So... how do you play the game by now? Different from how you played the game a month or so ago? Still the same? Do you do free flight, jobs, aerocaches (of possible )?

 

My way of playing has changed a little since the first months in which I mainly flew using VOR in Hawaii. What I do most right now is: I set the flight conditions to whatever I want (time, season, waether), although I usually fly during spring, with Low and threatening and a few hours after dawn or before dusk. I pick a random airport, usually on the ingame map. I do look if it's somewhere near mountains or not: I like something different everytime.

 

Then I check the job board: I simply look at the flight that has the distance I feel like flying. I do pick hamburger runs quite frequently because the RV is my favorite plane. But I also do other jobs with the Maule. Again, trying to keep it varied.

 

I make note of the departure and destination airport, search for them in Plan-G and create a simple A to B plan. If I think I need a detailed plan, for instance to follow valleys low and slow, I create a plan for use in GMap. However, if there is a VOR I can use (and I'm not surrounded by high mountains) I skip the plan (and also GMap) and use VOR. Sometimes, I even decide to simply use the R key (if the terrain is flat and there is no VOR nearby).

 

Then I check if the destination has some approaches (I use Airnav.com for that). It's always nice following a real world approach every now and then. If it has an approach, I open it in a small window the size of GMap and alt-tab to it during flight. (I always fly in pseudo full screen mode so I can check GMap, the approach or even Plan-G while still being able to fly on).

 

That's it! This way it's different everytime. I like having some sort of purpose, hence the jobs, also because I tend to fly cleaner then. I don't really care about points etc. but I like the chatter and noises you hear and I notice I do like getting a good report. I don't do missions, gold rushes and aerocaches: just jobs. I might do aerocaches when they become available in Alaska, but mainly to check out the various points of interest. I don't care at all about getting them all.

 

BTW I have the destination marker turned off. Of course.

 

So... how do you play the game?

My flight time has become somewhat limited, so I have been pretty much flying the same over the last several weeks. Loading up a job in the Maule and flying it. The Maule has certainly become my favorite plane to date, and flying the jobs gives me a sense of accomplishment - I too like seeing the good scores and happy passenger ratings and cargo arriving safely.

I look forward to trying out the Cub when the VC is released for something a little different, don't really want to fly it until it has the VC.

Well, about exactly the same as you Jeroen. I don't check the real-life approaches on charts, but besides that, your post could be mine. Mainly Jobs, mainly VOR (but now that i have GMap en PlanG started, i use them also).

 

Besides jobs i also do some landing challenges, but some are real frustrating!

 

And because I mainly do jobs, i really crave for a bigger plane. I would love to move more cargo or passengers, and feel more like an Alaskan airline/cargo-pilot. When you are bigger and heavier, the approach is more important.

And for me, the approach and landings are what I really love about flightsims. Most of my enjoyment comes from preparing and executing the landing.

 

Edit after reading bobs post below: I also mainly fly the Maule. Not just because you need it (or de Cub) for cargo or passenger jobs, but i also really like the plane, the speed and the guages.

 

The Cub is a fun little extra for me with Alaska, but just for some fun with headwind landings. I don't really like as much as the Maule, so i don't fly jobs with it. Mainly because it's totally unrealistic to put 4 passengers in the back (is that a bug?) or 1000 KGs for that matter.

Since I installed Gamp Map and now Plan G, Flight has really started to be a severe addiction. I basically fly from one airport to the other, first making a flight plan, and then seeing if there are any intermediate airports that I can stop momentarily at or maybe even just do a touch and go at. I generally pick a flight of around and hour more or less. It is fun seeing all these new strips and airports, and if there is an ILS along the way or at the destination, I always fly the ILS. Once I land, I check the fuel left, go to Plan G and set up the next flight from where I am at that point.

 

I am almost always in the Maule, because I love the way it performs and looks and sounds, plus it has a high cruising speed. I am still in awe about the smoothness of Flight and the total lack of stutters, stutters that I have been used to for decades with all the previous PC sims, and I didn't have to tweak anything. No more watching the FPS dip into the teens. That is worth it's weight in gold.

Phase 1: What even is wrong with this ICON?! Grumblings about not performing like a fighter jet and constantly being at the edge of the envelope.

Phase 2: Buy Hawaii pack in hopes that RV-6 is better. OMG this is amazing!!

Phase 3: What are all these cool dials and stuffs? Wiki VORs and the like. Get totally confused by To/From and reverse sensing. Figured all that out though. Reverse sensing is cool!

Phase 4: You mean there are rules to flying? Download AF/D, TPPs, sectionals, books from FAA.

Phase 5: Spend more time learning than flying. :P

 

I basically started off super casual (though using HOTAS, but still no real clue about GA) and did a bunch of missions, a few jobs, and grabbed the majority of the easy and daily Aerocaches. I took a bit of a hiatus and soaked up some knowledge and it made the game much better. Then did it again. I foresee that happening for a few more cycles.

 

Just an example. Two months ago I had no idea if I would ever make it to my destination and have fuel left in the tanks. As of about two weeks ago I know my rough fuel flow rate as well as how to achieve consistent speeds, which comes in great for heavy cargos as well as for timing legs when VFR. It's much easier to pick the right mountain pass when you've got the timing down.

I do occasional burger runs too just as a "check out the landscape" thing. I also do cargo/pax jobs, but skip to waypoint for the longer ones. Also I sometimes just find an interesting area of valleys and gorges and fly through them down low just for the scenery.

 

For pax/cargo missions I use SkyVector to check out the route, see if there are mountains to avoid or valleys to follow, and find out the orientation of the destination runways, length, and altitude. I've also used SkyVector for designing routes for group flights.

