Beginners Guide to Starting the PMDG Boeing 737-700 from Cold and Dark (Revised and Updated)

[@TamaHawkLive]

Really great tutorial. The written checklist is very good too and I like the notations of what hotkeys to use for the different panel views.

[@ceegnz]

Thank you so much for doing these, in previous sims I spent hours going through checklists crossing out whatever didn't NEED to be done, it's lovely to have someone not only do it but also explain it and show where everything is !

[@jonbeckett]

Glad I could help!

[@chuck176]

@@jonbeckett thank you my friend! I’m on series x and bought the 737-800 it’s absolutely incredible and this helped me so much! Best tutorial I’ve ever seen!

[@jonbeckett]

@@chuck176 You're welcome :)

[@loginaman]

The best on point tutorial for 737 startup I have seen. No lengthy talks & no unnecessary things show. To the point and very clear. Gets you everything required & in the air. I also like how clear and precise the explanations were. Kudos to Jonathan for this amazing work!!

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it helped

[@MacCekko]

AWESOME! Very well explained, in perfect english, and for newbies also! Just trying the (for me, new) B737 and was asking myself where could I find some instructions, although I am not completely new to flight Sims. And there I found you! So, again, thank you!

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@stevehamann9624]

When pilot get sick i follow this vid👌🏽

[@kokoeteantigha389]

Still trying to get mine downloaded 😩 oh but not to worry, I'll roll up my sleeves tonight and do the rumble with PMDG until its done.

[@jonbeckett]

Excellent :)

[@hiortintexasracing]

12:44 THANK YOU ! I have been looking high and low for were the Center of Gravity comes from !

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@mianmoizuddin9894]

Thanks alot Jonathan, your videos , especially the simple functional procedures have made me learn the md82 first and now the 737. Both aircrafts which were overwhelming tbh. The study level systems and all. Not everyone wants to do each and every fire test, control surface test etc. Your videos are just the right material for people like me.

[@jonbeckett]

Glad to help!

[@nexus888]

Best videos on 737. It is really helpful that you switch views so it is easier to see what switches you are using (as compared to some other KZbinrs that just turn their view and it’s tricky to see what is going on).

[@steveclarkemedia]

Thanks Jonathan. I am watching a lot of your material. I love its clarity and also the explanations of what things actually do. It's really helping me understand the mechanics of everything I fly. Now thinking about buying the 737 - you've made it seem doable!

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@Interceptyt]

Thank you so much! You just made my first full flight in the 737 so fun! :)

[@jonbeckett]

Great to hear!

[@jonbeckett]

Here is a link to the checklist I wrote, and mostly followed in the video - drive.google.com/drive/folders/1A5VpSgNMW_ga4Nte6QvoUbCYbcm42nTz?usp=sharing

[@alain67ful]

hi ,i am missing Brakes set to RTO and landing lights in your checklist!

[@jonbeckett]

@@alain67ful I did say it's a functional checklist - it misses LOADS out.

[@Senor0Droolcup]

Thank you for these beginners guides! Much needed and much appreciated!

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@yams900]

Functional, that's all I need :) Thx Jon for sharing !

[@jonbeckett]

Happy to help!

[@gustavorios9888]

Thank you man! You helped me to get into airliners and I'm really loving to fly them

[@jonbeckett]

Glad to hear it!

[@Antoine-Zim]

Awesome tutorial. Thanks for everything you do for the aviation community. Very comprehensive and informative content on your channel. I’m learning to fly my first airliner,Fenix A320, but also interested but the B737 700

[@jonbeckett]

Much appreciated!

[@trevoC132]

Also Note a nice shortcut to access the pmdg settings in the FMC without turning on the battery, hold the MENU key for a few seconds.

[@jonbeckett]

Yep - in some of the later videos of the 737 I show that method too :)

[@7anthillmob]

Many thanks for the time and effort put into this. Just getting to grips with the tubeliners.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome!

[@mamo-gaming]

Thank you that makes it much easier for me to get into the 737!

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@biggus3348]

Ah, the speed and altitude intervention commands were a missing link for me! I've been manually dialling in the alts for each change and it struck me as being a really clunky way to do it. Thanks yet again, and congrats on the 3k subs!

[@jonbeckett]

I only found out their true purpose last week :)

[@DEFkon001]

Until PMDG get the EFB/Tablet patched in you can run the FMC without any battery or ground power. Just press and hold the MENU key on the FMC till it boots up. IIRC it will only let you have access to the PMDG setup & FS Actions areas of the FMC but way you can get the ground power requested or have passengers enter or exit the plane in an unpowered scenario.

[@jonbeckett]

Great tip!

[@68spires]

Quick note, should the cabin pressure be between sea level and 8000 feet?. Put simply, cabin pressurization is a process in which conditioned air is pumped into and exhausted out of the cabin of an aircraft to keep the pressure in the cabin between sea level and 8000 feet. Comparable to the air pressure we'd experience on a mountain of around 8,000 feet, this is called cabin altitude and allows still for normal breathing. Most humans will pass out above 18000 feet.

