expat wrote on Jan 16^th, 2017 at 12:17pm:

Hi all.  Also have the CS C130, 727 and 707. All excellent models.  Just bought the 777. A little disappointed as I rarely have a lot of time for flying and will not use the 777 much if I need to do the full CDU programmning.  Is there a way to bypass it so you can simply follow a "direct to" GPS route using LOC/NAV on the AP like in default FSX aircraft?  Or if not, can I just import a default FSX format FP into the CDU (without also having to add SIDS, STARS, weight, legs etc etc) and the AP will follow the imported FSX flightplan? Thanks

Okay. I have to admit than when I saw this post, my thought was "You've got to be kidding me. Why would you buy the 777 if you wanted to only do GPS flights?". And then I thought "I wonder if it's possible." So I tried it. It is possible, and it's not too hard to do!

What I did:

1. I created, and saved, and loaded a route using the inbuilt FSX Flight Planner.
2. I opened the CDU, went to the ROUTE page, and loaded the flight plan (SEND > FLTSIM FPL > found my newly saved flight plan and loaded it
3. Pressed the DEP ARR button, and found that the departure runway was the one I selected when creating the route (I didn't select Active runway, I selected an actual runway). Then I selected an Arrival runway (I selected a Runway number, not an ILS/RNAV runway).
4. I got the 777 ready for takeoff, and selected LNAV on the MCP (AP), then I right clicked on A/T (Auto Throttle button) on the MCP.

I had to manage the Climb (FPM) and Airspeed myself, and switch from IAS to MACH when I felt I needed to (around FL250). The 777 followed the route fine, but I had to figure out the TD myself (or I could have made the saved route an IFR, and then the ATC would have advise me when to start descending (which I strongly recommend you do)).

Also, I had to take a guess at what the Approach speed would need to be, so having done the route before (but having done a full program of the CDU), I took a stab at 30/140,  which was probably a bit fast to be honest, but that's what happens if you don't want to do the whole thing the way it should be done!

To top it all off, I had a lot of fun doing it, so I have to say thank you for asking this question. And I can honestly say that YES, you can do it that way. BUT. If you are not familiar with the 777's performance characteristics, you are bound to come to grief (crash the thing), which I nearly did when I climbed too steep, and the airspeed started to drop, when I wasn't watching it closely enough! I thought I had bl;own it and was going to lose it.

Note. I didn't use real weather for the flight. I wasn't confident enough to try!