Can I assume than Geoff that you might recommend I grab a copy of X-Plane for my Baron re-creation flights? I know FSX has its shortcomings, the underpowered Baron being one of them, but I never really thought about trying X-Plane.

If you are willing to mess around with it a while I think you can get much better results. I bought the commercial Baron (which has not been updated for 9 version yet)-took a couple weeks and got a 90% functional version of my panel/avionics in and then tweaked the fight dynamics. Xplane without a doubt does multi better-you can even synch the engines by sound.Doing the kind of avionics you have may be difficult at this point though....

If you are willing to mess around with it a while I think you can get much better results. I bought the commercial Baron (which has not been updated for 9 version yet)-took a couple weeks and got a 90% functional version of my panel/avionics in and then tweaked the fight dynamics. Xplane without a doubt does multi better-you can even synch the engines by sound.Doing the kind of avionics you have may be difficult at this point though....

I still miss my G1000 though. I think I'm gonna run out in a few minutes and pick up a copy of X-Plane. Worst case scenario at least I can say I tried it.

I still miss my G1000 though. I think I'm gonna run out in a few minutes and pick up a copy of X-Plane. Worst case scenario at least I can say I tried it.

JeremyJust make sure to update it-the new beta adds a lot of things...then tweak a while...

JeremyJust make sure to update it-the new beta adds a lot of things...then tweak a while...

:( Tweaking be darned!! Al Bundy wasn't a tweaker, was he?After what seemed like a three hour tour on the USS Minnow, my HD is filled with XP 9, again. I'm in the process of trying to download the OpenSceneryX files and should be completed by next weekend. No, seriously at the pace it's going these files will be done around next weekend, unless I leave the computer on 24/7, then I may be done by Wednesday.Then I'll start X-Plane up and spend 30, 45, maybe 60 minutes tweaking and setting joystick adjustments. Then I'll see if it works in XP. If not, I'll go back and re-tweak for another 30 minutes or so, start XP and try to fly, and so on.If I should make it into the air I'll be staring at an airport (99.99%) of them that have no real world semblance to what they really look like. In a past install I was able to find something that made Honolulu Intl. almost look close, except for the lack of buildings and such. But as I fly around Hawaii (if I can get the joystick settings right) I'll be staring at scenery that doesn't have seasonal changes. In Hawaii this is OK, but what about the rest of the world?As a (wannabe) scenery designer I'd like to enhance Hawaii with some better resolution mesh, but in reading the forum (and there's only really one!) it seems I need an advanced degree from an Ivy League University to accomplish this. Roads??? Surely you jest! (And don't call me Shirley!)In perusing the forum (singular), I see that X-Plane will follow the whims and desires of it's creator. That's fine, as it gives the flock an opportunity to learn about all the COOL and NEAT things that have been implemented. I just love that 10th grade lingo from days gone by. It's just REALLY NEAT! But in that singular forum I don't see that much of a welcoming attitude. It's more like that clique that stood over in a special part of the quad and unless you were part of that clique you weren't welcome. And here comes those Microsoft Flight Simmers, eeyyywwwhhhh. Oh, don't plan on downloading much from that singular forum, your post count isn't high enough to get more than one or two files from them. You need to "contribute" to their community before they let you see what the sim has to offer. But if you do post...Despite all this, I look forward to some how, some way, getting X-Plane to let me fly a plane and see what it offers. And I'm sure for the 40,000 that buy the product every year and keep the developer stocked in new COOL and NEAT toys, it's worth the hassle.Welcome one and all to the successor to FSX?!? :(

I'll take that as a nay vote for X-Plane. I finally managed to find a copy and am installing it right now. It does seem as though I will be on my third shave by the time I get done with all of the scenery, and I will still have the update to do. However, if X-Plane can recreate my Baron and/or (preferably and) 206 flights with more accuracy than the underpowered FSX Baron and the Carenado 206, which I can not install the G1000 in, than I will be happy. One thing I've noticed in this thread is the differences among what people want out of there sim. My hope is that X-Plane will provide a more authentic experience in the cockpit, and if so I will be okay with other shortcomings......if not, at least I'm only out $29.99.

