Greetings,I was reading the response from Ron Ginsberg about flight planning when I started thinking about the realism involved with this hobby. And I

-------------------------So at what level of realism are you at? I have a cockpit now under the stairs. You can see it in the attached photo. ------------------------

Here is my level of realism- using a 6 year old AMD 1.8 GHz computer. Don't laugh- it works surprisingly well! And it's behind the door in the master bedroom- she got the den for a sewing room! The synched triple views are so compelling, that I abandoned the 737s -747 & FMCs for VFR, low & slow only.Now if we could only persuade the developers to design 2D panels to take advantage of the "real estate" available with multi monitors!Alex ReidDawn- DreamFleet Bonanza on final at KLAX

Here is my level of realism- using a 6 year old AMD 1.8 GHz computer. Don't laugh- it works surprisingly well! And it's behind the door in the master bedroom- she got the den for a sewing room! The synched triple views are so compelling, that I abandoned the 737s -747 & FMCs for VFR, low & slow only.Now if we could only persuade the developers to design 2D panels to take advantage of the "real estate" available with multi monitors!Alex ReidDawn- DreamFleet Bonanza on final at KLAX

Wow, now that's a sweet setup. Is that Ultimate Terrain that you're using? How are you syncing the montiors? And what's the performace like?I'm getting a new laptop here soon, so I'll have two 17" LCD's that I can add to my cockpit. Not sure how I'm going to use them though.How did you manage to get the clip fastened to your yoke?

Wow, now that's a sweet setup. Is that Ultimate Terrain that you're using? How are you syncing the montiors? And what's the performace like?I'm getting a new laptop here soon, so I'll have two 17" LCD's that I can add to my cockpit. Not sure how I'm going to use them though.How did you manage to get the clip fastened to your yoke?

------------------Matt- yes, Ultimate Terrain and Ground Environment. Two monitors from the AGP card, one mon from a PCI: both cards are GeForce FX5200. The CPU is an AMD XP2200 1.8 GHz with 2GB Ram.Monitors are synched in FS9 Panel Cfg by altering the angle of the two outer views. (via Camera adjmt. in FSX) The amount of Outer View shift is a function of the bezel separation distance versus the (horiz) width of the middle monitor. If you measure these to 1 mm or 1/16" you can get a very precise result for the degrees of view shift - to 1/100

Realism is all in the eyes of the beholder.. :-)I need some place, the I start making my own pit.. Will post some shots of my current setup tho..

The two pics above are a little much for me. When FS is not enough I just go out and fly in the real world (hince my pic to the left). I do have a list of must haves to make FS9 as real as it gets though:1. REX2. Flight1 Ground Environment Pro (latest SP)3. Contrails Pro4. Zinertek Water5. TrackIR6. CH USB Yoke/Peddles7. Great set of headphones8. Every realistic aircraft I can find. FS9 holds the record for me for most payware I've attached to any version of Flight Simulator. With the advent of the VC I fly only aircraft with decent virtual cockpits. Every detailed airport I can find I have in my install of FS9...

I think that's the "paradox" of being a simmer. No matter how "realist" you want it to be, it will never be close enough to the real deal. Ever (for home-based PC's that is). The most realistic you can get is buying your very own Level-D simulator of your favourite aircraft.As for a reasonable home simulation, I'd go for a home-built cockpit. My jaw have dropped to the very floor though, when I see those home-built cockpits videos on YouTube. One would think that someone deciding to spend serious money on such entertainment would actually have a clue about flying the model he is trying to simulate! Amazingly, no. They fire up that thing and fly it like if they were the newest rookie in town trying to simulate to fly a cartoon (read default) 747. Is just sad IMO.I've found that hardcore for me means: Flying the machine as close as possible to how it's done in real life. That means on aircraft procedures (checklists and correct flying technique) and navigation procedures (proper SID, STAR usage, etc). Using real world routes. Using real world weather. If possible flying online. And finally try to simulate airline operations (performing TOC, TOD, ETA, time off, time out, time on, time in and fuel calculations).Pardon me if I hurt any of your feelings, but I've found that the flight controls paraphernalia (yoke, throttles, pedals) is a bit over the edge. Having flown for real and having flown in the sim with those thingies, I figured out it's not worth it for me. Since it will not do much for my realism wishes, I'll just stay with my plain 15 bucks joystick that so far hasn't given me any problems. I'll continue to fly in the sim with my laptop; when I want to have 180 degrees of visual, I'll get on the plane and fly for real. A nice aircraft simulation (like the Maddog), and a nice freeware scenery (payware for my own country scenery) real weather, online flight, realistic flight planning and I'll be as happy as a pig in a plop.Just my 2C.

