I'm a fan of difficult curved approaches, hand flown of course (Kai Tak, Gibraltar, Funchal,...).But, I find it almost impossible to perform such an approach properly, at least when compared to real life.The reason for this is the lack of visibility.E.g. if I do the approach to Gibraltar rwy 09 and need to do the 90 deg right turn, I have massive problems judging the correct point in time when to start the maneuver. Moreover, I have the biggest problems to see the runway at all at the right!Neither does glimpsing to the right (hat switch) nor doing the approach in the VC help much.Gibraltar for example has no radio aids, so the only way to cheat for me is using some plane like the 737NG and have the map with the runway symbol on it available, and fly mainly looking at the ND.Using the VC is difficult for me if I have no detachable ADI and sink VSI. Same goes for the 2D panel when looking to the right/right front: as soon as I use any other view than straight forward, and have no instruments available this way, I pretty soon get out of control of the aircraft (excessive sinkrates build up etc.).Many planes have parts of the panel in the way when looking to any other side than straight forward, so big parts of the outside are just covered and thus made invisible.I wonder how others get this right (don't plan to use something like TrackIR or so in the near future).The only chance I see for me at the moment is to build my own detachable mini window with only a horizon and altimeter/VSI, then to switch off the main panel and make my own panel available even when looking to the sides. Need to experiment a bit here...Andreas

I know you said you have no plans to use TrackIR in the near future but TrackIR has helped me maintain situational and directional awareness tremendously. The difference is really like night and day. With TrackIR, I'm able to eaasily track objects outside of the cockpit, on the ground or in the air and can quickly glance at the instrument panel to check instruments. Flying patterns and approaches is now so much easier. I no longer find myself becoming disoriented, not sure where I'm actually looking in relation to the nose of the plane. It took several days to get used to and tweak the settings to my personal preferences but it now feels completely natural. I can't recommend this package highly enough.

Hi Andreas,Have you ever used Pan-in-Cockpit mode. It is a bit unrealistic because the panel is always visible as you use the hat switch to pan your outside view but it does make it easier to execute all kinds of approaches. You still get the more realistic view by using the Shifted Numpad keys to look around.To try the pan mode, place this line:pan_in_cockpit_mode=1into the:[Controls]section of your FS9.cfg file. If you don't like it just take that line out. Too bad there's not a way to switch back and forth while in flight. R-

If you want an approach that will really test your skills, try runway 09 at Samos LGSM in Greece which has a sharp right turn on finals which is diificult to get right due to visibility problems from the left seat. I must try it with TrackIR.

I have to agree with you Andreas: LDA's, circling, and such are a bit more difficult in the sim due to visibility restrictions. I have found some techniques that work somewhat satisfactorily, like timing the approaches, using the points of reference and such, but they don't work good all the time due to wind, weight, RVR, frame rates, etc.. It would be interesting to know if anybody has found some "tricks" to take care of this problem that does not involve the VC and tracking hardware. :)regards,