:( Tweaking be darned!! Al Bundy wasn't a tweaker, was he?After what seemed like a three hour tour on the USS Minnow, my HD is filled with XP 9, again. I'm in the process of trying to download the OpenSceneryX files and should be completed by next weekend. No, seriously at the pace it's going these files will be done around next weekend, unless I leave the computer on 24/7, then I may be done by Wednesday.Then I'll start X-Plane up and spend 30, 45, maybe 60 minutes tweaking and setting joystick adjustments. Then I'll see if it works in XP. If not, I'll go back and re-tweak for another 30 minutes or so, start XP and try to fly, and so on.If I should make it into the air I'll be staring at an airport (99.99%) of them that have no real world semblance to what they really look like. In a past install I was able to find something that made Honolulu Intl. almost look close, except for the lack of buildings and such. But as I fly around Hawaii (if I can get the joystick settings right) I'll be staring at scenery that doesn't have seasonal changes. In Hawaii this is OK, but what about the rest of the world?As a (wannabe) scenery designer I'd like to enhance Hawaii with some better resolution mesh, but in reading the forum (and there's only really one!) it seems I need an advanced degree from an Ivy League University to accomplish this. Roads??? Surely you jest! (And don't call me Shirley!)In perusing the forum (singular), I see that X-Plane will follow the whims and desires of it's creator. That's fine, as it gives the flock an opportunity to learn about all the COOL and NEAT things that have been implemented. I just love that 10th grade lingo from days gone by. It's just REALLY NEAT! But in that singular forum I don't see that much of a welcoming attitude. It's more like that clique that stood over in a special part of the quad and unless you were part of that clique you weren't welcome. And here comes those Microsoft Flight Simmers, eeyyywwwhhhh. Oh, don't plan on downloading much from that singular forum, your post count isn't high enough to get more than one or two files from them. You need to "contribute" to their community before they let you see what the sim has to offer. But if you do post...Despite all this, I look forward to some how, some way, getting X-Plane to let me fly a plane and see what it offers. And I'm sure for the 40,000 that buy the product every year and keep the developer stocked in new COOL and NEAT toys, it's worth the hassle.Welcome one and all to the successor to FSX?!? :(

Lance-glad you are giving it a try. It has its' frustrations for sure-but there are lots of rewards for being patient-at least in some areas very different from fs.I'd be interested in your take on some of the fs to xplane scenery import utilities. I tried importing your great O05 scenery-got many of the hangers etc. but didn't seem to get much more. I asked about that and was told that the imports don't fully support 9.0 after-don't know if that is the case or not. I didn't spend a lot of effort trying to figure out the import utilities (there are two from what I can see) so could be user error on my part. I agree with the "clique" thing-but probably they would say the same about us-why I am enjoying our discussion here. It would be nice if we got the avsim xplane forum here going/hopping-Jim pointed me to one on another site which has similar newbies trying to figure the sim out...Personally -I have never been a great one on seasons. I hate winter which we have 6 months of the year where I live-so when I sim I prefer the scenery of the warmer months or like where you luckily live all the time-after all-winter is just a bunch of snow and ice and shivering. Fall is nice , but fs looks a little too neon for me to believe. Spring doesn't look all that different.But again-xplane lacks seasons, generic airport buildings, high res textures like fs, and probably a few more things I can't think of right now.But xplane has better water, better airplanes (if you are willing to tweak, buy a 3rd party aircraft which may not work properly with the next upgrade..lol), better weather overall and its effects (not always in the looks department in certain aspects, but in others yes), better systems failures, of course better "smoothness" and lots of other stuff.It is just different..but many of these differences I find more useful..

But xplane has better water, better airplanes (if you are willing to tweak, buy a 3rd party aircraft which may not work properly with the next upgrade..lol),

First off, I still have not taken my flight sim CPU in for repair. And it's been about two months. But when it comes to airplanes, I've done a few of my own comparisons. If I put the RealAir Spitfire against the P-51 designed for X-Plane, the Spit comes out the big winner by far. I find the RealAir Spit's takeoff roll, use of required rudder, and landing sequence in reagards to power and weight................vastly more satisfying than with the X-Plane model. Although the X-Plane model is rather nice graphics wise, I quit flying it after just a few times. To me, the Spit was a lot of fun to land, thanks to the need of using real life power and flaring techniques for the perfect landings without bounce.If the X-Plane model can do this, then great! But can it? I don't know.... At this point, thanks to Geoff's testing with X-Plane, I'm becoming more open minded in regards to X-Plane. I actually do own versions 8 & 9, but have never really got into it..............so to speak.And BTW, I've been up in a 1944 P-51D for a bit of reference.L.Adamson

:( Tweaking be darned!! Al Bundy wasn't a tweaker, was he?

