Check this video out: http://www.flightscenery.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=438and here for the 767:http://www.simradar.com/Feature/Screen_Cap...lips/index.html Man, those videos are great! I felt like I was in a real airplane. Now, sorry to break the topic, but I must. I have been looking at the TrackIR equipment ever since I watched an amazing video of someone using the level D 767 package, and saw how the view is just so much more realistic. To be honest, I hate VC's because they are cumbersome to look at switches and the movement is slow, and it eats frame rates too. However, this video of PDX again shows just how much more realistic TrackIR is when used in a flight sim. I am currently building a 737NG full flight deck and I look foward to it, but to be very honest, a TrackIR system on a very large, High Def monitor is very tempting! What are those who own a TrackIR system's thoughts? I have always wanted to a full flight deck and still will build the NG, but Im thinking of a TrackIR system for use over the next several years as the flight deck is being built, to satisfy the immersion hunger!Eric

Um- It's hard to say actually. I have TIR3 w/ vector expansion, and it's very immersive for some things- but kind of annoying for others.I don't use it for longer flights, or any precision stuff. Even on the lowest sensitivity settings, it can get a little annoying. Every time you look at your keyboard the view changes, etc. I sometimes find it hard to do precision manuevers with it. And trying to click VC buttons with it on is an excercise in futility.That being said, for aerobatics, or Sunday cruising in a Piper Cub it's unbeatable. Very immersive.I think it stinks for ILS approaches and other precision maneuvers. You don't want the view moving up and down when you are trying to read the instruments, and you don't want to have to keep your head completely still to avoid it. Either way it's more difficult that using the hat switch.

Hi Christian,Thank you for sharing your opinion on TIR3. I was very tempted to get one, but I always suspected it would become very annoying after a while if the view moved with every movement of your head. I fly mostly IFR in an airliner and as you said, I didn't think you would want that on an IFR approach or even on a 'long' cruise. Having said that, if there was a quick way like with a joystick or yoke button to disconnect & reconnect the motion, I think that might work. In other words, can you quickly disable the head tracking and quickly re-enable it if you want to look out of the window for a few seconds for instance?Thanks,Maurice

Yes- You can do that. The default Hotkey is F10? F11? Don't remember, but it's there. All you need to do is assign that to a button and it takes care of that.You may really like it- I am going to revisit it when I finish my deskpit- so that I can turn knobs with real knobs.It really is an amazing device, but it demands some attention to use it correctly and get the most out of it.

HelloYes you can assign a button on your controls to pause the trackir and another button to put it into precision mode (slow tracking) to enable you to hit the switches and buttons easier.I cant figure how anyone after watching that video with the Decathlon over rhode island can prefer sitting behind a 2D panel,once you fly with a trackir + vector there is no going back believe me.

That is interesting. As a fighter pilot, I had to do a lot of looking while landing. When a fighter comes into the break (the 60 degree pitch over the runway) you spend a lot of time looking sideways at he runway to align yourself for the final turn. When you come off the perch and start the final turn you are constantly going from outside to inside (well today they would just use the HUD) as you judge the final turn.A single monitor just doesn

>A single monitor just doesn

You don't need track IR to pan the view with a joystick- that is built into flight sim. You can assign an axis to view pan. I've tried it- it might work well with a mini joystick like the thumb joystick on my HOTAS Cougar.As far as disabling the VC- I'd leave it active. It can be hard to tell if you are looking exactly straight, so you might leave it running for reference.Track IR is amazing for aerobatic stuff, and non-precision flying like the decathlon video. It just gets hard to keep your view straight when you are trying to concentrate.

>You don't need track IR to pan the view with a joystick- >that is built into flight sim. You can assign an axis to view>pan. I've tried it- it might work well with a mini joystick>like the thumb joystick on my HOTAS Cougar.Yep, I know. I even tried this once a bit but never looked into it really well.>As far as disabling the VC- I'd leave it active. It can be>hard to tell if you are looking exactly straight, so you might>leave it running for reference.>>Track IR is amazing for aerobatic stuff, and non-precision>flying like the decathlon video. It just gets hard to keep>your view straight when you are trying to concentrate.Is it really that important to know you look *exactly straight*? You sense the direction of motion and the way the plane reacts to your controls.. I mean, your head is not exactly facing forward in a real plane either, maybe it is not really a problem at all?//T

It's definately a problem- the biggest one actually. In a real plane, I can absolutely feel which is directly in front of me. Not only do you have the tactile feedback, but you have a 180 degree view at any point (since your eyes can see about that).In the sim with Track IR, having your head turn a fraction of an inch could mean the runway directly ahead of you five miles out now looks like you are going to land in the field next to it. So you bank towards it. Now you are not going the right way. Then you realize you made an error and begin to correct, all the while trying to keep your &(&*^*()& head straight so your view is really ahead. Now you have an un-stabilised approach, which should require your undivided attention, and you still have to keep your friggin head straight so you don't have to go around.For VFR flying, it's not a big deal. One of my favorite things is coming in high and slipping in.But for instrument flying, or flying at night it could be a nightmare. Imagine you are 50 feet above DH when the runway lights show up 10 degrees off your heading. Are you off the localizer, or is your head turned? Better figure it out pretty quickly...

Touch the space bar and you will be looking exactly striaght ahead when in the 2d Or VC mode.

Hello everyone.I would like to reinforce the use of the Pan Left Right assignment to the Twist / Z axis. I am now assuming that we are talking about MSFS FS9 in VC mode. I

Well - I'd need to try it out to know. It's pretty much the same when landing in crosswind for example - the nose of the plane is not necessarily pointing at where you are going.I would guess the relative direction of movement is what would make you know where you are going. Of course this is very very dependant on your visual display (need a large one, perhaps a fresnel) and a FAST framerate. Stuttering motion is sure to make you confused about this, but if the machine is very smooth, it might work. Hard to say - your experience clearly says otherwise though. Dunno.//Tuomas

Eric,I've been using TrackIR 3 with the Vector feature for a while and I really love it. There is SO much adjustment built in you can tailor the movements to what you want. You get full control over the settings of each axis.Each has it's own graph and you can move it in many places over the width to form the kind of reaction you want. Dead zones, exponential, different for right and left / Up & Down... you name it.Plus as has been said, if you get yourself messed up, you can hit a key or button and center your view in a split second 8-)I love being able to sit up straighter and take a better look out the front on appoach. Also great to be able to lean forward and get closer view of panel etc.Just as great is the "lean" axis... TrackIR has made it an all new sim experience for me PLUS it works in other software if you have a use for it.The only big thing I had to get used to was that you still have to look forward with your eyes even when you turn your head but that gets automatic after very few flights and adjustments. Can you guess... I like mine :-lol

If the next step is VR-glasses with this tracking system then I would get real excited about this.Maybe a PSP small TFT which you mount on a helmet close to your eyes ?But then you'd need to be able to set up the track IR such that it makes 1:1 movements.Now THAT would be something !