After years of flirting with flight sims it looks like I'm going down the rabbit (pun possibly intended) hole this time. I have dabbled in FSX for several months, but the final drop was the recent sale of X-Plane 10 on Steam. I liked it, but XBox360 controller doesn't work that well, so I bought Thrustmaster HOTAS last Friday. "For my son" is my story and I'm sticking to it.
I really like the idea of taking a plane from e.g. Wien over the Alps to Venezia airport right by the lagoon, enjoying the sights. Therefore I felt X-Plane with its huge scenery content is perfect for me (the auto-generate in FSX didn't really cut it, but was nice nonetheless). Here are the things I am currently struggling with and am asking fellow GWJ hivemind to help with:
1. Is there a nice, comprehensive tutorial guiding me through basics of real flight? E.g. why do I need to "trim nose" in FSX, why doesn't it fly straight? Do I need to care about ATC (I used to dabble in ATC sims way back in the past, but forgot most of the lingo)? I don't really like watching Let's Play videos, any good reads on the topic?
2. I want landscape scenery, any ideas where to get it as real as possible? I am already downloading HD meshes for X-Plane and have the OSM data, any other tips?
3. Do you have any pointers as to which settings are important to have the scenery realistic?
4. Any good resources on airports, cities etc.? I know I can just Google it (and I do), but recommendations from fellow goodjers are usually better than those from the cold, heartless searchbots.
Thanks to all the instructors
Thanks rabbit for the podcast tips, I totally forgot about FSX tutorials!
I meanwhile upgraded my vidcard from 9800GT to 750Ti with 2 GB of RAM and X-Plane is much happier for it. (Which basically means that this game cost me 200 euros so far, but who's counting? Not my wife, I hope, although my budgeting software does, sadly.) I loaded up Cessna 172SP pilot's manual and it really does help a lot with understanding the basics. I also got gigs of free (see, honey? Free!) scenery and man is the game a looker!
Once I read through the info I am now starting a plane from a ramp rather than from the runway, revved up. XChecklist plugin helps me a lot to go through standard pre-flight, pre-taxi procedures. However, from there I am still pretty shaky in the fundamentals. So here come the follow-up questions (still flying with Cessna, I feel that going full 737 right now is really a long shot):
1. How to judge a correct speed/RPM for taxiing?
2. What is the optimum RPM for flight and why? (Full throttle? 75 percent?)
3. Any good tips on landing tutorials? Any plugins/add-ons to help me judge my angle/vertical speed etc. when landing?
Despite all the uncertainties I mightily enjoy my frequent trips around the places I know. A few days back I took trip from Catania over Etna and then further north, visiting Aeolian Islands (most of them volcanoes, such as Vulcano and Stromboli). The flight from Innsbruck over the Alps to Venice was wonderful as well, I just regret that I am inept at landing, as I really wanted to touch down on the Mestre airport right along the lagoon shore. I remember seeing planes taking off from there, we watched them from a Venice-bound train. I landed in the lagoon instead.
Any tips are appreciated.
Altitude wins dog fights.
Engage with the sun to your back.
Get in close enough to use guns.
Heard about the post on the podcast and I am in a similar situation. I have been playing flight sims for years, but I want to get in to the details and intricacies at this point. I found this series on youtube that was just started and it is excellent - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClf...
If you are looking for a combat sim I would suggest the new IL2 release (Battle of Stalingrad) or even Rise of Flight which is a WWI sim. The nice thing with Rise of Flight is that the planes are very simple so you only need to focus on one or two things at a time.
I'd be interested to know, are you using the scenery from Steam or 3rd party stuff. The number of add-ons is a bit overwhelming
Other than that hit me up on steam (username is appropriately - bail0ut) and we can possibly learn together.
Heard about the post on the podcast and I am in a similar situation. I have been playing flight sims for years, but I want to get in to the details and intricacies at this point. I found this series on youtube that was just started and it is excellent - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClf...
If you are looking for a combat sim I would suggest the new IL2 release (Battle of Stalingrad) or even Rise of Flight which is a WWI sim. The nice thing with Rise of Flight is that the planes are very simple so you only need to focus on one or two things at a time.
I'd be interested to know, are you using the scenery from Steam or 3rd party stuff. The number of add-ons is a bit overwhelming
Other than that hit me up on steam (username is appropriately - bail0ut) and we can possibly learn together.
