Yes, those WERE the days - we were the REAL pioneers of flight simulation :-)And, yes, I remember that ATC program as well.So much nostalgia ....David

Amazing isn't it - the way computer flight has advanced over the years, like real flight.Perhaps with FS2006 it would be really cool if they included some of the previous versions of flightsim, (designed to work in windows for those users who don't know where DOS is).Do you suppose one day (2080?) there will be a century of flightsim game. Imagine how they would laugh at all of us with our 50Gb hard drives, and 2Ghz processers, as we laugh thinking back to the days of 512kb RAM.Strange thought isn't it.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/36121.jpgStill waiting for my new PC

i too am amazed almost every time i crank up fs9.i have had perfect service from this sim from day onethe visuals are outstanding and the default flight models have been greatly improved, the new gps' are wonderfull, etctoo many good things in this sim to listi honestly believe there are 2 versions of this sim out there because the guys with all the problems simply cannot be running the same sim i am running.don

Right now I am just a GA VFR pilot (only a few IFR flights) and I have to agree about this sim. Excellent! I started at Seattle-Tacoma, flew to Portland then Salem, then Eugene, then checked out Crater Lake and spent the night in Klamath Falls. The next day flew to Redding, CA (wow! Mt. Shasta is huge!)and then to Sacramento Executive.Last night I took off at dusk from Sacramento Executive on my way to San Francisco and decided to not plan my flight in the GPS - just enjoy the scenery and use the radio for navigation. It was so beautiful - I tell you it gives me a rush sometimes when I am flying and the scenery is so beautiful. I landed at San Fran, parked at a gate and just watched the sun go down.I took the dog for a walk, ate dinner and came back and flew to Monterey in the dark. This is just an excellent sim and it doesn't even have missles or guns. (BTW - flying in my BRIGHT YELLOW SHINY Marchetti SF260 that has no grime on it at all! HA!) I love it!!Mikel

Hey all, I must agree it is a fine sim and thanks for the post, I was starting to think I was the only one who had this thing working right.The thing is until this weekend I had been one of the many FS9 tweakers, why? Pretty much cause I love to tweak. I've got a P4 2.8 Northwood with 512mb pc-800 rdram, I had a GF4200 128mb Vcard (the fan on it stopped working a couple weeks ago so I already had the upgrade excuse). I actually thought my card was becomming the bottle neck but I kept hearing "FS9 is not vid card dependant, it's CPU dependant, blah,blah,blah." So I went and bought a 9800 NP I am very impressed with this card, I pretty much have the frame rates where I want them and this with 6 AA and 1600x1200. I figure the card alone gave me an extra 10 to 15 FPS. The great thing is the config file is untouched(as of now) and I'm running the drivers that came with the card, and yes I have the flickering but its only in the menus and I don't fly the menus so it's really no big deal to me. Again thanks for the post, it's nice to see the silent majority speak up every once in a while.Regards, Tim

Hi,I've done a fair amount of tweaking, and I think there is a bug in the Autogen. But once I renamed the default.xml file I am loving this sim. I think it's the best version of MSFS ever! There maybe a few more anomalies here and there(like try doing a FULL stall in the default 747, not sure about other default jets). I wrote to MS at [email protected] and told them how much I love it.Cheers,JimHello Tower, I need clearance Clarence. Roger Victor what's your vector?

It's heartening to see threads like this vs. "you beta testers weren't listened to" or "you testers didn't do your job" threads. I am glad some do like FS9, and appreciate it for what it is vs. some unattainable idea of sim perfection.Having said that, even FS2002 still surprises me sometimes. I was flying Nick B's EMB-120, and I was amazed at how the late afternoon colors gave FS2002 a larger than life look. FS9 has added many nice features, especially in the atmosphere "above" the ground. But FS2002 laid that foundation....Back to FS9, for me the most interesting features have to be:~Subtle day to day changes in Sky Color and haze...~Cloud hopping...~Airports with curved taxiways and taxiway signs. Ever pull up to an airport gas station in FS9? Compare it to FS2002...~The way chop is emulated. My default flight has a bit of light chop... Landing is full of unexpected nuances of air currents...

I've been enjoying it also. Just finished a cross county trip, all using real weather, and saving each flight as default, so it seemed pretty believable. I based it on the vin fiz flight, but tired quickly of the cub, switched to the baron for the remainder of the flight. Pretty cool to see the mountains, first in Pennsylvania (thunderstorms), and later the rockies. Had to wait out one weather system in Colorado, and took chances when I did go. Ran myself out of gas over Kansas, in sight of an airfield. Dead stick landing and rolled up on airport property, close enough for a tow (slew) to fuel.Great scenery, fun weather, good frames, all the way into John Wayne with a stop off in Las Vegas.Pretty cool.Bob Bernstein

Bob did you run out of gas on purpose? That is something that has never happened to me in this sim...well, except once when I was flying down the Thames and I put a half gallon into each wing of my Marchetti and deadsticked it down in downtown London (WITH the wife looking on!). Just for fun.I do wish someone who flies the big jets will tell me what is so cool about it. I mean I like the cockpits with all the flashy instruments but don't get flying for several hours and not seeing much but clouds. Am I missing something by just flying general aviation?Mikel

Hi Mikel, no...didn't run out of gas on purpose, I was just getting lazy. I was saving as default startup wherever I was each night, and the night I left St. Louis I just forgot to fill up. Didn't check the fuel when I took off, and the engines shut off over western Kansas...fun!<Me...I don't ponder this kind of stuff. I think its neat that so many folks find different kinds of pleasure from the sim. Each to their own, eh?Bob Bernstein

Well, I flew GA and Heavy Jets on the previous versions of the sim.I guess the best bit about heavy metal flying is the buzz of knowing that 400 virtual passengers lives depend on you landing your 250,000lb jet smoothly, on the numbers.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/36121.jpgStill waiting for my new PC

Mike, you're flying your SF260? How does it work in FS9? I haven't even tried it as I'm still waiting for the FS9 patch from RealAir for it. I can't wait to dust her off...flew it probably 75% of the time in FS2002.

My 260 works fine in FS9 with the following exception, all of the buttons in the vc don't work. This is very minor however and will probably be corrected by the upcoming patch. I like the unobstructed view, the sexy lines of the plane and the fact that I can cruise with her or do aerobatics. I know the flight definition file needs to be tweaked but I am not sure in what way (I am still learning) and I have never tried spinning in FS2K2 so I can't report on that (I heard it does not work in FS9). I bet Rob Young could educate us on the real fine points of the flight file! Unfortunately, I am still at the stage where I feel lucky to land without crashing (although I am getting way better!) I would like to learn how to slip and land someday.I am very happy with the 260 in FS9 - especially now that I have MY paint job installed on it (Bright shiny yellow with no grease marks or even rivets showing. I had the rivets hidden.)and someday, I want a Falco to fly that is at the same quality as the Marchetti SF260. Is anyone working on a Falco?

I have hardly read any of the forums and don't think I've posted more than a couple of times since FS9 came out. Haven't had time, been spending all my time flying. Yeah, there are several issues that should be addressed like the stuttering, missing bridges etc. but I think the visual effects out weigh the problems. I'm on a trip from the SE United States through Europe now and the scenery is fascinating. I flew up one of the fiords in Norway over the weekend and landed at Innsbruk, Austria last night and that's an amazing sight dropping down between the mountians to the airport. Flew over the Alps to Milan and then on to Cannes. I've been flying the Baron with Steve's air file and my own custom 2D instrument panel. Haven't even tried any of the heavies yet... right now it's low and slow.