DaveHow do you convert to 3-D? And do you save as in other MS programs, SaveAs, give it a name like 8-8-04 flight, etc? Will I be able to access it within the program itself? Remember when it comes to flight sim, with me it is flight sim for Dummies. I will only cop to the dummy title when it comes to this. Fortunately I have other skills and accomplishments that prevent my self esteem from taking a "nose dive" (pun intended)as a result of this challenge.I don't have rudder pedals if that is what you are referring to.Someone told me to try the Fly Now flight without Ron. Up to this point I have slavishly been doing as told.I appreciate you (and everyone) taking the time to offer your advice and help.Louis

I too have the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro stick. It has never been right with the twist centering. After looking through the website in vain for any clues as to the problem I dismantled the stick and found that the control pot was not properly centering. To fix it meant bending 2 fragile looking plastic lugs on the side of the pot so I went ahead and bent them. Now it works fine. For how long is another matter. I had only read about the poor quality of this stick after purchasing mine. When it is no more good I'll be looking for a different brand. As for Eagle Warrior's problems, it sounds to me as though the autopilot might be activated before take off. It should only be activated after getting airborne at the earliest. Try to make sure the autopilot is turned off while making test flights by hand.

LouisWhen I say convert to 3-D it is something you do in your mind. You're looking at a 2-D image on a monitor but you need to imagine it as a 3-D environment like the real world. To save a flight press the ; key and a window will appear where you give it a name. I usually use 00- (zero zero dash) followed by a name. This just makes it easy to find. When you start FS9 click on Select a Flight and then the flight you saved. If you are flying a saved flight you can restart it from the beginning at any point by holding down CTRL and pressing ;. It's kind of hard to explain this stuff in a forum; you may want to set up for multiplayer soon. Keep us informed.David

Luis,I don't know about your joystick as I have a FF2. I do agree about the FS9 lessons being frustrating. I was always expecting the dreaded 'this isn't going well' and having to start over.What helped me were the following web sites. Go thru these 'hands on' tutorials and you'll be doing well rather quickly. They will also get you introduced to charts and flight plans.These have been posted many times before but always deserve reposting. Doing them in the order presented will not be repetitive or boring.[http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/index.htm][http://www.stoenworks.com/

I think Ihave just about had it as I have pretty much hit my tolerance for failure level or damn close.I tried again and was 'stuck' with Ron because as advised I tried to go it without him. It said to strike the Z key to take over the flight. That didn't work. I did the Z key but he was still there. But even with him I do everything I am told to the nth degree but still fail.What is that damn screen that comes in after the flight is aborted or crashed? Not that it matters, I was excited about the learning process but I guess I am out of my depth with this for hobby.Thank you very much anyway. Everyone has tried to be very helpful.Louis

When you load up flight sim you will notice a menu screen like thishttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/87242.jpg Place your mouse on the CREATE A FLIGHT on the left side. You will see this exact picture. From here you can simply click on the FLY NOW button on the bottom right and it will place you at Seattle. After you get the hang of this area, you can simply get back to the create flight area and change the aricraft, location and weather. You will get it and we will help you get there ok?Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4][h3]P M D G's 747-400[/h3][h4]coming to a runway near you[/h4][/font color]Caution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)AMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | Maxtor 6Y080M0 SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 | Windows Xp Pro | Windows Xp Pro 64 |

LouisAnd don't forget if you crash or whatever just shut down your throttle then hold down CTRL and press ; to reset the flight as many times as you want. Good luck.David

Now let's take away that crash detection (it will prevent flight sim for reloading every time you crash etc) and we will set your RUDDER to auto which will make flying a little easier for now plus you do not have rudder pedels. 1] We are back at the main menu, click on the bottom left on SETTINGShttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/87243.jpg 2] Now you see this picture. http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/87244.jpg 3] Now click to make a red checkmark on the AUTORUDDER box on the bottom right. Also click on the IGNORE CRASHES AND DAMAGE like thishttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/87245.jpg You should be ok now. FOr other issues we can take them as they come. Spend some time just flying about now without the sim resetting everytime.Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4][h3]P M D G's 747-400[/h3][h4]coming to a runway near you[/h4][/font color]Caution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)AMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | Maxtor 6Y080M0 SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 | Windows Xp Pro | Windows Xp Pro 64 |

Hi Louis,Don't give up mate! I too have LogiTech Extreme3DPro!...for a few months now & touch wood,so far it had been great.Had different joysticks before and they always give me problems, but they were simple "sticks".But what I had found out about them in their "calibratrion" problems were "Conflicts" with other hardware.It's hard to say which hardware is the problem cause different people have different PC.Check for conflicts mate & DON'T give up.. this is a GREAT hobby.Cheers.