Thanks! I installed HD meshes (the change is dramatic), OSM scenery for Europe and I'm trying out different airports and improvements, one thing at a time. I am also watching the x-plane.org tutorials (I don't really like videos, but looks like it's the best way), but they still leave out a lot of what I would like to know.
I am not that big into combat sims, but plan to try them out sometime. So far, I really really like taxiing out slowly on a runway, take off, choose a target airport, travel to it while enjoying the view and then crash nearby.
Also, invite sent.
For information about the basics of flight, you can check out the U.S. FAA's Handbook & Manuals . In particular, take a look at the "Airplane Flying Handbook" and the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (PHAK). These two contain a lot of the same material you would find in the thick printed manuals that accompanied the older editions in the MSFS franchise, albeit with a lot more real-world detail.
1. How to judge a correct speed/RPM for taxiing?
For a Cessna, give the plane just enough power to get it rolling, then chop back the throttle to keep it moving. Planes don't corner too well so you don't want to go too fast unless you're going straight for a long distance. Don't rely on your airspeed indicator for reliable speeds below about 30 kts.
2. What is the optimum RPM for flight and why? (Full throttle? 75 percent?)
Aircraft have optimal speeds for maximum climb rate, descent, and cruising and speed limits for other situations. For civilian aircraft, these speeds are usually specified to maximize fuel economy, minimize wear on the airframe and engines, and keep the aircraft safely inside its performance envelope. For straight-and level flight in something like a Cessna 172, get to your desired altitude, maintain it, and then adjust both the throttle and the aircraft's pitch to maintain altitude at your desired speed.
FSX includes reference data for most of the aircraft under the Kneeboard for that aircraft. In older versions of MSFS, they were stored as text-files on the computer under the "aircraft/" directory. See the PHAK section 10-1 for the concepts of aircraft performance.
3. Any good tips on landing tutorials? Any plugins/add-ons to help me judge my angle/vertical speed etc. when landing?
A good landing starts with good positioning. Learn to fly the pattern (PHAK section 13-10). Resist the urge to dive towards the runway and attempt to slow down, level out at the last second. If you position your aircraft properly in the pattern, you should be able to maintain a shallow (< 3 degress) glide slope that will allow you to see the runway.
Practice in a slow aircraft; use flaps if your aircraft has them to lower your approach speed. Airports usually have systems like PAPI or VASI that indicate if you're on or off-glideslope.
In X-Plane, if you switch to the fullscreen HUD (shift + W by default), you'll get something called a velocity vector. This will basically show you where your plane will go (or impact) based on its current trajectory. This makes it a lot easier to judge where the aircraft will land; you adjust your pitch and throttle to keep the velocity vector just past the threshold of the runway. The rest of it is getting the flare right and keeping the aircraft tracking down the runway once you're on the ground.
Couple more thoughts:
1. How to judge a correct speed/RPM for taxiing?
Typically, as slowly as you can reasonably go; a burst of power to get rolling, and then just enough to stay in motion. Remember that at low speeds, you use the nosewheel for steering. As soon as you get up to any velocity, and you've got airflow, you switch to using the tail to steer. Different sims handle this in different ways; some will automatically use your pedal inputs to control the nose wheel at low velocity, others have dedicated keys that always work. (and will instantly wreck you if you're at any significant velocity when you use them!)
2. What is the optimum RPM for flight and why?
Yeah, as meerkat says, that's dependent on the plane and its engine. I think a lot of them will have marks on their instrumentation to show you optimal settings, particularly for RPM and for cruise speed.
3. Any good tips on landing tutorials?
Not really, just the observation that landing is the hard part. Taking off is easy. Crashing is easy. Landing is hard.
Can't believe no one has mentioned this book: Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots Real World Training https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764588222...
This should be the standard for learning something in simulation.
Thanks to everyone for help! I will get back soon with more noob nonsense as I try things out. Downloading FAA Handbooks now.
Can't believe no one has mentioned this book: Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots Real World Training https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764588222...
It has a Kindle version as well, neat! Any opinions on Scenario-based Training with X-Plane?
Also, from what you are saying it seems that each aircraft handles differently. Just Cause 2 never taught me that 
If you are interested in Combat Sims, some of us fly the DCS series (although not much lately).
