GWJ FBO: Flight Simulation Catch-all

Does FS still allow you to just hop in a flying plane post-take-off?

He wants to learn for real, but I imagine starting out with a zillion buttons knobs and switches to learn might kill the excitement at first.

duckilama wrote:

Does FS still allow you to just hop in a flying plane post-take-off?

He wants to learn for real, but I imagine starting out with a zillion buttons knobs and switches to learn might kill the excitement at first.

Taking off in the default Cessna couldn't be easier. There are very few knobs and buttons to worry about. Just pick a long, large runway like OAK, drop the flaps to 15, and max throttle while keeping the rudder steady. At about 65 knots, start pulling back and perform an easy climb. Pick the flaps back up and fly around.

Next step: Have him do a simple VFR route using known landmarks while trying to maintain a level altitude. So set clear, sunny weather, take off at OAK toward the north, Climb to 4000, head NW to Mt. Tamalpais, then head S to the Golden Gate, then back to OAK. Simple challenges like that can be a lot of fun when starting out.

EDIT: Yes, you can start mid-air if you want in FS.
Several years ago I got a group of scouts to perform a take off, follow a prescribed route using VORs, and land. It took about 3 hours to get 6 of them through it.

The book I linked is terrific, but so are the lessons provided in FSX.

FSX has an excellent ultralight which makes for an easy entry point. But the lessons in FSX are also really well done.

rabbit wrote:

FSX has an excellent ultralight which makes for an easy entry point. But the lessons in FSX are also really well done.

Yep the ultralight is fun. I sometimes fly it for 'low and slow' sightseeing. It'd be very easy for a beginner to fly.

So ... no one has tried X-Plane 10? Anyone? Bueller?

I notice on Amazon, there's apparently Vista and XP versions, and some accelerator bundle. Does any of that matter for Win7/64?

Jeff-66 wrote:

So ... no one has tried X-Plane 10? Anyone? Bueller?

I'm ashamed to say I have it and have put 60 minutes in. I might have been in this other beta that's distracting me but that's impossible because it would probably hAve crazy scary ndas so I couldn't be.

So, hypothetically speaking, if you weren't in another beta, rabbit, what program would that not be?

Well I've been brushing up on my Black Shark skills the last few days. Will try and put together a mission for those who want to join either in an A10 or the black shark.

Stylez wrote:

Well I've been brushing up on my Black Shark skills the last few days. Will try and put together a mission for those who want to join either in an A10 or the black shark.

Get on that!

Flight Simulator X GOLD EDITION is $14.99 at GFWL, not sure if that is considered a deal or not.

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Pr...

I would say that's a good deal.

Malor wrote:

So, hypothetically speaking, if you weren't in another beta, rabbit, what program would that not be?

It's definitely not from a company that rhymes with Sherlock Holmes' brother.

After playing the combat sim Warbirds, which was just awesome for the time period (mid-90s), I'm totally prejudiced against flight sims that don't use force modeling. I think table-based, lookup performance characteristics (if at X altitude, and Y airspeed, you can yaw at Z rate) are kind of lazy and boring, after experiencing the fluidity of airplanes in a sim that actually calculates all the different forces acting on the various control surfaces. The feel is marvelously better.... I don't know if it's actually closer to flying a real plane, but it sure FEELS that way.

I haven't tried a flight sim in a long time -- I know Flight Simulator 10 was still table-based, which is why I didn't buy it. Does X-Plane do force modeling?

X-Plane uses blade element theory for its force modelling, not lookup tables.

SupeRaven wrote:

but haven't played any since FreeLancer and proabably FreeSpace2 before that.

Check out the hard-light.net forums and wiki, there's a good number of FS2 mods and TCs now.

I'm looking to dust off my Thrustmaster Cougar and play some combat sims again. I've got DCS:Blackshark 1&2, DCS:A-10, IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946, and Falcon 4: Allied Force. I'm also interested in space "sims" but haven't played any since FreeLancer and proabably FreeSpace2 before that.

Is there any group that plays any of these sims with some regularity?

Late add: I forgot I have Lock On Moderan Air Combat (LOMAC): Flaming Cliffs 2 also.

Scratched wrote:
SupeRaven wrote:

but haven't played any since FreeLancer and proabably FreeSpace2 before that.

Check out the hard-light.net forums and wiki, there's a good number of FS2 mods and TCs now.

Don't know if I'm ready to jump into a river that deep just yet. I really need to find some GWJ'ers to sim with.

SupeRaven wrote:

I really need to find some GWJ'ers to sim with.

Here's the most active DCS thread: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/5... but El-Producto is the main active player. I need to get back into DCS but I'll have to start over in my A-10 training and wasn't really schooled on it to begin with.

And here's the Black Shark thread: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/4...

It'd be nice if we got a handful of people that wanted to play regularly.

LiquidMantis wrote:
SupeRaven wrote:

I really need to find some GWJ'ers to sim with.

