Agreed. I enjoy reading threads of this nature. I would go nuts if I flew or could only use one aircraft. That's dedication. Imagine spending years building a 737 cockpit only to discover when your done you would really like to fly Cessna around! I fly more for escapism from the real world. Explore new parts of the world, try all sorts of aircraft. About the most realistic flying I've done is recreate real-world flights I used to fly where my work would take me... Europe, South America, Asia. That's fun and brings back fond memories. If I do attempt a long haul I used to hit the library for some travel books on the country I would fly to and read up as cruised along. Now that's all done in real-time using the google as I fly over a location. Or I will use the program 'XPOI' and pick out the landmarks as I go by and read up on them.Clutch

I would go nuts if I flew or could only use one aircraft.Clutch

Prepare to go nuts, then!!!!I only fly one aircraft which is Flight 1's Cessna 172 Skyhawk. I have only a few addons - Flight Environment, FScene, Norway airports by FS Nordic, UK airports by UK2000 and mesh files for both countries.I fly the C172 because that is a typical a/c which I could fly in real life if I could afford it and it is IMHO the best light a/c available for FS2004. I fly in Norway because it is challenging and the UK because that is my home country.And the main reason I have chosen the above is because they do not demand the latest, state of the art hardware and none of them require activation with a third party. I fully understand the reasons for activation and support the anti-piracy lobby but I have a pet hatred of someone else having control over what I have bought.David

Usually I simply decide from where to where I want to fly. It'll be big iron most of the times (I like the PMDG747, LDS767, Leonardo Maddog, QW757, and I want to dig deeper into the PMDG MD-11), but with the OrbX scenery I have been flying turboprops too (Flight1 BN2 Islander comes to mind). Yeah, OrbX scenery - I predominantly fly FSX. The reason I post in this topic is mostly to chime in with the OP's way of doing his flying. After reinstalling FSX to pinpoint a problematic addon, I didn't feel like deciding where to fly to next, so I'm doing a "chain" of flights. Yesterday I took off at EHAM, flew to EDDF. Next leg to LOWW, then to LHBP. Now in UKBB, will be flying to URRR. It's actually a lot of fun, and default FSX really isn't as bad as I always thought. I'm actually content - because I'm flying again instead of troubleshooting (well technically I'm troubleshooting, but having fun in the process).I also agree with David: the anti-piracy stuff is irritating, although I, too, understand its existence. I must say this is why I tend to like FlyTampa's stuff more than, say, FSDT's stuff. FSDT has the addon manager, FlyTampa has none of that. Just install and fly. Love it!

Yeah it's a good thread. I'm strictly a virtual pilot, and a relative novice at that, but I've always been something of a plane-watcher. I mean, I don't go on group excursions with the binoculars, spam sandwiches & flask of weak lemon drink, never been that geeky, but I'll check out air museums & shows if I'm near one & have some spare time.So a lot of the appeal of FS9 (and FSX) for me lies in the models -- the aircraft and, to a lesser extent, the airport scenery. I started with FSX (and loved the immersive airport animation in that with the moving jetways & vehicles), but soon realised that there was a lot more add-on product around for FS9, including classic, and even ancient, aircraft, much of it available as freeware (always a plus!) and shifted to that, and have pretty much stuck with it.As to flying, I don't have any particular specialty. I do tend to avoid the fairly modern light planes like the Cessnas or Pipers: no particular reason, they just lack appeal for me. If I'm flying short slowish hops and circuits I'll take up the Sopwith Camel and pretend to be Biggles If I'm checking out new airfield scenery, the ultralight Ferrari Tucano is a favourite, as you can effectively drive it around on the ground like a car without causing too much virtual chaos, as well as take off in a trice.For more immersive cross-country flying I'm currently spending a fair bit of time over Portugal (I tend to stick to the UK & Europe), since I have PTsim's Portugal Terrain installed. This has virtually all the main roads & railways properly located, which is great for VFR flying, as well as lots of interesting topography & some photoreal ground imagery. If I'm just buzzing around I'll take up a de Havilland Mosquito (I do like those old warbirds), but will sometimes do a proper two-hour flight from Heathrow to Lisbon and back (and boy do I want Aerosoft's Mega Airport Lisbon when I have spare cash, and possibly a faster machine) with the TAP Airbus 320 (still learning to fly those properly though). I fly that route RL as a passenger occasionally so it's interesting to compare the experience.So that's it really. I do lots of other stuff as well, but the aforementioned is what I probably do mostly right now.