FS2002 "Lessons" (cough).. uh, let's hope the new scripting...

[turner112 52]

addresses the shortcomings - Just for chuckles I thought I'd try the lessons out. Now, Ron Machado is a nice guy, and a funny one at that, but looking over and seeing an empty seat - uh, yeah.Anyway, I noticed a few things. First, when Ron has control of the airplane, he's pretty sloppy at getting to the altitude he says he's flying at. And when he yanks that yoke back, man, watch out!I'm not sure how the engine is supposed to work, but as the flights are in a 172, the power settings seem way off - and what's with power-off descents at 90 knots? I've never flown power-off descents at 90 knots in real-world lessons; it's been either cruise descents @ 110 kts or so and approach descents @ 65-70 kts. The throttle lever also jumps around too much.On the last flight before the Private checkride, Ron fell asleep I think. He said he'd just be quiet for a while, and I just about hit a mountain... I don't think my evasive manouver woke him up, either.And I gave up after my first attempt at the check ride - the instructor pulled the plug after I was seven or eight seconds into a nearly perfect steep turn. No thanks.Let's hope whatever new scripting features come in 2004 do away with this nonsense! Oh yeah!(ooopsies... am >I;)Andrew

[LAdamson 240]

And so I tried the lesson ---- climbs & descents. Only the second lesson I've tried since purchase of FS2002, which was about the day it hit the store shelves.As to "sloppiness" at getting to altitude, what Ron is demonstrating is the effect of pulling too much yoke & airspeed bleeding off abruptly. So in effect, he's doing just fine. Power settings also seem reasonable, but then I'm probably using Ron Freimuth's modified file by default for this 172.As to the 90 knot power off descent, that's okay too. The instructor wants you to learn control and keep it in that range. In reality, it could work for spacing, or perhaps slowing to join an airport pattern. I didn't notice the throttle moving too much, but then I was too busy getting getting congratulated for my "excellent" performance!! :)On this particular ride, I think Ron was asleep again. He had me in a power off descent at 90 kias heading towards a mountain, as he was in complete control of rudder & ailerons. Since Ron wasn't saying much, I raised the nose, applied power & flew over the mountain peak. He then apparently woke up & got on my case for not staying at 90 knots. I promtly again reduced power, hit the flaps & went for a mountain landing between the trees. But Ron still wouldn't give me rudder, so I hit a nice looking pine tree. Ron uttered a few more words, but I couldn't understand them...All in all, I thought this lesson was kind of impressive, at least until the end of it. Maybe there was a hidden airport I didn't notice when Ron was asleep! I used the VC cockpit with eye-point pulled back, thanks to "active camera". On my 22" monitor, this makes all instruments still readable and add's much to the sense of flight.L.Adamson

[turner112 52]

Well, I suppose as long as you're "bleeding off airspeed" then anything goes, eh? ;) Hope he carries extra barf bags with him.My climbs/descents lesson went fine.Try the checkride - you can most likely jump right into it...Andrew

[Guest rbbarker]

They absolutely need to fix that VOR bug in the ATP checkride. I passed them all, but it took weeks of agony. The ATP was extremely difficult; making the preceeding ones look like a joke. Not only is the ATP checkride an extraordinary challenge, but it's got a bug that if you fly directly over a particular VOR while in a hold, it thinks you've left the area (because of the area of no VOR signal reception directly over the VOR)and fails you. You have to 'jig' around the VOR during the pattern. How did that slip through beta testing?Boyd BarkerSenior Command CaptainKBOS Hub ManagerWestWind Airlineshttp://home.houston.rr.com/checklist/DFexperience.jpghttp://home.houston.rr.com/checklist/checklist.html

[Guest estevesm]

I always fail the Private Pilot Checkride because the instructor thinks my steep turn is not good enough. I tried several times with no success. Can anyone give me tips on how to pass it?RgdsEsteves

[Guest groundpounder75]

90 knot power off descent - Emergency descent to 127 knots?? Anyone? Practiced these quit a bit (talk about having fun pointing the plane right down to the ground, in the real world)Steep Turns - (172)1 - Perform at Va or 95 knots2 - After 30 degress of bank, add power and however much trim to get you through - keep that rudder coordinated!!!!3 - You should be able to do the whole manuever visually and only glancing in at your gauges.4 - Keep airspeed, attitude indicator and VSI in your scan. If you are slowing down then you are climbing, if you are speeding up you are descending. It is much easier in a real plane because your sense of hearing tells you a lot. Listen to the engine and it will tell you good stuff! Keep the bank coming also because if you roll a bit like to 30 degress or so, you will begin to gain altitude. Keep the bank at 45 degrees.5 - Steep turns to the right are harder for some to maintain altitude. Keep the ball of the attitude indicator a little higher or above the false horizon.6 - When you roll out on your heading, reduce power and take out trim.7 - Steep turns are better done visually then under the hood. I think it is easier when you get a picture of the outside and you see what is going on. You will begin to feel when you are not doing it correctly.8 - Practice them a lot. Do them visually and then under the hood. Pick a point on the horizon when doing them visually and then start at that point and roll out on that point. Keep doing them. Stay in a steep turn for as many 360 degree turns as you need to get the feel of the plane and maintaining a level attitude.9 - Adverse yaw will get you.Have fun....