Let me say up front that this is not a criticism but a question. I've often wondered about a couple aspects of VC's that I find in many if not most models, and most recently in the new Carenado C172N (the plane that I fly in real life). Specifically, it seems that a lot of VC's are designed in such a way that your POV is very close to the panel if your zoom setting is not substantially back from 100% Second, and to a lesser degree, I find the seat height and view over the cowling are often low by default. The flight 1 172 was a good example of this. When I fly a real 172, I crank my seat so that I will see a bit of the cowling out front, but in these models, if I do that, my view out the side will be looking almost at ceiling height. I'm pretty sure there are technical reasons for this, and I'm just curious if there is a layman's explanation.

I agree with you on most VCs. It's as if your face is plastered against the glass and you can see very little, if any, of the panel. I find I have to zoom out at least a notch or two to have it look anywhere near realistic. One thing I like about some of the FSD planes is that they have a bit of the cowling showing when flying which also seems realistic.Jim

Let me say up front that this is not a criticism but a question. I've often wondered about a couple aspects of VC's that I find in many if not most models, and most recently in the new Carenado C172N (the plane that I fly in real life). Specifically, it seems that a lot of VC's are designed in such a way that your POV is very close to the panel if your zoom setting is not substantially back from 100% Second, and to a lesser degree, I find the seat height and view over the cowling are often low by default. The flight 1 172 was a good example of this. When I fly a real 172, I crank my seat so that I will see a bit of the cowling out front, but in these models, if I do that, my view out the side will be looking almost at ceiling height. I'm pretty sure there are technical reasons for this, and I'm just curious if there is a layman's explanation.

In any new plane, I first tilt the view down so I can see the seat I am sitting in and move back as far as possible, until thebackrest almost disappears. Then I raise the seat until I can see well over the glareshield. In real life, I am 6'4" so I'm usedto almost touch the ceiling with my head.This usually gives me a realistic view out. I then save the flight, so I can re-load it.For planes I use often, I go and get the displacement coordinates from the saved flight and update the aircraft.cfg file, so the airplane always loads with my preferred seat position.Yes, the view out the side is impacted a bit, but it all feels much more "real"... :(

In any new plane, I first tilt the view down so I can see the seat I am sitting in and move back as far as possible, until thebackrest almost disappears. Then I raise the seat until I can see well over the glareshield. In real life, I am 6'4" so I'm usedto almost touch the ceiling with my head.This usually gives me a realistic view out. I then save the flight, so I can re-load it.For planes I use often, I go and get the displacement coordinates from the saved flight and update the aircraft.cfg file, so the airplane always loads with my preferred seat position.Yes, the view out the side is impacted a bit, but it all feels much more "real"... :(

I do the same thing with the seat position, but have never set it permanently through the aircraft.cfg file. That sounds like a good idea. Thanks! I am a very average 5'9", so when I've cranked high enough to see the cowling, I still have headroom. I'll have to make a note of what my eye level looking left is, but it doesn't seem like it's anywhere near as high as in the VC.

I haven't done it in a while, but as far as the zoom level, I think you can load up your default flight, go to the VC view, then zoom out to where you want and then save the default flight. Then, when you load other planes they will start with the newly saved zoom level. (I hope I am remembering this correctly?)