FSX - flying the heavies, any good tutorials?

MossyUK

MossyUK

MossyUK

Associate
Joined
24 Jul 2004
Posts
1,580
Location
Preston, Lancs
I have just upgraded my PC and have a serious urge to get back onto FSX now I have triple screens.

But the one thing I always struggled with was making a flight plan that follows the jet airways and also practicing landings in some of the bigger aircraft. I guess I am a bit bored of cessna sized planes and want to start flying (and landing) jets.

Is there any good sites out there that have downloads of landings to practice?

What about essential youtube vid tutorials? Most I have found have been either too basic or filmed over some guys shoulder making it impossible to understand whats happening.

I surely can't be the only person who is in this position.

Any help appreciated.
 
Not the only one at all. I'm building an i7 monster just to able to enjoy FSX properly. If you go to FlightSim.com or Avsim.com and click through to their forums there is a wealth of knowledge there.

What specs you running and how is FSX performing for you?
 
Definetly check out the PMDG NGX, those guys are known for their fanatical realism (well..as much as you can have realistic behaviour on a desktop sim).

Some tips about handling heavy jets:

1. You have to fly by the numbers. If landing speed is calculated to be 132kts then you must fly at 132kts and not 134kts or 130kts. On takeoff you have to use correct pitch angle (use your PFD). Unless you just wanna muck about you cant walk up to a A330 fire it up and off you go. You have to plan it and look at the performance charts etc. Its all about energy management.

2. Use tiny tiny movements on the controls. If you are on ILS and find yourself drifting to the right, little nudge to the left and leave it...observe the correction...if not happy another little nudge and leave it. Novices commonly fly 777s like they are F-16s using full deflection of the controls. Do that in real life and you will have a cabin full of vomit after you land.

3. Engine lag. Big turbofans take a while to spool up. So you must not get behind the power curve specially on approach. Push throttle full forward and you will have to wait sometimes as much as 8 seconds before they spool to full power. You do not have near-instant power like in a piston engine. Another common novice mistake is reducing power to almost idle on approach...plane starts to sink and they apply full power...but plane KEEPS sinking...why?! Spool-time :)
 
AdamN said:
Not the only one at all. I'm building an i7 monster just to able to enjoy FSX properly. If you go to FlightSim.com or Avsim.com and click through to their forums there is a wealth of knowledge there.

What specs you running and how is FSX performing for you?
Click to expand...

My new spec is i5 sandybridge, 8gb ram, single 6950 2gb displaying on 24, 22 and a 19 monitor.

Truth be told, the PC has arrived but my case hasn't so it's still in the box. FSX ran fine on my Q6600 tho on two monitors so this should be even better.

I use one monitor just for dials and stuff, 2d cockpit as I struggle with the 3d one to see everything properly.

I will post back when I get up and running on speeds etc. :)

Some great tuts on those forum links, cheers
 
Drop me an email in trust and I'll fire you off some tutorials for the PMDG 747. It is a great addon but pretty hard on FPS. The new 737 NGX has been mentioned already and it looks awesome - can't wait for it to be released.
 
MossyUK said:
My new spec is i5 sandybridge, 8gb ram, single 6950 2gb displaying on 24, 22 and a 19 monitor.

Truth be told, the PC has arrived but my case hasn't so it's still in the box. FSX ran fine on my Q6600 tho on two monitors so this should be even better.

I use one monitor just for dials and stuff, 2d cockpit as I struggle with the 3d one to see everything properly.

I will post back when I get up and running on speeds etc. :)

Some great tuts on those forum links, cheers
Click to expand...

what gfx did you have with that system. Ive got a Q6600 but four screens, just wondering if i got FSX would it cope.
 
KatanaDV20 said:
Definetly check out the PMDG NGX, those guys are known for their fanatical realism (well..as much as you can have realistic behaviour on a desktop sim).

Some tips about handling heavy jets:

1. You have to fly by the numbers. If landing speed is calculated to be 132kts then you must fly at 132kts and not 134kts or 130kts. On takeoff you have to use correct pitch angle (use your PFD). Unless you just wanna muck about you cant walk up to a A330 fire it up and off you go. You have to plan it and look at the performance charts etc. Its all about energy management.

2. Use tiny tiny movements on the controls. If you are on ILS and find yourself drifting to the right, little nudge to the left and leave it...observe the correction...if not happy another little nudge and leave it. Novices commonly fly 777s like they are F-16s using full deflection of the controls. Do that in real life and you will have a cabin full of vomit after you land.

3. Engine lag. Big turbofans take a while to spool up. So you must not get behind the power curve specially on approach. Push throttle full forward and you will have to wait sometimes as much as 8 seconds before they spool to full power. You do not have near-instant power like in a piston engine. Another common novice mistake is reducing power to almost idle on approach...plane starts to sink and they apply full power...but plane KEEPS sinking...why?! Spool-time :)
Click to expand...


I totally agree, I have been using flightsim for as far back as flightsim 98 and as Katana says its all about the prep with big jets, if you get all the background work set up the take off and landing is not too difficult.
 
KatanaDV20,

Just a quick point i noticed, you say to fly the ref speed if that is what is in the fmc approach speed. The SOP for every jet i have flown is to fly vref +5 on approach that way you arrive at the TDZ at the correct speed.

Good point about the approach power, the 747 will need a minimum of 1.08 EPR to keep engines spooled, anything below that and the approach is unstable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom