As someone mentioned here earlier, Helicopters are overlooked by much of the flight sim community, yet learning to fly and hover one can be one of the most satisfying endeavors a flight sim enthusiast could pursue, particularly since real world helicopter pilots do seem to agree that learning to attain stable hover in a sim is considerably more difficult than it is in a real chopper, given the absence of all seat-of-the-pants motion cues in our desktop sims. There is no better way to enjoy the staggering amount of intricate detail visible in addon airport scenery, for example, than to take a leisurely cruise around terminal buildings at very low altitude in the default Robinson R22, slowing to a hover now and then for closer looks as the mood takes you. My favourite scenery by far is FSDT's Zurich Flughaffen Airport at dusk. Mastering the minute deflections that must be applied to faithful replicas of cyclic, collective and torque pedals from GoFlight, to train my muscle memory as precisely as would a real world helicopter pro, time literally flies as I slowly peruse the panoramic scene below, spiced up with arriving and departing heavy metal jets generated by My Traffic. Another outstanding location for heli-tours is Aerosoft's epic rendition of Manhattan, about which I could rhapsodize for pages.Tony

...I have flown on vatsim since 2008 and have accumulated a few hours on it (I think 500 or so) and also have lots of payware addons (scenery and planes alike). But it all seems repetitive, and autopilot all the time gets kinda boring don't ya reckon?

How about trying something different? I don't know how busy these forums are but maybe it's time to leave the heavies alone for a bit:http://forum.avsim.n...09-bush-flying/http://forum.avsim.n...ying-unlimited/Do it in foul weather and, yes, leave the autopilot alone!Regards,D

I have been simming since 1998.At the beginning it was only MS airctaft until i got into payware aircraft.My first payware was PIC767.That changed everything.I also got and still have but dont use DF737,PSS757,CITATION X.I do use sometimes PMDG737,747,but my favorite is LEVEL-D 767.For me FUN is making all my flights as realistic as possible.Charts,real weather,flight planning and so on.I fly once a week, that is enough and my flights vary in distance.I fly for a virtual airline CANADA CHARTERS AND CARGO and they allow you to fly any aircraft and you can fly from anywhere to anywhere.The main thing is have funNebojsa

What diversity! It's no wonder this hobby is so interesting. I like to fly prop GA aircraft "low and slow". I have ventured out from home on an extended voyage that will take me to places not yet envisioned. I started with an atlas, several charts and a few directories. The idea was to stay within the capabilities of the aircraft - in this case a Marchetti SF260 - and to visit a bunch of places I had never been able to in real life. Fly in "real-time" and figure out ways to travel from one place to another staying within the flight parameter limitations associated with the aircraft. I find it to be great fun. I plan lots of relatively short hops easily done within the time frames I have to dedicate to the hobby. Oceans will present no problems. In my mind and using my imagination, I have already arranged to ship the aircraft to a variety of locations. Once there, I will re-assemble, check everything out to make sure all is OK, and head off with equal abandon! You would be amazed just how many folks know of my interest in flying and ask me where I am parked tonight? The biggest thing I could offer is to remain as realistic as you can during the whole process. In my experience, once you start to deviate from reality you start to pay a price. Your interest wanes because you have lost an important part of the puzzle - the creative effort necessary to overcome some of the difficulties inherent in trying to maintain the necessary realism. For goodness sake! I hope you continue to enjoy simming. Look at the knowledge you have accumulated already and Imagine the enjoyment that continues to await you as you apply that hard-won knowledge to new and as yet untried opportunities and challenges! Enjoy!

You just have to be careful... Online flying is addictive ! :( I already spent more than 2900 hours on IVAO. :( Virtual airlines can give you goals ! :(

You just have to be careful... Online flying is addictive ! I already spent more than 2900 hours on IVAO. :( Virtual airlines can give you goals ! :(

My wife and I have an agreement: I can fly FS9 AS MUCH AS I WANT under one condition: when she says something important, I have to be able to listen. That means No online flying as she knows I would just get frustrated at the CONSTANT interruptions!:(

Yes, of course, you have to care about the WAF... :(

You know what I'm kind of surprised hasn't been pointed out in this thread yet? How BORING real world flying is -- that's what makes it exciting! I mean, your recreating real life flight scenarios every minute! BTW, Check out these two threads, just to see a couple of the many similar discussions that have taken place here in the past.<< http://forum.avsim.n...g-haul-flights/ >><< http://forum.avsim.n...s-real-boredom/ >>Try FSPassengers and try getting shot at while flying over Oakland, California, too! Have you ever programmed a random failure in some of them fancy planes, and then become determined not to kill your passengers?For First Person Shooter fun, how about taking off from KLAX in a PMDG 747, climb to cruising altitude and then switch over to Helo 3, and have a "Die Hard" or "Air Force One" scenario? :( You know, a REAL LIFE situation.

My wife and I have an agreement: I can fly FS9 AS MUCH AS I WANT under one condition: when she says something important, I have to be able to listen. That means No online flying as she knows I would just get frustrated at the CONSTANT interruptions!:(

The really funny thing is that while I was reading this post, my wife came into my "man cave" and interrupted me to talk about groceries! :(

You know what I'm kind of surprised hasn't been pointed out in this thread yet? How BORING real world flying is -- that's what makes it exciting! I mean, your recreating real life flight scenarios every minute! BTW, Check out these two threads, just to see a couple of the many similar discussions that have taken place here in the past.<< http://forum.avsim.n...g-haul-flights/ >><< http://forum.avsim.n...s-real-boredom/ >>Try FSPassengers and try getting shot at while flying over Oakland, California, too! Have you ever programmed a random failure in some of them fancy planes, and then become determined not to kill your passengers?For First Person Shooter fun, how about taking off from KLAX in a PMDG 747, climb to cruising altitude and then switch over to Helo 3, and have a "Die Hard" or "Air Force One" scenario? :( You know, a REAL LIFE situation.

