My First Flights with IYP
By François A. ‘Navman’ Dumas
"Captain... it's your plane...". Michelle's famous last words ! Sort of.
Here I am, the publisher of a brilliant new bit of software for Microsoft's Flight Simulator series, and trying to get to grips with 'it' AND with a (default) Boeing 737.
What !? You mean to say you are not an expert on your 'own software'?? Ummm.. nope... one of the major disadvantages of trying to make a living in the FS industry is that you do NOT have time anymore to enjoy the myriad of add-ons.... not even one's own, so to speak !
Of course I used it during the test and Beta phases. Heck, I wrote part of - and assembled - the manual, after all. But my 'testing' was just hitherto, trying bits and pieces, starting flights in mid-air, or not even getting airborne at all.
Basically, using it NOT as our customers would use it !
But…… seeing there ARE problems putting it to work (judging from the low number of reactions to its release and subsequent trials by users), I decided to put myself in the customer’s place once more, and jump in ! To HELP our customers understand the ‘problems’ and solutions.
So in the story below, please consider me as any other newbie, fumbling with 737’s, fumbling with Speech SDK’s and other stuff you’ve perhaps never heard of… grin at my mishaps, and join me in celebrating a successful flight…. after quite a number of attempts.
The preparations
As I said, I wrote the manual, well, parts of it, and so I know what the author, the program AND FS expects from me. But is that enough? Apparently not…..
First of all, pretend I am the run-of-the-mill FS and ‘PC user’.
I am thrilled by the marketing gobbledygook about IYP (It’s Your Plane) and read that there is a FREE 15-day TRIAL ! Wow! That sounds good… so I go to the FSAddon.com website and download the product (http://www.fsaddon.com/originals/IYP-BP-setup.exe).
When running the .exe file that I downloaded, it installs the DOCUMENTATION on my hard disk, along with a link to start the program.
Like many people, I am the ‘fools rush in’ type, so the heck with those .pdf documents.. I clicked on the provided icon and got directed to a web page… with a LOT of textual information. Yikes !
Rest assured….. I am working HARD on replacing the current IYP website with something more structured, user-friendly and ‘better looking’ . But…. the current one DOES have all the needed info, albeit a bit hard to find perhaps.
I understood that I needed to download and install the FREE Microsoft Speech SDK (Software Development Kit), so I did that. (When you are running Windows Vista English, it is included in that and you can skip this step).
I then discovered that I had to TRAIN the Speech kit, so it would recognize what I say (and I also needed to test my microphone and speaker settings etc.).
AH.. you didn’t read that part of needing a microphone !?? This is a SPEECH SYSTEM…. luckily I read it!
I also understood that in order to use IYP I need an internet connection ACTIVE on my flightsim PC. Just as you would for using VATSIM, IVAO, some of the weather programs etc.
No biggie…. Well, not for me anyway. But then again, I happen to KNOW myself and know I am 100% reliable and not stealing information, adding ‘funny’ stuff to my hard disk or abusing the connection in any other way. For some people that still seems a bit hard to swallow, and with all the piracy, spam, viruses, internet terrorists and what not around, I can understand some hesitation.
You’ll just have to trust us, and our reputation of many years on the internet and in the FS ‘scene’. We’re ‘good guys’.
The first trial
I had done everything according to the book. I even ‘read’ through some of the commands lists (sheez !!! How many are there !!!???).
AND I had taken the advice from Robert Cezar, the author and designer of the product, to listen to some of the samples….YESSSSSS !
But they take a long time to listen to, and I wanted to get going !!!! Wouldn’t you!? Of course you would !
So I looked at the list of prerequisites again…… Start FS…. MAKE a flightplan…. (yikes, I never do that for my bush flying !)….. SAVE the flightplan….. (oh, okay)…. Now LOAD it again !!! (there will be a good reason for that, no doubt. Don’t ask)……
And now, START IYP…. (click on the icon that brings up the IYP ‘Run’ web page…. More information and warning pops up in my browser ! Yeah.. yeah.. I’ve done all that (or so I thought)…. And I clicked on the large RUN button on the page !
