Just for fun and admittedly getting WAY ahead of myself, I thought I would at least take a 737 up for kicks just to experience that before returning to the basics.I released the brakes, gave it full throttle, pulled back on the yoke but it would not leave the ground. What did I miss??Also, why am I now getting red words in front of the windshield like "Piper" or xxx feet, etc? Do I need them, what do they mean and can I turn them off for now?Thank you.Louis

You need to get to a reasonable speed before lifting off with the 737. You should also set flaps at least one notch, maybe two. I haven't flown the defaults for awhile now, but check out the checklists.The red messages you are seeing must be AI aircraft labels. You can turn them on or off by going to Options and Traffic.

I had the throttle pushed all the way!Louis

Me thinks that you've been caught (like I have several times) by having too much "down" trim. It's the one thing that I've hated about FS2002/FS2004.....aircraft too sensitive to the position of the trim.Add to the fact that it varies greatly from one aircraft to another, and you often have a plane stuck to the ground.gwillmot>I had the throttle pushed all the way!>Louis

A useful tweak to remember in FS is to pull the yoke or stick back a small amount, then use the trim command to actually get the plane to rotate. Even with Force Feedback you lack the `feel` in FS that a real aircraft gives you.Allcott

And I should do what about that?Louis

You are now over my head when you speak of rotating the plane. I jsut wanted to get off the ground. This is becoming frustrating.I folowed the instructions in the FS 2004 program.Extend flaps 3 times.Press F3 or take the throttle off idleRelease brakesFull throttleat 150 to 160 knots pitch up I am still on the ground.Someone at CH Products said maybe it's the sensitivity in the settings. And which sensitivity?Does that make sense in this regard?Louis

Did you try lightening the fuel/payload quantities? Quite possibly, by default the aircraft is several thousand pounds over it's max weight (many are), which will make it struggle like hell to get airborne! Also arm your spoilers (Shift + /). You may want to try using the autopilot and TO/GA to get the correct thrust for take off instead of just slammng the throttle all the way up.Adjust the fuel levels to 50% using the fuel/payload option on the menu screen. Start the sim, at the active runway of your chosen airport. Set three notches of flaps, arm spoilers, set autobrakes to RTO, arm the Flight Director, and AutoPilot, and hit the TO/GA (Take Off/Go Around) button on the throttle display, or use whichever key-press is used on the keyboard (I don't recall as I have it assigned to a joystick button!).Look to rotate at aprox 150nm; pull back GENTLY on the stick and keep enough pressure so that the nose should now raise...use the instruments to see that you have aprox 5 degree nose up....hold the stick steady and let the aircraft come up naturaly. Don't yank on the stick or anything...hold it steady, and raise the gear at around 150-200 feet. The aircraft will now move more steadily upwards. Set you speed to 250 on the IAS window and hit the IAS hold button, and A/P (AutoPilot) button. Start raising the flaps. You'll easily climb now, and raise the flaps again, and watch your altitude, and aim to have flaps fully raised by at least 2000ft. Make sure that Auto brake is now Off, and that the spoilers are no longer armed. If you want to, set an altitude and climb-rate (no more than 2000ft per minute) and hit the altitude hold button.Now you'll climb niely upto your chosen altitude. At 10000ft (or FL100) you can increase speed to around 280. Once you get above 20000ft or so, you'll need to bring your vertical climb rate down from 2000ft per minute to maybe 1400 or 1200ft per minute, otherwise you'll lose speed fast and stall. Above 18000ft you can increase speed to 300nm quite easily, but you may need to adjust that climb-rate to allow for the speed increase (drop it to maybe 1800 or 1600ft per minute).Hope that lot makes sense...it may not be 'perfect', but it'll work fine and get you nicely airborne. Then you just gotta worry ATC and IFR flights, and ILS landings, etc!! All good fun though and when you've smoothly taken-off, and subsequently brought in your first commercial flight, it feels great!!Have fun ;)

Eagle:Use only 1 notch flaps. 3 notches is too much and will increase drag forces (slowing your plane) too much.If at Vr (Velocity of rotation, see your checklists) you are not able to "rotate" the nose into the air with back pressure on the yoke, then your joy stick is most likely not "on", working at all, or not properly calibrated.1) Calibrate your joystick to insure it is functioning under windows and calibrated.2) In flight sim, make sure it is enabled. (see the menu).3) Verify that you can see the elevator move from the spot view when you push/pull the yoke. Verify that the motion is of a reasonable range, if not, check your trim settings too.4) Attempt your takeoff from a 10,000 ft runway, with full throttle, and ONLY 5 degrees flaps (one notch) at an airfield at or near sealevel (to begin with), and do not add any back pressure on the yoke until you reach Vr. At Vr, gently but firmly, pull back on the yoke to establish a climb attitude of about 13 degrees on your artificial horizon. As your nose rotates off the runway, the aircraft will takeoff by itself.5) As you reach the maximum airspeed for the flap setting you have choosen, retract the flaps. Maintain your airspeed and climb attitude.Good luck.

Most if not all of the terms you are using are foreign to me and I certainly don't expect you to take your time with lengthy explanations.I printed out Machado's instructions for this aircraft and followed them to the proverbial "T."How do you determine the length of the runway you are on and locate a 10k runway.Shouldn't it work if you follow the program's instructions?What about the sensitivity settings? Is there anything there I should look for.It is becoming maddening! Louis

Well, I'd never thought I'd say this....but......"Where is Simon Evans When We Need Him?".Louis, it's obvious that you have obtained excellent information and possible solutions to your problem.Unfortunately, you just don't have the "right stuff" to be flying this machine without the most basic understanding of flight terminology.I highly recommend that you return to whatever aircraft you were having success at, do some "studying" about the mechanics of flight (and terminology), and then please return at a later date to report your results. This is a really neat "game", but it is a simulator of real flight. You MUST know some basics first to get full enjoyment out of flight simulation. Please don't let this thing frustrate you so much. It requires a learning curve. Just spend some time reading and experimenting. You can do it...it just takes time, and getting bent out of shape isn't going to accelerate the process.gwillmot>Most if not all of the terms you are using are foreign to me>and I certainly don't expect you to take your time with>lengthy explanations.>>I printed out Machado's instructions for this aircraft and>followed them to the proverbial "T.">>How do you determine the length of the runway you are on and>locate a 10k runway.Shouldn't it work if you follow the>program's instructions?>>What about the sensitivity settings? Is there anything there I>should look for.>>It is becoming maddening! >Louis