So...What did Santa Bring you?

I got a Logitech extreme 3D Pro joystick for Flight Sim so I can
practice my approaches with a twist rudder and a higher quality control
system. Haven't tried it yet (we hosted Christmas) but I'm looking
forward to it.

You'll like it. Rudder pedals make a world of difference in crosswind
landings!

I just spent the last few hours installing Flight Sim X on the Kiwi (I
gave my desk staff folks off Xmas afternoon/evening off) at the hotel,
tweaking it here and there.

Thus far I'm fairly satisfied with it, since so many people warned me
that it was a resource hog (It's a 15 GIGAbyte program!) and might not
run. Still, I've got the fastest computer money can (reasonably,
relatively speaking) buy, and the best I'm getting out of FSX is 32
frames per second. I've seen it drop as low as 16 FPS.

This isn't bad at all, running two monitors and with the realism set to
high, but it's a far cry from the butter-smooth 55 FPS I was getting on
FS9. Still, it's certainly flyable, and the enhancements to the
program are pretty cool. I've only started to scratch the surface of
what's there, but the mountains are MUCH improved, the turbulence is
pretty authentic, and I like the new aircraft that come with the Pro
version.

And I'm here to tell you that racing the jet truck in an Extra 300
(alongside Patty Wagstaff in HER Extra) is awesome!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay,

I got Flight Sim X for Christmas also. Have you found a way to get it
to properly simulate a Garmin 430/530? I was using the Reality XP plug
in for FS 9, but it doesn't seem to be out for FS X yet...

Certainly helps with keeping current on all the GPS procedures.

--Dan


Jay Honeck wrote:
I got a Logitech extreme 3D Pro joystick for Flight Sim so I can
practice my approaches with a twist rudder and a higher quality control
system. Haven't tried it yet (we hosted Christmas) but I'm looking
forward to it.

You'll like it. Rudder pedals make a world of difference in crosswind
landings!

I just spent the last few hours installing Flight Sim X on the Kiwi (I
gave my desk staff folks off Xmas afternoon/evening off) at the hotel,
tweaking it here and there.

Thus far I'm fairly satisfied with it, since so many people warned me
that it was a resource hog (It's a 15 GIGAbyte program!) and might not
run. Still, I've got the fastest computer money can (reasonably,
relatively speaking) buy, and the best I'm getting out of FSX is 32
frames per second. I've seen it drop as low as 16 FPS.

This isn't bad at all, running two monitors and with the realism set to
high, but it's a far cry from the butter-smooth 55 FPS I was getting on
FS9. Still, it's certainly flyable, and the enhancements to the
program are pretty cool. I've only started to scratch the surface of
what's there, but the mountains are MUCH improved, the turbulence is
pretty authentic, and I like the new aircraft that come with the Pro
version.

And I'm here to tell you that racing the jet truck in an Extra 300
(alongside Patty Wagstaff in HER Extra) is awesome!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I got Flight Sim X for Christmas also. Have you found a way to get it
to properly simulate a Garmin 430/530? I was using the Reality XP plug
in for FS 9, but it doesn't seem to be out for FS X yet...

Certainly helps with keeping current on all the GPS procedures.

Nope, I haven't played with that yet -- although I see they've got
Mooneys and Cessnas that have G1000 panels in 'em now!

Pretty cool. I'm still working to get the realisms set to a happy
medium, where I get smooth frame rates and acceptable scenery.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote

Pretty cool. I'm still working to get the realisms set to a happy
medium, where I get smooth frame rates and acceptable scenery.

Do you have a ton of RAM? If you have a couple gigs, then set it up so that
your video card can borrow some; that might help. Remember though, RAM is
the key. (assuming you have a fast processor, which I guess you do)
--
Jim in NC

Dan wrote:
Jay,

I got Flight Sim X for Christmas also. Have you found a way to get it
to properly simulate a Garmin 430/530? I was using the Reality XP plug
in for FS 9, but it doesn't seem to be out for FS X yet...


What is wrong with the G 430/530? I'm still wishing I could find an
add-in that supports the KLN-89B. I bought my FS2004 mainly to maintain
instrument proficiency, not thinking that it wouldn't support the unit I
fly. Oh well, my son likes to play with it at least so it wasn't a
total loss.

Matt

Does FS X come with the 430/530? (I haven't opened the box yet, but I
know it was an add-on for FS 9)

--Dan


Matt Whiting wrote:
Dan wrote:
Jay,

I got Flight Sim X for Christmas also. Have you found a way to get it
to properly simulate a Garmin 430/530? I was using the Reality XP plug
in for FS 9, but it doesn't seem to be out for FS X yet...


What is wrong with the G 430/530? I'm still wishing I could find an
add-in that supports the KLN-89B. I bought my FS2004 mainly to maintain
instrument proficiency, not thinking that it wouldn't support the unit I
fly. Oh well, my son likes to play with it at least so it wasn't a
total loss.

Matt

Okay, now that creep has set in, I'll ask about the new flight
simulator: Can you drive three monitors, one forward, and two more,
one for each side? The one thing I don't like about sim flying is that
I can't just turn my head and see when to turn base. I've got the hat
thingy on my joystick, but it is not natural to use. I'd like to just
turn my head and see the side view.

Back on topic, Santa gave me an max takeoff weight upgrade for my
homebuilt. 5 pounds of aluminum strategicly placed adds 130 pounds to
the max takeoff weight. A great trade-off in my opinion.

tom



Jay Honeck wrote:

This isn't bad at all, running two monitors and with the realism set to
high, but it's a far cry from the butter-smooth 55 FPS I was getting on
FS9.

Okay, now that creep has set in, I'll ask about the new flight
simulator: Can you drive three monitors, one forward, and two more,
one for each side?

Oh yeah. You can actually do up to SEVEN monitors!

I've got two monitors -- one dedicated to the instrument/radio panel,
plus one giant projection screen for "The World" -- but we've tossed
around the idea of adding "side window" monitors...

Flight Sim is just like real flying -- the spending never stops! :-)

Back on topic, Santa gave me an max takeoff weight upgrade for my
homebuilt. 5 pounds of aluminum strategicly placed adds 130 pounds to
the max takeoff weight. A great trade-off in my opinion.

Wow! That must be a pretty stratigically-placed 5 pounds?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article .com,
Jay Honeck wrote:

Flight Sim is just like real flying -- the spending never stops! :-)


lol.


--
Eduardo K. |
http://www.carfun.cl | I'm white and nerdy
http://e.nn.cl | Weird Al
|

You'll like it. Rudder pedals make a world of difference in crosswind
landings!

Yes, and rudders help takeoffs too. But I use FS to practice instrument
procedures and scan, so while it may feel good to land after an
approach, if I did a good approach, I really don't care whether I crash
afterwards or not.

That said, I do like it. It takes some getting used to though - I had
to adjust the sensitivites and re-train my hands. Also I can't use this
stick in the same casual manner I would use the other one. My first few
approaches were pretty crappy on this stick, but once I got it all
straightened out they got lots better. The rudder helps me make small
course corrections on approach, although the ball jiggles around a lot.
I'm more coordinated with real rudders than with this twist thing (and
that's fine).

One nice feature is that Logitech's driver can send a whole bunch of
commands on one button press, and can also cycle through commands on
each press. This makes radio work much easier - without my hands
leaving the joystick I can tune any radio fairly quickly and easily. In
fact, it would be great if =real= aircraft radios had the capability of
a software interface.

I set the trigger button to cycle through the Mhz and Khz of each radio
of interest (there are two) and two thumb buttons take care of up and
down. Real airplanes have more radios of interest, but it wouldn't take
much (conceptually) to do something similar that would include them all.

At the very least, it would be nice to be able to program the GPS from
the yoke!

And I'm here to tell you that racing the jet truck in an Extra 300
(alongside Patty Wagstaff in HER Extra) is awesome!

No, Jay. It's just a simulation. It's not real. (Smacks Jay around
some). IT'S...NOT...REAL!

Now, get Patty Wagstaff in the Kiwi in person - THAT would be awesome!

Jose
--
He who laughs, lasts.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.