 

My fav plane is the RV-6, and I use the Maule for cargo/pax runs. I used the Icon for a group flight through the fjords, but I'm disappointed that there are no missions for it at seaplane bases. I occasionally use the Corsair if I want to explore an area quickly with good visibility.

 

I'm actually having second thoughts about whether or not I'll buy the "cockpit Cub" whenever it comes out. If it's dirt cheap, no issue. But if it costs as much as the Maule I'm not so sure. If it has a decent GPS and other nav instruments I might be swayed. But paying $15 or more for a slower version of the Maule doesn't appeal to me. (I would define "decent" GPS as one that helps me find those tiny airports that are a b*tch to find otherwise.)

Well, I am away from MS FLIGHT now, but I plan to play it using GMap and PlanG, flying missions mostly in Hawaii and some in Alaska that might involve crossing high terrain areas, an looking fwd for what the GPS in the cockpit for the Cub will bring...

 

The Stearman turned out to be my preferred plane, RV-6 2nd close, and Maule last. I do not intend to use/buy any cockpitless aircraft from now on...

 

I will also aim at ZERO crashes...

I don't check the real-life approaches on charts,

 

And for me, the approach and landings are what I really love about flightsims. Most of my enjoyment comes from preparing and executing the landing.

 

If you like approach and landings, you should really check out approach charts!!! It adds a lot of fun and realism to it all!

 

All you need to know can be found here:

 

http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/ndb-appr.htm

 

(It's about NDB approaches but most information is general and after reading it you can use ANY approach chart.)

In Hawaii I was flying job after job flying low level IFR routes and often published appproach procedures, unless there was someone interesting on line to tag along with on their trip. I took a hiatus just before Alaska came out. Got it last week. I'm flying from one corner of Alaska to the next in the Maule carrying nothing but me and gas. I have rough legs to fly, but if time gets short I just land at the next airport along the way. I don't know why I'm flying the Maule. I prefer the RV...

Most evenings, I have about an hour and a half I can devote to Flight. Sometimes a little more, sometimes less, or none at all.

 

I pick up right where I parked last time, looking for a Job that interests me. I've selected Homer as my home-base, for now, and I'm running Jobs within a 250nm or so radius of it, trying to learn that area well. It's a nice mix of mountains and low-lands, ocean and islands, forests and marshy grasslands, glaciers and ice fields, rivers and lakes, small towns and even urban (though I haven't been up toward Anchorage much yet).

 

If my current airport doesn't offer a Job that I want, I check the other nearby fields. Once I do find something, I make a flight plan in Plan-G and load it into GMap. I still sometimes use VORs as my primary navaid, but am also using GPS to fly direct now, keeping track of VOR or other bearings and measuring distances with paper charts and plotter as a cross-reference so I don't have to pull up the GPS all the time. For flying through passes and over mountains, I'm mostly looking at my paper charts as I don't have the sectionals for GMap (yet?) and the Google terrain information doesn't give altitude information as precisely.

 

I try to keep enough fuel in the plane to get home on, as a lot of my Jobs take me to small strips with no fuel. I haven't used the Hangar screen for fueling yet, except at airports where I know there is fuel anyway. This is hard on the longer flights with a heavy load, so I make sure there is a place with fuel somewhere near the destination and carry enough to get there.

 

Wherever I land, I park, shut down, and pick up there again the next day. I only change planes at Homer, as that's where they are all parked, at "my" hangar.

 

Usually, anyway. I hopped around a bit at first, looking for a place that looked nice to hang around for awhile. But now I'm settling in. I wanted to find a place that would be interesting to fly over while learning the lay of the land, or at least a "local" part of it, much like I would if I really had packed up and moved to Alaska to fly there.

 

I've been flying in the Spring, but will probably switch over to Fall for variety. Summer looks boring, at least in this part of Alaska. :P Weather has mostly been Low&Threatening, but I'm having some fun with Heavy Weather, too.

I pick up right where I parked last time, looking for a Job that interests me. I've selected Homer as my home-base, for now, and I'm running Jobs within a 250nm or so radius of it, trying to learn that area well.

 

I am considering doing that too: pick a home base and then fly in the area, leaving the plane where I left it (cold and dark) and also take off from there again. Sometimes wander off far away but making sure that after some time I will get home again. Sure makes it even more realistic!

 

My only problem could be the length of some jobs... Some airports don't offer jobs below 200 nm... and for me 80 to 100 is the max. I like 40 to 70 most.

100NM is my max for a flight, but i have to admit, now i rather fly 40NM than 100NM because of boredom. We really need a faster cargo-plane for greater distances.

100NM is my max for a flight, but i have to admit, now i rather fly 40NM than 100NM because of boredom. We really need a faster cargo-plane for greater distances.

 

Should be fun landing one of those on some of the small 1800 ft, by 30 ft wide strips.

Should be fun landing one of those on some of the small 1800 ft, by 30 ft wide strips.

 

Bring on the Quest Kodiak!!!

I jump around a lot. Mostly starting in free flight where I left off. I like to start on the ground with the engine off. Sorry, I really like the cub, seem to be flying it most of the time. I hardly flew the cockpitless aircraft in Hawaii. I can't wait till the Cubby has gages, I hate refering to the HUD, ain't nateral. Still love the RV6-A and the Maule. The Cub is just to much fun at the moment. But the distances are so great in Alaska that I find myself useing the dreaded "N" key a lot for jobs. Never used it in Hawaii. Just got my combat pedals and trackiR yesterday afternoon. Still trying to get the pedal configuration figured out before I tackle the head tracker, as time permits. Do a lot of jobs right now because I like flying all the different airport approches. After that is GMap and Plan G. There is no end to this! Can GMap go on the second monitor? Sure wish this thing had SPELLCHECK!