FSX - anyone play?

[crazy about cars]

I've recently rekindled my love for MS Flight Sim after the purchase of a X52 Pro joystick. The last MS Flight Sim I've played was 10+ years ago so I guess I have quite a lot of catching up to do

My setup is nothing great yet but I'm doing more research to plan setting up a more serious simulator environment. My ultimate aim is to have a nice Airbus A300 setup to play with other sim fans. I know you can join/host proper servers with real life ATC etc so I am keen to reaching that level one day.

I am wondering if anyone in the UK plays too? I would love some tips for a beginner. I'm already on forums such as VATSIM and AVSim but those seem to mainly focus on US community.

I would appreciate any recommendations for addons and hardware to make my experience more realistic.

Edited by crazy about cars on Saturday 1st September 12:21

[SlipStream77]

I don't really play FSX, the way it's designed, I just like to have fun in fast jets but I can recommend the scenery sets from Horizon.

http://www.flightstore.co.uk/flight-simulation-c8/...

Here are a couple of shots at the Mach Loop.





Horizon also do airport packs and tree packs to get better levels of realism.

A lot of people also rate REX, although I haven't tried it.

http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/

[bennyboydurham]

Yeh I play with flight sim a lot, but my iMac won't play nicely with FSX so I use FS2004 running in bootcamp. My install is hugely customised, running all the environmental add-ons like REX and ultimate terrain and also third party pay ware aircraft like the ifly 737-800, Airsimmer A320 and the PMDG MD11. There's a company called UK2000 who make highly detailed airport sceneries for the UK which are amazing. There is a great add-on ATC program called Pro Flight Emulator which even changes the accent of the controller and the pilots depending on where you are in the world. Fly from France and the controller speaks with a frog accent - fly into Germany and he sounds German. When you hear an Emirates airline pilot on the frequency he sounds Arabic! It's ace.

[r1flyguy1]

Why an A300????

I have to ask as its an odd aircraft for a flight simmer when there are so many more modern cockpit set ups available

[bennyboydurham]

There is a good A300 for FSX, made by Simcheck http://www.avsim.com/pages/0410/Simcheck/A300.htm although I think you'll find there are better aircraft around. The 'gold standard' at the moment is the PMDG 737NGX http://www.flyaoamedia.com/aoa/nicks-737ngx-takeof... which is the dog's danglies, but needs a PC with decent horsepower to run it properly.

You can go nuts with scenery, as I said earlier.

Check out: http://en.shop.aerosoft.com/eshop.php?action=catal...

http://www.uk2000scenery.com/newsite/My_Homepage_F...

http://www.fsdreamteam.com/products.html

http://www.flytampa.org/

http://secure.simmarket.com/default-en.html

http://www.fullterrain.com/

http://www.flight1.com/

That should keep you busy for a while!

Edited by bennyboydurham on Tuesday 4th September 09:50

[Siko]

I have it and have bought the A320 Just Flight addition - good for a very 'basic' type Simulator and used as a lead-in to flying the real A320 full-motion Sim, which was funnily enough, much better!

I think the additional content to go for are the PMDG sims, they are expensive ($60ish?)but model almost all the functionality of the airliner in question, which makes them extremely complex and challenging but gives you the closest experience you will get outside a real Sim.

[crazy about cars]

Why A300? Nostalgic reasons I guess.... I also *might* have dated a stewardess working on a A300 :P

The PDMG 737 seems tempting as well but I will need plenty more training and practice to fly that beast. I think I will start slowly and upgrade as I go along. VATSIM sounds very tempting as you will be interacting with other simmers out there instead of AI...

[crazy about cars]

Excellent links thanks a lot matey! Definitely keep me busy lol...

bennyboydurham said:

There is a good A300 for FSX, made by Simcheck http://www.avsim.com/pages/0410/Simcheck/A300.htm although I think you'll find there are better aircraft around. The 'gold standard' at the moment is the PMDG 737NGX http://www.flyaoamedia.com/aoa/nicks-737ngx-takeof... which is the dog's danglies, but needs a PC with decent horsepower to run it properly.

You can go nuts with scenery, as I said earlier.

Check out: http://en.shop.aerosoft.com/eshop.php?action=catal...

http://www.uk2000scenery.com/newsite/My_Homepage_F...

http://www.fsdreamteam.com/products.html

http://www.flytampa.org/

http://secure.simmarket.com/default-en.html

http://www.fullterrain.com/

http://www.flight1.com/

That should keep you busy for a while!

[r1flyguy1]

crazy about cars said:

Why A300? Nostalgic reasons I guess.... I also *might* have dated a stewardess working on a A300 :P

I didn't mean anything by it, but having flow the A300, it's a bit of a dog to operate as opposed to the Boeing which has an FMC which doesn't try to kill you when you try to update it in flight

[kowalski655]

I'm a mahoosive FSX fan, I think my install is over 4 or 500 gigs. That probably why it takes hours to load.
Try flightsim.com for loads of free stuff,and when I get to my PC I can post some more links-thers a good site for american photo real scenery that covers the whole south west,and one that has links to a load of scenery.
I'm more of a warbird fan hooning about at low level, and I have flown in the Round the World Air Race a few times, which is great fun. The first time I landed carrying the baton I had such a death grip on my joystick* that my wrist ached for ages but what a great experience.

