AN MD80 CAPT DESCRIBED FLYING AN ACFT ON WHICH HE HAS A LOT OF TIME; BUT IS CONFIGURED DIFFERENTLY THAN HE IS USED TO; AND THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE.

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HAD A HARD TIME UPDATING FMS AT GATE AT DFW. DFW MAINT COULD NOT HELP. I LEFT THE ENGINE IGNITION SELECTOR SWITCH ON BOTH AFTER ENG START. MISSED NUMEROUS RADIO CALLS ON GND AND IN THE AIR TRYING TO GET ACARS TO WORK AND GETTING LOAD CLOSEOUT BY VOICE. TOOK 10-15 MINS TO FIND RADAR PWR BUTTON AND GET RADAR WORKING. SPENT TIME DISCOVERING TCASII MODES AND RANGES. DISCOVERED ACARS MODE BUTTON ON VHF-COM-3. GOT ACARS WORKING HALFWAY TO ELP. TOOK 2 FLT LEGS TO GET USED TO ENG INSTS AND SWITCH LOCATIONS. DID SET IN RWY CHANGE AT ELP COMING HOME. TRIED TO UPDATE CAPT'S CLOCK ENRTE. NOTICED FMS-ETA'S WAY OFF. HAD NOT PUT CLOCK SWITCH BACK IN RUN POS. RESET CLOCK PROPERLY. SPENT AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE ENRTE EXPLORING DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS OF FMS BUTTONS AND RELATED SWITCHES. FMS BUTTONS VERY SMALL; AND USED DIFFERENT LABELS AND POS THAN THE GPS WE ARE USED TO. DID NOT HAVE TIME TO USE VNAV SO THAT I COULD KEEP SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND GET USED TO EVERYTHING ELSE. AFTER AIRPLANE TERMINATION AT DFW; I STAYED BEHIND FOR 45 MINS TO GET HANDS-ON PRACTICE ON FMS. I HAVE OVER 11000 HRS ON THE S-80 AND 28 YRS WITH ACR. I WENT TO DIFFERENCES SCHOOL TWICE; ONCE PER COMPANY REQUIREMENT AND AGAIN ON MY OWN TIME. I HAVE STUDIED A LOT; AND HAVE NUMEROUS TABS ON MY MANUAL FOR QUICK REF TO ACR FMS AND ACARS INFO. I EVEN CARRY THE ACR SUPPLEMENT WITH ME FOR REF AND STUDY. I BOUGHT AND WATCHED THE B767 FMS TAPE. THE 1/2 DAY FMS SCHOOL AT ACR DOES NOT BRING YOU UP TO A PROFICIENCY LEVEL NECESSARY TO OPERATE IN A HIGH PACED; HIGH SPD ENVIRONMENT WITHOUT LOTS OF STRESS AND DISTRS. MAY FO AND I LEARNED A LOT ON 2 LEGS; AND WE MADE IT WORK; BUT IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT AND DISTRACTING FOR 2 EXPERIENCED PLTS; EVEN ON A GOOD WX DAY.