Iberia Airlines · CC BY 2.0 · Boeing 747 picturedThe 747 first flew in 1969 and entered airline service in 1970. Its broad main deck transformed the scale of passenger flying, while the elevated cockpit also suited a freighter with a nose-loading door. Passenger and cargo developments remained important throughout the programme.
The flight deck changed dramatically between classic three-crew 747s and later two-pilot aircraft. The 747-8 also brought a further wing and engine development. The simulator products cover several generations, including the classic 747-200 and modern 747-8.
Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental
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Boeing’s early concept archive shows that the familiar 747 shape was not the starting point. The development team studied several arrangements with two passenger decks. Problems with those configurations led Joe Sutter’s team toward a wide fuselage with most accommodation on one level. Moving the flight deck upstairs also left room for a cargo door in the nose below it.
The 747 evolved through several generations, including the 747-400 and the later 747-8, while passenger and freight operations gave the family different careers. Boeing marked the final delivery on 31 January 2023 at Everett, handing a 747-8 freighter to Atlas Air. The manufacturer recorded 1,574 aircraft built over more than half a century.
People who had helped design and build the original aircraft returned for the ceremony. Atlas provided another link across generations: the company began with a converted 747-200 freighter and later operated types including the enlarged Dreamlifter, used to transport 787 components.
First flight: February 9, 1969 ( 1969-02-09 )
Westerdijk recalls choosing a first-officer position on the 747 over an opportunity to command the DC-9. After earlier F27 and A310 flying, the prospect of long-haul operations appealed to him, and he eventually became a 747 captain. His recollections of the 200 and 300 include six-day rotations through Dubai and Bangkok to Hong Kong, with the return journey retracing those stops.
Kai Tak made those trips particularly memorable. He describes the transition from instrument guidance to the visual turn beside the city, with buildings close by and western winds sometimes adding turbulence. As a first officer, the allocation of flying duties determined whether he received that prized landing. When he later commanded the aircraft, he discussed the division of sectors with his first officer.
Osborne traces his fascination with the 747 to seeing Airport 1975 as a ten-year-old. Years later, as a US Air Force C-141 instructor, he would look across Frankfurt airport at newly arrived 747-400s and imagine flying one. After leaving the Air Force, his airline employer acquired the aircraft used in the film, and he eventually became part of its crew. The machine that had started the ambition became part of his working life.
Writing as a 747-400 captain, he describes another connection with that childhood excitement: the preserved N661US at the Delta Flight Museum. Passing it near the employee parking area at the beginning and end of trips brought back the same sense of wonder. The recollection is about a lasting attachment to the aircraft rather than a technical evaluation of its handling.
By the time of this 2022 interview, Vize had spent more than twenty-two years flying 747s for Atlas and visited more than a hundred destinations in the type. The cargo varied from cars and boats to holiday gifts and equipment for sports teams. Acceptance flights for two new 747-8 freighters gave that career a personal turn: while he flew the aircraft, Joe Masone carried out the functional checks and systems tests. Masone had trained him about twenty-five years earlier and helped him find his way to Atlas.
Vize also recalls a brief meeting with his son Brandon during a military deployment in 2010. His own arrival coincided with his son departing aboard another Atlas 747, flown by a colleague. Among the many journeys and loads he remembers, that chance encounter stands out as a moment when the aircraft joined his professional and family lives.
At Oshkosh in 1995, McMurtry stood beside his own Waco biplane and amused his interviewer by describing a much larger two-winged machine he flew: the 747 carrying a Space Shuttle. His route to that unusual assignment included naval aviation, test-pilot training and Lockheed U-2 flying before joining NASA in 1967. He became one of the original 747 project pilots for the Shuttle approach-and-landing test programme.
Asked how the carrier handled with the Shuttle aboard, he said the change was less dramatic than an observer might expect. The added vehicle nevertheless produced considerable drag, and disturbed airflow around it transmitted shaking to the 747’s tail and airframe. These handling observations concern the modified carrier combination.
The 747 first flew in 1969 and entered airline service in 1970. Its broad main deck transformed the scale of passenger flying, while the elevated cockpit also suited a freighter with a nose-loading door. Passenger and cargo developments remained important throughout the programme.
The factory starting point selects Boeing 747-8 across MSFS 2024, MSFS 2020, X-Plane 11, X-Plane 12.
Spring resistance builds with the selected airspeed response. Directed aerodynamic loading is omitted.
Pitch-trim relief is off. Autopilot following is enabled for supported control references.