A little window popped up, telling me it was making connection…. More windows flashed over the screen, showing a place where I can type a registration key (not needed yet), and a warning that the trial is valid for another 14 days ! Fair enough.
Next I jumped up in my chair… Michelle’s voice screamed through my speakers, telling me it was searching connection to the server. I turned the sound up too high of course…. *sigh*.
Michelle said she’d found the server (hurray!) and loaded the flightplan. She also told me I was sitting in a Boeing 737, waiting at the gate !
Correct, my dear !!
Oh that voice !!!
To be brutally honest, the first time I listened to a sample I thought ”shit, this is sooo bad ! No way in hell we will be able to sell this !”.
(Robert is a man with a great sense of humor, he will forgive me my frankness). The default MS computer voice is really very robotic, and some of the words and intonations are hardly comprehensible.
But, like you, I was determined to give it a try, so I banned the first impression out of my mind and went along with starting IYP for real, WITH FS running.
Sure enough, Michelle sounded the same…. rather like somebody talking into a tin can and not knowing which words belong together. Never mind, lets hear what she wants:
“Captain, do you want me to go through all of the checklists?”
Yes, of course dear, that’s what I am sitting here for !
But I meekly replied “Affirmative” ….. because we discovered that just plain “Yes” is too much for the Speech SDK to understand *grin*.
Alright, the 737was now cold and dark…. All systems were ‘out’ and we were standing at the gate.
Michelle started with the Pre-Flight Checklist. She read the checklist items, and replied to them too…. when an item was ‘ok’ already.
When not: she awaited a reply from me.
“Panel lights as required”.
I said nothing.
“Panel lights as required”.
Yes, I am sure they are.
“Captain, can you not hear me?”
YES I heared you.. turn on/off those damn panel lights !
Oh, was I supposed to do that? Now what.. where is the switch !!??
Here’s the first ‘issue’ I ran into. The way I was ‘using’ Michelle is to have her read the checklist and then ACT on the items MYSELF. I.e., I would flip the switch she was asking for!
But that’s NOT NEEDED! You can TELL Michelle to flip the switch herself !
So in this case I could say “Turn panel lights on” and Michelle would do it. You even here it ‘click’ !
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah !
Robert is brilliant. He decided that for idiots like me, more help was needed. So he added help to almost ALL COMMANDS, and you can now say
[PLEASE HELP ME] … upon which Michelle will explain what she is waiting for!
Me and 737’s – a mismatch
In real life I fly (sometimes) a French Jodel…. a relatively large aircraft (compared to a Cessna) but many times simpler. It only has rudimentary instruments, nothing high-tech like a GPS or such nice electrickery. You get in, start the battery, switch on the fuel pump, turn on the strobe, turn the ignition key and basically, you’re off.
NOT so I a 737 of course. And since I was not on conversational terms with Michelle yet on that first trial, she would not understand all I would tell her. It went pretty well, until all lights went out !
Now what !!??
Find the switch….
There isn’t one.
I mucked around for another 15 minutes, then threw the headphones on the desk in disgust! Back to the drawing board… and find some 737 documentation !
This turned out to be the old battery issue, that you can ‘fix’ by using Pete Dowson’s FSUIPC and set the battery to ‘unlimited’.
Fast forward two days.
I was in the 737 again, battery thing fixed, and here we went again, trying to get the plane started up and sooth a herd of angry passengers visible through the terminal windows. They had been waiting for 3 days now to board my plane !!
Michelle and I got through most of the checklist, and I even got IFR clearance for my flightplan !!
It was fun when Michelle turned the cabin music on, and we heared the buzz of passengers talking behind us !!! They had lots to talk about of course, after knowing each other now for three days !
Next is the Before Startup Checklist.
That went without a hitch for a change. The last thing Michelle told me is that the checklist is completed and we were ready for pushback.
Great!
So I sat there waiting for a few minutes.
Nothing!
What’s with the pushback ? In my Cessna I just drag it by the prop and put it where I want it, before climbing aboard. Here I needed one of these tractors pushing me away from the terminal.
Turns out that this is not part of Michelle’s many skills. You have to push Shift-P, followed by 1 or 2. Yes, I knew that ! *blush*.
