absolute beginer

Sorry folks - please bear with me.

I love to fly (as a passenger) but am keen to 'get my hands on the
controls'.

Where do I start?

MS Flight Sim?

What 'joystick' and 'foot pedals'?

Your guidance will be very much appreciated.

Thanks group.

Hi Jack,
I recommend logging onto

alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim

for more detailed discussions and help on FS 2004. It is also a very amusing
and supportive group of people similar to this group.

"Cousin Jack Newquay" wrote in message
...
Sorry folks - please bear with me.

I love to fly (as a passenger) but am keen to 'get my hands on the
controls'.

Where do I start?

MS Flight Sim?

What 'joystick' and 'foot pedals'?

Your guidance will be very much appreciated.

Thanks group.

Just saw your post and had to smile. I'm sure others will give you ample
help with the specifics of your question, so I'll let them so that.
What made me smile was the thought of what I've spent so far on this
nice little past time since I retired. I believe I'm safe in saying that
at this point in time, over a span of 3 versions of MSFS, I have now
invested in hardware and peripherals about 10,000 dollars.
So be careful. If you're married, be VERY careful....or you could very
well end up just like me looking for the answer to the most oft asked
question by wives to husbands they thought were at least marginally
smart people when they decided to marry them.
My wife asks, "So tell me again once more will you......you spent HOW
much on the stuff to run this fifty dollar flight simulator????????"
:-)))
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt

On Wed, 12 May 2004 21:35:42 +0000 (UTC), "Cousin Jack Newquay"
wrote:

Sorry folks - please bear with me.

I love to fly (as a passenger) but am keen to 'get my hands on the
controls'.

Where do I start?

MS Flight Sim?

What 'joystick' and 'foot pedals'?

Your guidance will be very much appreciated.

Thanks group.



Cousin Jack,

I fly real planes and the simulator. I'm a relatively new, low time
pilot in the real stuff but I started flying Flight Simulator when it
was Sub-Logic (before MS bought it). I though that Atari 800 was
pretty slick stuff back then.

Here's the bottom line. Flight Simulator is an incredible program
and, in my opinion, is a fabulous training aid....for some things.
Here's what I recommend. If you're serious about flying, get a yoke
and rudder pedals. I use CH controls and I like them. I'd like to
move up but the next move costs many times more and the CH stuff is
more than serviceable. Next, go for an introductory flight and get a
feel for what it is like to fly a real plane. The sensory inputs will
stick in your mind and be of some value to you when you fly a computer
that doesn't give you any such sensations. If you ever intend to
learn how to fly for real, be concious of the bad habits that can be
developed on a simulator. Most important of these is the tendency for
a sim pilot to focus on the instrument panel and spend far too little
time looking out the window. Enjoy the scenery.

When I have a flight that is going outside of my local little flying
area, I fly it on the sim first and the similarities are astounding.
If you can navigate on the sim, you can navigate in the real thing.

Finally, don't get discouraged. It can be difficult, depending on how
realistic you want to be. Have fun with it.

Rich Russell

Hi M;

It sounds like you have the real/virtual world pretty much under control
:-)
If and when you get to that "gaming computer" stage, give Hypersonic
Computers a call and ask for Alex. . Tell him
I sent you along.
I checked out every gaming system out there before I chose Hypersonic.
I've never had a moment's regret. The machine is perfect; the advice is
superb; and the people there are collectively the best qualified and
most friendly people I've ever dealt with in the industry. I couldn't
recommend a company or it's people any higher. Totally first rate.
About that Real World Decathlon. I used a Decathlon on our line for
basic aerobatic and spin training, so I bought the RW Decathlon to try
it out in the sim. It's absolutely beautiful. Flies like the real thing.
Realworld has somehow managed to program very good slip capability into
the flight model, and because rudder has been so isolated, spins are not
only possible, but very realistic, and even Hammerheads are doable. Get
it M, you'll love it!!
When you're ready to begin aerobatics, let me know; I'll give you a
hand.
Dudley

"Melissa" wrote in message
...
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On Thu, 13 May 2004 12:16:29 GMT, Dudley Henriques wrote:

"...you spent HOW much on the stuff to run this fifty dollar flight
simulator????????"

Hee hee! A very interesting and often important thing to think about
with regards to this hobby! I'll add a few thoughts of my own on
this; in particular, the quest for balance between the virtual world
of the simulator versus the "real world"...

