Part 2: How Flight Simulator Platforms Handle the Boeing 737

Now onto the Microsoft Flight Simulator lineup.

The gold standard of all Boeing 737s comes from Precision Manuals Development Group (PMDG). PMDG has been in the game a long time, with all flight simmers likely having heard of it.

Starting way back the 1990s, Robert Randazzo has built the top-end payware company based upon incredible research and access to the Boeing aircraft it has simulated over the years. The Boeing 747-400, 777, and 737 are the company’s core focus, with each PMDG model produced each taking years to be released once announced. Add-on updates and improvements come faster, however.

This Article First Appeared in FLYING Magazine

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Just recently, the 777-200 was released for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (MSFS2024) as the first PMDG product to be fully developed just for this simulation version. The 737 Next Gen (NG) product line will be next and has been what I have been enjoying myself over the years on MFS2020. PMDG provides the entire NG series—the 737-600, -700, -800 and -900, complete with each having their own flight models, real-world performance data, and procedures to follow.

For the VIP fans, even the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) modes are included, complete with either the airline interiors or the luxury BBJ for each of those super bizjets. The visuals are what you would expect—perfection on exterior size, placement, orientation, and scale of all parts. A discriminating eye can tell.

• READ MORE: Part 1: How Flight Simulator Platforms Handle the Boeing 737

Flying each of these gems is a real treat with nothing left out. The realism is top notch as is the frame rate and performance on any PC. The company knows how to optimize and make its products run phenomenally well when often competitors fall far behind in this category. 

PMDG doesn’t skimp on quality, graphics, physics of flight model, sounds, and ease of use. The flight management systems (FMS) have configuration zones where you can select aircraft equipment just as real operators opt for different configurations on the real jets, like satellite domes, winglet style, landing lights (LED vs. standard, pulse vs. steady), short field options such as additional flap degree, fairings on flaps, performance boost on CFM-rated power, etc. Everything is simulated. 

A real BBJ can safely operate in and out of a 4,300-foot strip. I wish I had the chance to get a real 737NG type rating in my flying life as I feel this would have helped me in ground school and oral exams. You could call them “study level” and a great aid for learning the real thing. Hand-flying is also a joy as is using the autopilot during an autoland in 0/0.

PMDG is the first add-on aircraft that I ever used years ago to experience and learn about an autoland operation. Then watching real-world videos on this I realized just how well the 737s operate. When you buy a PMDG 737 or other aircraft, you will pay more but you get more. The top-quality gold standard of add-ons that have been going strong year after year.

You get the best—period. I am not a paid sponsor of PMDG, just a dedicated customer who has spent a lot of my own money flying the virtual world in each of its creations. The PMDG 737 lineup gets an A-plus. 

• READ MORE: Flying Concorde Sim: A Pilot’s Perspective From the Edge of Space

 Recently a competitor to PMDG has entered the market launching the iFly 737 Max lineup for MFS2020.

iFly Simulations produced a 737NG previously for the MSFS sim line, a long pause, and just started up again recently with the Max. This company has produced a very close rival in PMDG quality in my mind, and even some things I like better in terms of passenger cabin quality and some other panel texturing and coloring.

The external visuals look well proportioned, and the texturing is sharp and beautiful. The sound set is great as well, featuring the LEAP engines on the Max. All the cockpit displays and operational differences seem realistic, although I’m not a Max pilot, so I can only absorb what others are saying.

Hand and autopilot flying are great as is the realism of the FMS, V-speed integration, and routes. ARR DEP seems functional with no issues, which is not always the case with many add-ons. All the Boeing logic seems well developed, and FPS and performance is also phenomenal.

This product has been out only a short while, and I cannot be quite as thorough or knowledgeable on it as I am the PMDG products I have been using intensely for so many years. But right now with a few months tinkering and flying the iFly Max jets I can safely proclaim a grade of A-minus is well deserved. 

I don’t think any other passenger jetliner has been so well covered in the flight sim world. All the ones I showcased in this two-part FLYING series are going to be around for the long run. The 737 is fun to fly and provides the flight simmer a great way to fly an airliner on short or long routes. 

Due to the high quality of these simulated units, if you’re lucky enough to be working toward a real type rating on one, you’ve got a leg up on the other pilots who have never used a PC sim. 

This column first appeared in the August Issue 961 of the FLYING print edition.