Good morning,

Thanks to the Aerosoft sale, I am now the proud owner of the Jetstream J41. Having given it a battering for some 48 hours, I am very, very impressed. Another first class PMDG product, for sure. Many thanks, Chris for the FAQs. Glad I read these first! The graphics issue occurred with me. A reduction to medium solved the problems.

I have got to grips with the aircraft fairly well. The FMC works well but it is here I would like some help, please.

1. Saving/loading Flight plans.  When I download a flight plan from, say SimBrief, I store it in my usual PMDG folder. When I open the FMC I can see many existing PMDG FPs but I cannot see the newly downloaded FP. If I save a FP I have manually loaded into the FMC, I cannot find that one either if I search for it within the FMC. However, when I look for it in my PMDG folder it is there, so I know the FPs are being saved in the right location. A restart of FSX etc does not help. So, how do I load a saved FP into the FMC? Also, when saving a manually programmed FP is there a format unique to J41?

2. FMC programming. I have watched a number of tutorials so have the concept clear in my mind. As I fly almost exclusively on line here is the issue.
When programming the FMC for the arrival, it seems best to wait until closer to landing (T/D etc) before programming the STAR and App. The reason I say this is that I found it quite fiddly to change the arrival runway and STAR once they have already been programmed. The VNAV T/D for example, seems locked to a previously loaded point and try as I do, I cannot delete it and reset it to show the new T/D location. So, if you programme the STAR before you take off, then en route ATC change the arriving runway and STAR, can someone advise how best to change the FMC.

3. Lastly, I notice in the pre start/ pushback checklist, (using the excellent Digital ThemePark), it states to switch off the master avionics, Ground Power and remove the cart, chocks etc. When I do this, the avionics switch off, and come on line once engine one has started. However, when I switch the FMC back on, my FP that I painstakingly loaded up (and saved) has vanished!! I cannot find it in the saved FPs even the I did (as above). So I have to load it again. There has got to be a way around this! (I have simply started up and not switched of the Avionics Master in the first instance to avoid it happening).

Would value any advice,

Thanks,

Keith

For point 1, the flightplans must be saved in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\PMDG\FLIGHTPLANS and they should end .RTE. Mine are in the format ICAOICAO_J41.RTE

I'll have to get back to you on points 2 when I have a little more time to type a decent response and test a few things out.

As regards 3, avionics should be kept OFF until both engines are running and their generators on the bus, as this prevents power spikes to the avionics when power source switchover occurs. The trick is to enabled the GPU, turn the FMS on and programme it (all the while keeping the avionics off). Once you have the left engine and generator on, then you can disconnect the GPU and that generator will supply power to the FMS so you won't lose your flightplan. Then you can start engine 2, then turn the avionics on. You will have to keep the aircraft stationary until the AHRS is aligned, which might take a couple of minutes after engine start.

Thanks, Chris. Most helpful as always.


So regarding start up, then it is always made with the GPU before pushback? Clearly, on batteries alone, my FMC will die!


I am saving the FPs exactly as you describe. I wonder if there is then a limit to the number of FPS the FMC can store/save? I have in the J41 FMC 63 pages of saved FPs. Yet, I have a great deal more in the PMDG FP folder. I have saved a number using your format, but cannot see them when I look for them in the FMC, but they are in the folder. One option may be to delete the FPs in the J41 FMC that I know I will not need. But, will this delete them from the main folder too! Odd.


Keith

As I suspected. I deleted my saved FPs (saved them of course) and low and behold the FPs I saved after from Simbrief are now there. Clearly there is a limit to the J41 FMC in the number of FPs it can read from saved.

Keith

Glad you managed to fix it, I only have about 5 flightplans in my PMDG folder so I've never encountered this issue!

Quote from: Keith Giannoni on Jun 08, 2014 20:09
So regarding start up, then it is always made with the GPU before pushback? Clearly, on batteries alone, my FMC will die!

That's right. If you don't have GPU available you can save the flight plan before engine start and then reload it afterwards. But to be honest, the batteries in the J41 are only just powerful enough to start the engines, so they usually start the engines within 30 seconds of flipping the batteries on and sort everything else out afterwards!

I'll back to you about VNAV when changing the arrival details, I seem to recall you need to make some adjustments on the VNAV pages, but it's been a long time since I've had to do this since I've been guessing the arrivals correctly for the last few months 

Thanks for info Chris. I may have cracked it but would still value your opinion.


When the original FP is loaded with arrival details, the VNAV will show TOD and other heights for the various waypoints. If you select a short cut for example, the VNAV settings for TOD remain unchanged, thus you will get an inaccurate time for TOD depending on how you selected the Direct To. If done using the FP page, the VNAV seems to remain unchanged.  However, if using the Direct to button on the FMC, this seems to amend the VNAV to the new routing. In any event use the Direct to button to be sure. Still playing around with last minute changes to STARs to test the FMC!


One trick I found (it may be in the manual) is this. When wishing to go direct to a waypoint using the button on the FMC it will only display one page of waypoints thus is you wish to go more direct, you cannot see the waypoint. If you go to the FP page, click once on the waypoint, then go to the Nav page 1. Click the TO button and it will select the same waypoint you have just selected from the FP. Click Enter and job done. It saves a number of page clicks etc on FMC.


Great plane this J41!


Keith