I have this stick too and I may know your problem. I had simething very similiar happen to me. My problem was that the stick was going into the sleep mode, not sure about the banking turns but I know my throttle would drop off.There is an update file from Logitech that will take care of that problem, so when the stick "goes to sleep" everything will not go crazy.There is also a program on the logitech site called Caffine that you can use to change how long the stick is active before going to the sleep mode. The draw back of a longer time is more wear on the battery.When the stick does go to sleep just push the hat switch to a side view to wake it again and you will regain control.Hope this helps.

I had a Logitech Extreme joystick several years ago and it had the same problem. I returned it for a replacement and it also had the same problem. It was indeed caused by very poor quality pots that deteriorate rapidly (a few days in my case). That problem with Logitech sticks is well known in the gamer community. I will never buy a Logitech game control product again because of that, but I had hoped that they learned their lesson and had moved to a decent quality pot by now. Apparently they haven't and that is a shame. I now have an MS FF2 joystick which doesn't use pots (optical) and it has worked flawlessly for years now, unfortunately MS is no longer making joysticks.

Louis,I didn't read all of the posts on this thread, so it might have been suggested.I have the same Joystick. You need to install the Logitech Game Profiler Software and that should take care of your problems...I didn't get a chance to really work with the sensitivities too much. I will say one annoying factor is the auto sleep function. When you enguage the AutoPilot and don't move the Logitech Freedom for a few minutes it goes in sleep mode. You usually have to press the brake (trigger) or something to get it to wake up.Good luck, you can email me privately if I can be of more help.Barry

Just to completely rule out a calibration problem, press the Y key while in air or on ground. If your plane then moves forward, backwards, or sideways with hands off joystick, it is out of calibration.Best of luck,John M.

But only very slightly . . .Randy, David, and everyoneThanks to all for your encouragement and invaluable suggestions.I did manage to land safely with the Logitech and when the CH flight sim yoke USB arrived I landed safely with it too in the basic Fly Now. How? I'm not sure. I removed the Logitech from my system and will be concentrating on the CH as controller.What is the screen that comes up after the flight and what is the best way to use it?If/when I get the hang of this, even basically, does the program somewhere cover being able to fly say from BWI to Atlanta (or Beijing) and find the runway, etc?And while I'm into the mode of multiple questions, are any of you familiar with Bill Stacks Flight Sim manuals and are they worthwhile for novices?Once again - wanishi!LouisP.S. 8 in a row!

I've been following this thread and finally decided to post. The screen I believe you are seeing at the end of the lessons is a review of your flight. I ignored this when I began flying. Later, when I understood a bit more, I found I would occasionally refer to it, though I confess I usually just ignored it.Like you, I was quite frustrated at first- I crashed often, had difficulty landing, etc., though I have not had the joystick problems that you have been experiencing. Like the other posters here, let me encourage you to keep at it. For me, I initially just tried to take off in a Cessna, fly around a little bit, see if I could find my way back to the airport, then land. Turning the realism setting to low and turning off crashes let me have a little enjoyment.After a while, I wanted more, so I began taking the lessons. Still more frustration, although I eventually found that with repetition (and patience!) I was able to complete them all. This took some weeks. Included in these lessons are intructions for following a course from one place to another. Also, the learning center covers IFR flight, which is what I think you are asking about. This was perhaps the last area that I got to in my flight sim self-education.Microsoft Flight Simulator is so complex, learning it reminds me of the old joke- Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time.It was definitely worth it! I now fly any aircraft I desire, any route I feel like. I fly successfully several times each week.I didn't really intend for this to be such a lengthy post. I'm sure I'm not unique in doing what I did. I really, REALLY want to encourage you to hang in there. There is no doubt in my mind that you can and will master it!One final thought. In RL, I'm an educator. My students hear one strategy from me over and over: How much can you do right now? Try to add one more thing when you think you can. I had to remind myself of this more than once as I was learning MSFS.