The L1011 was just the latest classic I've been playing with recently. Glass is nice, but steam gauges and a list of VOR freqs sure a lot of fun. So I'm thinking I'll stick to whatever was flying in 1976 and see if I can make a go of it. That means a lot of nice airplanes get locked away in the future, but so be it. The only thing I really see missing is a 747-100. Anybody else try to limit themselves so drastically and succeed?

 

1976 was as good a year as any.

Yes! My methodology has been somewhat lengthy and involved. For instance I am currently working on 1980s. My primary focus on flyable aircraft are Military - F-14, F-4, F-16, A-10 and Civilian - 737-200, DC-9, soon L1011. So I am attempting to customize AI for specific regions where I lived during that time.

i've never really worried about imposing rules on myself so i can't say for success or not on that aspect

 

but i have recently been flying the fslabs concorde a lot and she's a blast to fly!

started operating in 1976 i believe

 

cheers

-andy crosby

i've never really worried about imposing rules on myself so i can't say for success or not on that aspect

 

but i have recently been flying the fslabs concorde a lot and she's a blast to fly!

started operating in 1976 i believe

 

cheers

-andy crosby

 

Don't look at it as a rule, look at it as a challenge.

It sounds like a cool idea, but I'm just as happy flying vintage aircraft in a modern setting.  And it's not that unrealistic;  Buffalo Airways still uses DC-3s in Alaska. 

 

If I were setting up a vintage world, I'd probably go with something in the 50s.

 

Hook

That retro AI is the most missed feature in FSX. I would like to hear more about your attempts to tweak the AI. I use Ultimate Traffic and I have found only very few older paints for those planes.

Coincidentally I'm close to 1976 with my "current favourite" BAe146:

 

Maiden flight in 1981, steam gauge cockpit and rather basic navigation.

1976 was as good a year as any.

You bet it was. Although, I can't simulate it too closely, or else I'd be a newborn, and I'm sure they wouldn't let a baby pilot anything other than a stroller in 1976!

 

Anyway, most of the time I can also settle for flying vintage planes in a modern setting, except for when I'm flying a few of the military jets I love, like the F-14 - then it gets hard to picture, and I prefer to simulate flying in a specific time period.

I went into the Army and got married in 1976. At the other end of the spectrum, I've tried to work out the year the maximum number of my favorite glass cockpit airplanes flew alongside the steam gauge airplanes. Since the latter hang around, that depends more on introduction dates of the more modern airliners. I think it's fun to "theme" your flying, whether by era, or completing the 100 Busiest Airports tour, or something else. And the classics force you to concentrate on the basics.

 

I remember the old Concorde for FS9. Very satisfying to cross the ocean at supersonic speed and arrive in New York right on time!

 

 

Coincidentally I'm close to 1976 with my "current favourite" BAe146:

That's a really nice model!

 

I'm kind of stuck in a time warp myself - flying mostly cold war military aircraft and steam gauge tube liners. I don't think I've ever used a GPS in FSX.

1976 was a good year for me. I was twelve. For our summer holidays my parents, my sister and I went to the US for a month to visit our family near Detroit. We flew there from Gatwick to Toronto (and back)in a Wardair 747 - which was obviously one of my highlights.  Family picked us up. My dad's uncle had a new Chevy Impala which was only slightly smaller than the county (Wiltshire) where I lived in the UK at that time. Had a great time :-)

Don't look at it as a rule, look at it as a challenge.

 

haha! yeah, i meant to answer the original poster's question about success with such limitations...  i'm not one to say "hey i'm only going to fly x" ... but i certainly love the challenge of the older aircraft without glass. my all time favorite fsx plane is the a2a stratocruiser, and the concorde has rapidly made it's way into my top five after the last few weeks of flying.  very fun! it kind of boggles my mind how advanced it is for a 1976 era plane, and the civa navigation is a fascinating hybrid of old vs new.

 

cheers

-andy crosby

Interestingly enough, the other day after mulling over which of my add-ons I should focus on next and thinking about a 'date' limitation, I decided to create a spreadsheet in Google docs listing out all of my payware aircraft (as well as the half-dozen or so freeware that I consider to be of payware quality), with the thought that it might help me narrow down selections.  I made columns for type, use, developer, etc, including the date the plane was in service.  I found that over 3/4 of the aircraft (and helicopters!) add-ons I own pre-date 1976.  In fact, over half of them pre-date 1966!

 

So perhaps such a limitation wouldn't be all that difficult for me. ^_^

 

It was actually kind of interesting to study all of the dates - I own approx. 50 various add-on aircraft & rotorcraft, and out of those 50, the majority of them went into service between 1947 and 1969.  The oldest plane I happen to own is Lionheart's Fairchild 24, which began production in 1932; the newest looks to be Iris's Pilatus PC-21, which went into regular service in 2008.

Tim ,

You're not alone. I fly only retro steam gauge planes, B707, 727, 737-200, Coolsky DC-9, QW BAE-146. I dolled up all the Captain Sim's mentioned with every community mod available ( there are plenty thankfully). With those mod's, they all fly very close to RW docs, feel great and look great. Without those mods, they would be too unrealistic and problematic to enjoy, for me anyway. The Coolsky DC-9 is just great as is. I made just a couple very minor cosmetic and sound volume changes to it.

My most recent purchase was the Uiver DC-2 (1934). I fly the old school version without GPS, A/P, DME or GS. I have to use piloting and dead reckoning along with calculating current vectors on plotting paper ( based along wind info along the route via flight planner). Much more rewarding and challenging than pushing data into an FMC. Plus, if it's not flown by the book, you'll start loosing engines. 

I also have all the big name glass cockpit planes but never use them. The NGX is even too automated for my liking.

My most anticipated release ever is the PMDG DC-6. Although it will never happen, I'd love to see a quality payware Boeing 247. Although I'm happy to fly old planes in a modern setting, it would be fun to see vintage airports with vintage AI traffic. I'd be the first customer in line.

Just my own person preferences. Everyone's different thankfully.

 

Cheers-

Brian

Is there a good 747 2 or 100?