OnCourse Software

I always used Mode 2 in PFE and do the same in PF3 - a good balance between what I have to do and the VCP. In both programmes though the only downside to this IMHO is that after clearance is given PFE/PF3 immediately dials the ground frequency and the VCP announces. 'Ready for Taxi', which with a complex a/c and AES and whatever, the aircraft never is. I keep changing the radio frequency back to something other than Ground - some of the time, depending on the type of radio, PFE/PF3 is too quick for me! PF3 tries again once or twice and then gives up. I change back to Ground frequency manually when the a/c is in fact ready for departure.

Any way to tweak this so that, within Mode 2, like when there IS no clearance frequency at a particular airport and the ground frequency is used from the start, so that you need to press the 0 key again (or whichever it is - I forget as I write this, since I have all PF3 functions set by a gaming keypad) for the VCP to tune to the Ground frequency and request taxi permission?

Hope that's clear! Not a 'biggie' but it would be nice if possible (or in an update?).

Thanks

+1
The same goes for "ready for departure" immediately after tuning tower frequency though some checklists might have to be read.
I mostly use VCP mode 1 until takeoff clearance before I switch to VCP mode 2 to avoid this.

RALF9636 wrote:

+1
The same goes for "ready for departure" immediately after tuning tower frequency though some checklists might have to be read.
I mostly use VCP mode 1 until takeoff clearance before I switch to VCP mode 2 to avoid this.

Yes that's why we give the option to switch modes

RALF9636 wrote:

+1
The same goes for "ready for departure" immediately after tuning tower frequency though some checklists might have to be read.
I mostly use VCP mode 1 until takeoff clearance before I switch to VCP mode 2 to avoid this.

If there is the likelyhood of getting a take-off clearance as soon as you contact Tower at the hold then you should really have done your take-off checks before you reach the holding point. If the airport is quiet and you are not given an "immediate" instruction then do the checks as you line-up.
A trick with PF3 is to go to another holding point say the one after all the AI are using. Sit there do your checks then press "6" manually. In other words ground won't tell you to contact Tower if you go to another hold. It's a good way to jump the queue at a busy field.

Even though I looked in the pdf, I missed the sentence saying that you can change Mode 'on the fly', so to speak!

Quote:

This mode can also be changed mid-flight by using the default C\S\V hotkey.

Not sure how that works yet - it scrolls through them I suppose? - but I'll try it out later to see what happens

Even in PFE I had thought that once the mode was selected, that was it, unless you disconnected from FS and chose a different one.

martinlest wrote:

Even though I looked in the pdf, I missed the sentence saying that you can change Mode 'on the fly', so to speak!

Quote:

This mode can also be changed mid-flight by using the default C\S\V hotkey.

Not sure how that works yet - it scrolls through them I suppose? - but I'll try it out later to see what happens

Even in PFE I had thought that once the mode was selected, that was it, unless you disconnected from FS and chose a different one.

No, even PFE allowed you to scroll through the individual VCP modes

Yes, I have the keyboard shortcuts printed out for PFE/PF3 and now I look at C/S/V "Virtual Co-Pilot Mode - 4 Modes", I wonder why it never really caught my attention.

I'll have a practice with this later this evening and see how it works. Starting in Mode 1 and switching to Mode to at some stage later sounds sensible, as mentioned above.

You guys think of everything!

martinlest wrote:

Yes, I have the keyboard shortcuts printed out for PFE/PF3 and now I look at C/S/V "Virtual Co-Pilot Mode - 4 Modes", I wonder why it never really caught my attention.

I'll have a practice with this later this evening and see how it works. Starting in Mode 1 and switching to Mode to at some stage later sounds sensible, as mentioned above.

You guys think of everything!

This is very true... problem is I mostly forget everything too!

Just tried the mode change - seamless (and noted in Remote Text).

I could kick myself for not realising this all the years I had PFE!!! Oh well, no big deal, I got pretty slick at switching COMM frequencies..