Classic British Flight Sim

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

+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

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!

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

Get it recorded then show us!!

Regards
Nigel.