Which 737?

[Holclo]

I enjoy simming and am starting to build my own DIY cockpit. Basically I enjoy flying the Boeing shorthaul 737. I have the Wilco Feelthere PIC737 which I really like. Trouble is I am now at the stage where I am going to have to make some serious financial commitment in the shape of an MCP. Reading the forums it would seem that the only MCP that will work with PIC737 is the GoFlight MCP Pro but even that seems to have issues.
Should I now change aircraft and which is the easiest to simulate - are there still issues with the PMDG? Are there any other alternatives? Thanks in advance for your guidance.
Cheers
Bill

[Matt Olieman]

My suggestion is this.... :) for what ever it's worth :)

Look at the availability of hardware and costs for each different aircraft types. Then base your decision on that.

Some manufacturers don't make all parts for a specific cockpit, may be you don't want all panels/parts. If you do, then you want to make your choice of the manufacturer that makes all panels/parts.

Regarding software, goes the same way, depends what is available and pricing.

I agree with you, before you jump in, think about it and do some research, and base your decision on which you will feel comfortable with.

[David Rogers]

Bill,

None of the MCPs will work properly with the Wilco 737PIC... only default FS AP commands will work (like VS) but LNAV and VNAV and FL CH will not work ... (and they are where the realism is!).

If you switch to the PMDG 737, all commands will work with both the Go-Flight MCP and the CP Flight MCP. (In my opinion the latter is better - I used to own it - but costs £100 more).

If you are investing in a nice hardware MCP, I would definately recommend using an add-on that allows you to fly with the full features. Incidentally, the wonderful Flight 1 / Level D 767 also works fully with the CP Flight MCP. (unsure about the go-flight).

If you stick with the Wilco 737PIC, you may as well buy the cheaper, older go-flight MCP, that only has vertical speed, etc.

There is currently 1 for sale in the UK on eBay, I stumbled across it today, as I am always searching for go-flight modules on eBay!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Goflight-MCP_W0QQitemZ270201193217QQihZ017QQcategoryZ170QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

:)

[Holclo]

Ashamed to say I have the levelD 767 on my hard drive (it was a birthday present). Haven't got round to "learning it yet" - plus the fact that I couldn't get on their forum to ask questions!!- maybe that is the way I should go.
Bill

[Bob Reed]

This point is the big one in pit building... You MUST make sure you are building the sim YOU want to build. So before you start looking at hardware and all the software, decide on what cockpit you want to build. If you build a particular cockpit for any other reason then it is the one you want to build, you will not stay in the hobby long and you will waste a lot of money! I know, I have tried others and finally came back to the one I wanted to build originally. Until then I was not really happy with the sim and since I switched back the sim is a wonderful thing for me to waste my time on! :)

[David Rogers]

Ashamed to say I have the levelD 767 on my hard drive (it was a birthday present). Haven't got round to "learning it yet" - plus the fact that I couldn't get on their forum to ask questions!!- maybe that is the way I should go.
Bill

Bill - the Level D 767 is without a doubt the best FS add-on ever released for any version of FS...... you MUST learn it, you'll love it once you get the proficiency to start to fly it.

:D

[Holclo]

Did a quick flight from Belfast to Edinburgh today in the LevelD and found it very enjoyable. I might download the PMDG 737. I still love the 737 and have just purchased a CP Flight MCP 737 and 737 EFIS. They may work OK with the 767 I just don't know yet. What I do know is that they will not work with my PIC737.
Bill

[Westozy]

PMDG + CP Flight MCP & EFIS is a proven winner for me. It's not entirely without glitches typical of PCs, an occasional reboot of the MCP software is required now and again but that's only a 30 second interruption. Resetting a flight breaks the MCP communication so I usually have crash detection turned off. My sim boots up and is ready to fly in 3 minutes and 99% of the time it is very reliable and I can't get enough of it. I just wish PMDG would get the FSX version going, it's been "coming soon" for over twelve months now.

Gwyn

[David Rogers]

Did a quick flight from Belfast to Edinburgh today in the LevelD and found it very enjoyable. I might download the PMDG 737. I still love the 737 and have just purchased a CP Flight MCP 737 and 737 EFIS. They may work OK with the 767 I just don't know yet. What I do know is that they will not work with my PIC737.
Bill

Bill - As I said above, the CP Flight MCP definately does work with the Level D 767.... ;)

Glad you enjoyed your first 767 flight.

Bob is very right about being careful and patient before choosing your cockpit. I will admit that I spent a lot of money on a 737NG pit... but I chose the NG not because I like or am fascinated with it in real life - I chose it because it has the most plug n play hardware available for it.... that ended up being the wrong decision and I wasted a lot of money ....

But on the plus side, I then made the tough decision to dismantle / sell, and have now 75% built a A320 / A330 / Generic cockpit. I have built 90% of the parts myself, and I am sooo much happier now that my pit fits with my preferences within the hobby. I can fly my (favourite) A320 and A330 aircrafts, but with 5 mins adaption (ie... fitting my yoke back in place :p), I can also do things like Level D 767, and Wilco 737PIC flights too......... It's perfick !

I really respect the guys here who make a true lifelike cockpit, modelled on a single aircraft, and conversely, my sim definately has a bit of a home made look and feel to it now.....but...... I can have all the cockpit immsersion flying a A320, then the next evening fly a 727 in my pit ! ..... it just works for me. Others have 1 aircraft they are crazy about and so it works for them to model just that aircraft, and go for more realism. :)


:)

[Holclo]

Downloaded the PMDG737 today and have also enjoyed a couple of short hops in it. My pit, although roughly based on the 737, will indeed be generic and as much homebuilt as I can manage. I now have a CP MCP and 2*CP Efis. 3 Go Flight Units (T8,P8, and GF-46, Saitek Throttle Quad CH Yoke, CHpedals and a couple of monitors. Lurking over there in the corner is a BenQ projector which at the moment is only used for movies hmmm! On the hard drive is Wilco737,LevelD 767 and PMDG737. Guess that should keep me going for a while Oh and a HagstromKE72 waiting to be wired up. I keep telling the wife I am terribly busy and have no time for shopping!
Bill

[mpl330]

And the madness begins:-P

Mike

[David Rogers]

Downloaded the PMDG737 today and have also enjoyed a couple of short hops in it. My pit, although roughly based on the 737, will indeed be generic and as much homebuilt as I can manage. I now have a CP MCP and 2*CP Efis. 3 Go Flight Units (T8,P8, and GF-46, Saitek Throttle Quad CH Yoke, CHpedals and a couple of monitors. Lurking over there in the corner is a BenQ projector which at the moment is only used for movies hmmm! On the hard drive is Wilco737,LevelD 767 and PMDG737. Guess that should keep me going for a while Oh and a HagstromKE72 waiting to be wired up. I keep telling the wife I am terribly busy and have no time for shopping!
Bill

I like it. You got some great stuff there! All the add-ons you listed are my favourites too. If you like the odd turbo-prop, you should also look at the wonderful Dash 8-300 at www.majesticsoftware.com (http://www.majesticsoftware.com) .... she's a beaut!

:D

[markgrizzo]

I have been using PIC 737 from Wilco with GoFlight MC Pro and it works really well with it. It will simulate the LNAV, VNAV, Level Change, Autoland and so forth. Just need to make sure the setting in GoFlight config tool is changed to FS-Add on.

Thanks,
Mark