After a lengthy development process, PMDG is in the final stages of releasing its long-awaited onboard tablet device for its fleet of 737 aircraft. The PMDG Universal Flight Tablet is nearing release and Robert from PMDG took the time to give new information on its features and shared a few previews.
The onboard tablet has long been a requested feature by the flight simulation community and at long last, we have a good understanding of the features and when it will be made available on the PMDG 737 for MSFS.
In terms of features, PMDG has committed to releasing the tablet with flight plan and SimBrief integration, Navigaph charts, and performance computation. Going into more detail, the flight planning area will allow you to download weather, display the operational flight plan (OFP) and also real-time METAR information. The performance area will allow you to compute take-off and landing performance, import data from flight plans or the aircraft and display a graphic of displaced threshold data. Other confirmed features include:
- Data Entry via attached keyboard, or via an on-screen keyboard
- Metric/Imperial Units selectable.
- Day/Night setting.
- Independent, fully functioning pilot/copilot tablets.
PMDG said that more features will come in the future allowing you to manage all PMDG options, functions and failures from the tablet or the FMS menu. They teased future functionality too.
For the eagle-eyed amongst you, you may notice that some of the screenshots represent the Boeing 777F, indicating that PMDG is working on the freighter model of the long-haul aircraft. This shouldn’t come as a surprise that the tablet will work with future aircraft as it has been said several times that Universal Flight Tablet will work among PMDG’s various airliner aircraft.
As for other features such as using it on an external tool, Robert said, “I cannot give you any timing expectations, as we haven’t really evaluated that aspect of the tech implementation yet.” For those on Xbox, you will be pleased to know that the goal is to see the UFT come to Xbox, but until they can test it themselves, they will update us as to what features and functionality will be present.
As for the availability of the Universal Flight Tablet, PMDG say that they are aiming to push an update for 737 customers via their platform on/around October 30th 2023.
We’ll keep you posted with any further updates.
