Crisis point!

[David Rogers]

Hey all,

I've reached a stage in my pit build that concerns me ..... I was wanting to know if others have been through this......

"Oh my lord, did I choose the wrong aircraft?".....

My pit is at a stage I could only have dreamed of 6 months ago - gorgous Engravity Main Instrument Panel, Project Magenta, CP Flight MCP and EFIS, Engravity CDU, etc, etc, etc....

But I feel a little as though there is somethig missing - and that's a passion for the 737....

You see the main thing that influenced my choice of pit was the availability of 'out of the box' parts ..... I sadly don't have the skills or equipment to make parts, so I went with the NG because of things like the CP MCP, Engravity CDU... and of course the panel kits themselves.

However, the 737NG is not really an aircraft that has ever captured much of my imagination. I tend to like either the extremes of cutting edge technology, or else the character and vintage of older aircraft... (hence I'm a fan of the A32X and the Boeing 727 in particular).

I am certainly not shelving my current pit just yet - heck, how can I when I have invested quite a lot of money in it, in a short time! .... but I am wondering whether I can keep the enthusiasm and passion to continue deveoping it in the long-term, when the fact of the matter (that I so foolishly overlooked when starting out), is that I'm not really excited by the 737NGs !!

Am I as stupid as I feel at the moment, or have others gone through a crisis like this ?

[Bob Reed]

I found out a long time ago by letting other people talk me into other aircraft that if you are not building the one you want, you are in trouble. My first love was the 737NG and I switched to a ERJ and then the 777. I am now building the 737NG which I will never switch from. I love that airplane. Does not matter what reason you think is good.... build the one you want or you will never be happy in this hobby. Yes you have invested lots of $$ but change now before you invest more $$ and then let the thing sit because it does not do what you thought it would for you. That would be a waste of $$!! Just my 2 cents...

[Tomlin]

No, not at all- it's kinda like your wedding week. You may feel that you have or are about to make a bad decision. However, you may not wind up ever really liking the 737. What I would suggest would be to drastically change the type of flights that you conduct. Maybe do some charter-type flights with a -700 into small airports that are not considered commercial airports with scheduled service, or places youve never flown.

Also it may be that you have a/c type burnout. Maybe try some good old desktop flying in a different model, such as a turbo prop or other GA aircraft.

Best of luck. Regardless, Im willing to be that you can sell you setup and get a bit out of it if need be.

[David Rogers]

Thanks guys - good, contrasting views. (I'm sure there is no 'right' answer on this one, I just wanted to hear from others).

I guess it says something that my first ever post on this forum was "Is there a plug and play FCU for the A320?" ....... !!!!! .... I had seen the wonderful CP Flight MCP for the 737 and was wondering if one existed for the Airbus.

But then again, it is certainly not that I hate my current pit - far from it - it's amazing, I just feel a little as though my heart is not quite there...

It's a good point that you made Eric about trying some different flying in it - I have been doing that to a degree - flying it more like a 737-200, not using autothrottle or the ND map mode for example. But then again you lose the realism.

I think I will do some good old standard desktop flying tonight - that may make me appreciate how lucky I am, and to start appreciating my pit !

[Bob Reed]

Keep in mind. you are talking about the A32x, well those aircraft are much more automated then the 737! That = less hand flying!

[Tomlin]

I can hardly imagine going back to desktop-only simming, but it is fun and how we all got started in the first place. In fact, I am planning on using my GA hangar extensively by way of the instructor's station CRT monitor located aft of the Learjet sim. I find getting away from my main aircraft is a nice break and as you said, helps me realize how nice it is to have a full size instrument panel and gauges in front of me instead of such a small panel on a 19" screen.

Anyhow, best of luck on sorting thru all this!

[sas550]

I can hardly imagine going back to desktop-only simming, but it is fun and how we all got started in the first place.

That's what I do. I have a powerful desktop computer with both fs9/fsx installed. There I can fly different aircrafts from the 737. I also like A32x family. If I was to build from scratch today it would have been an A321.