The "Don't feed the troll" saying comes to mind.Marco

The "Don't feed the troll" saying comes to mind.Marco

That's almost funny, Marco. Almost. I'm guessing you're part of the clan at that singular forum for information and downloads. The one you have to "contribute" to?After installing X-Plane yesterday I eventually went and looked at how much HD space I know have used, as I maintain one HD for flight sim related stuff. It's a little too high, so I'm trying to pare down my X-Plane footprint. I started up disk 1 and it gives me the option to add or remove scenery. It properly notes that it won't affect anything other than default files. Off it goes to scan the files, all 52,358 of them. But when it got to about 24,000 the process slowed. It's fun watching the counter "Scanning xxxxx of 52358 files." increment by 10 at a time. Guess the developer never tested that some people might want to winnow down the storage footprint? I could try it all over again to see if just deleting the install folder and reinstalling would be quicker?I'm on about my third or fourth attempt to see what XP holds. And way back I mentioned I would comment about the experience. If the prospect that someone may not have positive and REALLY COOL things to say about XP disturbs you or others, so be it. I'm still trying to be objective about the experience and approach it as a normal simmer. But with each attempt I'm finding more and more to be frustrated about. And if I'm frustrated by some of the happenings and consider myself a little tech savvy, think about all the people buying XP, trying to get it to function, even in a basic manner, who end up shelving the product. I can't help but wonder out of the last 100,000 people who have bought XP how many still are utilizing to some degree?I readily admit that I may not be the prototypical XP user. I'm not much into planes. I'd rather be immersed with the thoughts of flying, scenery appreciation from up above. And I've gained a fondness for something that looks like an airport, because don't all flights start and end at one, hopefully?But I'll stick with it. I really do want to see what Hawaii looks like in XP. And I'll quietly look through that forum in my attempts to glean what information I can about just what it takes to be a successful XP scenery wonk. Heck, isn't there one thread that's 72 pages long explaining what can and can't be done? That should keep me out of your hair for a little while.

The "Don't feed the troll" saying comes to mind.Marco

It's impossible to "troll" in an MSFS dominated Hangar Chat forum.......At least regarding X-Plane! :( L.Adamson

I'm on about my third or fourth attempt to see what XP holds. And way back I mentioned I would comment about the experience. If the prospect that someone may not have positive and REALLY COOL things to say about XP disturbs you or others, so be it. I'm still trying to be objective about the experience and approach it as a normal simmer.

Hi MeshMan,I'll try to explain better my reply to your post.This may surprise you, but I agree with a lot of the concerns you have with X-Plane (same with Larry! :) ). Yes, I'm very supportive about X-Plane, but also critical of it. So, I'm not disturbed by what you said, but how you said it, and the tone you employed.LET ME MAKE AN EXAMPLE. LET'S SAY I'D WRITTEN A POST LIKE THIS:"After a lot of attempts, I finally managed to get through the activation process and finally installed FSX. Luckily I'm not planning to change my hardware soon, I don't want to go through it again, trying to explain my issues to an outsourced indian guy who can barely speak english.Then I started FSX and... Wait a minute, why the terrain is so blurry? And all those stutters? Oh my God, my FPS are really poor... I really shouldn'have to spend a lot of time searching through the forums and tweaking obscure .cfg files just trying to alleviate those issues...Then, I finally managed it to run satisfactorily and started flying but... What is that? Why does my country looks like Sahara?And what about the aircrafts? Why do they seem to run on rails during ground rolls? No slippery runways? And those landing lights are really ugly!"Etc, Etc, Etc.If I'd written a post like that, how many members would have called me a troll, or reacted much worse than I did with you? A post written with a tone like that would be offensive and provoking, and although currently FSX is not my sim of choice, I reckon its goods and bads and would not write a post like that, because I know it has a lot of good things to offer!I hope I explained myself...Marco

If I'd written a post like that, how many members would have called me a troll, or reacted much worse than I did with you? A post written with a tone like that would be offensive and provoking, and although currently FSX is not my sim of choice, I reckon its goods and bads and would not write a post like that, because I know it has a lot of good things to offer!I hope I explained myself...

But I found it quite amusing! :). It helps make up for everything I can't say at X-Plane org.... :( L.Adamson

3.) I stay away from personal attacks in any form and word my posts very carefully.

What an interesting claim... ...yet somehow you managed to write five paragraphs immediately following this claim, in which you essentially eviscerated me... ...as a response to a post in which I admitted in red italic text that the misunderstanding was entirely mine. :(

I'm sorry if it came across that way, I was addressing tasman. I apologize n4gix.TomK

I'm sorry if it came across that way, I was addressing tasman. I apologize n4gix.TomK

No problem, Tom... BTW, "n4gix" is my amateur radio callsign; Bill is my name... ;)I'll try harder to appear less "provocative..." :(