My favorite was probably the 727, but this is as close to that generation of plane that we'll probably get (there's a 727 model, but it's not good).
Yeah, your MD-88 did have working exterior lights, which is how I noticed (flew it recently). Seemed to have some problems sometimes (in some of the views, the nose light appeared to shine behind the plane). But it made navigating the airport at night a lot easier. Also had the bank angle limiter on the autopilot, which I wasn't sure was in the real plane but I've since seen that it is. Didn't realize there was a newer FGFS in development already. That's cool.
Cockpit floodlights would be pretty helpful too, but I don't think the old one had them either, and I mostly use CTRL-C to find the dimmer switches or the few things are are nearly invisible at night. I sure felt like a jerk when I discovered CTRL-C and figured out that that flood light switch doesn't work and I kept trying to hit it just right.
The newer style of engine instruments I thought on the earlier MD-88 were great; I suppose you have a higher standard than I do or something, or didn't notice what was wrong.
There are no checklists anywhere I can see on this version of the plane, or in the directory of the extracted aircraft. The MD-88 version had them (though not everything is correct for the actual plane, from what I can tell -- still a big help to remind a novice when to do things).
Thanks for the tip on using IAS/Mach mode. I've since heard that pilots often target idle descents, so I've been trying that, but noticed that sometimes things get really hairy (6-7,000 fpm descents). I did some tweaking and have seen that sometimes I've had the speed set wrong going into it or something, and lowering it helps. One thing I notice is that some of these don't allow you to change the setting before switching to the mode. I think the real plane lets you do it (an example is not wanting to switch to IAS/Mach without a speed filled in/the wrong one filled in, as the plane will do stuff when you enter the mode).
I've since gotten the go-around buttons on the throttle to work, so I assume I didn't have the flaps out or something. I think the autobrakes have some kind of similar rule?
Have noticed some strange behavior with the autoland at EWR on runway 22R I think it was, but that could be the real airport or a problem in FGFS too. You get to basically 50 feet and the plane turns the yoke sharply to the right and lands you on the grass. I now know to look for it and yank control from the autopilot at the last second. Thought it was wind and an autopilot disconnect at first, but apparently not.
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