Man, I have the same problem. It's the weirdest thing.Bill

Yeah but if you yell loud enough eventually somebody will come along and hand spin your computer :(

I have never once flown once due to the fact that no matter how loud I yell 'PROP!' the engine does not start.

Man, I have the same problem. It's the weirdest thing.

Then why don't you fly jets? :(

I insist on so much realism, that I lock the door and have armed air marshals patrol around my house looking at my wife with suspicion whilst I fly :-)Al

Ever since I started flying I realised flying in the sim is actually harder than flying in real life!

+1

For absolutely stunning visuals of external scenery, there simply is no substitute for an overhead projector. My modest flight deck consists of Saitek rudder pedals, a CH yoke, and a Go Flight throttle quadrant, all mounted with an old car seat on a wooden platform that I can wheel out of the way when not in use. Positioned behind me on a wooden pedestal nine feet up against the wall is that all important Sharp laser projector, which casts a crisp image ten feet square on the blank white wall that serves as the projection screen twenty feet in front of me.With that massive image to explore, scenery such as FSDream Team's Zurich really comes to life, and there is no better way to view it than in flying the R22 helicopter. Such is the realism with that huge, movie screen image filling much of my preipheral vision, that I find myself leaning into turns, and rediscovering the sheer pleasure of hover practice.If I had my way, overhead projectors would be required BY LAW for all serious flight simmers, with hefty fines levied for non compliance.

For absolutely stunning visuals of external scenery, there simply is no substitute for an overhead projector. My modest flight deck consists of Saitek rudder pedals, a CH yoke, and a Go Flight throttle quadrant, all mounted with an old car seat on a wooden platform that I can wheel out of the way when not in use. Positioned behind me on a wooden pedestal nine feet up against the wall is that all important Sharp laser projector, which casts a crisp image ten feet square on the blank white wall that serves as the projection screen twenty feet in front of me.With that massive image to explore, scenery such as FSDream Team's Zurich really comes to life, and there is no better way to view it than in flying the R22 helicopter. Such is the realism with that huge, movie screen image filling much of my preipheral vision, that I find myself leaning into turns, and rediscovering the sheer pleasure of hover practice.If I had my way, overhead projectors would be required BY LAW for all serious flight simmers, with hefty fines levied for non compliance.

That must be an amazing experience, aaahhhh If only.

For absolutely stunning visuals of external scenery, there simply is no substitute for an overhead projector. My modest flight deck consists of Saitek rudder pedals, a CH yoke, and a Go Flight throttle quadrant, all mounted with an old car seat on a wooden platform that I can wheel out of the way when not in use. Positioned behind me on a wooden pedestal nine feet up against the wall is that all important Sharp laser projector, which casts a crisp image ten feet square on the blank white wall that serves as the projection screen twenty feet in front of me.With that massive image to explore, scenery such as FSDream Team's Zurich really comes to life, and there is no better way to view it than in flying the R22 helicopter. Such is the realism with that huge, movie screen image filling much of my preipheral vision, that I find myself leaning into turns, and rediscovering the sheer pleasure of hover practice.If I had my way, overhead projectors would be required BY LAW for all serious flight simmers, with hefty fines levied for non compliance.

Now head over to the what you do in real life thread and see why I own none this :( How do you work out the projector so that the display is the correct size instead of having a 4ft tall panel in your face?

------------------------------------------If I had my way, overhead projectors would be required BY LAW for all serious flight simmers, with hefty fines levied for non compliance.

FleaJump- THE LAW will specify triple projectors and a curved wrap around screen.Alex Reid

Simmer9304, all I can say is that by insisting on the exclusive use of that trusty old keyboard as a flight sim controller, and deciding not to invest in a bare minimum of rudder pedals and a flight yoke, you are denying yourself some of the critical tactile aspects of hand flying that simply cannot be replicated with a keyboard or with a joystick that doubles as a "rudder pedal".I cannot bear to think of executing a gnarly crosswind landing without the coordinated use of a yoke and rudder pedals to crab or slip the aircraft with opposed rudder and aileron, just as is done in real life. Given that no real aircraft posesses an auto-rudder function, checking that option in the FS9 menu similarly deprives a flight simmer of that key opportunity to learn and master the repertoire of instinctive rudder application skills that are so critical for final approaches and landings in rough weather - in the sim world and the real one.With regards to the overhead projector, the exact proportionality between the aircraft instrument panel view and the external scenery is faithfully maintained on the wall-sized image just as precisely as it appears on the small screen, with the enormous advantage of a greatly magnified image size that dramatically engages peripheral vision and thus enhances the sensation of movement in a manner that is nothing short of breath taking when experienced for the first time.9304, you must try an overhead projector flight sim session, and when you do, I am utterly convinced that you will write back here to express the same rabid enthusiasm I have for that setup. Regards from Tony Selario