[andarlite]

Although I have a passion for the 767 (which my cockpit is based on), I also like the Dash 8 and the Cesna float planes (this due to the fact that I grew up in Northern Canada). The Dash 8's were what connected our town with the rest of the world. Although I've never flown in a float plane, there certainly were a large number around where I was growing up so I find it a blast to be able to fly around with them in FS9.

The Level D 767 comes with an SDK and a fellow (Nico Kaan) has provided software that makes it very easy for the home cockpit builder to interface the Level D to IOCards. However, I have chosen not to go this route since it would lock my cockpit into just being able to fly the 767. By using GoFlight radio's and their RP48 as the MCP, along with an Hagstrom KE72 and Leo Bodnar BU0836 cards, I can easily reconfigure the controls for another plane.

I recently spend a frustrating week doing the cutouts on the captain side of my 767 MIP (argggg...those bezels) and I don't even want to think of having to repeat that for the FO side (and I still have the center to do). So what I decided to do is just do the cutout for the LCD sceen for the FO side of the MIP. That means if I want to fly a different plane, I can just separate the guage panel and move it to that screen, hop in the right side and go flying . And the best part is that despite these compromises my cockpit still looks like the 767-300.

Regards,
Henry

[737NUT]

I went through the same thing myself. This time i'm acting on it though do to many reasons.
I did some research and found that i can build a 727 with REAL parts for less than what a toy 737 pit can be built for. I love the older 737 and 727 aircraft, something about all those gauges moving in harmony. LOL With the 737NG it went like this, program FMC, AP, takeoff, engage AP. Leave and do stuff around house, return 2-3hrs later. Land airplane, repeat above or shut off PC.
Now lately i have been flying the 727, WOW! You have to sit through a flight and fly this plane! I'm having more fun than ever now. Maybe it's because i got my PPL now and i enjoy more habds on flying? Anyways, i am going to build a hybrid 727/737 steam gauge MIP airplane. I have some done my research and testing and now it's on to the saving and buying real parts stage.

Either way, do what will make you happy. Even it means starting over and taking a loss on parts!

[David Rogers]

This story has an interesting twist .... it's as if god (or whoever is in control ) taught me a lesson tonight.... I was messing around with my 'pit set up (software) and after all the weeks spent configuring Project Magenta and my aircraft files, I suddenly realised I had not checked over some basic FS settings in a long time.

I found myself is FS MENU > AIRCRAFT > REALISM (a setting screen I don't visit often) and realised that my general realism slider was set fully to the left !!! ..... as far away from 'realistic' as it is possible to get !!

I set this to 'Realistic', loaded up my full 737 sim (including PM), took off on a trans-continental African flight from Dar Es Salamm and BOY did I have a grin on my face!!! My sim is flying like a dream!! that 'feel' that I just could not get into my sim is HERE and it is flying wonderfully!! It really is a big lesson for me.

I've tweaked aircraft.cfg's until the cows come home, I've set PM paramaters until my fingers bled ..... and all along it was a simple slider in FS.

For all this doesn't change the fact that the 737NG is not my favourite aircraft, this really has sparked a fire tonight. When my sim was not set up correctly, I found myself sticking the A/P in as soon as possible (so as not to highlight to poor flight dynamics), however this evening, I hand flew the entire SID from HTDA and up to FL240 before I felt inclined to hit CMD A.

I'm so pleased with this - everything about my pit (with the exception of the PM CDU, which continues to be a big pain) is running fantastically now and, as I write, in the cruise phase of my flight tonight, I have that wonderful excitement for the approach and landing (as I know she is going to handle like a treat on approach).

I am going to take the advice of the people who have pointed out that just because we have wonderful 'pits, that doesn't mean we can't also enjoy the variety of desktop simming, with all the great add-ons.

(oh but if I do win the lottery this week, I am going to build 2 more 'pits, a 727 and a A320 !! )