When I use free flight, I don't seem to have a co-pilot to handle the radio, set flaps, etc... It makes flying some aircraft a bit of a chore to say the least.

 

On pre-configured 'missions", I sometimes have a co-pilot that at least handle the radios.

 

Any way for me to get that co-pilot functionality with just FSX or will I need to get an addon for that?

I have been using Pro Flight Emulator (PFE) together with FDC Live Cockpit (FDC) for a number of years now and I can highly recommend them. PFE replaces the default ATC and includes many voice sets with different English accents, taxi guidance system both verbal and visual and many other improvements. FDC acts as a copilot, performing checklists ext. also has cabin crew announcements, again with different accents. You can buy them individualy or together. They have been tweaked to work together.
 

I always check the add-a-copilot-make-sure-she's-cute box.  There are addons out there for just

 

what you are looking for.  Let me go find Michelle so I can come up with a link for you.  From

 

what I understand, the co-pilot will assist you by handling radios, reading check lists, or

 

even fly the entire flight for you!

 

 

http://www.itsyourplane.com/startup.asp?p=/html/home.asp

I wonder if there are free addons to allow for some basic FO tasks. I guess there are. Well, adding to the good payware ideas from the other guys, I shall point to Multi Crew Experience, which got reviewed here and since then evolved even further.

 

Now it's a huge and powerful addon, so maybe that's too much if you just want some things handled and do the rest alone. But there's a free trial included, so perhaps check it out. It runs via voice control and there's a smaller (cheaper) version available for just handling the radios.

 

Plane specific FOs come from FS2Crew. So if you just wanted a certain favourite plane of yours to be run by a virtual FO, also check if there's one available. Still, when you are just looking for generic radio tasks, this might be too much of a muchness as it also includes whole scenarios for checklists or ground tasks.

Flight Simulator First Officer can be found right here in the Avsim library. It's freeware, and works with any aircraft.

Most likely the best and cheapest tip that is. Thanks for that, Johan.

Flight Simulator First Officer can be found right here in the Avsim library. It's freeware, and works with any aircraft.

 

tried to find that one with a search of the library... couldn't find it using either "Flight Simulator First Officer" or just "First Officer". Any chance you have a link?

http://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=Flight+Simulator+First+Officer&CatID=fsx&Go=Search

Well, darn it! CoolIP, I see that you used the same search term I used and actually came up with a result! No idea why it didn't work for me.

Thank you sir!

No problem and thanks to Johan again for pointing it out. Let us know how you like the new FO. :smile:

Make sure you download:  Flight Simulator First Officer V2.2

 

I forgot to add the latest manual to the v2.2 installer. So, until 2.3 comes along, you can get the latest manual here:

dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24230464/FSFOV2.pdf

 

I did get v2.2. I'm trying to figure out how to make FO use the native FSX aircraft. Looks like I have to configure them in FO though and then save them instead. There seems to be only one portion of the aircrage configuration I can really import from FSX...

Got to play around with that a bit more.

You have to create an profile aircraft profile for each aircraft you fly.  Make sure you read the "Quick Start" section on the manual above. You may also want to make use of the checklist feature too!  Let me know if you need any help...