Yes, real life flying can get boring but never totally for me personally - there was always something worth looking at out the window and unless your Captain/First Officer is a total b---head there's usually something to talk about while you glance at the panel in VMC. In IMC - never boring. Frightening sometimes but never, ever boring. And if you fly for a short-haul company like I did, it's very rarely boring. By the time we got our top of climb checklist finished, we were starting the descent checklist. We were too busy to get bored so in FS I try to keep my flights to not much more than an hour - with occasional exceptions. Long overwater flights? Yes, that would be boring even in real life and a zillion times more in FS. But that's why G-d made coffee and books to read and every now and then, throws in an awesome sunrise or sunset! :( Ian

Hi all, I have flown on vatsim since 2008 and have accumulated a few hours on it (I think 500 or so) and also have lots of payware addons (scenery and planes alike). But it all seems repetitive, and autopilot all the time gets kinda boring don't ya reckon? I have also flown for virtual airlines and like flying payware birds such as PSS POSKY B772ER merge that i do for Singapore Virtual Airlines Group (http://singaporevirtualairlines.org/).I don't get that feeling i did anymore that i got when i was like 12 years old. 5 years later and i have lost the feeling, it feels like a waste of time...:Cry:Yea, that's the story...:Sigh:Thanks for the suggestions and keep em coming! Appreciate it...

It strikes me that if you have mastered complex payware aircraft,flown for VAs ,and VATSIM as well,then in all probability I doubt there's really anything left to make FS MORE! exciting for you.I personally would describe FS as challenging , satisfying,frustrating at times ,and relaxing to, also at times (rather than exciting in the shoot up sort of way)Perhaps you would find the buzz you are after in a combat flight simulator or one of those wartime scenario games.AndyPS One of FSs great pluses me (and rather unusual in PC games /simulations ) there is actually nothing to bomb, nothing to kill(well unfortunate passengers maybe with some of my less than precise landings)its just difficult to master and therefore VERY satisfying when you discover and learn some new aspect of flight.Maybe I am just a dumbo as I have had nearly ten years of simming,but at this time still very much enjoy it. and realise that there is still much to learn.Unlike the real world (I would imagine ) you can learn to fly and safely land all sorts of aircraft,without actually knowing a lot about what all the instrumentation does,what it is showing you , navigation etc managing wild and unpredictable weather.So its at least another ten years for me to start getting to grips with that lot.

It strikes me that if you have mastered complex payware aircraft,flown for VAs ,and VATSIM as well,then in all probability I doubt there's really anything left to make FS MORE! exciting for you.I personally would describe FS as challenging , satisfying,frustrating at times ,and relaxing to, also at times (rather than exciting in the shoot up sort of way)Perhaps you would find the buzz you are after in a combat flight simulator or one of those wartime scenario games.AndyPS One of FSs great pluses me (and rather unusual in PC games /simulations ) there is actually nothing to bomb, nothing to kill(well unfortunate passengers maybe with some of my less than precise landings)its just difficult to master and therefore VERY satisfying when you discover and learn some new aspect of flight.Maybe I am just a dumbo as I have had nearly ten years of simming,but at this time still very much enjoy it. and realise that there is still much to learn.Unlike the real world (I would imagine ) you can learn to fly and safely land all sorts of aircraft,without actually knowing a lot about what all the instrumentation does,what it is showing you , navigation etc managing wild and unpredictable weather.So its at least another ten years for me to start getting to grips with that lot.

And once you've got all that sorted out, it's time to start making scenery, new aircraft, repaints and scattering graffiti throughout the whole FS world. I think we should all just retire and sim full-time. Otherwise there's just not enough days in the week to do it all! :(

And once you've got all that sorted out, it's time to start making scenery, new aircraft, repaints and scattering graffiti throughout the whole FS world. I think we should all just retire and sim full-time. Otherwise there's just not enough days in the week to do it all! :(

Quite right Sir! I better put aside twenty then.Andy

Hi again.I expect that after so many hours simming you've already seen most of the sights but in the library here there's a list of FS9 easter-eggs and other points of interest (like nuclear power stations, fireworks, chickens-on-a-pole and the Easter Island stone heads), but for anyone who hasn't, it's a good source of inspiration for sight-seeing and may curb some of your ennui. Search for senrygd2.zip and take an extended holiday.Well worth a gander.Rgds,D

I ran into the same problem of FlightSimming getting a bit boring, so my solution was to take breaks from it. That, and I really only fly occasionally. If you are getting tired of something, then just take a break. Maybe you are tired of it for a reason. As much as I love aviation, I dont have to always be simming. If 6 months go by and I havent flown, then the urge hits me, i fly.Since I dont fly much anymore, when I do, it's fun. And since im not flying much, I play other games, and am also learning to 3D model. So I guess my take on all this is fly when you feel like it, use the time when you arent flying to do something else. Hobbies can come and go.