American 2442 Pilot Deviation

[signmanbob]

Hello,
I just wanted to say that I was having problems today with the TFDi 717 simulation when on the HAWKZ6 arrival to KSEA. It was running smooth and flying fine.
As soon as I switched runways in the STAR page of the FMC, the aircraft started to go the opposite way. I had to take over with HDG SEL. Even if I would use DIR INT it wouldn't comply and would just show a wild nonsensical path on the ND.
I continued to try to use HDG SEL and manual decent, but P3Dv4 kept making these long pauses like it was trying to load scenery or maybe it was just confused. Then the Pilotedge app just disconnected, so I was left to make the landing to Rwy 34C offline, which went very smooth at -171FPM.
I love this 717, but I see that I can't use it for Pilotedge anymore until I figure out what is wrong with it.
I consistently get these same problems when I switch runways in the FMC and it has to recalculate the approach. I believe it is a bad bug in the aircraft. The whole thing just pukes when the runway is switched.
Oh well. Next time I'll try something that I can count on more.

Thank you,
Bob

[jx_]

never put in an arrival runway until ATC verbally assigns one.

[Medtner]

Hello,
Oh well. Next time I'll try something that I can count on more.

Thank you,
Bob

I'm going to partly joke here, but if you look inside the cockpit there, ignoring all the fancy buttonry, there are two big hunks coming up through the floor. They have grips that looks like horns. You may even have configured some hardware at home to connect to these big hunks. Try them out with your hands. Fly by yoke rather than mouse, I say.

Only partially joking, as I say. If everything else fails (as technology will), you should be prepared to throw it away and hand-fly until you get it sorted out. It can really enhance the workload, but that's part of the fun, isn't it?

[signmanbob]

What you're saying sounds very good and very smart, but when your sim is going on long pauses at the same time your aircraft simulation is failing, it is easier said than done.
I'm not talking about legitimate aircraft failures here, like the exciting failures built into the PMDG NGX. I'm talking about about bugs in the aircraft simulation that are causing long pauses where you are just looking at a frozen sim with the hour-glass rotating. Fly it manually? That may be difficult.
I posted here because I just want the ATC to know what I was dealing with, and that I was not ignoring his instructions.

Thank you,
Bob

[Dean33]

Hi Bob
I fly the 717 from time to time in P3dV4 and have not experienced problems since the V4 version became available.
Presume you have tried turning down settings, clouds, and their Trueglass and the other special feature (memory slips me)?

I had very poor framerates when this came out (before V4) and have to say the support was superb. Suggest you try their support forum. When I was stuck their top guy did a remote session for over 30 minutes to try to sort it out.

I have to say I prefer the MD80 but the 717 has so much of the MD11 about it I have to keep giving it a spin. Hope you get it sorted.

[RogerW]

That's why I fly planes, not program them.

[signmanbob]

That's why I fly planes, not program them.

It would be extremely unrealistic to hand fly airliners. I always go manual on final and takeoff, except in heavy fog, but I like to stick to SOPs as much as possible especially on Pilotedge.
If I'm flying GA, I will hand-fly more.
This problem has nothing to do with flying on auto or manual. It has to do with finding an airliner that is consistently free of bugs and will do what it is supposed to do.
Although this experience does challenge me to try again and see if I can make it work.

Bob

[signmanbob]

Hi Bob
I fly the 717 from time to time in P3dV4 and have not experienced problems since the V4 version became available.
Presume you have tried turning down settings, clouds, and their Trueglass and the other special feature (memory slips me)?

I had very poor framerates when this came out (before V4) and have to say the support was superb. Suggest you try their support forum. When I was stuck their top guy did a remote session for over 30 minutes to try to sort it out.

I have to say I prefer the MD80 but the 717 has so much of the MD11 about it I have to keep giving it a spin. Hope you get it sorted.

Thank you Dean. I also like the MD80 very much too (both Rotate and Leonardo), but the B717 is an airliner that I have really wanted in the sim for several years. Actually ever since I seen them flying over my house when Airtran was at KHSV before Southwest bought them.
I might try to narrow down the problem, which I believe may be a bug in this B717 which happens when you switch runways and their approaches while you are in the middle of the approach.
Last night I was expecting 16L at KSEA, but ATC switched me to 34C and that is when it all went south. It seems that the aircraft wanted to start again at the beginning of the HAWKZ6 approach, then starts causing the sim to do these long pauses which disconnects the Pilotedge app.
I appreciate your response and suggestions.

Thank you,
Bob

[Dean33]

Thanks Bob
I'll give this a try myself later.
Just out of interest which transition were you flying - or where did you depart from?
One would assume that switching runways before Hawk should be sufficient for the FMC to adapt without throwing its dummy out of the pram!
Cheers
Dean