The black handled thrust levers used to physically control the engines, (like on THE Boss CJ2 he had before he traded up to the CJ3 - the new CJ2+ also has FADEC) - now they just convey your request to the FADEC and it does whats necessary with the engines. You gingerly ease them forward from idle thrust to taxi. Once you are lined up on the runway you move them forward to the Take Off indent position and things start getting very busy in back as the two Williams International FJ44-3A, 2,780 pound thrust each turbines start winding up!! By they way, you never get too jaded to not feel a thrill at the base of your spine when you hear that howl begin!! And while a dragster might accelerate a little faster, it doesnt keep going to 480 miles per hour or carry up to ten people in the lap of luxury to nine miles in the air!!! After you take off, you slide the thrust levers back to the Maximum Continuous Thrust position to climb to altitude. Jets are not designed for low altitudes - they like it high and fast where the air is thin and where they burn the least amount of jet fuel. So you climb rapidly and steeply! In a light plane the nose stays not far above the horizon - in a jet you point it at Heaven and hang on!! The CJ3 climbs at over 4,000 feet per minute (equivalent to going 45 miles per hour straight up,) so it doesnt take long to get up to its home above the clouds, (and a couple of miles above the airliners far below!!) And while a piston engine twin aircraft can barely climb at all on one engine, a jet with an engine out will typically climb faster than a piston twin with both props turning!! Thats a VERY comforting feeling to know that even with an engine out, you have still got a huge amount of reserve performance available!!! Once you reach your cruising altitude, you come back to the Cruise indent and watch the speed build quickly! The FADEC takes care of babying the engines along so that they are set exactly right for a given altitude, temperature, etc. and monitors their functions and looks out for their good health!! It also keeps a complete log of engine operations from the zillion sensors it uses to operate them which is a big help for maintenance planning!! Not only does the FADEC cut down on the pilot workload, but by operating the engines so expertly, it significantly increases their reliability and longevity! The two big screens in front of the control yokes are the Primary Flight Displays (PFDs) which show you where you are, where you are going, whats going on around you, and a few gazillion other things you can select to see. They also show you which way is UP, (comes in very handy in clouds!!!) The FMS supplies the info to them. They are part of the Collins Pro Line 21 EFIS (Electronic Flight Information System.) The big screen in the middle is the Multifunction Display (MFD) which can also display just about anything you select but usually has navigation information and engine data on it. And if something needs attention and you dont have it displayed, the FMS will change the displays, turn on annunciator lights at the top center of the panel, and at times even holler at you!!! By the way, the FMS also runs the autopilot!!! The autopilot does a lot of the routine flying. It executes embarrassingly perfect instrument approaches!! And at cruise altitude it also does a better job than you can of making sure that you dont spill the drinks of the folks in back!! (By the way, when you spill stuff in back the folks back there get unhappy - and when they are unhappy, EVERYONEs unhappy!!!) Not only do the PFDs and MFD supply the basics for hand flying the airplane like altitude, attitude, heading, airspeed, vertical speed, etc., they also display information from the onboard weather radar, the strike finder which tracks lighting, ground based NEXRAD wide area ground based radar remoted to the plane via satellite, the traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) which keeps track of other planes around you, the terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) and the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) which keeps track of the ground below you and any obstructions - and it also verbally calls out altitude during an approach!! The displays can also show enroute maps and approach charts, checklists, and a gazillion other things you can call up!!! One of the big things that the glass panel cockpits run by the FMS does is centralize information so you can get the big picture instantly. For example, you can start with a map at the bottom, then overlay that with your proposed track. Then add the onboard radar display, (which shows precipitation,) then superimpose the strike finder info on top of that, (which tracks lighting,) and then add the TCAS info which shows where planes are around you and what they are doing! With just one glance youve get very complete situational awareness! At this point youre probably starting to think, OK, the blond sits down, hits the FLY button, and all the computerized gizmos run everything while she polishes her