My737Sim – Boeing 737NG-800 Flight Simulator

737 Yoke Arrives!

Posted by Matt On June - 4 - 20113 COMMENTS

What do they say, good things come to those who wait?

Well, my first 737 Yoke arrived and it is nothing short of a beautiful piece of art!

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a yoke! It is a great engineered piece, that looks and feels quite real! Tell Ali Matt sent ya if you order one. It may take a few months to get one, but it’s worth the wait!

The finish is smooth and feels great in my hands! The tension is fantastic. It has the stab/trim switches on the left, as well as the a/p disconnect. On the back of each side there is a momentary rocker for keying up your mic/atc. The chart holder looks great and is very well designed. What a great yoke!!!

I did some simple setup in FSUIPC but haven’t flown with it yet. Hopefully tomorrow! The FO is next, sometime this summer!

WOW!

Here are a few quick photos!

Construction, Featured Posts, Hardware, Yoke

CockpitSonic B737 Clock has Arrived!

Posted by Matt On May - 17 - 20112 COMMENTS

Got my CockpitSonic B737 Clock with Interface in the mail today. I’ve finally replaced the PS1 Clock Screen, it just got to be a hassle as newer video cards are starting to be problematic with TV Out, updated Windows drivers are causing problems and most of the time you run into 3D/OpenGL issues with them. So, I bought a nice replica working clock that also interfaces USB with FSX.

The clock is very well built and looks really nice!! The pictures don’t do it justice! When I get power I will post some photos of it illuminated. I will have to order another for the FO side now!

Construction, MIP

A GREAT DAY to be an American!

Posted by Matt On May - 2 - 2011ADD COMMENTS

Nearly 10 years ago on 9/11/01 I woke up to turn on my TV and see thousands of people lose their lives.

Today I awake an American who’s country has taken out the world’s number one terrorist.

Today is a great day to celebrate!

(Click to download the high quality version of this image)

God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood:

Misc

Dave at the Helm!

Posted by Matt On April - 29 - 2011ADD COMMENTS

A really good friend of my Dave, whom I haven’t seen in about 5-6 years, has been in town for a few days. It was really cool to have him over this evening and during that time, he took command of the yoke and went for his first flight in the sim!

Have to say I was really impressed! Great takeoff and for a first flight ever, a very controlled flight and landing!

Great job DDF!

Pat back in the Pit!

Posted by Matt On April - 29 - 2011ADD COMMENTS

It’s hard to believe it but Pat’s last flight in the sim was over a year ago! He was over tonight with my other good friend Dave and after Dave’s flight, took the seat and flew over the skies of Los Angeles!

A lot has changed since Pat’s last flight, but most noticeably is now the full front overhead and the CPFlight EFIS’s/MCP

I’m still here!

Posted by Matt On April - 23 - 2011ADD COMMENTS

Been about 2 months since I’ve been in the sim. March and April are notoriously busy for me personally and work wise. Things are now selling down.

I got an email from Ali from 737yoke.com that said the 2 yokes I ordered should be shipping by May 1st, 2011. I’ve been patient and he has kept me updated from time to time about the status of the order.

So I look forward to getting them in a couple of weeks and then getting some really good photos up of them.

The multiplayer server is running well on the new fiber connection. Check it out at http://mp.my737sim.com

When I last flew I was running into ILS approach issues with Sim-A. Mark said he couldn’t replicate the issues I’m having. Others like Markus running FS9 aren’t having the issue it seems. (Thanks Markus for putting up the video, I’ll definitely check it out!)

So when the yokes arrive, I’ll put some hours into trying to figure out what is causing the problem. It could be an add-on. So I’ll disable everything, try a flight, go from there. Or I could be doing something wrong in the CDU as well.

Just a good reminder that this hobby now has a wide variety of hardware vendors and software components. All of that can lead to different problems. Don’t give up, take a break, remove some of the complexity and eventually you’ll get your bird flying :)

Misc Stuff

Test Mode is a Rainbow?

Posted by Matt On March - 22 - 2011ADD COMMENTS

What the heck…

Misc

Sendai Airport, Japan

Posted by Matt On March - 11 - 20111 COMMENT

My heart goes out to the people of Japan. Below is what is left of flooded Sendai Airport in Japan.

I lived through the Los Angeles Northridge earthquake in 1994, that was a 6.7, and one of the scariest moments of my life. I can’t begin to imagine what they felt during this 8.9 quake. And that they have had 70 plus aftershocks nearing what our major quake was in size. Unreal, just unreal. Further, the Tsunami that hit the coastal areas is something out of a horror novel. I took some video late late night from the local news.

Here is some HD video

Misc

Houston, We have Handles

Posted by Matt On March - 2 - 2011ADD COMMENTS

Its amazing what $2.00 handles from the hardware store can do to your home cockpit!

Sometimes it’s good to save some money :)

Construction, Overhead

Sim-Avionics 1.155 Terrain Files

Posted by Matt On February - 28 - 2011ADD COMMENTS

I’m currently mirroring the SimA Terrain Files. These are necessary for the new 1.155 database version of the Sim Avionics Weather/Terrain Radar. Click here to download them.

Software

Discovery’s Final Launch – From an Airplane

Posted by Matt On February - 26 - 2011ADD COMMENTS

This is nothing short of majestic, to have on film the final launch of Discovery, viewed from an aircraft in the sky. Amazing, just amazing!

YouTube

FSX Cabin Calls for SimA

Posted by Matt On February - 26 - 2011ADD COMMENTS

I came across a post on the SimA forums while looking for a way to have the Cabin Calls be played automatically during a flight. Turns out, user caKus had written a program for Sim Avionics called FSX Cabin Calls! I tried it out last night and (for me) it worked great! If you have SimA and FSX give it a shot!