Hi,
I have been reading this post with intrigue since i have always wondered whether in the event of a horrible emergency I would be able to put a 747 on the ground. I very much doubt that a ppl without any type rating would be able to put the beast onto the deck safely without any sim experience , be it level D or PC based. I have been using MS flightsim with the PMDG 747-400 for about two years now and have just about come to terms with it and although the modelling/functionality is apparently very good for a relatively cheap pc based sim i expect that there a number of intricate details that are not modelled. I think Floppy Link is correct with regards to things like auto pilot and throttle disconnects etc.
If required i think after simming for around two years in the ms flightsim 2004 PMDG 747 I could programme the FMC or manually use the MCP to guide the plane down and eventually autoland. One thing that wouldn't be sure of is what happens once on the ground. I would know how to set the autobrake however, in the PMDG sim reverse thrust is brought in manually and i am not 100% sure that i would know how to bring this in. I have a fair idea but it would be trial and error.
I completely agree that this is not flying the aircraft by hand and i would say that it would be much safer bringing it in automatically.
I am currently 5 hours into my ppl and enjoying every minute of it, l but it's not the cessna 150 is not quite the 747-400 that i was hoping for. Still, you've got to learn the basics, right?
Ed