The 'Official' Screenshot & Tips thread 4 FSX enthusiasts & flight simmers.

Vuvuzela · 25 May 2012 at 11:33

!bluetonic! said:
Not to my knowledge.

Someone should set one up.

The next best thing would be to have a fly-in night on VATSIM either GA or Heavies. A one hour route somewhere in the UK.

That would be great if we could setup something like this

I so want to fly on Vatsim or IVOA, just not sure what to do, where to start etc. I had some training on IVAO last Sunday but had to cut it short blah blah..... :rolleyes:

and not done anything since, just flying on my own

What about the multiplayer section on FSX, is it not easy to setup something in that?

Another question.....

I missed out on the Aerosoft sale last week. It would be good if we can set something up where we can inform people which sales are happening when?? I guess just post in here? I know Just Flight still have their 20% sale on. Any other sales going on?

Shashman · 25 May 2012 at 14:16

Vuvuzela said:
The airbus I'm using is the Just Flight one - lite series. It's a very basic FMC, but it's still fun to fly.

I used to swear by 'Lite' products, but I can't stand them now haha! Just goes to show how much my simming preferences have matured.
Its all about merging CLS exterior with Wilco interior. Best of both worlds

picnic · 25 May 2012 at 14:44

Vuvuzela said:
I missed out on the Aerosoft sale last week. It would be good if we can set something up where we can inform people which sales are happening when?? I guess just post in here? I know Just Flight still have their 20% sale on. Any other sales going on?

PC Aviator seem to do 10% off every Tuesday, they have a special on this w/e as well. 10% off everything, 50% off their megascenery.

Vuvuzela · 25 May 2012 at 15:12

Shashman said:
I used to swear by 'Lite' products, but I can't stand them now haha! Just goes to show how much my simming preferences have matured.
Its all about merging CLS exterior with Wilco interior. Best of both worlds

I bought the ifly 737 about a week ago and only played around with it for a hour or so. I do need to spend a lot more time on it.

But I’m really enjoying the “lite” planes(a320 from Just Flight is very good). You can be up and flying really quick and not read through pages and pages just to get the engines started :rolleyes:

I guess you will get to a stage where you will be up and flying really quick on the advanced ones too.

PC Aviator seem to do 10% off every Tuesday, they have a special on this w/e as well. 10% off everything, 50% off their mega scenery

Thanks for that. I will take a look.

toString · 25 May 2012 at 15:54

I've been playing around with the PMDG 737nxg lately. Getting to grips with the FMC has been like learning how to use a computer all over again..

Back when I used to use the default 737 and use GPS to go direct to airports, this is certainly more involved. Is there any way to generate good/realistic flight plans between airports?

I've been using SID's and STAR's by trial and error and just going direct between the 2, but obviously this lacks the realism..

ringo747 · 25 May 2012 at 16:36

toString said:
I've been playing around with the PMDG 737nxg lately. Getting to grips with the FMC has been like learning how to use a computer all over again..

Back when I used to use the default 737 and use GPS to go direct to airports, this is certainly more involved. Is there any way to generate good/realistic flight plans between airports?

I've been using SID's and STAR's by trial and error and just going direct between the 2, but obviously this lacks the realism..

You need to look at vRoute - it has a database of flightplans and will also do fuel planning for the NGX and many other addons. It also allows you to export .rte files for the PMDG products which you can then activate using company routes in the FMC. It saves having to enter all the airways if you don't want to. All the UK SID/STAR charts are available on the NATS website. vRoute is very good but PFPX should be even better when it comes out.

I guess it depends how serious you want to take it - PFPX will generate a 'cirrus' like flight report which could be 20+ pages including WX. vRoute can produce a flight report but it is fairly basic.

There are a number of free route generators but their accuracy is often questioned. With my VA I can request the daily flightplan which is taken directly from the flight planning systems that the airlines use so it is properly 'real world'.

Shashman · 25 May 2012 at 16:48

I used vroute, paid for it. Was great but there were quite a few city pairs that weren't in the database.
Pretty handy as you can do your fuel loads, etc with it.

Failing that, there's this free route planner which is decent enough but a bit outdated and 'generic'.

Bear in mind that if you want the best results you'll need to buy up to date AIRAC cycles for your various aircraft. Think the last free one dates back to 2008.

As for 'Lite' products, well, I passed the stage of wanting to get up and in the air as quick as possible quite fast. For me it's all about complex system simulation, having to program the FMC, fuel and load management, all that. It's much, much more satisfying, and like me, I think a lot of people who start off with 'Lite' end up wanting to do more.

!bluetonic! · 25 May 2012 at 19:06

Vuvuzela said:
That would be great if we could setup something like this

Can anyone lead the way on this?

Vuvuzela said:
I so want to fly on Vatsim or IVOA, just not sure what to do, where to start etc.

Is there OCUK teamspeak or other chat thing we can use? I can try and teach you all I know, or at least lead you to water..

