OK, first a wee disclaimer - I have never used the 737PIC software so if some of this makes no sense, you'll have to make allowances or just ask questions. The following should get you started with a setup of the FMC before takeoff but it is based upon the real FMC (I fly the 737-300 & -800) so there will undoubtedly be differences between the real-world and the flightsim versions. Furthermore, the real-world Boeing FMCs have different software versions (it costs a small fortune to update an FMC to a more up-to-date version) and although the ones I use are the latest release, the version simulated in 737PIC may vary slightly. Having said all of that, I've tried the PMDG 737 for slightsim and the FMC on that was remarkably accurate so fingers crossed the 737PIC one will be too...
So, to start off, the nav database for most Flightsim products can be found here -
http://www.navdata.at/php/airac/airac.php
However, it doesn't appear to have one for the 737PIC so try the developers homepage for an update. That said, being out-of-date shouldn't cause too many problems unless you're trying to enter waypoints that didn't exist a month or so ago
Before you start, you'll want a rough idea of where you're going. We'll use the following flightplan: EGKK SAM UN866 LAGUL UN621 ARE UN864 VULPE LEMG
If you don't have a flightplan like this for the route you want, either get some charts, use some planning software or just use the map in flightsim to find some suitable waypoints
This is going to take us from EGKK (Gatwick) to LEMG (Malaga) so put the flightsim aircraft on runway 26L at Gatwick with full fuel tanks
In real-life the FMC would take its position from the INS and/or GPS but in flightsim, it just knows where you are so life is easy!
The INIT/REF button is your best friend on the FMC - it should automtaically take you to whatever page is most relevant so press that now
Press the line-select key next to INDEX on the screen to take you to the menu at any time
Select POS and you'll see the aircraft's position - put the reference airport in this page - EGKK
Line-select ROUTE or press RTE button to go to the ROUTE page
Put EGKK in the ORIGIN box and LEMG in the DEST box
Press DEP/ARR to go to the departures/arrivals page and select DEP next to EGKK
Assuming the nav database is any good, it'll then display a list of runways and their relevant departures
Select runway 26L and a SAM departure
Press RTE
Enter the rest of the route in the following format (after SAM) - airway on the left, waypoint on the right
So, on the ROUTE page that you're on, find the first dashed line on the left (maybe on ROUTE page 2) and put in UN866 which (from our flightplan) is the airway that goes after SAM
We're going to follow this airway to LAGUL so, put LAGUL on the right opposite UN866
Then UN612 on the next line with ARE on the right
Then UN864 on the next line with VULPE on the right
We have now told the FMC which runway we're taking off from, which departure from Gatwick and all the airways we're following from the end of the departure (SAM) to VULPE, which happens to be the start of the arrival we'll follow into Malaga
It's a good idea to give the FMC an idea of our expected arrival into Malaga even though we may not (in real-life) yet know which we'll get - the FMC needs this info to give accurate timing/fuel calculations etc.
Press DEP/ARR
Select ARR nect to LEMG and choose runway 13 (this may be runway 14 on old nav databases because the runway designator only changed recently)
Select a VULPE arrival
In theory, that's the route done but we need to check the details of it on the LEGS page so press LEGS
The LEGS page(s) show all the waypoints that we'll pass whilst flying along the airways that we entered on the ROUTE pages (thing of it in car satnav terms like detailing all the towns you'd pass through if you'd put the M1 motorway in the ROUTE page)
Firstly, there should be no discontinuities which would show up as square boxes (whilst we're here - square boxes always require information in them, dotted lines represent somewhere where info can be put in but is optional)
Press the NEXT PAGE button to cycle through all the LEGS pages and clear any discontinuities (look in your manual for this - it'll make more sense!!!)
You need to activate this route so select ACTIVATE (bottom-right) and press the EXEC button that should then light up
Hopefully you've managed so far....... onto the performance page!
Return to the INIT/REF menu page and select PERF
This is the page that will be tricky in flightsim because I don't know if it will just "know" the weights or whether you have to find them out and enter them
It could also be that the FMC in 737PIC uses lbs rather than kgs that we use here in UK but good luck with this (again, have a look at the manual)!
So, enter you're ZFW (zero fuel weight) on the right
Next your reserves (fuel to destination basically) - you can make this up, if it's kgs then just put in 2.5 or something random
Put 100 in the cost index box (this tells the FMC how economical to be when calculating its climb/cruise speeds etc - don't worry too much)
Put 350 in the cruise altitude (top-right)
Ignore the rest on this page - it's good stuff but we can afford to ignore it!
Select TAKEOFF from the bottom of the PERF page
Depending on which FMC version this thing emulates, you'll probably just need to put in the speeds here
If you know what they should be, great, if not, use - v1=135 vr=135 v2=140 (this'll be good enough)
At the bottom of the takeoff page, it will (hopefully) say PRE-FLT COMPLETE
If it doesn't, it'll tell you what needs attention.
I've missed a LOT out here but hopefully this'll get you in the air with a route to Malaga and a fully-functioning FMC that will therefore allow you to use LNAV and VNAV modes on the autopilot
Get airborne, wheels up, put the autopilot in at 400ft, get the flaps up at 1500ft, press LNAV and VNAV and look out the window for 2 hours.........
Feel free to ask questions on anything (most I imagine!) that doesn't make any sense
Lastly, look here for a bit more info -
http://www.b737.org.uk/fmc.htm