• NOT a euphemism for my penis,but the actual plane controller

[FourWheelDrift]

For ultimate warbirds I'd recommend www.a2asimulations.com

Spitfire, Mustang, B17 etc. Level of detail to systems is amazing with the Accusim addons.

F4 Phantom and F104 Starfighter to come

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTL8KtJawTQ

Also their 3d Lights addon is good, works for all aircraft if you edit the lights sections.


Plus Shade, which adds new effects and colour palettes to the game environment. - www.flightsimstore.com/product_info.php?products_i...

Rob Richardsons freeware Vampire/Venom/Meteors & props - robertjamesrichardson.co.uk/page3.html


And as it's so well liked on PH the Avro Vulcan from Iris Simulations is out there too.

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Tuesday 4th September 10:19

[FourWheelDrift]

Posted all that from my mobile earlier so didn't post all links, google others.

If you really struggle with FPS in FSX you might want to look at Prepar3D which is the commercial version of FSX developed (used) by Lockheed Martin. It has been taken on by the development team and I think runs better than FSX.

Few screenies here - http://www.cbfsim.co.uk/cbfs_bb/viewtopic.php?f=10... and http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/forumdisplay...

Will run and install FSX things, as it's basically the same thing.

http://www.prepar3d.com/

[kowalski655]

Try
http://www.freewarescenery.com/fsx.html
&
http://www.blueskyscenery.com/

[crazy about cars]

Wow...thanks for all the links I'm still trying to set up my X52 and getting used to it. Granted my setup is nothing close to a proper home sim but hopefully I will get the time (and funds) to improve!

[bennyboydurham]

You also need rudder pedals. You can't taxy properly or do a decent crosswind landing without them. The Saitek Pro Flight Pedals are the ones to go for.

In terms of getting your sim up and running just go bit by bit. There is scenery for every part of the planet - from the famous 'checkerboard' approach at Kai Tak to the often photographed 'over the beach' landing at St Maarten but there's so much it'll mash your brain. Just build it up as you get to learn how to use the sim. If it was me starting off I'd get the following:

First - some detailed UK airports from UK2000 so you can do some city pairs - i.e Belfast, Edinburgh, Heathrow, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow. Download the airport ground charts from the NATS website so you can taxy around at them by following the signs. All these city pairs are only 30-60 mins flying time apart, which will be a busy sector and give you lots of handling. Secondly, get a decent flight planner like vRoute Premium. You simply choose the route and it spits out the flight plan, which you can then import into your FMC. Thirdly, learn how to use the FMC. FMCs look terrifying at first, but once you've got your head round them you can program a route from say Bristol to Glasgow in about five minutes, and then once you're in the air you hand navigation over to the aircraft by hitting the LNAV button. FInally find an aircraft and stick with it. The PMDG 737 NGX, for example is a hugely detailed aircraft but learning how to start it up, taxy out and take off safely can be done in a couple of weeks. There's also the new BAe 146/RJ from QualityWings which is excellent and you could have a crack at landing at London City. Hand flying a big jet in FSX is hard, much harder than the real thing as there are no visual clues or peripheral vision. I tend to bang in the autopilot at 1000 feet and then only bring it out once fully established on the glide slope at the arrival end, which is normally around 2000 feet. The other thing to remember is that the learning curve for flying a big jet using real life procedures in FSX is STEEP. A 737 has two pilots and there are many times when they're both working like one-armed paper hangers, especially in busy airspace with many frequency changes and instructions from ATC. You're on your own in there, so use the automation available to you - autopilot, autothrust, flight directors, FMC, will all help you keep on top of the aircraft.

This is, of course, assuming that you want a setup that's optimised for heavy iron flying. Many folk just want to fire up a nice Cessna and potter round the countryside from a grass field. Then the Orbx fields in places like Oz and the US North East are absolutely mind-blowing, and I'd advise you to check out the Carenado site for some very nice light aircraft.

Edited by bennyboydurham on Thursday 6th September 12:58

[crazy about cars]

bennyboydurham said:

You also need rudder pedals. You can't taxy properly or do a decent crosswind landing without them. The Saitek Pro Flight Pedals are the ones to go for.