When I bought fs2004 about six months ago, it was on a lark. About a
month before that, a friend mentioned it in passing during a
conversation. I've always been interested in aviation, with a
particular interest in learning to fly someday, so when I happened to
see a copy of this simulator program in a software store, I decided
to pick it up. I bought a joystick at the same time. I thought
"hmmm...this is interesting, and a bit over $100 USD isn't bad for
what is supposed to be a pretty amazing little program."

Well, I was "hooked" almost immediately, and ever since then - and
for the first time in my life - I realized that I had to find a way
to balance both the time and money spent between this new and very
fascinating "virtual world" and the "real world" I'm so fond of.

Until I got this simulator program, I saw the computer just as a very
useful tool for communications, research, and a convenient place to
keep my daily journal. I never spent very many hours each day dealing
with it, because my life away from the computer has always been - and
still is - much more interesting to me. I'm a very active "outdoor
person" as well, so I spend as much time as possible "out there",
enjoying this amazing planet (great FPS out there, by the way...and
the 3D rendering isn't so bad either!). Since I still prefer to spend
as many daylight hours as possible outside...paddling my kayak,
riding my bike, walking on the beach, etc., sleep has been the
primary victim of my new hobby...as I can now often find myself
happily flying over some nicely enhanced virtual scenery into the
very late night or even the wee hours of the morning. I still want to
wake up early in the mornings, so that I can get outside for my
morning paddle/ride/walk (my daily "triathlon"). I even still enjoy
reading books! (you know, those old fashioned things with pages you
have to manually flip through?). So...hours to sleep have been
sacrificed a bit too much lately.

Then there's the money. Though I now have plans - which I never had
before - to acquire a shiny new "gaming computer", with all the
latest bits of hardware to adequately deal with my evermore urgent
"quest for reality in a virtual world", I've still managed to
surprise myself with the amount of money spent to enhance this or
that aspect of my "fifty dollar game". After just the first two
months, I realized that I had spent more than $400 USD in addition to
the original $100+, and by now, that figure has grown yet more
impressive...and I'm sure it will continue to grow. However, in spite
of my willingness to spend yet more on this little hobby of mine, I
must also keep reminding myself that every dollar spent so that I can
stare at a computer monitor for hours on end might also be saved
towards other things in the "real world"...including the real flight
lessons I'm still interested in.

Even with good and reasonable goals in the "real world" to be
concerned with, it can still be difficult at times to resist "just
one more little thing" to enhance my flight simming experience. Just
the other day, I spent "just a little bit" on the "Orcas Island
Georender" scenery (and I don't regret it!). Now, I've got my eye on
the "Super Decathlon" from RealAir Simulations. And so it goes...the
seemingly never ending "just one little bit more" syndrome. Though it
might be so easy to just go right now to the RealAir Simulations site
and offer up a few silly numbers to acquire that tempting little
plane, I'm going to force myself to suffer without it for at least a
week...just to try and simulate a bit of balance and restraint
(hmmm...is there an add-on for balance and restraint? Will someone
please give me a URL and a file name for this?) ;-)

This deceptively "innocent" hobby of flight simulation is very
dangerous indeed! Oh well...once I get my fancy liquid cooled
"top-of-the-line-for-a-day" gaming computer, I'll be happy. Of
course, then I'd have to get some of that nice "photoreal" scenery to
take advantage of - and make worthwhile! - the investment. Oh yes,
then there's that very cool... (well, you get the picture).

It seems there's no end to the "quest for realism" in our virtual
world. At the same time, as I sit here staring at this screen, typing
these few words, I look out my open windows; smell the salt air
carried by the inviting breeze, see and hear the lovely surf, and
once again feel the even more irresistible call of my beckoning sea.
It's time to step away from the computer, slip into some neoprene,
and enjoy a bit of 3D wonder...

Bye for now...and I'll see you in the wee hours! :-)

- --
Melissa

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Thanks everyone for your most helpful posts. Really appreciated.
Like a lot of things in this computing age it comes down to balancing the
time (and money) spent in the virtual world with living in the real world.
I am still inclined to have a go. I will probably be back seeking your
advice again before long.
Regards to all

"Cousin Jack Newquay" wrote in message
...
Sorry folks - please bear with me.

