Big CDU problem with DEP/ARR

[David Rogers]

Hi,

I have a real showstopper problem with my CDU. I'm not sure if this is a PM CDU problem or a Engravity hardware CDU problem.

It's a real simple one but a serious proplem.

When ever I press DEP/ARR and choose an arrival runway and/or STAR, the CDU deletes all of my existing route waypoints!

So if I had for example 4 remaining waypoints to run to my destination airport, then I select Rwy ILS 09 from the DEP/ARR page of the CDU, it will delete the 4 remaining waypoints and go directly to the first waypoint of the arrival or approach that I've selected.


This evening while flying on VATSIM, I took off from Luxembourg, en route for Varna (Bulgaria). 30 mins after take-off I learned the active landing runway for Varna so selected this in the CDU along with the STAR that I was expecting ............

...........and I lost all 24 en-route waypoints !!! ..... the CDU sent me direct to the first waypoint of the STAR !! ......end of VATSIM flight.

If there was ever a hiccup that I needed help on it is this one!

Is there some condition or rule within the PM CDU that I am missing here?

Or is this indeed a problem with the Engravity CDU ?!? (I had heard of problems with the Engravity CDU with Level D but never with PM)/

Thanks in advance for any help.

[NicD]

Its PM software thats the problem - not the CDU hardware. Keep in mind that the CDU hardware is just a keyboard and display unit.. it has no software logics of its own.

This is a known issue with the PM CDU at the moment and we're all eagerly waiting for it to be fixed. It may be ongoing issues with navdata - but we're all in the dark a bit on that front.

One thing that helps is to ensure that you don't have the airport selected as your last leg on your legs page. So before you enter the STAR go to your last leg - and if its your arrival airport - delete it. Somehow this seems to not muck up the route when you select your rwy/STAR on the arrivals page. Doesn't always work mind you - but seems to work most of the time.

[David Rogers]

Thanks for the help Nic.

Wow - I am disappointed that PM allow a bug like this to be inexistance. Most complex add-ons (PMDG, Level D, etc) are able to present a CDU arguably of equal function to the PM CDU without issues as major as this one.

Maybe I am being harsh but I am just very surprised having just invested in PM, at some of the bugs that exist. The slow TO/GA spool up is another example.

Thanks for the advice Nic - I did not have my arrival airport included in my route on tonight's flight and yet the CDU still deleted my en route waypoints, but I will try another test flight.

I also have another unpleasant issue - don't know if it's PM related but I keep suffering an 'engine fail' on both engines at random points in my flights. I'm not using PMsystems and I am using a basic flight model so it is not failure functionality. Just keep losing my engines - I've managed to start engines in flight but it is highly unrealistic this happening on every flight with PM (never happened before). To be fair, I am also newly using the Saitek Yoke and Throtte so it's possible that the issue is coming from that (but unlikely).

Ever heard of this issue?

Since completing the hardware project of my pit, I have to say that I am having a pretty hard time getting PM working well from a software config point of view. Poor flight dynamics, off-the-numbers performance, bugs, etc ...... Tonight is a bad night but I am already wondering whether I should have built a 767 based around Level D! .... PM gauges are stunningly beautiful but I am disappointed with performance and issues.

Rant over

[NicD]

Welcome to our world

Cockpit building is 2 steps forward, 1 step back. There will be diamond days, and some days are just stone. Perserverance and dog-ed determination are what's needed.

With PM - most of these issues have surfaced in the last year. They were much more stable before that. I believe (hope!) that the current major work going on behind the scenes will get things back on track.

And PM does take a while to get used to. But stick at it - there's alot of functionality and flexibility there and that takes time to master.

With your engine fails ... few things to check:

1. Are your start switches set to 'CONT' (continuous) during takeoff, approach, or turbulence? Should be - you could be getting flame-outs.
2. Are you using engine anti-ice in icing conditions?
3. Are you running your centre tank dry in-flight? If so - you should switch fuel cross-feed on when the centre tank gets to around 1000kgs, and ensure your wing tank pumps are on. That way the fuel system can switch from centre to wing tanks without an issue. Once the centre tank is dry you can then switch the cenre pumps off. Altho - if you're not running PMsystems you may not have this functionality available? Works well in PMsystems.

We had two centre tank exhaustion incidents during World Flight . Our six-packs and warning annunicators aren't wired yet so our tired crews were not checking the centre tank qty enough. Lesson learned!

[David Rogers]

Thank Nic

What a disastrous day this has been ........ done a Google search on "Problems with Saitek Yoke" ..... well check it out for yourself. These things are completely defective. "Phantom button presses" are experienced constantly. In my case, the view kept changing on it's own, and I have assigned a key to cut my engines which again was self activating.

I owe an apologiy to CH Yoke for my assertion on this forum that the Saitek was so superior - after the problems I have had with the Yoke, and from reading on the web that virtuall all Saitek Yoke users are having similar problems, my revised conclusion on this unit is that it is unusable.

Can't wait for one of those diamond days, today has been a b*tch !

[Michael Carter]

Is it possible to find the active before departure (and hope it doesn't change before you arrive) and just program the STAR as normal waypoints so that the software doesn't know the difference?

You guys sound about as busy as me on an arrival.

[PaulEMB]

David,

Check out the latest version of FSUIPC on Pete Dowson's support page . there is a fix to help get rid of phantom button presses.

May be of some use!

I agree with Nic about PM - keep at it - there are some frustrations involved, but it is well worth it in the end,

[David Rogers]

Thanks Paul, I will check that out now. (Hope it's an update to FSUIPC for FS9 and not just FSX!).

Mike - Yes, it is absolutely possible to program the arrival waypoints into the normal route before departure and that is more or less what I will do as a workaround to this. (The only problem is that I fly on VATSIM and the Controllers sometimes like to change runways / arrival / STARs, to give them some variation!).