The 747 family spans the classic -200, -400 and later -8, with separate avionics and engine installations. The cited -400 maintenance discussion reports breakout and full-aft column effort varying with trim; an early-747 handling account describes its wheel effort. These are related-type reports, not measured -8 force curves. Dreamlifter and Supertanker guides additionally describe specialized autopilot controls and mission configurations.
The gains are normalized profile settings. They describe the chosen effect balance; hand force depends on the device and its output limits. IAS references are tuning values rather than operating limits. Physical acceptance of this revision remains pending.
The final overall output scale applied to everything the model produces, before the device cap.
More: everything (spring, loads, effects) gets stronger together.
Less: everything softens together.
Why here: Scales overall profile strength while preserving effect balance, subject to device and output limits.
The base centring force that pulls the stick back to centre. Every other force stacks on it. Too low and the stick feels limp in normal flight; too high and it fights your hand and masks the smaller cues layered above it.
More: firmer centring that resists your hand at all times.
Less: a limper stick that leans on aerodynamic load alone.
Why here: The powered-control response uses qualitative family feel context; older maintenance and handling accounts do not calibrate every -8 axis. The baseline spring is 0.2. Low-speed spring blending is off.
Boeing 747 LCF Dreamlifter Instructions and ReferenceBoeing 747 family referenceA small neutral zone around centre where the spring stays quiet, so tiny movements at rest don't chatter. Wider is calmer but looser; narrower is more precise but can twitch around centre.
More: a calmer but looser centre with more free play.
Less: a tighter centre that may chatter at rest.
Why here: Sets travel around the centre before the baseline spring resists. Smaller values engage it sooner.
Why here: Adds smoothly ramped resistance outside the centre deadband. Zero removes this preload.
A master scale over both sustained axis loads, applied before their independent balance. Profiles normally leave this alone and tune the two axis loads instead.
More: both axes load up harder.
Less: both axes lighten together.
Why here: The 0 gain omits sustained directed airspeed loading. Spring resistance remains independent.
The airspeed where the spring reaches full strength. Between the start and this point, centring firms up progressively as airflow builds over the controls.
Why here: Sets the IAS where the low-speed blend reaches baseline strength; high-speed stiffening also uses it.
How much the centring itself stiffens with speed, on top of the deflection loads. Zero keeps centre feel constant; more makes the stick centre harder at cruise and looser in the pattern.
More: a centre that hardens noticeably as you go faster.
Less: constant centre feel at every speed.
Why here: The high-speed spring-stiffening gain is 1. It strengthens the permitted spring response above 122 KIAS, with the squared-speed ratio capped at 7.8.
The upper limit on speed-driven centre stiffening, so very fast flight can't wind the spring up without bound.
More: more total stiffening allowed at high speed.
Less: stiffening clamps off sooner.
Why here: Limits the squared airspeed ratio used for high-speed spring stiffening; it is not a device-force cap.
The sustained roll load from aileron deflection and airspeed, balanced independently of pitch. Together with the elevator load it sets the control-harmony ratio reviewers talk about.
More: heavier roll forces.
Less: lighter, quicker-feeling ailerons.
Why here: Roll and pitch aerodynamic scales are 1.55 and 0.9, respectively. These stored weights do not create directed aerodynamic loading while that term is inactive. No custom spring-travel curve is enabled.
The sustained pitch load from elevator deflection and airspeed, balanced independently of roll. This is the main lever behind a type's pitch weight. It does not touch aileron, spring, trim, or buffet forces.
More: heavier sustained pitch forces at speed.
Less: a lighter elevator that takes less muscle to hold.
Why here: Scales pitch aerodynamic loading; pitch spring travel and trim responses are separate settings.
A cap on each steady pitch or roll force before it reaches the device, guarding against slamming or saturating the hardware in strong maneuvers.
More: stronger peak steady forces before clipping.
Less: a gentler ceiling; hard maneuvers flatten out sooner.
Why here: Caps directed-force output. Native spring effects and device limits remain separate.
Why here: Sets the travel used to ramp in centre preload. Wider intervals make its onset more gradual.
Enables the low-speed spring engagement window (start/full knots above). Off, the spring is constant at all speeds.
Why here: Allows baseline spring strength to rise with indicated airspeed where the control law permits it.
How much of the spring survives at a standstill, before airspeed can build any aerodynamic force. A high floor keeps the parked stick firm; a low floor gives the loose, cable-slack feel of a parked light aircraft.
More: a firmer stick while parked and taxiing.
