I always start from C&D, it's just much more enjoyable to me.

I think there are phases in the life of a simmer, more or less like this:

 

First month: I nail ILS landings! ye-haa!

First year: Oh my god! There is payware stuff other than the default planes!!

Second year: WOW! I can fly online and with other people just like me!!

Third year: I can follow the complete normal procedures of the FCOM and fly the plane from cold/dark, I rock!

Fourth year: Let's learn some emergencies

Fifth year: Just wanna fly, load the plane with engines running, on the runway

 

heheh

 

I personally like setting up a panel state an airliner pilot would encounter when getting into the cockpit, not completely cold/dark, just on external power/air. I've done the cold/dark thing to see how it's done, but once I know it, I get over it.

YUSS!!! I'm not a freak after all.

 

Um, well, either that or we're all freaks and geeks.

 

p.s. who else grabs a beer (I mean coffee) while IRS is aligning?  :lol:

I use to be a engines running guy, but that was when I was new to the world of flight simulation.  Now I am a C&D enthusiast, I mean there are so many shiny buttons to press. Why waste the realism of it on a "engines running" flight?

 

 

p.s. who else grabs a beer (I mean coffee) while IRS is aligning?  :lol:

Always! 

>p.s. who else grabs a beer (I mean coffee) while IRS is aligning?  :lol:

 

Always! 

 

Very good, but waiting for someone to chime in with... Cigar! (There's got to be one?)

I would hope everybody gets on to cold and dark eventually, it's the most enjoyable!

 

(and semi realistic)

 

Enjoy!

For me, it depends on the time of day.  There are some weekends where, despite my best efforts, I can't sleep in (I usually get up at 0430 on weekdays), so I'll jump on the sim so I don't start moving around the house and wake people up.  In those cases, I'll start cold and dark.

 

In the middle of the day, I usually use the short state, unless I know the aircraft had a long turn (either from FlightAware, or if it's a charter in the middle of the day, or something to that effect).

 

If I end a flight in the middle of the day, I usually power it down to the short state.  If it's the end of the day, I'll bring it all the way back down.

 

 

 

 

I enjoy starting the 777 from C/D because we put so much effort into simulating the way the airplane powers up.  The various air flow system checks, speakers/annunciator tests...  I just love listening to the airplane go through all of it's test modes.
 
Tickles the airplane geek in me. 

 

I agree.  It's cool to watch and listen...for the most part.  I still cringe right before the speaker test because I know it's coming up.  Despite the cringing, it's a cool feature.

Yep the speaker test never fails to freak me out. Love it!

Reading all this again It just hit me Steven, Elfyn and Kyle that I have completely overlooked the intricacies of "powering it down". Normally I just reset shortly after touch down. Pathetic. Clearly I'm not even half the geek i thought I was.

 

 

Normally I just reset shortly after touch down. Pathetic. Clearly I'm not even half the geek i thought I was.

 

Ha!  No!  I usually won't start the plane anywhere other than its assigned gate (if I can find it - and if not, at least somewhere in its airline's gate range for that airport, which you can generally find on the airline's website, worldwide), and I won't shut it down until it's back where it's supposed to be (gate/stand/etc).

 

...usually.

 

Exceptions are made for Beta testing, and a bunch of the videos I record, in the interest of saving time.

Long turn panel state for me.

 

 

Very good, but waiting for someone to chime in with... Cigar! (There's got to be one?)

Meeee! Well, actually while I'm planning my flight. While waiting for the IRS to align, I complete the PERF INIT and retrieve weather and complete the takeoff briefing for FS2Crew. For startups I usually go with a custom long turnaround panel state. Feels a bit more realistic that way. 

Normally I just reset shortly after touch down.

I actually quite enjoy taxiing to the gate and shutting down, finishing the shutdown checklist and telling the cabin crew to open up the doors. I get this sense of relief, especially after coming in through bad weather. After taking 10  minutes to rest, i continue with the next leg. 

Depends on the departure time of my virtual flight. If it leaves in the early morning, then it would be a cold and dark start just as in the real world (even if initiated by the ground rather than the flight crew). For flights leaving throughout the day - the power is already there.

Cold and dark is OK occasionally, but every flight? Not for me, I have a virtual ground crew for that, so I use long or short turn states. I would never start with the engines running though and almost always start and finish at a gate or on the ramp. I enjoy taxiing, it takes some finesse to get right. The days when I used to load a flight on the active, start up and fly are long gone, unless I'm testing something out and need to get straight in the air.