Hello Jason,I have been flight simming since FS 5.1 and during that time was involved in Real World Flight Duties as a Coast Gaurd Falcon Dropmaster then as a C-130 Flight Engineer. I found that my flightsim interest had somewhat diminished as it was hard to beat the real deal when it came to the flight environment.( I tried different approaches ( Pardon the Pun :0) ) Everything from VA participation to Multi-player bush flying with Bush Flying Unlimited ( BFU, here at Avsim) I also backed away from the Hobby for awhile due to family commitments but always found myself wanting to fire up the sim again just to remind myself of the love of flightsimming. My real world flying experiences have mostly taken place up here in Alaska where I find the Flightsim Weather, remoteness and real world Approach Plates ( No real world ATC for approaches here :0) ) Always a challenge even in a 737 going from Anchorage to Juneau. The mesh scenery makes for wonderful sightseeing even at 30000 ft ( With the weather clear) Now, having been forced to retire with the Coast Guard and no longer flying in the real world, I find myself wanting to flightsim that much more as it is the only way to continue my love for flight. I am in the opposite situation that you are in having gone from flight duties to turning wrenches on Beech King Airs and as such miss those awesome days on the flightdeck.I guess to make a long reply short, I wouldn't worry to much about flightsim burnout. You will find yourself coming back to it even after an absence of flightsimming as the love of flight never leaves, either in the real world or the simulated world.Fly safeDave in AlaskaUSCG C-130 Flight Engineer (Retired)

Well I had a very similar problem my simple remidy is give your self a rest from flight simulation you have a classic case of burnout I had it as well..What i did was find another intrest you just need to slow down and take a break.

If you don't have a real world flight license.. Pursue that. If you cannot get the actual lessons for whatever reasons. Atleat try to take a few lessons.. in different aircrats for real.Start with the Cessna 172 or a Piper Archer.. then fly a tailwheel.. a multi engine. Atleast one or two hours in each... I am enjoying flight sim lot more..after I got my PP-ASEL and after flying different aircrafts. I love the realair's Decathlon after I got endorsed in that aircraft for real. Real air's decathlon is a masterpiece.Or if you have time. (I have been meaning to do this...Fly around the world... start in your home town and fly in real weather...use different aircraft for each trip., But try not to use the heavy. Visit different country. No fast forwarding or slew.Maintain a Blog/thread going here in AVSIM.:)

Join a Virtual Airline...Air Source is a good one because it covers a wide variety of the world and you can fly your payware. http://www.air-source.us/Default.aspThen you have some challenges..Barry

An interesting problem, with lots of good suggestions for solutions. Here

Keep the great ideas comming folks! I'm gonna lighten up on it a little bit and maybe try a little bush flying. In the mean time I think this has turned into an excellent conversation on a common problem in our hobby. Lets keep it flowing!Manny, I think you missed that I'm a professional aviator by trade. However I do agree that learning the up's and downs (pun intended) of real world flight does significantly increase both the enjoyment and the understanding of FlightSimming as a hobby. :-)The Round the world trip is also a great idea, I've seen quite a few simmer's undertake those. But again that brings up the time issue, some of those legs can be quite lengthy. But, never the less an excellent idea with structure which I think is important when interest starts to lack. -Jason Peters E-3 AWACS Flight Engineer USAF (Former B-52H Crew Chief) [email protected]http://www.feelthere.com/banner/erjpilot.jpg

I was in the same boat as you. I kept telling myself, "Maybe I just need something new. When this aircraft comes out or that scenery I will be back in the swing of it. I wasn't. I was getting so rapped up in having everything "by the book". By the time I got airborne I was tired. I took a couple of months off, just didn't fly anywhere. I did a flight last weekend, from Phoenix to Denver, and had a good time flying in real time. Guess my advice is, take some time off, and you may come back to simming refreshed.

Learn to fly helicopters- not just good enough, but well. I can assure you it's a whole new beast, even if you think you know how to fly them. There is that online school that has all the free lesson downloads. Even though I fly R/C helicopters, I found learning to fly the FS ones really opens up a whole new area. And definately solved a large part of my boredom problem.I also realized, that no matter how bug the monitor is, or what your CPU is- If you are just just staring at a screen, and using the same mouse and keyboard you use in Word, then you are never going to feel satisfied. Look at some other peripherals. I just got the TrackIR Vector Expansion module, and it's like having a whole new sim. You feel much more a part of the virtual world, as you are now using not only your hands and feet, but your head. I bet a head mounted display would be even better, but that's a pipe dream. For $150, the TrackIR is really, really good.I've also found that sometimes I need to get "in the mood" (I know that sounds a bit creepy)- so throw on the Discovery Wings Channel (if you can get it) and watch something on Comanche, or WWII squadrons, or 747s- I sometimes watch for a few hours a night, and suddenly get an urge to fire up IL2, or Coastal Heroes, or FS. I'm getting a few Just Planes DVDs for christmas, so I'm sure it will be big iron for the next week.You know what else may help- go out and fly the real thing. For $120 or so you can take an hour lesson, and bug the hell out of the instructor pilot with all your questions (he has to listen :) ).

