GWJ FBO: Flight Simulation Catch-all

Hrdina wrote:

I have flown twice since downloading MSFS update 6 yesterday. Both times have ended with a CTD, once just after I entered downwind.

I know that feeling. Their new updates seem to cause as many issues as they fix. I haven't touched it since an update broke it for me at the end of September/early October.

Air Hauler 2 confirmed to be in Development for MSFS.

Very much expected. I got it for Xplane and while it was great to start, ultimately the amount of effort required to maintain your aircraft and/or bases wasn't worth it to me for my style of play, which was small GA flights. No matter how much I tweaked it, I either got jobs that were too big for one trip, or more than 1 hour flight time away. And the few jobs that were actually within the window I wanted were worth so little money that it would barely put a dent in the loan/maintenance fees I was accumulating. Ultimately I spent more time instructing my AI pilots to fly planes around trying to accumulate cash, than actually flying my sim. I may go back to it at some point, but as just a lone pilot trying to pick up random jobs instead of trying to build my aviation empire.

I went back to FSEconomy mainly because I could basically pick a specific type of aircraft and fly it anywhere. Since you the player are piloting everything, you dont' really accumulate gobs of cash like you do in the management portion of AH2, but you get the flexibility to fly almost any aircraft anywhere.

I'm not sure if you're trying to run any of the community addons, but every patch seems to break a few of those.

Carlbear95 wrote:

Air Hauler 2 confirmed to be in Development for MSFS.

wasn't worth it to me for my style of play, which was small GA flights. No matter how much I tweaked it, I either got jobs that were too big for one trip, or more than 1 hour flight time away..

Have you tried Neofly - sounds perfect for you and is free. Im having fun with it

LondonLoo wrote:
Carlbear95 wrote:

Air Hauler 2 confirmed to be in Development for MSFS.

wasn't worth it to me for my style of play, which was small GA flights. No matter how much I tweaked it, I either got jobs that were too big for one trip, or more than 1 hour flight time away..

Have you tried Neofly - sounds perfect for you and is free. Im having fun with it

I'll read about it. This really looks like its trying to rip off AirHauler, but if its a little more flexible in its mission parameters it could be fun. I'm also perfectly fine with FSEconomy. You can almost always find missions that are an hour or less. The other good thing about FSEconomy is that it's not limited to you the pilot being persistent. If you own an aircraft, that stays where you left it, but you the player/pilot are free to just take a mission anywhere else provided there is an aircraft there you want to fly.

For those of you who are interested in shaping the future of Flightsim, I strongly recommend you take a few minutes and complete the annual Flight Sim Community Survey

The results are available publicly a few months after the survey is completed and I'm pretty sure many developers use the data as a valuable tool in planning their products.

EDIT Fixed link.

Carlbear95 wrote:

For those of you who are interested in shaping the future of Flightsim, I strongly recommend you take a few minutes and complete the annual Flight Sim Community Survey.

The results are available publicly a few months after the survey is completed and I'm pretty sure many developers use the data as a valuable tool in planning their products.

Your link is broken, the survey is here

Heh yours seems to be broken too. I've fixed mine in my OP.. and just so its not longer embedded...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/fligh...

Carlbear95 wrote:

Heh yours seems to be broken too. I've fixed mine in my OP.. and just so its not longer embedded...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/fligh...

It worked when I first posted it, I checked. The forum software seems to be doing something weird and adding the "/node" at the beginning of the URL which breaks it, which I assume is what happened in your previous post as well.

Anyway, to talk about something more substantive, I've uninstalled FS2020 after not starting it for like six weeks. My previous inclination to wait until there were more add-ons for the type of content I'm actually interested in before buying would have been correct, except at this point I doubt those add-ons will ever come. Every few days I check sites like FSelite and ThresholdX hoping for news about more general aviation or historical aircraft in development, and always see nothing but news about new tubeliners and major commercial airport scenery. And all of it commercial, seemingly - freeware add-ons in the two months since the game released amount to a bare handful.

I suspect that the amount of work that goes into developing a quality add-on aircraft has increased so much that it's only a viable project for commercial developers. And of course commercial developers have to pick projects that will appeal to the biggest possible audience to make a profit - which means tubeliners, not obscure GA or vintage aircraft that freeware hobbyists took on as labors of love back in the days of FS2004.

I think the state of the tools and the constant updating is the problem. There are a lot of freeware developers trying to improve the current state of the aircraft (most notably the FBW A320neo) but every time MSFS puts out a major update, it breaks it.

If I'm a hobbyist, trying to build aircraft in my spare time, I wouldn't touch that either. Maybe in a year or two if/when those tools stabilize you'll get what you are hoping for.