Vatsim In a nutshell

Get yourself signed up on Vatsim and from this get a numeric username and password
Download FSInn
Launch FSX with a default Cessna at Cardiff / EGFF in GA parking. Don't start on the runway or move your plane anywhere from where you launched. It stays put for now.
In your 'Flightplan', fill it in with both airports for EGFF. Let them know that you're 'listening in' and you're a newbie/beginner in the notes section.
Now look in the ATC window and change frequency to EGFF_APP, EGFF_TWR or anything else that takes your fancy.
Listen, listen some more, make notes, listen some more.

Shashman · 25 May 2012 at 19:26

I'll sign myself up for that tutorial, I've been flying for VA's for about 4 years, and never had the guts to go 'live' haha.

Just seems so daunting, down to worrying I'll get all the phraseology wrong and make a boob of myself

Haven't got FSX installed at the moment (in the process of building my new rig) but will do soon enough

P.S.

Back when I was flying regularly, I used Alpha India and World of AI AI flightplans/packages, then I found this sort of 'unofficial' AI package called Morten's AI Traffic Pack, which was awesome as it installed everything automatically as opposed to doing everything manually with flight plan, aircraft model and aircraft paint. This was about a year or so ago. What's the situation now with AI? I've never been a fan of the payware commercial AI packages you can buy as they're not very current plus the models and paintjobs weren't of good enough quality for me.

!bluetonic! · 25 May 2012 at 20:04

Shashman said:
I'll sign myself up for that tutorial, I've been flying for VA's for about 4 years, and never had the guts to go 'live' haha.

Just seems so daunting, down to worrying I'll get all the phraseology wrong and make a boob of myself

I've been there, and still sweat it out making sure I do things correctly. There's a certain 'personality' that a lot of controllers seem to conform to, but they give up their time for free so I can't complain too much. It is a big jump, but does get easier.

You need to put the effort in too. Research the flight plan, have a aerodrome parking guide, taxi and runway guide for your chosen airport and be courteous to ATC.

I did get emailed the most useful phraseology guide from a very helpful controller. So email me and I can get it to you.

Shashman said:
<snip>What's the situation now with AI? I've never been a fan of the payware

I bought 'Traffic X' but find flying online with VATSIM there's always traffic about.

Check out http://www.vattastic.com/
To see what's happing on VATSIM right now.

toString · 25 May 2012 at 20:06

Do mods like the pmdg 737 work online? (ive never been online with fsx).

It would be interesting to have a go at online stuff. And have something for the TCAS system to look for

!bluetonic! · 25 May 2012 at 20:13

toString said:
Do mods like the pmdg 737 work online? (ive never been online with fsx).

It would be interesting to have a go at online stuff. And have something for the TCAS system to look for

My ifly 737 works online and for that matter, all planes will work online, but if others haven't got the same plane, it will be substituted for the 'next best thing'.

Shashman · 25 May 2012 at 21:00

Ah that's a point: How do I see other aircraft? Are they represented as default FSX aircraft or if somebody was flying a, say MD-11, would I see their model?

!bluetonic! · 25 May 2012 at 21:02

If you have an MD11 installed, you'd see that. If not, they're the default lot as close as they can be.

!bluetonic! · 25 May 2012 at 21:05

I'm online now flying as PIA369.

Jersey to Cardiff.

Seeing if this is a viable route for Pakistan International Airlines.

If you're about, I can do a shared cockpit after?

robfosters · 25 May 2012 at 21:20

toString said:
I've been playing around with the PMDG 737nxg lately. Getting to grips with the FMC has been like learning how to use a computer all over again..

Back when I used to use the default 737 and use GPS to go direct to airports, this is certainly more involved. Is there any way to generate good/realistic flight plans between airports?

I've been using SID's and STAR's by trial and error and just going direct between the 2, but obviously this lacks the realism..

I use a program called fscommander and I love it. Simply put your dep and des airports in and click either a low altitude or high altitude plan and it will generate a realistic plan. Then you can add you sids, stars and transitions. The program shows the paths of each one, so you can make sure you have the correct one before inserting it into your flight plan.

Of course it's not like reading actual charts, and they are still handy to have for details like runway headings, ILS frequencies, elevations, glidescope intercept altitude and other things.

It just makes the flightplan nice and simple to produce. A couple of screenies of a departure from gatwick and a flightplan to Jersey.

Shashman · 25 May 2012 at 21:28

FSCommander is indeed a very very useful utility

Do any of you guys fly for VAs?

I've flown for:

Simairlines (now defunct, had over 1000 hours with them

)
MetroAir Virtual
Thomson Virtual
Flyingtigers (my favourite one simply due to the choice of airlines routes and aircraft available, including cargo and classics)
Virtual UPS

Which ones do you recommend? I go for route variety, realism and features available (flight planning, dispatch, etc)

!bluetonic! · 25 May 2012 at 21:36

I don't, but the OCUK-Air would be a good start.

Are the VAs strict, or can you fly a couple of times a month?

robfosters · 25 May 2012 at 21:38

I fly with bavirtual. There is a waiting list and a simple entry exam for them, but it is a very good setup with plenty of routes if you are willing to fly a range of aircraft.

toString · 25 May 2012 at 22:12

A waiting list to play in an online virtual airline is both unbelievable and believable