconnect” at about 100 feet.At 30 feet, I closed the throttles and started the flare, oops too much too early. I gave a bit too much elevator and we floated down the runway, so I flew it in and the touch down was quite smooth considering. I couldn’t believe I’d actually got it ON the runway. I grabbed reverse thrust and you have to wait for the gate to unlock and then pull them up into full reverse. Once again, I shook my head at how real the sim felt. The aircraft shook a bit from the reverse thrust and the noise was excellent. Mental note though, do not try and steer on the ground with the Ailerons! Also, trying to come out of Autobrakes into “Manual Braking” is quite hard to judge too. I was pressing too hard too quickly and getting a bit of a jolt.100, 80, 60 knots were called and I put the reversers away. I taxied off and came to a stop. God, did I need a drink! I was shaking, my shirt was full of sweat and I’m glad I didn’t have to shake someone’s hand. The feeling was magnificent; I’d actually got it on the runway and by hand flying.Now here’s the best thing with the sim, you just press a few buttons and we re-positioned for an Autoland at minimums, twenty feet in this case. The sim was configured to training weight which you can see in the photos is 261 tonnes. As we now had 74.8 tonnes of fuel on, Steve asked me to re-configure the Overhead Fuel Panel. So on went the over rides and cross feeds and we were set.Off we went approaching 16 at Melbourne. All I could see out the front was white. John instructed me that PF looks out and the PNF looks in. PNF calls anything wrong otherwise keeps quite. PF keeps right hand on throttle ready to press TOGA for a go around if necessary.I asked. “Do I need to close the throttles on landing?” John said, “All you have to do is give it reverse thrust. It’ll even keep itself on the runway.” That’s exactly what it did. As the calls came, 50, 40, 30 and at 20, out popped the runway lights.The flare was perfect, as was the touchdown. The throttles closed automatically and I just gave it reverse thrust. We came to a full stop right on the centre line. I’ll post the best bit, the engine out after V1 soon. Just that I’ve got an appointment to go to.

[Kobradelta1000 0]

very interesting! Thank you!

[Qavion 19]

Excellent writeup, Marty! (I'll forgive you for the minor technical inaccuracies :( )Your comment on the scenery surprised me (I guess it's been a while since I visited the sim centre, so I'm sure they've upgraded the visuals). I'm also amazed that you got motion on your first ride.I see the sim still has the old type CRT displays (hard to find these days on the real aircraft as they are being phased out). Did you get to see the EGPWS Terrain displays?

I moved the throttles forward (which they do quite easily)...

It's fly by wire, but there's still friction there. I'm sure the adrenalin helped you overcome that, though :( Looking forward to your next report!Cheers.Q>P.S. As John said, that SPEEDBRAKE ARMED Memo message is relatively new (maybe a year or so old). I'm still waiting for it to appear in our Maintenance Manual :(

[martybuzz 2]

Excellent writeup, Marty! (I'll forgive you for the minor technical inaccuracies :( )Your comment on the scenery surprised me (I guess it's been a while since I visited the sim centre, so I'm sure they've upgraded the visuals). I'm also amazed that you got motion on your first ride.I see the sim still has the old type CRT displays (hard to find these days on the real aircraft as they are being phased out). Did you get to see the EGPWS Terrain displays?It's fly by wire, but there's still friction there. I'm sure the adrenalin helped you overcome that, though :( Looking forward to your next report!Cheers.Q>P.S. As John said, that SPEEDBRAKE ARMED Memo message is relatively new (maybe a year or so old). I'm still waiting for it to appear in our Maintenance Manual :(

Let me know about the technical inaccuracies as I'm always trying to learn! Or did you take a close look at the pic????? I did cheat there. Yes, I was hoping for LCD's, but ah well, all the Oscar Echo's are hogging those. The Vomit Comet was out on the apron as I walked into the Sim Building. The Upper Eicas in the Sim was starting to bleed a bit, so wasn't as clear as it should be.Apparently they have upgraded the scenery. Google Earth was mentioned. Yes, John did show me the EGPWS. I deliberately headed for Mount Macedon at 5000 to see it work. Before I got into the Sim I was told not to get my hopes up for full motion, but both the Instructor and John said I was doing quite a good job. I was warned about treating it to roughly and that it can break it. As I was walking around passed the sims, I wondered what the power consumption of that building was too!Pity you weren't around on the day, we went and had a couple of reds afterwards.Buzz.

[martybuzz 2]

Well, here we go with Part 3, the final part of my time in the sim. This will be a take-off from Rwy 16 at Melbourne with loss of thrust from engine number 4 after V1, but before VR. So, it will be a fly away and a return to Melbourne.John warned me that the yaw will be quite significant, so already my heart rates going through the roof and I can picture us heading for the terminal across the grass. In the picture below, I’m just confirming Auto Throttle set and doing a very short cut version of the “Before Take Off” checklist.Okay, once again I advanced the thrust levers and pressed the TOGA button. Off we went down the runway, all the time I’m dreading the “V1” call as I knew what was going to happen next! “V1” is called, then all of a sudden number 4 dies (As you can see in the pic, though a bit blurry. Also note Moonee Valley Racecourse and the city.), the sim lurches and I’m burying my left foot on the rudder pedal. I just about had full rudder when “VR” was called. I did anticipate that the left wing would drop, so I fed in some right aileron. Once airborne, I called for gear up and it felt very funny all crossed up climbing out.As I was hand flying, John gave me a heading to perform a circling approach back to RWY 34. John trimmed out the rudder for me and my leg could have a rest.Trouble is, as we levelled off at 3000, the thrust would reduce and the aircraft wanted to straighten up, so as you can see on the PFD in the next picture, the Slip/Skid Indication was all over the place.Then I thought, a visual approach to 34 with one engine out, yeah right! So I headed for 16 and attempted to put it on the runway. As you can see it the next picture, I’m lined up not too bad. I’m using the ILS as a guide. As I get closer, it all goes pear shaped because the thrust comes back on and I’m fighting the yaw, which in turn lifts the wing and so on.The next two pictures you can see out the window and the horizon is down on the lift and the next it’s down on the right.That gives you an idea of the landing! I got it down the centre, but with a bit of a bounce. Once the nose was down I did the usual and actually got the Autobrakes to release a bit smoother this time.Well, time was up and there were three more pilots wanting the sim. Two hours goes very very quickly when you’re under the pump.It was a fantastic time and something I only dreamed about doing. What I have learnt using PMDG is fly in 3D, not 2D as I always have. You get a better perception of pitch and roll which the sim demonstrates very well (Thanks to full motion). Now if only we could have a service pack with the new things I found.Hope you enjoyed the read as much as I did telling the story.Buzz.

[FLEX1978 373]

Great read Martin! After flying in a full size sim going back to 2D would be very difficult, I would definitely recommend VC with trackIR and the largest monitor you can afford, it makes a huge difference with immersion. Also if you want the updated GPWS sounds with the Radio Altimeter call out let me know, I have the recordings from the BA 744 sims and they work well on the PMDG bird.

[martybuzz 2]

Great read Martin! After flying in a full size sim going back to 2D would be very difficult, I would definitely recommend VC with trackIR and the largest monitor you can afford, it makes a huge difference with immersion. Also if you want the updated GPWS sounds with the Radio Altimeter call out let me know, I have the recordings from the BA 744 sims and they work well on the PMDG bird.

Yes please Rob. I took my Tape Recorder to Sydney, but left it in my room on the day.