Or you know.. you can try xplane

Cross The Pond 2020 Eastbound this is at 8:09 am pacific, 4 hours after the start of the event. First CTP since the release of MSFS2020. Most of the online guides said if you wanted to fly MSFS 2020, don't, due to how poor their AP/Flight computers are, but no doubt there is likely going to be plenty of people tryingit, and poor souls on ATC and flying behind that will suffer for it

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/ZGuye1P.png)

Did my FSEconomy flight in MSFS2020. Fuel flow was higher than it should have been, but overall it worked. Made a video that includes some planning using Skyvector and Littlenavmap. Hopefully you find it a little educational. Unlike most MSFS videos.. my flights never really show exterior cameras... because that's not where you fly from and I haven't attached the gopros yet

There's also about 20 minutes of me arguing out loud if the CDI is backwards. I think it is, but I'll figure it out when I take my lesson tomorrow

Turns out its right. Too much flying of G1000's HSIs and Airliners and I forgot how to read a good old fashioned CDI. If you flying *towards* a VOR with the acttual radial dialed (not the Course) in the CDI will be reversed from where you think it will be. If you dial it in on the reciprocal or your actually flying away from it, then it looks right. An HSI will actually take your heading into consideration and deflect it more intuitively but in the steam gauge 172, if you have a "FROM" radial dialed in but your flying toward the VOR it will be reversed.

There's some pretty scenery around Auburn. Maybe I'll head out toward California once I have a PC that can render it better.

You're not the only FS youtuber I've seen who uses the ATC, then ignores its directions and wonders at it. I noticed at the end that your log book gave you credit for the landing but not the takeoff. Maybe that was because you took off from 28R instead of 30. When I've done that, ATC yells out me that I was not authorized. Maybe that's when I land even though it tells me to go around; sometimes I just need to land right now because it's bedtime.

You did eventually find out why they told you to hold for other traffic. I've had a few instances where the ATC has told me that, or had me go around due to traffic on the runway, only for that traffic to sit there and never move.

Thanks for showing off FSE and Little NavMap.

Yeah, I'm guessing MSFS ATC just doesn't know how to handle all of the runways at a major airport like KOAK that isn't "custom". 360 days out of 365, jetliners depart 30 and smaller aircraft take the 28s here, and I wasn't going to spend 20 minutes taxiing through the airport to get to 30. Not to mention that all the taxiway identifiers are wrong in MSFS. Not sure Xplane ATC would do any better, but we already ignore the built-in ATC in Xplane

I was waiting for OAK TWR ATC to say something to me, but it just let me take off and be on my merry way.. maybe because I selected VFR or some other reason, who knows. I'm pretty sure when landing at a towered airport MSFS ATC lets you pick a runway, it should let me do the same for departure as well.

Another day another patch for MSFS 2020 as well as added US content. They did mention things about crash bugs so maybe they are getting around to fixing those.

Still no good new aircraft on the horizon as far as I can tell. Carenado has released a few aircraft, but their reputation is a lot like how MSFS is right now... all gloss nothing underneath the hood, and I wouldn't be surprised if they just took an existing model within MSFS, changed up the models and tweaked some numbers the same way modders are currently tweaking them.

Carlbear95 wrote:

Another day another patch for MSFS 2020 as well as added US content. They did mention things about crash bugs so maybe they are getting around to fixing those.

Last night after downloading MSFS Patch #7 (1.11.6.0) was the first time I had flown since I ran into crash bugs with Patch #6. I figured I would give it a try.

I had also read on the forum that some people who had crashes after Patch #6 fixed them by deleting their Manual Cache. I did that as well.

This time, I took off from Saginaw KMBS, flew across the city then south along I-75 before overflying Flint. I entered the pattern at KFNT and touched down smoothly (unusual for me). Success! After leaving the runway ATC turned me over to Flint Ground. The game crashed when I tried to acknowledge ATC. I'll probably try again over the long weekend, but if this happens at my next flight I will either wait until Patch #8 or until I upgrade my PC, whichever comes next.

At least this time the sim gave me credit for the flight in my Flight Log.

I also saw in the Patch #7 notes that among the US objects they added were the Mackinac Bridge and the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, each of which I flew over recently. I don't think I'll be backtracking, though.

Carlbear95 wrote:

Still no good new aircraft on the horizon as far as I can tell. Carenado has released a few aircraft, but their reputation is a lot like how MSFS is right now... all gloss nothing underneath the hood, and I wouldn't be surprised if they just took an existing model within MSFS, changed up the models and tweaked some numbers the same way modders are currently tweaking them.

Carenado has had a less-than-stellar reputation for a long time, so I would need to see positive reviews from someone I trust to even consider buying one of their planes. That Mooney looks pretty, though. It's ironic that (from what I've read) their customers haven't been able to fly it lately, and that it's Asobo's fault rather than Carenado's.

...also:

Evidently you have to babysit content downloads. I went and got the USA stuff from the store, and basically half the airports failed as did some of the other scenery, and you wouldn't know it unless you a) read the notifications (who does that?) and b) go into the content manager and scroll through everything you have installed and find the ones that aren't actually installed. No sorting by "uninstalled" that I could find.