[@jonbeckett]

Yes. You set cruise altitude in the panel overhead and the plane works out what to do.

[@68spires]

Thank you for sharing

[@sprwil]

Perfect video - thank you👍

[@jonbeckett]

Glad you liked it!

[@hauer54]

Wonderfully explained... thank you!

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@orion-viikhmernight2748]

Awesomeness thanks for sharing the knowledge sir.

[@jonbeckett]

My pleasure

[@hiortintexasracing]

13:03 When hovering over the wheel you see the current trim and you can use the mouse wheel to change it. more precisely.

[@jonbeckett]

Yes - but I turned the tooltips off. The real pilots don't get numbers hovering in mid-air :)

[@hiortintexasracing]

@@jonbeckett LOL - fair point !

[@jpvanderhaegen]

Just perfect, thank you.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome

[@yams900]

Well explained, as usual. It makes sense :)

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@alexandrevinicius2474]

Thank you. You have been very helpful!

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@markscars1069]

Excellent stuff. Very helpful for folks.

[@jonbeckett]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ryanp6999]

Thank you for attaching the checklist/start-up sequence in the description. In my opinion, it does no good for the videos to be posted with no checklist to refer to-- if that makes sense.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome.

[@NormanHolden]

Everything looks OK but LNAV will not engage -any comment/advice very much appreciated

[@jonbeckett]

You need inertial navigation up and running, flight directors on, and no discontinuities in the flight plan.

[@NormanHolden]

Thanks for your response-- met all those parameters but still won't engage - I noticed in your video of your flight from Sydney to Canberra you had the same problem@@jonbeckett

[@Mista_Spicy]

OMG this helped sooo much tysm. And do u think u can do a APP one please I suck at landing so I want autopilot to do it lol

[@jonbeckett]

There is a video in the channel showing ILS in the 737 :)

[@Mista_Spicy]

@@jonbeckett ok thx

[@ziepex7009]

Thanks so much.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@captainxplorar]

This helped so much! Thanks :)

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome!

[@miniindy1183]

Thank you very much, it helped alot! 👏🏾

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome!

[@delalima]

that was really helpful , thanks

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome!

[@excelgamingxbox2649]

thank you for the guide, i like how simple it is to use. Do you think you could possibly make a checklist for the crj?

[@jonbeckett]

I thought I already did a checklist for the CRJ ? (just checked) - oops. I better get on that.

[@excelgamingxbox2649]

@@jonbeckett thats ok, your checklist are much better than anyone else's and so simple to follow, thanks.

[@jonbeckett]

@@excelgamingxbox2649 I've written it up - it's in google drive

[@excelgamingxbox2649]

@@jonbeckett thanks

[@hlawacz6227]

Do you have a link to the full checklist for the 737 because you only provided the start up procedure?

[@jonbeckett]

No - because the rest of the flight after start-up could unfold in countless different ways. While you can learn correct procedures for situations, you can't really write it down as a check list. You just need to learn how to operate the aircraft after getting it started up. I have several videos showing example flights.

[@eds5709]

Short question / remark. At 24:35 you turn the starter switch and then ignition to start the right engine. In my case I don't have to set the ignition switch to the right (or left). The engines appear to startup without "ignition". Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong? Btw thanks for the download link to your manual ;-)

[@jonbeckett]

That's a very good question - and one to consult the Boeing handbook about :) I've noticed it too.

[@mats-c-133]

It seems that you neglected the autobrake setting for take off? RTO as mentioned in some documentations should be? Thank you so much for informative instructions!

[@ceegnz]

Most things have been neglected in this procedure, that's the whole point of it. If you're the sort of person who will use this checklist (i.e. 95% of simmers) then you'll have failures turned off and will never have to worry about rejected takeoffs. If you're the sort of simmer who might have to reject a takeoff you should probably look for a more comprehensive checklist.

[@jonbeckett]

Yep - as @ceegnz mentioned - this is a deliberately shortened checklist.

[@gabrielcampbell9201]

Hello, I’m using little navmap for my flight plan, when I go to the Fmc to plug in my departure SID it’s not in the choices that I have, am I missing something?

[@pocketedition2348]

I have the same issue fella, i regret not having found an answer myself yet.

[@jonbeckett]

Did you update LittleNavMap to match the simulator scenery ? (in the Scenery Library menu, if I recall - Load Scenery?)

[@StevenKelley]

i'm in the air, and LNAV wont light up. Would that be a programming error on my part or too far from the waypoint?

[@jonbeckett]

If LNAV won't light up, it's usually because your flight plan is not complete, and you don't have the flight directors on.

[@StevenKelley]

@@jonbeckett I clicked the FIX button and there was an error. And it enabled. Also had to click the CMD button on the very right of the autopilot panel for everything to work. Not sure what that button does but it worked.. All else fails... Click everything!

[@ibrahimusluer3649]

Hi sir, Could you tell me how can I close curser trainer?

[@jonbeckett]

I'm sorry - I don't understand your question.