nails!!! AND - when everything is cooking along just fine, thats a not a bad summary. But - take a look at the side panels to the left and right of the seats. All of those little gadgets are circuit breakers! There are a LOT of electrical system on this puppy - and when all of them are happy - you can polish your nails - but when the FMS for example rolls over and dies - youve got your hands full! And when that happens, the old style instruments in the center of the panel under the annuciators become VERY helpful, as does even the magnetic compass above the annuciators. So do the manual engine gauges. There are backups for just about everything! All of the stuff that was in the tiny single engine prop Cessna 152 in which I first started flying in tucked in here and there on the panel. In a simulator you spend a lot of time practicing with all those things because you are the ultimate backup for all the fancy stuff. In a two hour simulator session you will get more emergency experience that youd likely see in a lifetime of real flying. And - in a simulator the only thing that you can really damage is your ego!!! By the way - I havent drilled into the dirt but Ive got lots of black and blue mental bruises!!! Simulator instructors could give torture lessons to Grand Inquisitor Torquemada!!! You take off and they fail an engine! OK, I can handle this! Then the electrical system starts dying! OK, I can handle this! Then the hydraulics go south!! OK, I can handle this! And then they toss in a fire!! Give me a break for Petes sake!! By the way, the smarty pants instructor that threatened me with a surface to air missile decided why clobber the blond quickly when its so much more fun to SLOWLY torture her!! I suppose I cant gripe too much about him - he did buy me dinner last night!! On the CJ3 there is one standard FMS but a second can be added for redundancy. On the Citation X that I start learning about on Monday there are two units. The airliners typically have three and the space shuttle orbiter has five!!! The CJ line gets by with one because it is a pretty easy airplane to manually fly. THE Boss has the optional second one installed for redundancy. By the way, the dual channel part about the FADEC is not because it has two engines but because it is two full system combined together for redundancy. Everything has mandated replacement periods and required maintenance and inspections and is built about as reliably as humanly possible. Most problems are not caused by the aircraft failing but by the pilot(s) failing. The first thing you learn is that in an emergency you must, Fly the Airplane First! then deal with the problems! If you let yourself get distracted while dealing with a problem, you can get in real trouble in a hurry. Thats why simulator training is so valuable because you get that idea ingrained in you. Maintain control first - fix the problems as you can - but above all else, Fly the Airplane!! A business jet is flown and maintained to the same standards as an airliner. They dont have as many seats, but have all the same systems. The level of training required is about the same, too. The cockpit is not the place for the flying ace but for bean counters like me that do everything by the book and always by the book. You follow checklists for everything. There is an expression probably as old as aviation that, There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old bold pilots!! Little Meredith wants to die ancient in her sleep - or maybe while thrashing some young whippersnapper smarty pants with my cane!!! In a lot of ways a modern high performance aircraft is sort of a flying robot that needs monitoring and occasional attention, but does a pretty good job of taking care of itself most of the time. When I was just a tiny little blond brat, (as opposed to a new improved family size blond brat,) a favorite uncle taught me to read at a very early age, (which led to a few problems when I trundled off to elementary school a few years later - another story for another time.) He was also an avid science fiction fan and had a huge collection of pulps from the Golden Age of Science Fiction that were my reading textbooks! Needless to say, that experience is guaranteed to warp an impressionable young lass, (or brat!) Anyway, one of my favorites was the collection of four stories combined into a single book by James H. Schmitz titled Agent of Vega. Not only did Schmitz write stories with strong female protagonists like Pagadan in the Agent of Vega or Nile Etland in The Demon Breed he also described in passing the fabulous ships they flew in Agent of Vega. He talked of the five central electric brains that ran the ship because the word computer hadnt been invented yet. When I look down at the FMS, and particularly when I think of the Space Shuttle Orbiter with its five FMS central electric brains, I always have to give a big tip of my hat to the foresight of Schmitz! By the way, if you have a daughter and want to run the risk of her ending up as wacko as me, get her a copy of Agent of