Realistic Instrument Training using MSFS 2004

Hi All,

I'm a longtime lurker here, but now I have a question I hope the group
can help me with. I am working toward my instrument rating (21 hours
so far), and want to use MSFS to practice (cheaply). I do fine with
holding a heading, but I find it very difficult to maintain an
altitude. The real plane is much much easier. I also noticed that
even when the scenery flies by smoothly (when I'm in VMC!) the
instruments seem to update at a slower rate. Not quite a slide show,
but harder than it should be to control. I've tried fiddling with
the realism and sensitivity settings to no avail. I have noticed a
number of folks posting on this group use this simulator to maintain
proficiency, and I was just wondering how you have it set up.

FYI...I'm using the CH products USB Flight Sim yolk, and the CH USB
rudder pedals. The computer seems plenty fast enough with a 256MB
graphics card. Like I mentioned before, everything is very smooth
except for the instruments refreshing.

Thanks everyone!

Steve

In a previous article, said:
so far), and want to use MSFS to practice (cheaply). I do fine with
holding a heading, but I find it very difficult to maintain an
altitude. The real plane is much much easier. I also noticed that
even when the scenery flies by smoothly (when I'm in VMC!) the

I had the same problem with the Elite PCATD at the local FBO. Finally I
gave up on the yoke and control the altitude with the trim lever.

--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian
because I hate plants. -- A. Whitney Brown

On Feb 13, 6:48 pm, (Paul Tomblin) wrote:
In a previous article, said:

so far), and want to use MSFS to practice (cheaply). I do fine with
holding a heading, but I find it very difficult to maintain an
altitude. The real plane is much much easier. I also noticed that
even when the scenery flies by smoothly (when I'm in VMC!) the

I had the same problem with the Elite PCATD at the local FBO. Finally I
gave up on the yoke and control the altitude with the trim lever.

--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian
because I hate plants. -- A. Whitney Brown


I've tried just just using the trim in the past, (I have one of the
rocker switches configured to actually set trim, I'm not using the
calibration wheel on the yoke) but unfortunately that seems to
accurately simulate a real plane's behavior. In other words, I'm
either climbing through my assigned altitude, then overcorrect to drop
right through the bottom!

Of course my problems could be just my lack of proficiency using a
simulator. Maybe I'm just too ham-handed to make it work! Anyway,
thanks for your suggestions. I'll try the trim trick again tonight.

Kill the scenery. This takes a lot of computer power. If you use IFR
conditions where everything is white outside (no detail at all) I'll wager
your altitude control will be more realistic.

Rod

On Feb 13, 7:11 pm, "rod" wrote:
Kill the scenery. This takes a lot of computer power. If you use IFR
conditions where everything is white outside (no detail at all) I'll wager
your altitude control will be more realistic.

Rod

While I'm practicing, I am in the clouds completely. No scenery at
all.

Of course if I 'ever' do learn how to control altitude in a simulator,
I suppose the plane would be cake!

writes:

While I'm practicing, I am in the clouds completely. No scenery at
all.

Make sure you turn all weather off except for low visibility at your altitude.
It's easier to generate and the sim will run faster that way.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

On 2007-02-14, wrote:

Of course if I 'ever' do learn how to control altitude in a simulator,
I suppose the plane would be cake!

I find the real thing easier, but I also find that everything in FS
seems to take forever compared to real life. If you want more challenge,
try setting the simulation speed to 2x or 4x and doing some approaches.
You think holding altitude is touchy now -- wait until your virtual 182
has an effective climb/descent rate of 4000FPM!

--
Ben Jackson AD7GD

http://www.ben.com/

Ben Jackson writes:

I find the real thing easier, but I also find that everything in FS
seems to take forever compared to real life.

What do you mean? It's a real-time simulation.

It's true that the clock in MSFS tends to run slightly slow over long periods,
for some reason, but that isn't noticeable except when you check the clock
after flying for a few hours.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

rod wrote:
Kill the scenery. This takes a lot of computer power. If you use IFR
conditions where everything is white outside (no detail at all) I'll wager
your altitude control will be more realistic.


I almost forgot: be sure to lube the center shaft of that yoke with a little
bit of silicon grease and wiggle the controls around quite a bit before each
flight. The CH yoke has a tendency to catch otherwise, leading to jerky control
inputs.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

RN,

I almost forgot: be sure to lube the center shaft of that yoke with a little
bit of silicon grease and wiggle the controls around quite a bit before each
flight. The CH yoke has a tendency to catch otherwise, leading to jerky control
inputs.


That's a really good hint. Helps a lot.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)