[@darlenepalafox758]

my engines dosent start. im in the pmdg 737-900 and when i started the engine via the grd startup it stays at 1.0 at 2 and 1. when i active the engine start it stays at 1.0!

[@jonbeckett]

You need the APU on, air bleed on, and enough air pressure to spin the engines up. If you have packs on, you won't have enough air pressure to spin the engines up.

[@silvesstall]

RTO? Clock ET? Derate mode? Assumed Temp??? A/T Arm?

[@jonbeckett]

As I've said countless times before - this is a shortcut start-up procedure that takes out ALL of the checks and balances you would perform in the real aircraft, and gets you in the air in ten minutes instead of half an hour :)

[@silvesstall]

@@jonbeckett Sir! But after all, the simulator is created in order to press buttons for half an hour, and then fly, getting Jasmine's delight from it. Only in an arcade game, where three control buttons and a space bar for shooting are created to take off immediately in a minute. So MSFS is an arcade? ;))

[@pocketedition2348]

Hullo Mr Beckett I followed your video, thanks for doing that ( although a different flight route )NZAA/MZWN. got the bird in the air and following the magenta line toward destination. Sweet so far. 90% of the way, the aircraft stayed on that course, ran off the magenta line heading for antarctica. I was nowhere near the runway, or the airport, or the end of the country for that matter. I suspect it is not the system in the aircraft, i must have missed something, any ideas off the top of your head ? how about, just where would i select approach mode.

[@jonbeckett]

The aircraft won't completely fly itself :) You probably had a discontinuity in your flight plan - at which point the plane would have carried on in a straight line.

[@pocketedition2348]

@@jonbeckett thanks for that, I have written a note to check for "next page" "s" It took me all day to do this start up:)

[@Knubinator]

So my only question is, when do you pull flaps? Or does the AP pull them for you at a set speed?

[@jonbeckett]

The Autopilot never lowers or raises flaps - it's a manual operation. It depends on speed. The flaps have speed limits at each stage - indicated on the airspeed ribbon.

[@mattygaming4750]

How did u get the screen that can fold up

[@jonbeckett]

The various different liveries of the PMDG 737 accurately reflect the build-out of the depicted aircraft - with the various optional components as-per the depicted airframe. You can influence it via the PMDG menu in the FMC - modifying the aircraft to suit.

[@PowerAirSimulations]

How do you stop the sim from starting with the stairs set up?

[@jonbeckett]

In the FMC, press MENU, then PMDG OPTIONS, then you can choose the default start state :)

[@daviddavids8218]

Help, if possible, Nothing happens when I run through JUST an engine start, Not touching the FMC. i.e. I run through the switches needed to just start the engines, but when I press the start, nothing happens on the lower Eng panel. Could you confirm I have to configure the FMC as part of the start up, i.e. without a position update the plane will not co-operate, built in security? No problem if you do not wish to answer and I'll catch this update later I hope THANK You

[@jonbeckett]

You don't need the FMC to start the engines. At a minimum, you need the batteries, then the APU, then APU bleed, the fuel pumps, and then start the engines.

[@daviddavids8218]

@@jonbeckett Thank you for replying, I used to able to start the FSX PMDG’s, but I know it must be me, no one else has started a thread on this. Will watch your updated version and see if there is something. I know techies need to run the engines after servicing, used to enjoy the VC10s at Brize ruining all conversations…those were the days

[@daviddavids8218]

Tried your updated start, same result, nothing happens in the Eng screen. So I believe that having made the mistake of NOT delete/rename the Community folder for update IX, I've screwed it up. So Uninstalled the 737 and starting again, but hit a snag will SSL cert not letting me get to PMDG....you get a feeling about a day....have turned off PC, waited, started again and SSL Working & downloading 737 again. Too tired and meal to cook, will get the rest done tomorrow, hopefully. EXCELLENT tutorial, you have an voice that is easy to listen to with excellent modulation and diction. Thank you

[@daviddavids8218]

The RAF taught us, if it works for others, your doing something wrong....it was NOT setting up the cockpit cold and dark in the FMC, but relying on what was presented by MSFS, with everything already connected to the cart. Ah the number of times we connected to carts in overseas locations that failed us. Should have known this one. Not many RAF aircraft had APU's back in the day! But thanks for replying, hopefully this will help others in the future, no fool like an old fool haha

[@jurubitaclaudiu3909]

I got a question, does someone know why after I installed the pmdg mod , when I run the flight , the plane is already started? I am choosing to start from a gate but I can’t start from cold because it is already on from the game and I don’t want to shut everything down and after to turn it back on

[@jonbeckett]

I show you why right at the start of this video. The PMDG 737 has it's own setting for start state.

[@jurubitaclaudiu3909]

@@jonbeckett thanks a lot for answering 🙏🏻

[@heaye]

i need CC

[@jonbeckett]

What is CC ?

[@ziepex7009]

@@jonbeckett Closed Captions / subtitles i think

[@jonbeckett]

CC are now available for the video - it just takes a while for them to appear :)

[@heaye]

@@jonbeckett Thank You !