Lost motivation to fly

[Rocky_53 1,579]

Actually, I've just remembered something. Not so long ago I noticed I was getting a little disenchanted with my GA flying and that was because I was flying RW weather all of the time. I know, sounds crazy, but let me explain... when flying GA and bush flying, half the fun I experience is looking at the scenery, especially in Orbx regions. Very often these regions will not experience fine weather that is conducive for this type of flying experience and I found that I was so determined to fly with RW that it was at the expense of enjoying the scenery! I do enjoy those foggy and low cloud days but not as much as a bright crisp sky while flying over somewhere like Alaska. Now, if I feel like some bush flying I very often fly with a weather theme that allows me to enjoy the scenery, not always, but most of the time. As for flying the NGX, it's real weather flying regardless, as I find that most of the enjoyment with this type of flying are the different procedures, the flight planning, FMC programming and so forth  :biggrin:

[Alan_A 1,650]

 

 

Now, if I feel like some bush flying I very often fly with a weather theme that allows me to enjoy the scenery, not always, but most of the time.

 

I find myself doing the same - or sometimes picking a theme that gives me a little challenge, but that's different from real-world weather.  I'm surprised to say this, since I've always been a real-world weather junkie, but I'm looking forward to the upcoming REX 4 Weather Architect program so I can do some more customized theme-building for low and slow.

[Christopher Low 5,353]

I recently lost my motivation for flying because of a major stutter problem at large airports with any more than a handful of AI planes active. However, a complete reinstallation of FSX and all of my addons (plus a complete overhaul of my UT2 addon schedules; a total of nearly two weeks work) seems to have solved the issue. I am now keen to get to the weekend as fast as possible so that I can start flying again!

[ultra_porthos 4]

I tend to get involved in a hobby then get bored also.  I am new to simming (this time around..I had the original MS flight sim!)

 

To keep myself from wasting my time, money, and effort, I am designing my home cockpit so it is easily switchable from GA (Cessna, ect...) to CA (737 etc...), combat (F16 etc..), and for racing car peripherals.  I am going with 3 screens and have a 2 year plan to fully integrate everything.  That should keep me busy for 2 to 7 years at least!

 

BTW:  If anyone is THAT bored, I am willing to take hardware off of your hands! ^_^

[zmak 331]

Taking a break is whats needed, For me its usually around 4 days and as I live in Thailand I usually hop on an overnight sleeper train to koh samui or a quick flight to Phuket and get stuck into some beach time and reading 

 

Flying vatsim also helps to pump up a bit of excitement when it gets very busy and these days its all i fly

[KingGhidorah 209]

I find GA more difficult. FMS, CDU 737 and 777 is easy. Managing the plane's systems and engines is easy; turbofans are easy, no fuss, automixture, nothing to monitor, reliable, easy to start. The IFR system in Vatsim is easy. In contrast you need to know a lot more about the VFR rules; where you can and can't fly, how high, etc. IFR is like highway driving with TomTom(and with someone to call and tell you where to turn). VFR is like back roads in the boonies with a map and no road signs. Follow your programmed waypoints, sid/star, alt restrictions, vnav calculated for you. In contrast, with a GA plane, yes you may have a gps to follow, but you have to manage and calculate your own climbs and descents. Tell me right now what is your climb speed, prop rpm, manifold pressure in a baron. Ok now your 737. Oh yeah it's all automated for you... No autothrottle, no automixture(lean or you're going to lose power), have to watch your speed(no FLCH here). And that's just with pistons. What about turboprops which REALLY require you to manage your engines(with the right addon). With the tubes, you can literally take off, hit AP at 400 feet, and come back hours later at top of descent. There is very little hand flying in the tubes. Yes you can hand fly as much as you want, but cmon now. We're mostly on AP. Even landing is easier in a jet. Slight flare and put her down. The smaller GA planes, especially with some wind, are a bear to land. Try the Realair Legacy in some gusty crosswinds. Take all that with GA, but now add one of A2A's accusimmed planes. Now you really have to manage the engine. And their warbirds are incredibly difficult to fly and land compared to your tube. The Merlin is a beast at takeoff. 40% N1, TOGA....yeah really difficult. Commercial aircraft and ATC is designed to be simple and easy. Modern aircraft are highly automated to ease pilot workload and make it easy and safe for the thousands of daily flights. Imagine if they had to dial vors all over the world. Wait they used to haha but that could not sustain the levels we're at now. Not attacking you just trying to make a point. We think we're so smart because we can get a route from flightaware or pfpx and program the cdu. But it's all really simple and automated. There's a false sense of complexity because its a big jet that flies really fast with a computer you have to program.

 

 

I disagree with most of this.  I have both kinds of planes, and honestly, I find that the little ones are different than the tubes, and therefore might provide a needed change of pace that the OP seeks,  but I would be hard pressed to say they were more challenging.  In DCS when you are fighting for your life in the Mustang, on a combat mission, then yes, more challenging, but not so much in FSX, flying as GA.  You say about the airliners, "yes you can hand fly all you want but c'mon now".   You make it sound like none of the tube pilots ever bother to go any farther than that or delve any deeper into mastery of the aircraft.  I challenge myself all the time with flying raw in the tubes, and there is a lot more things going on than in a single.  These single engine ww2 planes don't have anywhere near the systems complexity of a modern airliner, no matter how expertly modelled- there is only so much.   They're fun to whip around the sky and land on postage stamps, and that gives them an extra element of danger, but depending on how you look at it, you also have that much more margin.  Big airliner can't do that kind of thing, and you always have to be thinking that much farther ahead.  I'm not talking about taking off and getting it back down again, blundering your way around all the way, anybody can do that, I'm talking really being able to drive that plane around like a "simulated professional"  who can handle it well, come hell or high water.  You're sort of minimizing a whole group of simulator pilots when you write off the well-done complex airliners (and the flight simmers who prefer them) like this...

