Technical Publications
A lot of information is readily obtainable from technical publications, on-line sources, and from the content of forums. There are several excellent texts available that go into depth regarding the technical aspects of the B737 and cover off on a lot of the topics a real and virtual pilot may need to know (I will be looking at a few of them in future posts). But, for the most part these texts are technical in nature and are do not include the "how to" of flight training.
One very good source of information is the B737 Flight Crew Operations Manual (FCOM).
Tutorials - PMDG
Two “how to” tutorials written by Tom Metzinger and Fred Clausen are in circulation. These tutorials deal with the Precision Manuals Development Group (PMDG) B737 NG. These tutorials provide an excellent basis to learning how to fly the B737 and what you need to do during certain phases of flight. Two further tutorials are available for the 737 NGX, however, they are not freely obtainable unless you have purchased the PMDG B737 NG or NGX software package.
That Nagging Feeling……Correct or incorrect ?
Despite the books, tutorials and manuals, there's always that nagging feeling that something has not been covered, is incorrect, or has been misunderstood. We all have heard the saying “there are several ways to skin a cat”; flying is no different. A B737 line instructor informed me that there is "a huge amount of technique allowed when flying the B737". "There are certainly wrong ways to do things; but, there is often no single right way to do something". Often the method selected is not at the discretion of the pilot flying, but more the decision of airline management, company policies and ATC.
Visit any FS forum and you will quickly realize that many virtual flyers do things differently. So where does this leave the individual who wants to learn the correct way?
Short of enrolling into a real flight class, which is time consuming, very expensive and a little “over the top” for a hobby, the next option is to investigate various on-line training schools. To my knowledge, there aren’t many formal style training classes available that provide training in the B737.
Angle of Attack Flight Training (AoA)
Angle of Attack has developed a reasonably priced and thorough training program that incorporates ground, line and flight training for a number of differing aircraft types. Only recently has AoA completed their B737 ground and flight training video presentations, in what amounts to many hours of valuable training.
Much of the training material is presented in video format which can either be downloaded to your computer, mobile device or viewed on-line. The content of the videos is very high resolution, well structured, professionally narrated, easy to follow, and most importantly – interesting and informative.
HD Video, Tutorials, Flows & Checklists for all B737 Systems
AoA have followed the real-world aviation industry standard by providing a lot of system training using "flows". A flow is a animated diagram showing step by step the correct method of doing something. In many instances a .pdf document can be downloaded to provide a "memory jogger" for you to replicate the flow when in the simulator.
Many of the training videos build upon knowledge already gained from texts such as the Flight Crew Operations Manual (FCOM), and the use of video as opposed to only reading, provides a differing method of education which helps you to develop a greater understanding.
Video flight tutorials which take you through from pushback to shutdown and demonstrate the correct procedure for conducting a flight.
AoA only provides training for the B737 NGX, however, much of the material is backwards compatible with the B737 NG series airframes. The video training utilises the 737 NGX model produced by Precision Manuals Development Group (PMDG) and does not use a real aircraft.
Despite these two shortcomings (NGX & not a real aircraft), the training offered is exceptional, one of a kind, and in my opinion reasonably priced.