I think that's the "paradox" of being a simmer. No matter how "realist" you want it to be, it will never be close enough to the real deal. Ever (for home-based PC's that is). The most realistic you can get is buying your very own Level-D simulator of your favourite aircraft.As for a reasonable home simulation, I'd go for a home-built cockpit. My jaw have dropped to the very floor though, when I see those home-built cockpits videos on YouTube. One would think that someone deciding to spend serious money on such entertainment would actually have a clue about flying the model he is trying to simulate! Amazingly, no. They fire up that thing and fly it like if they were the newest rookie in town trying to simulate to fly a cartoon (read default) 747. Is just sad IMO.I've found that hardcore for me means: Flying the machine as close as possible to how it's done in real life. That means on aircraft procedures (checklists and correct flying technique) and navigation procedures (proper SID, STAR usage). Using real world routes-. Using real world weather. If possible flying online. And finally try to simulate airline operations (performing TOC, TOD, ETA, time off, time out, time on, time in and fuel calculations).Pardon me if I hurt any of your feelings, but I've found that flight controls paraphernalia (yoke, throttles, pedals) a bit over the edge. Having flown for real and having flown in the sim with those thingies, I figured out it's not worth it for me. Since it will not do much for my realism wishes, I'll just stay with my plain 15 bucks joystick that so far hasn't given me any problems. I'll continue to fly in the sim with my laptop; when I want to have 180 degrees of visual, I'll get on the plane and fly for real. A nice aircraft simulation (like the Maddog), and a nice freeware scenery (payware for my own country scenery) real weather, online flight, realistic flight planning and I'll be as happy as a pig in a plop.Just my 2C.

Agreed on both the procedural and hardware aspects. I even think my Saitek X52, rudder pedals and Track IR are a bit over the top. I think it's been a great flight when I've successfully done a missed approach due to traffic on a busy airport on VATSIM or IVAO. That's simming heaven for me.

I think it's been a great flight when I've successfully done a missed approach due to traffic on a busy airport on VATSIM or IVAO. That's simming heaven for me.

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that way :(

Well, as far as home flying can be called 'realistic', my idea for it is (in no special order):1. Ideally (but not essentially) save money to buy your hardware toys, for example like these:

2. Study operational manuals to know your plane type in and out3. Follow proper checklists and procedures (great if you have a fellow simfriend to fly the sessions with you)4. Gather great addons (Les mentioned some of them above) including professionally depicted airports with current charts5. Prepare a correct IFR flightplan6. Connect to VATSIM during busy hours7. Get your real world weather8. Send your wife to a wellness centre and/or your kids to visit your parentsI have witnessed an experienced real world 767 captain to be totally amazed when seeing a situation like this. :(

My view is why not have descent hardware if you can afford it? a little Nissan Micra will get me from A - B but it's much more fun in a BMW M3, same thing with a home entertainment system, I can watch a film on my Laptop, but it's much better on 50" LCD with surround sound. Good flight controls, TrackIR, Multiple screens and big sound system all add to the immersion and Fun. In the UK it costs on average

When I'm flying I'm eating the same horrible food you get when travelling at FL360

Hey all,Hardcore v. hardware.I have only a low low spec PC and a verrry cheap joystick with a horrible mechanical slackness that introduces its own dead-zone. No cockpit or any other hardware as the PC is used for everything else, including DVDs, music and a heavy dose of my daughter's Sims. Jeez, I don't even have an internet connection at home.Software is limited to:Free airports & scenery from here and FlightsimFSGlobal (may change to FSGenesis as FSGlobal mesh is geographically offset from MS stock LWM)Ultimate Terrain EuropeUltimate TrafficUK VFR airports & terrainand the absolutely indispensible RC4I would like better weather but the PC will only handle the medium res HDE2 cloud textures and tends to grind to a halt if I try to use the ground textures too. IMC is done by reducing the visibility distance to something suitable for my expected approach.I don't fly in the real world, so stock flight planning, GPS and procedures are quite adequate.I suppose hardcore is (as DC_Ed implied above) how you approach simulated flying...:I don't like nipping up into the air for a 5 minute buzz. If I don't have real-world-time to complete a simulated flight I'm likely to stay put until the opportunity comes.I was stuck in the Cape Verde Islands with my Mooney for nearly 3 weeks (wish it really was the case!) waiting for a free Saturday to cross the Atlantic to Fernando de Noronha. Even when I got there I felt as though I'd cheated as I'd leaned the mixture right back to stretch it out and I suppose the engine would have died en route in real life. I took extra weight on the back seats with me as there's no fuel available in F de N, pretending it was jerry-cans to get me to the mainland. I even feel a twinge of guilt admitting that and a small part of me is now expecting the official boot kicking in the door as I'm dragged away to dance a belly-hatch fandango...If I fly like an idiot I feel like I'm doing something horribly wrong and come away thinking I hope no-one on the ground saw that... (how sad is that?)But like I said, very little hardware so is this hardcore or just sad?Regards,D

I don't know .Hardcore ... well,maybe.Then again,maybe not.All I know is everybody that enters my house asks me "what on earth are those" while pointing at the ever present stack of charts printed for the next flight onlineor left from the last flightwith a deck of checklists on top.When I explain,they give me the "you funny idiot,but glad you didn't become a psychokiller" look and then go onblabbing about the new ipad like I care.Then,when I do get a word in,and they ask me what have you done,and I tell 'm I flew a simulated 737 through a simulated 25 knot crosswind for landingin Geneva the other night with good VATSIM atc presence,after prepping the craft at Gatwickand having an amazing turnaroundtime,they just go "well,a computer game,how hard can th

The more I spend on getting closer to 'realism' in the sim, the more I think "wouldn't I be better actually spemding this money on flying for real?" Home cockpits and so on just serve to remind me that it is only a simulation and time for some real flying. I find that a spot of real flying conversely, adds greatly to my enjoyment of simming. So for me, it has to be a balance between Real World and Sim World.