(STOP PRESS!! I just talked to Robert who informed me that Michelle CAN arrange for the pushback. As long as you use the correct phrases.. which I obviously didn't).
My wife called me that dinner is now ON THE PLATE…. which is three levels ‘above ready’ and approaching the red danger zone (of my marital health).
The passengers in the back would have to spend a night and a day on the aircraft before we could continue…….
Larry and Jaap – they saved me
The above sequence of events will clearly show that I am not well versed with modern day airliners. And the default (FS2004) Microsoft ones are SIMPLE at that! Hmmpff. Have a go at a PMDG Jumbo…. Later.. muuuuuch later!
My next stumbling block turned out to be the ‘fuel flow’.
Michelle asked me about the “fuel flow on number one”.
So, yes, what about it?
Ah, I needed to turn it on…………….. somehow.
Checked all the panels, front, middle, overhead…. Nothing looking like a fuel switch. Hmmmm… Asked Michelle to do it, but probably in the wrong language. She didn’t do it.
Tried starting the engine. IT turned, whined, sputtered, and died again.
That didn’t work, eh?
Apparently it DID need that fuel flow thingy. Like my Jeep a few weeks ago, stalled on a mountain road in France. But that’s another story.
Meanwhile there was a lynch mob forming behind the cockpit door, so better start thinking of something quickly.
Jaap and Larry, two of our most faithful and enthusiastic beta testers, came to the rescue of this fumbling airliner captain ! They went through all this long before I did.. and THEY had airliner experience. So they kindly wrote their own ‘edutorials’ which I added to the manuals. I then (finally) printed out some of the checklist procedures and started reading them(which is different from ‘editing and correcting’ them).
THERE I found that the fuel flow switches are two thingies located on the throttle quadrant (which I did not have in view of course). So flipping the leftmost ‘switch’ made Michelle happy, and allowed me to start #1 engine. It worked !!!
Here’s where the idea of yet another addition for IYP came up. We need to implement Michelle’s SISTER in the program. As the purser. SOMEBODY needs to take those angry passengers back to their chairs, give them a free drink or bag of chips, and make them fasten their seatbelts again.
I can’t, I am occupied with Michelle…errrrmm.. the 737 !
Airborne at last
I don’t remember now if it was the third or fourth night of trying, but I finally got the 737 airborne. I had a hunch that something else was fishy (what else is new), because ATC had gone suspiciously quiet on us. But what the heck….. full throttle, Michelle sounding off the V1, VRotate….. cool !!!
I flipped on the autopilot… and DOWN we went !!!
Down? Oops, somehow I did not get Michelle to set the darn thing! Some quick fiddling with the mouse (good thing we have those on modern day airliners!!) resulted in a better altitude setting on the A/P, dialed in some speed too…
Next thing we knew, all those free whisky’s in the back were coming out as the 737 stalled nose up.. almost vertically.
Up till today I still have no idea what caused that…… faulty trim setting? Captain fumbling with Michelle? Did we lose our elevator ???
Anyway, a few minutes later it was time to test the ‘reset’ button, find a new load of passengers and start from scratch……. Ummmm…. Scratch Boeing #2.
Oh! Perhaps it was the yaw damper ?? You see, it took me 4 days and reading ALL the checklists again to figure out what Michelle was saying. “Yaw Damper”.
The way she pronounced it made me think of something found in the deep seas, something horribly scary…… in any case something one would not find in an airliner cockpit. I had no idea ! And hence I did not set the thing !
Airborne yet again
I did a lot more reading in the manuals, printed ALL the checklists now (yes, Robert tells me that this is NOT what I should be doing, since Michelle handles them all…… Fine, but who handles Michelle, I ask you !!??). Check and double check, and now at least I knew what she was trying to have me do !
Fast forward again.
We were airborne again, and I had even learned how to talk to ATC via IYP. Not only can you say [ATC] to bring the ATC window up, you can then also say [Select 1] to reply to option one in the menu shown, whatever it may represent, or [Select 2], etc.
In some cases you can even talk ‘real talk’ to it, such as ask for [REQUEST IFR CLEARANCE] !! That is fun !!