Less: a floppier parked stick that only wakes up with airspeed.
Why here: Sets low-speed spring strength as a fraction of baseline when blending is enabled. One keeps full strength.
The airspeed where the spring begins climbing from its low-speed floor toward full strength: the controls "coming alive" on the takeoff roll.
Why here: Sets the IAS where the low-speed spring blend starts rising. This is a feel threshold, not a flight limit.
The indicated airspeed where aerodynamic load reaches its designed full level. It anchors the whole load curve to the aircraft's real speed range: a 172 loads up by 110 knots, a jet much later.
More: loads arrive later; the stick stays light up to a higher speed.
Less: loads arrive earlier and cruise feels heavier.
Why here: Sets the IAS reference for aerodynamic loading. It is an estimate, not published cruise TAS or a flight limit.
How strongly elevator trim relieves held pitch force and shifts where the stick settles. At 100%, a properly trimmed aircraft needs no held pressure, the trim-away-the-load workflow of real flying.
More: trim removes more of the held pitch force; at 100% full trim zeroes it.
Less: you keep holding force even when trimmed.
Why here: Trim-sensitive column effort is family mechanism context, while the profile's exact trim authority remains a selected approximation. Pitch relief is off, with stored authority 0.3; roll authority is 0.09.
Boeing 747 LCF Dreamlifter Instructions and ReferenceBoeing 747 family referenceThe same relief for roll trim. Most GA types have no real aileron trim, so this stays at zero; types with roll trim get a matching value.
More: roll trim removes more held roll force.
Less: roll trim does less.
Why here: Scales supported roll-trim relief and permitted centre movement. Zero removes roll response.
Rolling surface vibration from wheel speed and surface type: pavement, grass, or gravel under the gear.
More: louder surface texture through the stick.
Less: a smoother taxi.
Why here: Sets rolling texture strength, modified by speed, surface and undercarriage configuration.
Short discrete bumps from expansion joints, ruts, and rough surface, punctuating the continuous rumble.
More: sharper hits from joints and ruts.
Less: softer ground detail.
Why here: Sets gear-bump texture during ground motion, separate from touchdown impact.
The dedicated stall stick-shaker buzz, fired by the aircraft's own stall-warning system. Only types with a real shaker get a value; everything else relies on aerodynamic buffet and the horn.
More: a harder stick-shaker buzz.
Less: a subtler shaker.
Why here: Sets triggered shaker strength; inactive while the shaker feature is disabled.
Airframe shake approaching the stall and while the stall warning is active: how loudly this wing announces it is unhappy. Types with a crisp break get modest buffet and let the horn carry the warning.
More: a louder pre-stall shake.
Less: a quieter wing; the horn carries the warning.
Why here: Sets stall-buffet strength. Zero removes the cue without changing simulator stalls or warnings.
Transonic buffet approaching the Mach limit. Meaningful for jets near MMO, zero for pistons and turboprops that never get there.
More: stronger transonic buffet near the Mach limit.
Less: a smoother high-Mach ride.
Why here: Sets high-Mach buffet strength; onset and full-strength thresholds are separate.
Low-frequency airframe vibration with flaps extended into the airflow, in the speed window where they actually work the air.
More: a rougher ride with flaps working the air.
Less: smoother approach flap.
Why here: Sets flap buffet at the configured position and speed gates. Flap movement texture is separate.
Airframe drumming from retractable gear hanging in the airstream. Zero for fixed-gear types, where the airframe never changes shape.
More: more drumming with the wheels hanging out.
Less: cleaner gear-down flight.
Why here: Sets gear aerodynamic buffet; movement and ground-contact cues are separate.
The one-shot kick when the wheels meet the runway, scaled by sink rate: a greaser whispers, a firm arrival thumps.
More: a harder kick at touchdown.
Less: softer arrivals.
Why here: Sets landing-impact strength; landing telemetry and response shape determine the pulse.
Rollout vibration while reverse thrust or beta-range props are working. Zero for types without reverse.
More: a rougher rollout under reverse.
Less: quieter reverse.
Why here: Sets reverse-thrust vibration with valid reverser and engine conditions. Zero removes the cue.
Continuous powerplant vibration following RPM between idle and full power, the ever-present reminder that something is burning fuel up front.
More: more engine through the stick.
Less: a quieter powerplant.
Why here: Sets estimated engine vibration using configured telemetry and response, not measured cockpit vibration.
Continuous vibration only while the sim reports the flap surfaces actually travelling. It follows real actuator motion and failures, not an estimated timer.