Vega, particularly the most recent reprint with the preface by Mercedes Lackey. She too may experience the Epiphany that Mercedes and I found in Schmitz work. Girls can do just about anything guys can - they can even drive jets! Check your local bookstore or on-line for Agent of Vega and Other Stories by James H. Schmitz, Baen Books, ISBN 0-671-31847-0 and The Hub: Dangerous Territory which contains The Demon Breed, Baen Books, ISBN 0-671-31984-1. The violence is less than Star Wars and not as creepy as Darth Vader. By the way, Pagadan is a nice looking gal, but shes no more human than a jellyfish! She does have fun however slumming around with humans!!! The CJ3 has 6 to 8 seats in back and cruises at up to 480 miles per hour. The hot rod Citation X that Ill get to meet on Monday does 600 miles per hour! The CJ3 has a service ceiling of 45,000 feet where is slows down a little but burns less fuel. At typical cruising altitudes is burns a little over a hundred gallons of fuel per hour, (at $3.96 per gallon!!) The total variable cost per hour including fuel, other expendables, maintenance, overhauls, refurbishment, and market depreciation is about $1200. It cost a little over $6 million to buy and around a million a year to operate figuring typical flying hours and fixed costs (insurance, hangar, crew salaries) of about $350 to $400 thousand a year. The annual budget on THE Boss CJ3 is higher because it stays in the air more than the average CJ3 but that helps bring the cost per average loaded seat mile down. I just looked at the airline schedule for Houston to Los Angeles for a typical business flight. Its $778 coach and $828 first class. With the back 6 seats filled, the CJ3 can do the run for a fare of $811 and fly when you want, where you want, and avoid all the terminal grief and delays!!! With the 8 back seat version, the cost dips to about $608. On a lot of the company runs, the six back seats are filled and the front seats are filled by THE Boss, Tomas, or I. Weve actually got 8 passengers so were really flying at the 8 seat rate of $608. And that example is on a cheap hub to hub airline route. From Houston to Vail via the airline is $1328 coach with no first class available. On the CJ3 the fare cost with six in back is $606!!!!! Less than half the airline fare!!! AND - yes, you can do better on the airline fares if you book far in advance, but business travel doesnt work that way. On most business trips youre lucky if you have 24 hours of warning - so you are always paying top dollar to the airlines. Ive walked into the office a lot of mornings at 8:00 and been in the air before 10:00!! Flying on the airlines is a big disruption to your work day. On the CJ3, you just grab the laptops, climb aboard, and get back to work in back! THE Boss plane even has its own wireless router!! And you have no lost time in the terminal on either end. A three hour trip to Los Angeles really does only take three hours. When you factor in the productivity and salaries of your personnel, the price drops even more. The bottom line is that if you fly enough, the luxury of an airplane starts to make sense in cold hard cash!! THE Boss is an ever worse airplane freak than I, but he also never wastes a dime! He has the CJ3 because it makes sense on the bottom line! Hmmm - but maybe Ill see if I can squeeze a few dimes out of him as a little raise when I get back! I could always try Digitals technique of locking him in the mens room!!!!!! And for a quick update - I passed my checkride with the FAA and am now not only full qualified in the CJ3 but Im qualified for Single Blond Operation!!! Bet that scares the dickens out of a lot of folks!!! Im changing flight centers later today and will begin getting up close and personal with the Citation X sky rocket on Monday morning!! While the CJ3s engines are flat rated at 2,780 pounds of thrust each, the Rolls-Royce/Allison AE 3007C1s on the Citation X produce 6,700 pounds each!! More powerful than a locomotive - here I come!!! WOO-HOO!!!! Love, Meredith PS - I meant to mention this on my Valentine heart post, Meredith_0257, but the blond brain was misfiring - again, (I really need to take this thing in for an overhaul!) - but anyway, the idea for my pink contrails heart was from a photograph that Mike, (Halibut72) took at the 2005 Royal International Air Tattoo. You can take a look at the Red Arrows flight demonstration team creating a real contrail heart in Mikes Gallery!! Mikes Gallery (Halibut72) - Red Arrows II Heart PPS - When you need a treat, take a look at Fabios (FCR) gallery! He has been here at Renderosity since 2004 but just started posting on January 31st. He is doing some incredible things!! Hes got about the most realistic looking animals Ive ever seen!! His gals are gorgeous with great poses and lifelike expressions and he builds most of his beautiful backgrounds in Terragen. Not only is he a very skilled artist, but he is a total sweetheart!! Ive known him since I first rolled into Renderosity!! So take a look and you wont be disappointed!!! Fabios Gallery (FCR)