In terms of getting your sim up and running just go bit by bit. There is scenery for every part of the planet - from the famous 'checkerboard' approach at Kai Tak to the often photographed 'over the beach' landing at St Maarten but there's so much it'll mash your brain. Just build it up as you get to learn how to use the sim. If it was me starting off I'd get the following:

First - some detailed UK airports from UK2000 so you can do some city pairs - i.e Belfast, Edinburgh, Heathrow, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow. Download the airport ground charts from the NATS website so you can taxy around at them by following the signs. All these city pairs are only 30-60 mins flying time apart, which will be a busy sector and give you lots of handling. Secondly, get a decent flight planner like vRoute Premium. You simply choose the route and it spits out the flight plan, which you can then import into your FMC. Thirdly, learn how to use the FMC. FMCs look terrifying at first, but once you've got your head round them you can program a route from say Bristol to Glasgow in about five minutes, and then once you're in the air you hand navigation over to the aircraft by hitting the LNAV button. FInally find an aircraft and stick with it. The PMDG 737 NGX, for example is a hugely detailed aircraft but learning how to start it up, taxy out and take off safely can be done in a couple of weeks. There's also the new BAe 146/RJ from QualityWings which is excellent and you could have a crack at landing at London City. Hand flying a big jet in FSX is hard, much harder than the real thing as there are no visual clues or peripheral vision. I tend to bang in the autopilot at 1000 feet and then only bring it out once fully established on the glide slope at the arrival end, which is normally around 2000 feet. The other thing to remember is that the learning curve for flying a big jet using real life procedures in FSX is STEEP. A 737 has two pilots and there are many times when they're both working like one-armed paper hangers, especially in busy airspace with many frequency changes and instructions from ATC. You're on your own in there, so use the automation available to you - autopilot, autothrust, flight directors, FMC, will all help you keep on top of the aircraft.

This is, of course, assuming that you want a setup that's optimised for heavy iron flying. Many folk just want to fire up a nice Cessna and potter round the countryside from a grass field. Then the Orbx fields in places like Oz and the US North East are absolutely mind-blowing, and I'd advise you to check out the Carenado site for some very nice light aircraft.

Edited by bennyboydurham on Thursday 6th September 12:58

I'm looking for UK airports/scenery packs too as I would prefer to fly somewhere familiar to start with. I'm not really interested in light aircraft but am flying them now just to get the hang of basics. I am looking into progressing into commercial passenger airliners.

I am looking at rudder pedals (the Saitek one) but I don't think that will be compatible with my X52 Pro. Perhaps I will upgrade to the Saitek Yoke setup when I progress further. There's some space in my garage/mancave which I might turn into a full fledged home cockpit one day but that's under consideration for now due to costs and security...

[FourWheelDrift]

I don't know when it will be released, but Orbx are working on detailed UK land mass and airports

These are their Australia and USA addons - http://www.fullterrain.com/

Other than that UK2000 airports - http://www.uk2000scenery.com/
Alf's freeware airfields - http://simviation.com/1/search?submit=1&keywor...

Are good UK starts.

You don't really need the VFR photo scenery like Horizon (it does fit UK2000 airports and others) if you aren't going to be doing a lot of low level sight seeing and using visual landmarks to navigate. You can follow real roads and find you own house with it

[crazy about cars]

FourWheelDrift said:

I don't know when it will be released, but Orbx are working on detailed UK land mass and airports

These are their Australia and USA addons - http://www.fullterrain.com/

Other than that UK2000 airports - http://www.uk2000scenery.com/
Alf's freeware airfields - http://simviation.com/1/search?submit=1&keywor...

Are good UK starts.

You don't really need the VFR photo scenery like Horizon (it does fit UK2000 airports and others) if you aren't going to be doing a lot of low level sight seeing and using visual landmarks to navigate. You can follow real roads and find you own house with it

Awesome! Thanks for the links bud

[bennyboydurham]

crazy about cars said:

I'm looking for UK airports/scenery packs too as I would prefer to fly somewhere familiar to start with. I'm not really interested in light aircraft but am flying them now just to get the hang of basics. I am looking into progressing into commercial passenger airliners.

I am looking at rudder pedals (the Saitek one) but I don't think that will be compatible with my X52 Pro. Perhaps I will upgrade to the Saitek Yoke setup when I progress further. There's some space in my garage/mancave which I might turn into a full fledged home cockpit one day but that's under consideration for now due to costs and security...

Your pedals will work fine with the X52 Pro. I have the CH Products yoke but to be honest it's a chew on to plug it in and screw it to the desk every time I want to fly so I bought a boggo Logitech Attack 3 which is recommended as the best choice to replicate the Airbus joystick. I ended up just using for all my flying as I spend so little time actually holding it: essentially for the take off and the touchdown. On the ground of course you use the pedals. There are some brilliant tutorials on the net which pretty much cover all you need to know about operating the heavy metal, but feel free to holler if you've any questions. I don't get to play that much these days but this morning I did a quick hop in an A320 from Glasgow to East Midlands. Over the weekend I'm going to try out the new Edinburgh scenery so will get some screenshots if I remember!

[FourWheelDrift]

crazy about cars said:

Awesome! Thanks for the links bud

Ps. you'll notice anyway but in case you haven't looked yet UK2000 do demo versions of their airports.

http://www.uk2000scenery.com/newsite/My_Homepage_F... click green buttons and check out each one.