Not really hardware related, but I am pretty picky about how I fly in FS9/FSX. For instance, when I first get a new add-on aircraft, I only fly with a bare white paint scheme (if available), and I ONLY learn to fly the aircraft at Edwards AFB. I literally will not fly out of another airport until I have racked up quite a bit of time learning to fly the aircraft. In addition, I only fly aircraft with a yoke that have a yoke and I only fly aircraft with a stick/HOTAS that have a stick/HOTAS.

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 hear that! My FS9 installs usually trump my FSX installs by quite a bit of space. FS9 almost becomes a living and breathing world when I fly with it. The advent of REX for FS9 instilled a whole new perspective for me on that particular sim. I still can't believe the simulators that we have available for us this day in age have come so far. I still, to this day, remember the drive home with my dad when he bought me the very first MS Flight Simulator. At the time, and in my eyes, it was spectacular and changed my life regarding my interest in aviation forever. My two biggest memories regarding aviation, was that trip home with the first MS FS and my very first trip to the airshow at Miramar Naval Air Station and watching the Blue Angels. Every time I look at my little 2 yr old son sitting on my lap watching the screen and watching me fly FS9 or FSX, I find myself wondering if this same interest is developing somewhere deep inside him. I was outside with my son one day, and one of the very first things he said, came from him as he looked at the sky as an America Airlines MD passed over. He looked at me, pointed at the sky, and said, "Wow, jet."

------------------------------------------------------------With regards to the overhead projector, the exact proportionality between the aircraft instrument panel view and the external scenery is faithfully maintained on the wall-sized image just as precisely as it appears on the small screen, with the enormous advantage of a greatly magnified image size that dramatically engages peripheral vision and thus enhances the sensation of movement in a manner that is nothing short of breath taking when experienced for the first time.9304, you must try an overhead projector flight sim session, and when you do, I am utterly convinced that you will write back here to express the same rabid enthusiasm I have for that setup. Regards from Tony Selario

Tony- I can only heartily concur- with the suggestion that you really should try MULTIPLE VIEWS with your projector!Some time ago, I experimented with this, placing Views L & R Fwd alongside the usual View forward, on a single monitor. The attached pics show the result. Quite flyable on my ancient 1.8 GHz 'puter- but alas, everything is way too small to see on the 18" monitor in this experiment!But your large projection screen should be perfect! The triple wide (135

I would love to invest in all of these but right now as budget permits... I only have my Saitek AV8R joystick with handy rudder twist. However I do have an old Logitech joystick sitting around and for a summer project I may look into using it to build some rudder pedals. How much does an overhead projector cost? If I do get one that will also mean getting a new graphics card. And oh the costs go up from there :( But I am sure that it would be an awesome experience and hopefully I will one day get my hands on one of these systems.

I was outside with my son one day, and one of the very first things he said, came from him as he looked at the sky as an America Airlines MD passed over. He looked at me, pointed at the sky, and said, "Wow, jet."

They tend to bring that out in people; they not only fly and sound amazing, but also look impressively stylised and elegant. I'm gonna miss'em once they're gone :(

Always fly at simrates X1 to FL010, X4 to TOC, X16 cruise, X4 descend fromTOD and X1 for approach and landing. :(

So in summary, how far can we take the realism? And what helps?

This is my home cockpit in my living room here in Vegas. It's been under construction for about 16 months, and looks complete in the shot but the photo "hides" a lot of things that still need to be done (CH pedals don't exactly do it justice, to put it mildly).It runs FS9, wideFS, and Project Magenta networked over 6 PCs, with three projectors warped over a 24' curved screen providing the visuals. Hardware components are from Flight Deck Solutions, Engravity, CPFlight, Poldragonet, SISMO, ACE, and a whole host of others.It's not motion (obviously), but it does the job for me. The immersion factor, especially with a 2-man crew, VATSIM, weather, and the whole thing sealed off is more impressive than I ever imagined it could be!