Blackbird Sims / Milviz Forum Archive

I recently purchased the Milviz 737, and I wanted to preface this post with a statement of satisfaction. I also own both versions of the Phantom and the F-100 and they are MARVELOUS! Especially the F-100...A pure joy to take out flying and it also demands a lot of skill and situational awareness to fly it safely and accurately.
Now, on to a couple of things about the 737 that I've noticed:
1. The IVSI has a TCAS RA displayed...Not sure if I'm missing something there, but I've flown a REAL IVSI/TCAS indicator and the only time you'd see that is if you had an RA ( Resolution Advisory ) with a "climb corrective" command displayed.

2. On the ADF panel...Only the frequency tuning knob is active...The mode selector isn't, however, the BFO switch is? ( BFO is Beat Frequency Oscillation and long obsolete and not used, so this obviously is a dummy switch in the FSX world! )

3. I use Navigraph service for my database, and when I updated it, I noticed that MANY of the procedures are obsolete or no longer in service...Then I had a "lightbulb" moment and realized that MUCH of the FSX world is frozen in time so to speak and it's apples and oranges with using current nav data in a world that's frozen in time...For example, IAD and CLT both have new runways...Stock FSX hasn't had these civil engineering projects undertaken:-).

4. I'm still trying to figure out the UNS/SPZ-177 interface, because the annunciations on the FMA don't seem to match what is being commanded in the FMS? I have extensive real-world experience on the UNS-1B/C/E and its not the most user friendly of "boxes" as compared to the Rockwell-Collins 3000/6000/6200 series with a scratchpad...I HATE the design architecture that Universal uses, but it DOES work! I found that that one installed with the 737 here doesn't exactly mimic the "real" one 100%, but I understand that there are limits on what you can do with the Microsoft code...

5. You've done a great job with this project and it's VERY pleasant and easy to fly...GREAT sound package and I think that the visual model is very pleasing...I know that "Brand X" gets high marks for their visuals/bells&whistles/flight attendant announcements...BUT, I don't fly in spot plane! And, Flight attendants can be the bane of an airline pilot's existence ( Trust me on this...)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Looking forward to an announcement of a COMPLETE "Century Series" with the F-106 NEXT:-)

BE19Pilot wrote:2. On the ADF panel...Only the frequency tuning knob is active...The mode selector isn't, however, the BFO switch is? ( BFO is Beat Frequency Oscillation and long obsolete and not used, so this obviously is a dummy switch in the FSX world! )

Thank you for the very kind words about the B737-200 COMBI. It was a labor of love for several years of my life.

The BFO knob on the ADF actually has a function, albeit not one you'd expect. There are quite a few beacons around that have a fractional frequency (i.e. xxx.5). Clicking on the BFO will enable the 0.5 kHz tuning for those few that are in service since FS won't tune it directly with the knobs.

The TCAS is a dummy.

I keep my 1998 Jeppeson charts available for reference in both FSX and P3Dv3.x since they most closely match up with the sim world's reality.

Hi Bill,
Great to hear from one of the developers of this product...I must say once again that it is a very well done piece of software that pays attention to detail...I had forgotten about the ADF feature! We are seeing less and less NDBs here in the US as Compass Locators are being replaced by DME in the majority of ILS installations. It's a good piece of kit, but the budget of the FAA likely cannot support them any longer...There are private NDBs out there that are still a part of the National Airspace System, but the owner pays the government for flight-checking.

One other item that I'm struggling with are the Flight Mode Annunciator indications...I'm not seeing anything in the FD side of the FMA or switch from armed to active ( Amber to Green )?

I'd certainly enjoy working with you folks at MilViz as a Beta tester/SME...I currently work for a major aviation trng company as a simulator/ground instructor on the CL-604/605 acft.