This must have been my 3rd flight airborne, and by now I learned to have Michelle dial in the values on the autopilot. I even had her take off !!!
You do that in the Take-off and Climb out Checklist, where Michelle will ask you
“Captain, do you want me to perform the Take-Off and Climb out checklist and assist you in the T/O?”… don’t forget to reply with “Affirmative” or “Yes please”.
You’ll be amazed!
By now I was a seasoned IYP’er and getting bold ! You know the saying of course: “there are Bold pilots and there are old pilots, but there are NO old bold pilots”.
Too true !
While I was entertaining the passengers with switching various things on and off (seat belts signs and stuff), while waiting to be vectored to Portland International, I thought Michelle was fully in control.
It appeared not……
As usual, I had no idea what was going wrong, blissfully unaware of most things around me, but when I looked out the window at one point the city of Portland had disappeared, and so had the big mountain on the other side of the aircraft.
Looking at the GPS learned that we had flown straight on by it…… Hmmmpf.
Sheees, these jetliners go FAST !
Landing is something else !
I contacted ATC, and had them vector us back to Portland. There must have been a few frustrated pilots and passengers around me that night. It was getting dark and I sat there admiring even the default night life of Portland, all nicely orange.
We were assigned Runway 28L at KPDX and both Larry and Robert had assured me that Michelle would take care of it all. So I didn’t have a problem with accepting a nice glass of red wine from my wife (don’t know how SHE got on board, but the wine was welcome), and leaned back in my director’s chair … oops.. pilot’s seat.
Sure enough, Michelle seemed to be in touch with ATC and in control of things, notably my 737. We were flying happily along at 1700 feet, no doubt entertaining a few million people below our glide path, when I noticed we were NOT lined up with ANY runway! 28L was a mile or so to the right.
I handed Michelle my glass, told her to shut up (yes, you can do that too!!!), flipped the A/P switch and routinely took control of the plane.
Or so I thought.
A 737 is a plane, just like a Jodel or Cessna. But just not entirely the same.
Michelle was now one hand short, holding my wine, but she still managed to set flaps and lower the landing gear. Wow!
I had lined the plane up with 28L, and we were nicely heading for the threshold with 160 knots.
Believe it or not, but I greased it !!!
That was the last thing that was heard from the cockpit, however.
The thrust reversers did not work and we were heading for the runway end with the speed of a Formula 1 car !
I kicked the brakes! Nothing !! Now what !!???
I hit Control+’.’ to set the parking brake. Bad idea of course. Nothing!
This is how I found out that a little beyond the end of Runway 28L (and 28R too), there is WATER. Lots of it.
While the 737 slowly sank, amidst an uproar of the by now well-known group of whining passengers in the back, I started leafing through Larry’s documents again, trying to figure out what went wrong this time !
Somehow I had NOT set the Autopilot Approach data… I even missed the Descent Checklist I its entirety for some reason!
You are warned !!!!
Who stole my pedals !?
Two days ago. By now I had everything organized. Flightplan at the ready, flight saved so I could quickly call it up. All my checklists printed and stuck onto a REAL kneeboard.
On my second monitor I now displayed the GPS, the throttle quadrant, the kneeboard with ATC commands history showing and the ATC window (undocked).
I knew I could pause the sim AND pause Michelle. I had the flightplan and fuel quantity printed. I was learning to be an airliner pilot FAST !!
Well, if you call 5 days of tinkering and fumbling fast.
Hey, I was still well within the 15-day trial limit !!
This time I was REAAAAALLY careful to do everything right and check and double check. The flightplan remained alive, I taxied ONLY when I was allowed to, did not take off while waiting for the final clearance, did not miss any ATC communication for a change and did not drink wine on approach !
I also dialed in the time so it would remain daylight.
All went well. Portland came in sight, ATC sent us to the east again, made us descend to 5600 feet, probably so we could admire the autogen trees which looked rather menacing up close!
Michelle was in total control this time (I suspect she actually DRANK my wine the previous night instead of just holding it for me!) and we turned in towards Runway 28R at 1700 feet.
This time I saw that the A/P had the APP switch (approach mode) activated…. All must be good !!! Yay !!