I love to fly (as a passenger) but am keen to 'get my hands on the
controls'.

Where do I start?

MS Flight Sim?

What 'joystick' and 'foot pedals'?

Your guidance will be very much appreciated.

Thanks group.

Dudley Henriques wrote:

About that Real World Decathlon. I used a Decathlon on our line for

Just for the record I presume you mean Realair.

(just got the SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 yesterday. Superrrr!
http://www.realairsimulations.com/ms...260/index.html )


Ursa (Major)/ \ *-*-* *
___________/====================================\_______*-*______

"MajorUrsa" wrote in message
...
Dudley Henriques wrote:

About that Real World Decathlon. I used a Decathlon on our line for

Just for the record I presume you mean Realair.

Yes, that's right! Actually, it's the RealAir Decathlon with a capitol
A. , not the Realworld. Guess I'm too used to making the comparison
between the sim and real life flying. I have to do it all the time when
writing.
:-))
DH

Hi Melissa,

That "balance and restraint" file still has a few bugs in it anyway, so
it'll never get through to your hard drive!

Seems that enthusiasm is infectious. :-))

Regards,
John
"Melissa" wrote in message
...
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On Thu, 13 May 2004 20:02:40 GMT, Dudley Henriques wrote:

Regarding the RealAir Simulations "Super Decathlon":

...Get it M, you'll love it!!

Eek! In spite of my best intentions - and because nobody offered a
download URL or file name for the "balance and restraint" file I
requested! - I couldn't wait quite a week, and got this little beauty
already! :-) Of course, I blame you too, for giving it your expert
endorsement. :-Þ

When you're ready to begin aerobatics, let me know; I'll give you a
hand.

Thanks Dudley! I know I'll be taking you up on this generous offer
soon enough. At this point, I'm having lots of fun just flying around
and practicing approaches and landings. This plane is absolutely
wonderful! :-)

Lately - for the past few months really - I've been flying yoke and
pedal planes exclusively in the sim, so this plane has given me the
opportunity to once again use my long neglected joystick. I am
actually using a combination of controllers: Joystick for roll/pitch
control, and also two of the "thumb buttons" on the joystick for
up/down elevator trim control. Then, I'm using my CH pedals for
rudder and differential brakes. And finally, the throttle/prop/fuel
mixture levers on my CH yoke. :-)

Without any flaps on this plane, I'm really having fun with the
landings; using only throttle, pitch, and elevator trim to achieve a
smooth approach and landing. It's a good thing that I've enjoyed
practicing landing my other small planes without the use of flaps, as
this practice is now really paying off.

Though I have, just for the fun of it, tried a few rolls, loops, side
slips, and stalls from a vertical climb, I know I'm not doing these
things "properly", so any tips from you - when I'm ready - will be
very much appreciated! At least I haven't crashed my shiny new plane
yet! :-)

I must say, this plane is fast becoming one of my favorites in the
sim for short hops and low altitude sightseeing! Thanks again for
contributing to the continuing depletion of my bank account! ;-)

- --
Melissa

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Cousin Jack Newquay wrote:
Thanks everyone for your most helpful posts. Really appreciated.
Like a lot of things in this computing age it comes down to balancing the
time (and money) spent in the virtual world with living in the real world.
I am still inclined to have a go. I will probably be back seeking your
advice again before long.
Regards to all

"Cousin Jack Newquay" wrote in message
...

Sorry folks - please bear with me.

I love to fly (as a passenger) but am keen to 'get my hands on the
controls'.

Where do I start?

MS Flight Sim?

What 'joystick' and 'foot pedals'?

Your guidance will be very much appreciated.

Thanks group.

No one stated the most important thing. (Well, to me at least, I'm
freeware hungry)

Get a large Hard Drive. I started with a 200MB drive 6 months ago, (New
computer = new hard drive, and I have added no special programs to it)

There are SO MANY great free programs, scenery and aircraft out there
begging to be downloaded.

I now installed a second 200GB Drive.


--


boB

The Roaming Gnome
Don't Forget Your Hat

Flying FS2002/4 in Texas

P4
2.66G
512 Ram
Ti4200-128
__________________________________________________ _______________________
Bob, Gabriella, Kuma, Chica, Balto, Blitz, Gussie, Costa and Tiger
Kempner, Central Texas
__________________________________________________ _______________________