Ask Captain Lim ~ All about Aviation

Dear Captain Lim,

First of all, I would like to thank you for posting my opinion about the Boeing 777 being a more comfortable airplane than the Airbus 330. I felt very honored.

I have just found out something about Boeing 7E7 Dream Liner and wanted to share that information with you. I read about an interview of Mr Mike Bair, the President of the Boeing 7E7 program. He stated that the Boeing 7E7 cockpit will be identical to the Boeing 777 cockpit. The Boeing 7E7 will have back driven control yokes with same part number as the Boeing 777. Boeing plans to develop dual ratings for Boeing 777 and Boeing 7E7 so that pilots can fly a Boeing 777 on one day or a Boeing 7E7 on another. However Boeing 7E7 will be mostly made from composites.

I fly Microsoft Flight Simulator and have a desk-mounted yoke. I have been getting some
shoulder pain after doing some long flights. This is due to holding the yoke for a long time. Can you give me some advice on how to prevent this? This yoke is very similar to a Boeing 777 yoke.

I would be very happy if you can kindly reply to me as you have done in the past.

Regards,

Ravi.

Hi Ravi,

I believe you are flying the Boeing 777 on the FS 2002 simulator and not a different model like the Cessna 172 or Boeing 737. If you are, do you know how to use the auto pilot? If you are doing long flights, the function of the auto pilot is to relieve the pilots the strain of having to hold on to the yoke or control wheels.

If you are unfamiliar with the auto pilot, go to 'Help' on the FS 2002 and read up on how to use the system. Set the cruising altitude at the Control Panel, engage the Auto pilot at about 1000 feet and select the HDG SEL (Heading Select). Use the mouse to control the HDG SEL to turn left, right or to maintain a steady course. Once on auto pilot, you don't need the yoke to fly the plane anymore.

Dear Captain Lim,

I have learned how to use the auto pilot. I did a flight on a Boeing 777 from Bangkok to Hong Kong .I hand flew until I reached the cruising altitude and then I engaged the auto pilot and it was very good. I hand fly only for take off, climb, descent and landings. I feel much better now.

Thank you very much for your help. I want you to check out this site www.meljet.com. You can down load free Boeing 777 that fly very close to the real thing. The designer is studying aerospace engineering in the US. This plane is far superior than the PSS 777. I have a good friend who is an Airbus A330-200/Airbus A340-300 Captain for Sri Lankan Airlines. He flew L1011 previously. He tried this meljet 777 and spent many hours with it. He told me that it is very very close to the real one.

Do try it. You will love it,

Regards,

Ravi