Here's the most active DCS thread: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/5... but El-Producto is the main active player. I need to get back into DCS but I'll have to start over in my A-10 training and wasn't really schooled on it to begin with.

And here's the Black Shark thread: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/4...

It'd be nice if we got a handful of people that wanted to play regularly.

Should be flying more actively mid April. Planning out a major hardware upgrade which will finally let me sim with decent FPS. Hopefully it will also fix my disconcerting problem where one of my hard drives disappears while using my rudder pedals. That one is a real pain when the drive that is no longer detected is the one that has all my sims on it....

Aha! Fresh meat!

Although my schedule is not predictable with general chaos of life, I'm always glad to fly.

I really think setting up a weekly, or semi-weekly night is the way to go.

I've basically left A-10 behind for Black Shark 2 right now, it's just "easier" to get into. [/i]I'm fairly capable at this point, although by no means an expert.
I am anxious to get back into A-10 though.

Let me know if people want to setup a weekly fly-in and [i]I'd be happy to find some decent missions. My dream is to fly some 4 ship Blackshark 2 missions.

El-Producto wrote:

Aha! Fresh meat!

I don't know about fresh. Once upon a time I used to play every sim produced by Microprose and Spectrum Holobyte and everything in between. The Cougar makes my 3rd or 4th HOTAS. Oh and she's upgraded with an FSSB R2 sensor. I've got a TrackIR 4 Pro w/ clip-on too.

Though I am very green when it comes to A-10 and BS.

I just fall out of practice alot. This seemed like the right place for a similar group of people.

I would be happy to get in on a semi-weekly or monthly Sim night.

Stylez wrote:

Hopefully it will also fix my disconcerting problem where one of my hard drives disappears while using my rudder pedals. That one is a real pain when the drive that is no longer detected is the one that has all my sims on it....

WTF Batman! That's a pretty serious and strange issue. USB Hard drive and Pedals?

SupeRaven wrote:
El-Producto wrote:

Aha! Fresh meat!

I don't know about fresh. Once upon a time I used to play every sim produced by Microprose and Spectrum Holobyte and everything in between. The Cougar makes my 3rd or 4th HOTAS. Oh and she's upgraded with an FSSB R2 sensor. I've got a TrackIR 4 Pro w/ clip-on too.

Though I am very green when it comes to A-10 and BS.

I just fall out of practice alot. This seemed like the right place for a similar group of people.

I would be happy to get in on a semi-weekly or monthly Sim night.

You're in good company then. I've been simming on/off since Chuck Yeager.
Things around here have been a bit hit and miss, mostly because people get playing other games. I'm super busy with RL, as most others so we are far from hardcore. We keep talking about playing co-op, but usually only play shooting range missions. I'm really dying to fly some actual missions.

I've been tossing around the idea of jumping into Falcon 4 BMS.. it's my favorite co-op sim of all time.

I would suggest these training missions for BS2, they are great.. especially as a refresher if you've been away from the game for a while.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.ph...

Anyway, maybe I'll create a thread for a regular group of simmers, and we can fly whatever people want. I pretty much have most sims that are flyable.

El-Producto wrote:

I would suggest these training missions for BS2, they are great.. especially as a refresher if you've been away from the game for a while.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.ph...

Excellent. Roger wilco!

SupeRaven wrote:
Stylez wrote:

Hopefully it will also fix my disconcerting problem where one of my hard drives disappears while using my rudder pedals. That one is a real pain when the drive that is no longer detected is the one that has all my sims on it....

WTF Batman! That's a pretty serious and strange issue. USB Hard drive and Pedals?

USB pedals, internal SATA drive.

I have a feeling it's static shock related, my basement's pretty dry and I think I'm zapping something through the pedals that makes the drive disappear. Seems to happen less in bare feet, but hopefully won't be an issue at all with new PC

Stylez wrote:

USB pedals, internal SATA drive.

I have a feeling it's static shock related, my basement's pretty dry and I think I'm zapping something through the pedals that makes the drive disappear. Seems to happen less in bare feet, but hopefully won't be an issue at all with new PC

Sounds like a motherboard or power supply with a bad ground. Most likely motherboard.

So I've got a PC and desk setup that isn't very sim-friendly. I'm going to reconfigure some stuff in the not-to-distant future to make things better, but my sticks would still be sitting on my desktop. So I ordered a pair of JoyLoc brackets. They look like they'll help with my lack of workspace and drop them down to the proper height. I'll share more once I get them and if I think they are worth the $200 for them.

Also I've been playing with Helios and really want an extra touchscreen now. DAMN YOU FLIGHT SIMS!!!

Whatever you've built for an in-home simulator setup, you just lost the contest to this guy:

Amazing.

Jeff-66 wrote:

Whatever you've built for an in-home simulator setup, you just lost the contest to this guy:

The clip has been removed. I'm guessing that's the guy with the 737 cockpit. Back in 2002 I spent a couple months helping a fellow sim nut wire up a Gulfstream cockpit frame with EPIC cards and PCs for MS Flight Sim X. The 737 is just using the new stuff.