Having Larry’s messages in mind, that he usually lands without touching the controls, I figured I’d do the same and TRUST Michelle. She captured the localizer, found the glidescope, and started setting flaps and slowing down. The wheels came down magically and I could see the runway clearly.. the RIGHT one.
I informed the (new) group of passengers in the back that they could leave their life vests under the seats this time and that we would be at the gate in 10 minutes or so.
Looking out the window I did wonder why it looked as if I was flying my venerable DC-2 or Friendship. THEY are coming in nose-down normally…. But a 737 !???
Michelle doggedly kept up the speed at 160 and headed straight for the numbers. Should I flip the A/P switch and take control !?
Nah! I’d make a mess of it in the last minute probably……
Screeeeerch… kadunkkkkk ! We were down!
The thrust reversers cut in !!
The brakes came on !!!
Good girl !!!!!! (By this time Michelle was a ‘person’ flying WITH me, not a cranky robot voice anymore !!).
She had switched off the autopilot and was talking to the crew. And asked about the Taxi-to-the-Gate checklist!
Sure, read it to me.
ATC told us to get off the runway, so I pushed the throttles forward a bit….. and a bit more….. slow movement….. a bit more… we were moving now.
I kicked the rudder (nose wheel steering)…. NOTHING!
Tried differential braking. NOTHING!
Damn, after all that success, now this! I popped up the Options window, checked the pedal settings of my Saitek’s. Opened the FSUIPC window, checked all settings, calibrations.
Tried again.. no go!
Dived under my desk, unplugged and plugged the pedals USB connector. Ping. All seems okay.
Meanwhile there was a bunch of other 737’s, 757’s, 747’s and other assorted aircraft running on fumes in the holding patterns, waiting for me to get the bloody plane off the runway !
I switched to spot view for the first time, and ….. oooopps! My nose wheel was gone, collapsed. No wonder she wouldn’t go left or right !
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are now ready to vacate the runway and taxi to the gate, but due to a slight technical problem this will take just a tad longer than usual today.
As soon as the tow truck arrives, we will inform you and give our new estimate of arrival. Meanwhile, please make yourself comfortable while our cabin staff will hand out more of the now customary free whisky. Thank you”.
Some of the FS quirks
Last night I finally made my successful delivery flight of a default Boeing 737-600 (or is that 800?) from Boeing Field at Seattle to Portland, Oregon.
I took over from Michelle at 400 feet altitude, and greased the landing ! The good old girl activated the reversers and brakes for me anyway, and we managed to vacate the runway and even find a gate ! All is well now…..
I LOVE Michelle ! Just don’t tell Nina !
But, there are a few things you might need to know.
Not our fault, just built-in FS quirks:
- You may lose your flightplan. No, not by opening the plane’s window, or by forgetting your pilot case in the briefing room. But when you, for instance, do not reply to an ATC message, or do something that is not allowed (like taking off without proper clearance), then you’re toast!
Now try and have Michelle land an airliner without a flight plan…. She won’t!
- There’s also the issue of ‘missing switches’. I could not find the main battery switch in the default FS airliners. Nor is the APU modeled. And a few other switches are not there either… switches you WILL find in third-party add-on aircraft. Which we will hopefully model later on in the year.
- ‘Autoland’. That’s not REALLY there, as you have now understood from my first autoland adventure.
Conclusion
It is sooooo much fun and soooo immersive. I never thought I would enjoy making longer flights, or flying more complex planes. I have been in this hobby for over 30 years, so obviously I did in the past, especially when we had the old Cargo add-on running – was that FS4?
But with the advent of FS2002 and later FS2004 I became a total scenery/VFR/small planes junkie.
IYP has given me a reason AND the fun-factor again to try other aircraft, and even complete flights of 2 hours or more !
And the most intriguing part of it is that I have come to appreciate the silly computer voice of Michelle. Michelle has become a PERSON who actually helps me and shares my frustrations at times (that must be when she leaves the cockpit, and has me wondering what I said wrong!).
One last tip…. Here’s something to try when the flying in Cruise Mode gets a little boring and to show you to what extent we have made this a complete program.
Tell Michelle “Get me a Martini” !!!
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