Yep.Me as well! Currently 'resting!'Since Fs2 and Bruce Artwick I find I take a wee break every so often.What I did last time was to start a new way of giving me an interest. I would pick at random a news article on TV/Radio/Print media and fly to the place in the news. The fun was to go from wherever I was! So, could be massive RTW flights or just local.I always fly 737, so if place was say African Bush on a mercy flight, I had to either land 737 in impossible places or nearest airport and shuttle with smaller craft/copters/cars (yes cars) to destinantion.When arrived I would just leave sim there until a new place took my attention, and I would have to get myself out of wherever I was.Advantage for me in this type of 'adventure' is that I am always seeing new scenery and places and sometimes get fantastic surprises as I approach destinations.It works for me. Its all imagination anyway!(lol)Still drop in to AVSIM!regards,

Want some structure, but some very interesting flights? Join Freedom Air, and take the state Capitols tour. Then, when you get to a new capitol, check out the national parks nearby, before going to the next capitol. Take a flight to Alaska, and in a C172 with ski's fly to the top of Denali. Play to get there about 2-3am, and see the Northern Lights. You may have to circle the Mountain many times, before you can climb to that altitude, but that is part of the fun. Do some real life adventures, like flying into Russia in a C172, and land in Moscow Square like the guy did when it was a communist state. Fly to DC, and see all the monuments, and the Smithsonian. Fly into Yosemite Valley or Yellowstone, and see Old Faithful spout. Fly around the world, or at least around the entire coast of Australia. If you have http://www.FSGenesis.com Mesh, you can now fly all the way around the world, with accurate mesh! Dont take the direct route, but view some of the interesting places. Like the huge Ferris Wheel in England. Eifel Tower in France, the Pyramids and Sphinx, et.al. The list of new things is endless... Search Flightsim.com or Avsim for "Easter Eggs" there is a file with a long list of them.

The NUMBER ONE thing that keeps me interested in flight simming are the close friends that I have come to know through this comunity. Sharing your joy with another makes it all worth it. Popping in a DF 727 is great but with a buddy along side who thinks the same is where it's at. There are many great guys around these parts, find one in your area who knows you might see things like me ;-)Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]http://www.rawbw.com/~bdoolin/shinault/southparkcartmad.gif[h3]PMDG 747![/h3]Caution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)ASUS KV8 DLX | AMD 3200 64 | 1 GIG PC 3200 DDR | GIGABYTE 5700 ULTRA | ViewSonic VP192b 19" |

For myself, I have lost interest in flying GA aircraft. I have a private pilots license, and flying with FS9 just can't come close to the real feeling of flying, even with a nice screen, CH pedals and yolk, FSGenesis, ActiveSky, USRoads, etc. Once you are enroute with a GA aircraft, there is not that much to do in the plane. I am like you where I keep thinking that if I just buy one more thing, then I will regain interest. One of the things I am hoping for is a complete overhaul of the graphics engine for FS10 so that the terrain is more intersting and more varied when flying low and slow.I like the idea of just not using FS9 for a month or so, and then come back fresh. When I come back though, I think that I will concentrate on the following:1) Fly complicated aircraft, such as Boeing jets, that require alot of reading and study. There are 305 pages of reading material for the latest DreamFleet 727!2) Fly using more realistic ATC such as Radar Contact, or fly online.3) Plan out flights more, seeing how close I can come to my estimated time and fuel consumption, use DPs and STARs, and fly in varied weather with random failures.I will see whether this gets me interested in FS9 again.Scott

Hi!For me, this problem started as early as FS4.0. I never knew exactly what to do. I needed a little more structure, so back in 1995 I wrote a program called "fsgame". What it did was simple: it generated 10 assignemnts to choose from and let me choose an aircraft. It was released on a local BBS and I guess about 100 people played with it. I'm working hard on FS Economy now, which is basically the same, but it adds money to the equation. It's now in beta test and the results are good. I find it helps me a lot when I don't know what to do. You just look around for airports that have an aircraft that you like and you check if there's an assignment. If you accept an assignment, you know exactly where to go, and these destinations are sometimes airfields that you've never been to before. The assignment pays you some money so you can buy fuel for the next adventure.Marty

Try "More Places to Fly" (link in signature).

Great links. I would also add the following regarding flights:Around the World in 21 Days:http://www.niksula.cs.hut.fi/~akesanie/fs2004/Scripted FS ATC Adventures:http://fsadventures.net/Interesting FS Destinations:http://www.fsdestinations.com/Michael Vone Challenges:http://www.avsim.com/hangar/utils/mvchallenges/MVchHome.htmlHopping Round the World Adventure (70 in all)AVSIM File LibraryVFR Crossing North America (11 in all)AVSIM File LibraryScott