Hey all!I have been separated from FS2004 for about 2 years as I decided to use Linux on my system thinking I could still keep up my flightsim hobby! Boy was I wrong!! ;)So anyway, after going back to windows, here I am about to experience FS2004 once again in all its glory.Except, I'm out of practice and can't remember all the great add-ons I had built up throughout my FS9 career.So I’m hoping for a little bit of advice from you guys, with emphasis on scenery and enhancements rather than aircraft as I think I can remember a lot of the top aircraft out there! although aircraft suggestions are welcome as well. what products can you guys recommend? thanks! and hey! (this is my 1st time on this forum) Cap'in Rob

HiWelcome back to the wonderful world of FS2004!!I think that most people would agree that Active Sky is the best addon for real time weather and Rex Environmental is the best for texture enhancements, especially clouds, sky and water.Hope this helps.David

Aircaft:PMDG - any of them, they're all greatLevel D 767 - WOW!PSS 777/757 - again, stunningCarenado aircraft - Got some fantastic GA light aircraftSome Wilco aircraftScenery:If you like flying in the UK then UK2000 is great for airportsAerosoft have some INSANE sceneryFlyTampa too have some INSANE sceneryIf you like flying VFR then photographic scenery is a must!!Other:FSUIPC - the swiss army knife for FS; an absolute MUSTFSPassengers - run your own airline, great funAES - Fantastic, it allows you to have 'follow me's', deboard passengers, get catering carts, allows pushback from stands etc... the only thing is though that you need add on payware scenery for it to be supported; it doesn't support default airportsAn AI Traffic add on - for example, My Traffic 2010. However, you can get freeware like 'World of AI' for this, and in some cases it does a better jobREX - THE add on that will bring your FS life. It adds HD textures and can give some amazing atmospheres. There you go, just my two cents. I'm sure I've missed some that are great also.Jordan

Thanks guys, its all coming back to me now,can't wait to get back in the (virtual) sky!

Are you interested in a particular part or the world or a particular type of planes?

Are you interested in a particular part or the world or a particular type of planes?

I'd say i'm interested in anything and everything, but being from the UK I tend to fly between there and Europe. As for aircraft I probably favour small to medium airliners + turboprops. That's not to say I don't like the heavies, just rarely find myself flying longer routes that justify flying them. Ultimately, anything that adds to the realism of the simulator is what I crave. But then again, I'm sure that's what everyone is after!

http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=iflyfs9JimCYWG

If you'd like a nice and realistic VFR experience and are willing to download photographic textures plus scenery for a whole country - for free - then check out www.nl-2000.com. :(

I'll second what jim recommended, the ifly 37 is a great add-on, I just love it. Also as said active sky, ground environment pro for sure, and fsuipc all must have.

The Project Fokker F28 and the Tinmouse II 737-200 (with the new Sperry 177 upgrade of course) are things hard to miss! FS9's very own military inventory includes Iris' freeware fighters, Tim Conrad's F-5E, and definitely anything by Kazunori Ito and his rare birds. Look for Tom Gibson's Convair CV-240 or see any of Jens B Kristensen's vintage aircraft - but please don't mention anything about the B377 by A2A Simulations or the deHavilland Vampire by Rob Richardson, these are all FSX only models. Dave.

Aircaft:PMDG - any of them, they're all greatLevel D 767 - WOW!PSS 777/757 - again, stunningCarenado aircraft - Got some fantastic GA light aircraftSome Wilco aircraftScenery:If you like flying in the UK then UK2000 is great for airportsAerosoft have some INSANE sceneryFlyTampa too have some INSANE sceneryIf you like flying VFR then photographic scenery is a must!!Other:FSUIPC - the swiss army knife for FS; an absolute MUSTFSPassengers - run your own airline, great funAES - Fantastic, it allows you to have 'follow me's', deboard passengers, get catering carts, allows pushback from stands etc... the only thing is though that you need add on payware scenery for it to be supported; it doesn't support default airportsAn AI Traffic add on - for example, My Traffic 2010. However, you can get freeware like 'World of AI' for this, and in some cases it does a better jobREX - THE add on that will bring your FS life. It adds HD textures and can give some amazing atmospheres. There you go, just my two cents. I'm sure I've missed some that are great also.Jordan

+1, and a note, PSS-POSKY/freeskyproject 777 merge (POSKY, now (freeskyproject) aircraft: http://www.freeskyproject.com/, for the visual model and PSS panel).

I too returned from a two year break and was just marvelling last night at how good the old FS9 is looking with alot of tweek time (we love it really) and a few add-ons invested into it.To the above I would add a good higher res scenery mesh. I still use FSglobal 76m per pixel and upgrade to fsgenesis 38m per pixel in areas where I fly alot in US.UK also has 38m vfr scenery from justflight I think. The UK is just mostly rolling landscape that does not show with default FS9 mesh. 38m makes a huge difference. My local hills can be recognised easily with it installed. They don't even show as a bump on the default.Also many folk do not realise that the paid for version of FSUIPC allows you to adjust weather. Particularly it lets you build in a permanent haze and gradual transitions of cloud layers. Never seeing beyond 50 miles makes FS so much better.