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/1...
If you are interested in Combat Sims, some of us fly the DCS series (although not much lately).
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/1...
Yeah, I'm eyeing that one, but with little contiguous free time I prefer "tourism" so far. Still, I have fond memories of dogfights against friends on the trusty old F-29 Retaliator over a null-modem cable.
I am currently practicing a lot and having lots of fun, but this was a real eye-opener: a pretty old How to Fly Flight Sims write up by a long-time pilot. Everything is there, both hows and whys. All explained on a Cessna 172, which is just perfect. It also has a separate article on landing, but I have not dived into that yet. Still, my takeoff/climb routine has been improved remarkably after I finished this one. Now I know much better what happens and why is it happening.
The tutorials in FSX are really helpful, even though sometimes a bit overwhelming (switching to jets is a pretty big step up). Anyway, did you know that FSX is slated for Steam release, with lots of addons? Dovetail Games, the company behind Train Simulator, is taking care of that. "Before Christmas" is their launch date.
I tried to get FSX installed on my Windows 8.1 machine and it did not work so having it in steam would be great
I have to admit I'm doing more reading than actually simming (you can read anywhere, but the gaming time is both scarce and mostly taken up by Shadow of Mordor). Actually, I'm inhaling any relevant information on practical flight. I'm getting quite proficient in cold-starting Cessna C172 (in both FSX and X-Plane) and learning VOR navigation (GPS is easy, but I want more classical approach). I bought FS Flying School Pro 2014 when it was deeply discounted during Black Friday and it sure helps a lot.
That said, recently I found my ultimate go-to source for basics of flight: manual for A2A Simulations' C172 (you can download it for free on the product page at the bottom). It is over 100 pages and a good half is spent on the in-depth explanations on why you have to do all the pre-flight checks, why stall occurs, how air temperature influences engine behavior etc. After devouring hundreds of different texts and links this one actually put it all together for me. Well recommended. I still don't feel like spending 40+ bucks on a virtual plane, but I at least hope the move of FSX to Steam might put downward pressure on the prices in the flight-sim market as well.
I'm a student pilot right now and I second the recommendation of Airplane Flying Handbook and Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge from the FAA. I have a couple of textbooks and such collected over the years and I actually think these are the best. I've been using them almost exclusively in my studying.
FSX Steam edition will be released on 18th December, with some improvements.
I am currently reading through FAA manuals and they really do provide everything I need.
Steam has a smallish sale on X-Plane Carenado aircraft (just three of them). However, all over internet they sell most of their X-Plane (and FSX) offerings, and cheaper. The C152 is 11,49 EUR on Steam and 9,75 EUR on JustFlight. I was kind of hoping that Steam will make the pricing more competitive.
FSX is on steam - and it's on sale for $5.59CDN !
Multiplayer all done through steam so it should be a lot easier to get together.
FSX is on steam - and it's on sale for $5.59CDN !
Multiplayer all done through steam so it should be a lot easier to get together.
Cost me 20 cents - only recently I sold useless items from my inventory for 4,79
I have 1 add on plane that I bought from RealAir in 2008. Hope it still works
Has anyone had troubles with the Thrustmaster T. Flight HOTAS X? We bought that stick and X Plane for my dad for Christmas and are having trouble with massive yaw to the right. The joystick seems calibrated correctly (both in game and through Windows). I'm a little stumped - hoping for you fine folks to set me straight.
Has anyone had troubles with the Thrustmaster T. Flight HOTAS X? We bought that stick and X Plane for my dad for Christmas and are having trouble with massive yaw to the right. The joystick seems calibrated correctly (both in game and through Windows). I'm a little stumped - hoping for you fine folks to set me straight.
I have the very same stick and am very satisfied. First things first though: open menu "Settings > Data Input & Output" in X-Plane. Find Joystick Ail/Elv/Rud and Other Flight Controls (should be numbers 8 and 9) and check the rightmost of the four boxes. There is now a new data window in the top right corner and it shows the values your controller sends to the simulation. If you are not touching the controller, there should be zeroes (except for throttle of course). If there are not, recalibrate. Setting up correct dead zones is important as well.