More: more vibration while the flap surfaces travel.
Less: quieter flap runs.
Why here: Sets texture from observed flap movement; a command without movement does not establish the cue.
How far autopilot commands may physically move the stick. Kept tiny in MSFS, where a moved axis can read back as pilot input; zero disables following entirely.
More: the autopilot visibly moves your stick further.
Less: a barely perceptible follow.
Why here: Sets admitted AP-follow gain, not a percentage of travel. Runtime ownership and input limits still apply.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Following is on at 1 authority when a supported, valid autopilot control reference is available.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Permits centering hold during a supported AP state, separate from following a moving target.
Why here: Sets admitted AP neutral-hold strength; inactive while neutral hold is disabled.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Retained for compatibility and group membership. Trim relief, rather than this flag, controls centre movement.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Allows trim relief with supported control law and valid telemetry. Axis authorities set its amount.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Enables local force trim, separate from aircraft-owned trim and add-on integration qualification.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Allows load-factor changes to modify permitted spring laws. Passive fly-by-wire feel can suppress it.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Enables rate damping with the configured coefficients and control law.
Where this effect reaches full strength (or has fully faded, for washouts).
More: a more gradual build to a later peak.
Less: a quicker build.
Why here: Sets the final flap index for detent normalization. UP plus three detents uses maximum index3.
Where this effect begins fading in.
More: the effect begins later.
Less: it begins earlier.
Why here: Sets the first flap detent that admits buffet; this is a handle index, not degrees.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Enables aerodynamic cues; each still needs nonzero strength and its simulator conditions.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Permits shaker at supported warning conditions; the switch does not establish aircraft equipment.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Applies the configured pitch and roll spring travel curves.
Why here: Sets response at the second pitch-curve point; it is an endpoint only if its input position is full travel.
Why here: Sets response at the second roll-curve point; its input position and other points determine the travel law.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Enables ground effects; each still needs its own strength and contact or motion telemetry.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Enables engine cues with nonzero settings and valid running-engine telemetry.
Whether this feature is active in this profile.
Why here: Enables accessory cues with configured strengths and observed accessory movement.
The strength of this effect.
More: a stronger effect.
Less: a weaker one.
Why here: Sets texture from observed gear movement, separate from aerodynamic and touchdown effects.
| Parameter | Value | What it controls and why |
|---|---|---|
| Spring strength | 0.2 | The powered-control response uses qualitative family feel context; older maintenance and handling accounts do not calibrate every -8 axis. The baseline spring is 0.2. Low-speed spring blending is off. |
| Spring deadband | 0 | Sets travel around the centre before the baseline spring resists. Smaller values engage it sooner. |
| Forces · Center starting force | 0.12 | Adds smoothly ramped resistance outside the centre deadband. Zero removes this preload. |
| Force gain | 0 | The 0 gain omits sustained directed airspeed loading. Spring resistance remains independent. |
| Master gain | 0.95 | Scales overall profile strength while preserving effect balance, subject to device and output limits. |
| Spring full-strength speed | 122 kt | Sets the IAS where the low-speed blend reaches baseline strength; high-speed stiffening also uses it. |
| Airspeed spring stiffening | 1 | The high-speed spring-stiffening gain is 1. It strengthens the permitted spring response above 122 KIAS, with the squared-speed ratio capped at 7.8. |
| Airspeed stiffening cap | 7.8 | Limits the squared airspeed ratio used for high-speed spring stiffening; it is not a device-force cap. |
| Aileron force scale | 1.55 | Roll and pitch aerodynamic scales are 1.55 and 0.9, respectively. These stored weights do not create directed aerodynamic loading while that term is inactive. No custom spring-travel curve is enabled. |
| Elevator force scale | 0.9 | Scales pitch aerodynamic loading; pitch spring travel and trim responses are separate settings. |
| Maximum output force | 0.65 | Caps directed-force output. Native spring effects and device limits remain separate. |
| Autopilot · Follow enabled | True | Following is on at 1 authority when a supported, valid autopilot control reference is available. |
