Hi guys,

             I`m looking for some opinions on what to get after getting back into FSX after about 6 years. Is there anything in the way of a campaign/career type thing for FSX? I am mainly wanting to fly airliners and do a little bush flying on the side. With so many add-ons I haven`t a clue where to start. I was looking at the PMDG 737, since I will mainly be flying the east coast of Australia, and it seems like a decent add-on. No idea on what aircraft for the bush flying side of things though. Something with a pilot career/campaign would be great.

 

 

 Cheers Ash

Air Hauler might be what you're looking for.

Ideal Flight may be of some interest to you too.

A vote for FSCaptain, it has a free demo.

 

http://www.fscaptain.net/

 

Take a look, i don't fly without it nowadays.  I would also mention the great and more importantly ongoing support.

One more for FS Captain.

 

 

 

As far as bushplanes are concerned:

 

- Aerosoft Twin Otter Extended?

- Flight 1 BN2 Islander?

- CARENADO - C185F SKYWAGON BUSH?

+1 Air Hauler

+1 Twin Otter Extended - you can even get an Aeropelican skin for it

and whatever combination of ORBX east coast airports you fancy (large and small)

I guess several things you could ask yourself, which do you prefer more:

• Ranking up and making big virtual bucks?
• Being in an immersive environment flying in a virtual world?
• Flying a plane to the outlined procedure like the real thing and learn about the aircraft?
• Getting the thrill of manual/hands-on flying where you need to be constantly watching and adjusting the controls to maintain safe flight?
• Playing with all sorts of different addons/tweaking FS to make it as good as possible on your system for whatever little headroom it has?

Before signing up to anything, I would first work out what you would hope to do more.  Given you have done some simming 6 years ago, you might have gotten some idea which way you want to go.  I wouldn't ask this of a brand new simmer though.

Start flying online, that is the biggest and best step I ever took in FS!

Add another vote for FSCaptain. Doesn't matter whether you fly bush aircraft or heavy iron. You can let it generate random flights or use real-world airline schedules. It also adds a virtual copilot and cabin crew, and you may find yourself dealing with blown tires, birdstrikes or icing.

 

Like a previous poster, I never fly without it anymore.

How does FSCaptain work with other programs such as FS2Crew and Aerosoft AES?

I don't have either of them, but I do use GSX and Flight Simulator First Officer (freeware), which have somewhat similar functionality as AES and FS2Crew. FSCaptain works wonderfully alongside with those. If necessary, it is very easy to switch on/off the officer's/cabin announcements if they should overlap with those of another application.

 

I typically switch off the passenger boarding sounds from GSX and use those from FS Captain instead, and use GSX pushback rather than FS Captain's. I have set up FS Captain so that it will assign me to a particular gate at my destination, and then select the GSX follow-me car to lead me to it.

 

FS Captain's first officer won't talk you through checklists, but he will set the passenger signs and alert you to set the altimeter when crossing transition altitude, for example (and the transition altitudes are realistic, as far as I have seen). Again, this can be toggled on/off if needed.

 

FS Captain will also generate a despatch sheet (available though the standard FSX kneeboard) with detailed navlog, metar and loadout report. I mostly use default FSX and freeware aircraft, and the estimated fuel burn and arrival times are quite accurate.

 

My apologies if this sounds like a sales talk, but I would rank FS Captain as my top essential addon, together with A2A AccuFeel.

Thanks for the thorough answer, maybe I'll check it out!

 

 

How does FSCaptain work with other programs such as FS2Crew and Aerosoft AES

 

I use all three, it works well actually.  Some functions are duplicated, so i tend towards using the specialized applications.  The latest version of FSCaptain has the ability to de-ice the plane...but...no graphical view, AES does the graphics, so order the de-icing through FSCaptain and then again through AES, same with boarding.

 

The co-pilot, being completely honest, isn't the greatest feature, but you can completely disable this function and use the superior FS2Crew version.  The cabin crew facilities are quite good, again some of the functions are duplicated, but you can deal with that as above.

 

It can be difficult to synchronize between the three, but it's workable.

 

I would encourage you to download and try the demo.  

 

It's also worth mentioning the support is on a par with Bryan and FS2Crew i.e. excellent. 

Thanks, I'll definitely look into it :-)

While the developer apparently committed financial suicide I am still a big fan and user of FS Passenger X.   I enjoy running the business side of airlines as much as flying and FS Passengers X delivers that experience while FS Captain gives you a really good Captain/Dispatcher experience.   SimAIR is coming soon and may be my replacement for FSPAX.   I cannot say enough good things about PMDG 737NGX.    This plane was perfect for my needs as I fly Southwest Virtual and Southwest only uses 737's for their tube liners.    For the complete experience, load up any of the above add-ons then pop on VatSIM for real ATC fun.   It is the greatest experience you can get in FSX in my opinion.