Second thing: general aviation aircraft with single propeller veers to the right/left naturally, depending on the rotation of the propeller. X-Plane simulates that realistically and it is significant especially on the ground. I was confounded at first as well (the default Cessna 172 veers massively to the left), but started to compensate for that. Once you are airborne the effect is much less pronounced. You can read much more about that here.
In other news: apart from FSX Steam Edition for a fiver I got me IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, Flaming Cliffs 3 for DCS World and Rise of Flight with two DLCs this sale. I am now hopelessly addicted to everything connected with flying.
UMOarsman wrote:Has anyone had troubles with the Thrustmaster T. Flight HOTAS X? We bought that stick and X Plane for my dad for Christmas and are having trouble with massive yaw to the right. The joystick seems calibrated correctly (both in game and through Windows). I'm a little stumped - hoping for you fine folks to set me straight.
I have the very same stick and am very satisfied. First things first though: open menu "Settings > Data Input & Output" in X-Plane. Find Joystick Ail/Elv/Rud and Other Flight Controls (should be numbers 8 and 9) and check the rightmost of the four boxes. There is now a new data window in the top right corner and it shows the values your controller sends to the simulation. If you are not touching the controller, there should be zeroes (except for throttle of course). If there are not, recalibrate. Setting up correct dead zones is important as well.
Second thing: general aviation aircraft with single propeller veers to the right/left naturally, depending on the rotation of the propeller. X-Plane simulates that realistically and it is significant especially on the ground. I was confounded at first as well (the default Cessna 172 veers massively to the left), but started to compensate for that. Once you are airborne the effect is much less pronounced. You can read much more about that here.
Thanks! We'll give that a shot.
X-Plane 10 is now 50 percent off on Steam (lowest it's ever been). Also, alpilotx just released new high-resolution meshes for it. They are free and awesome - I was flying over the Alps for comparison and it makes a huge difference compared to the standard X-Plane scenery.
I played around a bit with FSX on Steam, it hasn't aged well graphics wise that's for sure.
X-Plane 10 is now 50 percent off on Steam (lowest it's ever been). Also, alpilotx just released new high-resolution meshes for it. They are free and awesome - I was flying over the Alps for comparison and it makes a huge difference compared to the standard X-Plane scenery.
I bought that for $42 near the end of the Steam sale.
wanderingtaoist wrote:X-Plane 10 is now 50 percent off on Steam (lowest it's ever been). Also, alpilotx just released new high-resolution meshes for it. They are free and awesome - I was flying over the Alps for comparison and it makes a huge difference compared to the standard X-Plane scenery.
I bought that for $42 near the end of the Steam sale.
Well, unlike for FSX, there is tons of quality freeware for X-Plane available. Check out X-plane.org downloads section - along with minor improvements (lights, runway textures) you have things like complete San Francisco (airport AND city), London with landmarks or complete islands like Madeira or Santorini. In FSX, each of those is 20 USD or more. And planes, of course. If you are into airliners, you can even get Boeing 737 free - in a quality for which you would pay 60+ USD in FSX. I hope there's some consolation there
Hrdina wrote:wanderingtaoist wrote:X-Plane 10 is now 50 percent off on Steam (lowest it's ever been). Also, alpilotx just released new high-resolution meshes for it. They are free and awesome - I was flying over the Alps for comparison and it makes a huge difference compared to the standard X-Plane scenery.
I bought that for $42 near the end of the Steam sale.
Well, unlike for FSX, there is tons of quality freeware for X-Plane available. Check out X-plane.org downloads section - along with minor improvements (lights, runway textures) you have things like complete San Francisco (airport AND city), London with landmarks or complete islands like Madeira or Santorini. In FSX, each of those is 20 USD or more. And planes, of course. If you are into airliners, you can even get Boeing 737 free - in a quality for which you would pay 60+ USD in FSX. I hope there's some consolation there :)
Thanks for the pointers. Last time I did any simming was about 8 years ago (FS 2003 I think). That was before I moved, and my sim gear (CH yoke/stick/throttle/pedals) had all been stored away until Elite: Dangerous made me get it out.
I had a few paid products for FS 2003, USA Terrain and a couple of planes from Flight 1, but not a huge investment. I don't know if that would transfer into FSX (which I also got during the Steam sale, but cheaper).
I am definitely much more into small planes than I am into the heavies, even though I do like to fly into the larger airports. 
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