| Autopilot · Follow authority | 1 | Sets admitted AP-follow gain, not a percentage of travel. Runtime ownership and input limits still apply. |
| Autopilot · Neutral hold enabled | False | Permits centering hold during a supported AP state, separate from following a moving target. |
| Autopilot · Neutral hold strength | 0.6 | Sets admitted AP neutral-hold strength; inactive while neutral hold is disabled. |
| StickFeel · Trim feel enabled | False | Retained for compatibility and group membership. Trim relief, rather than this flag, controls centre movement. |
| StickFeel · Trim relief enabled | False | Allows trim relief with supported control law and valid telemetry. Axis authorities set its amount. |
| Aero · Max flap index | 6 | Sets the final flap index for detent normalization. UP plus three detents uses maximum index3. |
| Aero · Min flap index | 1 | Sets the first flap detent that admits buffet; this is a handle index, not degrees. |
| Aero · Amplitude | 0.9 | Sets triggered shaker strength; inactive while the shaker feature is disabled. |
| Forces · Center starting force transition | 0.05 | Sets the travel used to ramp in centre preload. Wider intervals make its onset more gradual. |
| Dynamic-pressure blend | False | Allows baseline spring strength to rise with indicated airspeed where the control law permits it. |
| Minimum spring factor | 0.45 | Sets low-speed spring strength as a fraction of baseline when blending is enabled. One keeps full strength. |
| Spring wake-up speed | 0 kt | Sets the IAS where the low-speed spring blend starts rising. This is a feel threshold, not a flight limit. |
| Force tuning speed | 300 kt | Sets the IAS reference for aerodynamic loading. It is an estimate, not published cruise TAS or a flight limit. |
| SpringResponse · Travel enabled | False | Applies the configured pitch and roll spring travel curves. |
| SpringResponse · Output | 1 | Sets response at the second pitch-curve point; it is an endpoint only if its input position is full travel. |
| SpringResponse · Output | 1 | Sets response at the second roll-curve point; its input position and other points determine the travel law. |
| StickFeel · Elevator authority | 0.3 | Trim-sensitive column effort is family mechanism context, while the profile's exact trim authority remains a selected approximation. Pitch relief is off, with stored authority 0.3; roll authority is 0.09. |
| StickFeel · Aileron authority | 0.09 | Scales supported roll-trim relief and permitted centre movement. Zero removes roll response. |
| StickFeel · Force trim enabled | False | Enables local force trim, separate from aircraft-owned trim and add-on integration qualification. |
| StickFeel · G load enabled | False | Allows load-factor changes to modify permitted spring laws. Passive fly-by-wire feel can suppress it. |
| StickFeel · Rate damping enabled | False | Enables rate damping with the configured coefficients and control law. |
| Aero · Enabled | True | Enables aerodynamic cues; each still needs nonzero strength and its simulator conditions. |
| Aero · Gain | 0.18 | Sets stall-buffet strength. Zero removes the cue without changing simulator stalls or warnings. |
| Aero · Gain | 0.48 | Sets high-Mach buffet strength; onset and full-strength thresholds are separate. |
| Aero · Gain | 0.34 | Sets flap buffet at the configured position and speed gates. Flap movement texture is separate. |
| Aero · Gain | 0.34 | Sets gear aerodynamic buffet; movement and ground-contact cues are separate. |
| Aero · Shaker enabled | True | Permits shaker at supported warning conditions; the switch does not establish aircraft equipment. |
| Ground · Enabled | True | Enables ground effects; each still needs its own strength and contact or motion telemetry. |
| Ground · Gain | 0.42 | Sets rolling texture strength, modified by speed, surface and undercarriage configuration. |
| Ground · Gain | 0.38 | Sets gear-bump texture during ground motion, separate from touchdown impact. |
| Ground · Gain | 0.95 | Sets landing-impact strength; landing telemetry and response shape determine the pulse. |
| Ground · Gain | 0.55 | Sets reverse-thrust vibration with valid reverser and engine conditions. Zero removes the cue. |
| Engine · Enabled | True | Enables engine cues with nonzero settings and valid running-engine telemetry. |
| Engine · Gain | 0.11 | Sets estimated engine vibration using configured telemetry and response, not measured cockpit vibration. |
| Mechanical · Enabled | True | Enables accessory cues with configured strengths and observed accessory movement. |
| Mechanical · Gain | 0.28 | Sets texture from observed flap movement; a command without movement does not establish the cue. |
| Mechanical · Gain | 0.18 | Sets texture from observed gear movement, separate from aerodynamic and touchdown effects. |
If your time in the type says this page got something wrong, correct it here.
This page is built from cited references, and real time in the type beats a citation. Quote the claim that reads wrong and tell us what the actual aircraft does. Corrections go to the maintainer for review and feed the next revision of this research.
Open conversation about flying and tuning the Boeing 747 family, in the community forum. Corrections above go privately to the maintainer; hangar talk is public.