Carlbear95 wrote:

Evidently you have to babysit content downloads. I went and got the USA stuff from the store, and basically half the airports failed as did some of the other scenery, and you wouldn't know it unless you a) read the notifications (who does that?) and b) go into the content manager and scroll through everything you have installed and find the ones that aren't actually installed. No sorting by "uninstalled" that I could find.

Yeah, I kicked off the download not long after I came home from work, then left it to go make dinner shortly before 21:00. I came back later (past 11:30) and the download was stuck. The last file update time was 21:05.

I learned before to go into the Content Manager after updates, though.

You can just click on "Select All" and the download size should only reflect the bits that it actually needs to download.

Anyone using Neofly?

I've been using FSEconomy for a while, but thought I'd give it a try. For the most part, I like it, but I have a question. If you chose something like a firefighting mission (get to the drop zone) or a sightseeing mission (fly somewhere and circle below 1000ft), is there a way to see where you need to be without having the giant Neofly map window on screen? I only run 1 monitor, so it's annoying to have the giant Neofly window covering the screen.

I do have a 2nd computer available -- if there is a way to have the Neofly map on that computer. Or on my iPad.

Do you have your own aircraft in FSEconomy Don? I wouldn't mind setting up an GWJ FSE group so we can have some exclusive aircraft. I only have a lowly C172 parked up here in the SF Bay Area, but its a start. I wouldn't mind a C208 or DA62.

I don't have any aircraft right now. I've owned C152, C172, C162 (Pipistrel Virus in game IIRC), Robin Cadet. My bank right now is around $300K, so I wouldn't be able to buy one of those planes just yet.

What I've been doing is buying a plane somewhere (in the US) and flying it home (KBOS for me). It gives me a long-term 'mission' of sorts and I get to see the country. Once it's home, I don't really have an interest in just flying around here, so I sell it and look for something else. Aircraft prices right now are kind of crazy, so I'm just sitting tight and seeing what Neofly has to offer.

Huh that’s actually an interesting idea. I may have to give it a go. I managed to snag my c172 for 170k with less than 100 hours and full avionics so I was happy with that.

I was going to take MSFS for a spin and somehow all my camera controls got borked. I use TrackIR, but I still use some manual camera controls to get precision especially when looking for specific instruments or buttons on the various GPS and AP units.

I think it was because I installed the "no tooltips" plugin and somehow that just broke them all, either that or the update did it.

FS economy might be the thing to bring me back, especially if someone is setting up a GWJ group. Last time I looked they weren't accepting new accounts, but things have probably calmed down a bit for them now.

I'll start looking into it. I'd be happy to create a group with just my C172 in the bay area, but for it to really work we'll need more aircraft. DA62 or the BE36 are decent aircraft. The C208 and PC12 (not avail in MSFS) are kind of the real breadwinners in FSE, but those are also very expensive to purchase in game (FSE Bucks, no real money). I'm going to start testing the more common FSE aircraft in MSFS to see if I can get them to perform the way they are supposed to and maybe focus again on grinding some scratch for a group. You can use time acceleration in FSE, which is the real way to fast track cash but I really enjoy real time flying especially with the visuals in MSFS.

Also, the time acceleration when I have used it in MSFS has made my plane behave weirdly.

I picked up a DA40D which I will bring towards KSFO. If you want to get a group going, I'll donate it to the group. If that doesn't happen, I'll probably just head down the coast into Mexico. I haven't done much sightseeing there yet.

I've been flying the modified G36 (A36 in FSEconomy) along with the Working Title G1000 fix and I have to say it flies pretty darn well. Numbers hit the POH pretty much on the nose (maybe too much on the nose). I've made a few flights (finally outside of Northern California) and I've really enjoyed it.

Whether its the modded g1000 or improvements in the actual game, the autopilot no longer tries to kill you. Its still missing some basic functionality (an easy Direct To the most obvious), but if you're just doing VFR with no live ATC I guess its good enough.

As far as FSE goes, I'm not sure how good of an aircraft it is. Max 5 passengers with 160 kts and 15 gal of avgas per hour. Compared to the DA62 its a bit anemic, as that can take 6 passengers at 180 knots and is 17 gal/jet per hour which is pretty comparable (jetfuel is cheaper than avgas). I don't really know how the maintenance charges go in FSEcon since the DA62 is dual engine. But it is fun to fly. The convenience of the FADEC in a DA62 (no prop or mixture lever) certainly makes workload easier, and you don't have to flip fuel tanks like you do in the G36, but i kinda like the bonanza. I'll probably try the c208 next in MSFS. There was someone modding that as well but I'm not sure where they left it off as it hasn't been touched in a few months.

Got a note from the Publisher that Air Hauler 2 for MSFS release is imminent. There's also setting up a VA in there as another possible group alternative.