737 Advice Please!

[Swanoir]

Hello lads, as a Christmas gift my lovely girlfriend got me a voucher for for one of those full-size 737 simulators. I haven't booked it yet but before I do I'd like to do a bit of 'homework' so I don't make an arse of myself ( I want to impress my special lady after all, especially as she's cabin crew for TUI on the real thing!).
Now I'm fairly confident already around a Boeing cockpit but I'd just like to up my game a bit, as it were. So I'm looking for recommendations for a decent payware or freeware 737-800 for FSX and with a VC.
However, I am a bit of a lazy git so I don't want anything too hardcore. Basically I'm after a more realistic step up from the default, but nothing so complicated it takes 45 minutes to start the engines!
Many thanks

[Airspeed]

Hi there,
I did one of those sessions a few years ago.
The person in the right hand seat guided me through everything, allowing me to step ahead as suited my limited knowledge.
Like you, I didn't want to look a complete fool, so I read a lot of the notes beforehand. You shouldn't need to know the whole checklist off by heart.
They should ask you how much assistance you require before the session starts.
I suppose it depends on how much you want to impress, but if you really want to wow her, maybe you should put it off for a couple of years.

[Nigel H-J]

May I make a suggestion that will not cost you a penny and you will have a fully functional 737-800 free-ware although it does require a different flight sim.

If you download the X-Plane demo then download this one, it is just as good as any pay-ware 737 on the market. https://www.x737.eu/

The same goes for the Zibo Mod 737-800, again free-ware. Scroll down for download link and also get free add-ons further down the page. think this is the best out of the two links as you have to align Nav before using the FMC.https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/f ... oad-links/

On the other hand if you don't want to mess about with another sim then another option would be You Tube, here is a video cold and dark 737-800.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2sHre2RGZ0

Don't forget to video your flight so we can also enjoy the time you spent in the simulator!!

Regards
Nigel.

[cstorey]

May I make an additional point ? By its very nature, those of us who use these simulator programmes at home almost always do so as a single crew operation . This would never ( except in the direst emergency ) occur in reality , and even then would never happen in relation to a flight which had not yet begun. For this reason , if the e.g. Zibo 737 is used , the complexity of the model means that the workload as a single pilot operation is unrealistically high, particularly in the start up and just after takeoff phase , and later on in the approach/landing phase , and this situation is exacerbated when you have never sat in the real life simulator before . So, I would respectfully suggest that although familiarising yourself by using a flightsim is a good idea, you will get best value from your real simulator session if you treat it as a two-crew operation and use maximum participation by the instructor/fellow crew member to lighten the workload

[Vancouver]

This chap was an instructor for Boeing and MD before that and has done some valuable lessons around the PMDG NGX. Worth a look. https://www.youtube.com/user/rfresh1011/playlists

[dfarrow]

I'd vote for the PMDG . Used the 737/600-700 version in fs2002 and fs2004 . VG .
Used the PMDG 747-400 in fs2004 , as a practice tool before my 6 monthly sim checks in the real thing ; specially when I was part time and old .
Was an excellent device . I'd hope their offering for FSX would be as good .
If you can find any representitive attitudes and power settings for the sim you are going on . Could be useful when all automatics are out , you'll have datums to set for various phases of flight .

good luck , enjoy ... and keep her blue side up .

rgds dave f.

[Vc Ten]

+1 for the Pmdg 737 It's easily the best 737 out there. Only used it in P3d v4 V5 so ony used 64bit version. Bit resource heavy, I know it's wound back a bit for Fsx (32bit) but may give you out of memory issues if you push the scenery too hard.
I fully agree with Dave re the workload for a single pilot in a "study level" aircraft, but I found I could follow proper procedures while accurately once I was familiar with it. The automated systems help you a lot workload wise. It just means spending a bit more time on the apron setting things up.
Dale

[Swanoir]

Thanks for the replies guys, very helpful as always! I’m looking forward to looking into your suggestions. I’ll let you know how I get on and especially how the sim session goes!

[Nigel H-J]

’ll let you know how I get on and especially how the sim session goes!

Get it recorded then show us!!

Regards
Nigel.