 

to OP- I mentioned DCS.  You might check in to that.  Planes are very good, on par with the very best in FSX, and it might freshen things up by bringing in a new element of complexity to your flying.  

 

Also Helicopters.  Good change of pace, so maybe that would be something you could do.  DCS is good for Helicopters, but also the Dodosim for FSX.

[James Bennett 52]

to OP- I mentioned DCS.  You might check in to that.  Planes are very good, on par with the very best in FSX, and it might freshen things up by bringing in a new element of complexity to your flying.  

 

Also Helicopters.  Good change of pace, so maybe that would be something you could do.  DCS is good for Helicopters, but also the Dodosim for FSX.

The problem is I'm trying to make myself enjoy what I have instead of paying more and more money for new things i'll end up doing the same with in a months time. I need to spice up what I have. I feel like i've learned everything there is to do with procedural IFR flight.

 

I think i'll do some proper GA flying for a while.

[z06z33 763]

The problem is I'm trying to make myself enjoy what I have instead of paying more and more money for new things i'll end up doing the same with in a months time. I need to spice up what I have. I feel like i've learned everything there is to do with procedural IFR flight.

 

I think i'll do some proper GA flying for a while.

You might try IL-2 1946, with the team Daedalus mods the multiplayer is awesome and the flight/damage model is pretty realistic(way better than FSX) there are usually 10-20 people in a server on a weekday/night but it can swell to 64 on the weekends which makes for some pretty awesome air battles. The big plus to IL2 is its a combat sim not some arcade style POS and it's only $9.99 at GOG.com. I love IL2 its nice hop in my Me-109 at the end of a long day and put my flying skills to the test. Yes the graphics are a bit dated but once you start flying you don't notice. If you decide to try it look me up on hyperlobby (the multiplayer client) my call sign is OCT and I usually fly in the skys of valor server.

[ANAMIV 21]

 Most definitely off topic but here goes....... In my eighty seventh year, married for sixty one years, five lovely grandchildren.... simming , sure I get bored.......

just jumping into Cessna or whatever provides the distraction.

 

ANAMIV

[Manny 1,293]

One area I haven't pursued is VFR flying with quality scenery and GA. I've put all my money into commercial jet ( all the big and small names) but really not much into scenery  besides quite a few FSDT airports.

 

What I like doing is VFR flying with quality scenery and flying low and slow..but with the PMDG 777 or the PMDG 747.

 

Yup..Thats what I like doing.. Hand flying those heavies at 5000 feet AGL and coming into land on these GA airstrips.  KBVS (Orbx) is one of my fav airports to do this.

 

LOL

[Gregg_Seipp 568]

What I like doing is VFR flying with quality scenery and flying low and slow..but with the PMDG 777 or the PMDG 747.

 

LOL...that's what I do with the Flight1 Mustang.  Sucks gas like you wouldn't believe but what's the point in flying if it's boring you.  I go back and forth between flying normal and doing that but it sure does help keep it interesting. 

 

Tell you what I wish...and this may be stupid...but, I wish there was an app that would let you fly to events...Mardi Gras, a tennis match or whatever and, when you turned off your engines at the destination a dialog box would pop up with a link to a list of webcasts, webcams, video streams, street cams, beach cams, etc. where you could sort of experience the place.   Call it FSLife or something.  The links could be provided by *trusted* users.  You click on the link, a browser pops up and you are there.  You could fly to tennis matches, football games, the Olympics, World Cup, yada...yada...yada...

 

Gregg

[zmak 331]

Thats actually I good idea Greg but cams can be very boring however you could always use U tube eg type in the name like ' Sochi" or "Australian open" or whatever..

[BilboBaggins 82]

Simple solution from my point of view. Nothing I do I can do forever. Listening to Beethoven only, or Behemoth..... gets dull. So, take a vacation! Do something different for awhile, or even nothing; the passion will return, if you have it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[TurboTomato 90]

This is why I've never bought any payware aircraft - lovely though they are, I don't have much time to play (an odd hour at a time), and so I don't want to spend most of that time flight planning and setting aircraft up. So for me, things like the Project Airbus A320 series along with the default GPS planner is just fine with me - jump in with the engines running, get clearance and off you go...

[DeskPilot518 15]

I know a lot of you are suggesting GA here. So far, i've not found a GA aircraft that has been difficult enough to fly to keep me entertained. I did do a 6 hour flight in a C152 which was quite entertaining VOR to VOR once and enjoyed it though, and with good scenery it would have been better.

 

Is there a small freeware single prop aircraft anyone would reccomend?

Check out Ant's planes. Very good for the money. I bought Ant's T28D, and incredible value at $17. Great for island hopping, excellent cockpit and you can use checklist or just push the throttles and go.