Great capture!!! Oh, learning to fly! But, i don't see chocolate in the cockpit! :) Thank You for many interesting information, like Microsoft Flight Simulator learn feeling!

Meredith, you certainly know how to make me feel utterly stupid and I'mk not even blond.

Great shot, interesting reading and Well Done!! on your new qualification!!!

Great introduction to the CJ3! I can tell that you are having a great time on your holiday! :)

Great shot Mereduth. Very interesting hon. Fantastic. Hugs and kisses.

WOOHOO indeed !!! I knew that you would nail it...well done Meredith, I'm stoked for you and now on to bigger and faster planes, Queen of the Airways !!! Started out with pulp sci-fi...now that's kool...yup, the koolest and smartest Blond(e) I know ! BTW great cockpit...erm, simulated simulator capture ! ( I wish I had a pilots licence as well !) ~Cheers~

So how long have you been flying? An airline pilot is quite adventurest but I knew you could do it. How long is the training and when do you really fly one of those big babies. I adore jets.... lol Good luck Meredith!

This is a great shot Meredith..Interesting interduction on the CJ3.. Hugs

wowwwww, excellent capture and interesting information !!! Good sunday and hugsssssssss :)

That is really cool about getting to work on the CJ7 .Yes I do like planes . Would love to fly a jet one of these days. Oh and dont worry abou the commenting thing. Cut and paste all you want Meridith. I know your busy Love and Hugs

An awesome view and about the closest I'll ever get :) You are having a simply fabulous time - Congratulations!!!!!

super POV!

Intriguing capture!

I would love to fly the stimulator, but of course I would crash on re-entry(landing).incredible amount of info you have shared and very interesting.I did not like a previous airport software I had before because it was not possible to see out the side windows.I hope this one allows vision out the sides

I think I see a big foot hair to the left button? lol what ever happen to fly by the sit of your paints. lol that a lot to learn. now my one brain cell is trying to jump start another to try an figure this out lol ...super done

Great Job!...and I actually read it :-)

Most Excellent photo my dear, great contrast and all!!!!!

Very ionteresting very well done!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, now we know LOL. nice shot!

Awesome stuff, even for a simulated simulation!

Fantastic reading Meredith and have a great week!!

Wow...great simulation of a simulation! :D LOL That waterbottle looks handy, but I'll second the other comment...where'd your chocolate go? Congrats on passing that one check, good luck on the next Mere! :) hugs John

Nice image, and well done, no matter what the reason. I say such few words. Huggs...Silkylady...

I have no clue about planes or what your talking about but it looks like a lot of fun & very interesting!!!-LOL

Excellent shot Meredith......!!!!

congrats mer. i'd never remember a thing in there. have fun.hugs

I'm an A320 mechanic (and private pilot) and find this an interesting comparison. My brother-in-law is a corporate pilot out of Loss Vegas (?Lost Vegas?) flying an all-option KingAir 300 (the trickest panel both he and I have EVER seen) and we have fun goofing with it. The X is my fave when it comes to jets . . . let us know how things go Monday, have a blast (that's right, you've got permission - LOL).

I see this is more difficult than to drive a car and I had enough trouble with those... Too much buttons and screens to look at. I see you've done a very good simulation. Ok, I haven't seen the shot and this comment is just simulated. 8-)

Looks like a very sweet ride Meredith! Say, if you ever have an empty seat and need some weight and balance help, let me know! I was lucky to get a couple rides in a Lear jet once. It had eight passenger seats if I remeber correctly and also jumpped high into the air very quickly compared to a small prop, commercial prop, or commercial large jet. Curve of the cabin was very noticable, like flying in a needle. Never did get a ride in the larger Gulf Stream employer also owned, sigh . . . Anyway, hope you have great success at your classes and pass all tests with "flying colors"! (Say, now there is a name for a render if I every saw one!)