"Ron Wanttaja" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Oct 2006 21:06:23 +0200, Mxsmanic wrote:

Much easier to spot a Cessna on a 3 mile final to Renton from the
Renton
downwind in real life than in MSFS. This proably because the traffic
in
flight sim isn't more than a pixels wide until are basically on top of
them.

It helps to run at 1600x1200, but it's still hard to make out the
shape of the aircraft until it's quite near. I'm not sure what
purpose seeing traffic serves in MSFS, anyway, since the simulator
doesn't simulate much else having to do with traffic and I have yet to
see any real conflicts.

The actual size of an aircraft at 3 miles is probably smaller than the
projected
size of the monitor's pixel. It's your predator instincts that help pick
out
the airplane (e.g., "something's moving"), not the physical size of the
dot.
The aircraft configuration isn't identifiable until it gets quite close,
and not
by type until it gets even closer. Though I once ID'd a friend's airplane
at
about three miles due to its color....

Ron Wanttaja

You are probably correct... I was just thinking of a recent instance of when
I was approaching RNT to land was given "Cleared to land #2 following Cessna
on 3 mile final, report the traffic in sight..." and probably didn't pick
him up until he was on about 1.5 - 2 mile final, which caused me to discover
a phrase that causes concern in passengers... Glanced around doing my CGUMPS
check, and then looked back out the windshield and said "Ok... Where did he
go???" My passenger later on told me that that phase "concerned" her, and
told her "Oh... I wasn't worried about hitting him. I just needed to know
where he was at so that I knew when to turn, and if I couldn't find him I
would have just asked the tower where he was..."