747-400 questions

capt writes:

when I press F2 the reverse thrusters won't engage. I'ts a gitch in the
operatin' system I'm sure, cause I tried it in 2 of them, with results the
same

Hmm. I think F2 is the standard for reducing thrust (and reversing thrust).

I've seen it in the 737-400 on the throttle panel, so do you have to put the
autopilot with altitude set on to use it

In the default 737-400, I'm not sure how it works, but you should be able to
turn on the autothrottle as you sit on the runway and set a speed or something
and then engage it, and it should bring you up to take-off thrust.

On the 737-800 from PMDG, which is much more faithful to real life, you
configure your desired take-off speed (a bit above Vr, or whatever you prefer)
on the speed selector, make sure the FD and autothrottle are enabled, then
press the TOGA switch to start. For convenience, as I've said, PMDG puts a
hot spot on the MCP that you can click to do this (in reality, it's on the
throttle levers, but they are awkward to get to when you're taking off on the
sim).

after tower tells you to go around.

Or when you decide to go around on your own. TOGA then puts the aircraft in a
go-around configuration that varies somewhat by model, and it continues until
you override it. The idea is to spare you some of the details of the
go-around procedure, in order to enhance safety.

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