Having spent about 15 years flying gliders, including substantial amounts of time in very close proximity to mountains and ridges, I understand the thrill of knowing you are a matter of feet away from becoming a cloud of fibreglass splinters, and there are numerous forms of aviation that can be done very well in FSX that are pretty much freeform risk taking:

 

Sure. I enjoy gliding myself but cant say I've ever found FSX gliding that convincing. It always feels to me as if the control panel is somehow seperate from the scenery, sort of superimposed.

 

The other issue of course is that there is a disconnect between the glider and those ridges you are flying next to in FSX. e.g. if your wing clips a boulder or tree we all know what is going to happen, either the wing will slice straight through said trees or boulders or else that dreaded static crash screen will appear with a crunching 'crash' sound - in other words there wont be any 'cloud of fibreglass splinters' except in our imaginations.  So that sort of experience pretty much kiils realism in FSX for me....whereas what I do enjoy these days is the occasional casual VFR flight in GTA-5's 'real-world' environment.  Granted its a small world area compared to FSX, but it has many features that make flying fun and enjoyable, including crash detection, gear damage, bird strikes, uneven dirt runways, leading edge dirt on wings over time etc, plus of course a 'living' interactive environment beneath your wings.

...In fact I reckon many newbies could learn a lot from watching a few of this guy's GTA videos (he's a long-term FSX user by the way)......

 

GTA-5 flying tips (old gen PS3 version)

 

Takeoff

https://youtu.be/v0k3hmEVaeY?t=591

 

Final approach

https://youtu.be/v0k3hmEVaeY?t=1334

 

Enjoy whatever you fly,

 

Fly09

(Formerly PropheadX. 

Name changed due to password issues).

Sure. I enjoy gliding myself but cant say I've ever found FSX gliding that convincing. It always feels to me as if the control panel is somehow seperate from the scenery, sort of superimposed.

 

The other issue of course is that there is a disconnect between the glider and those ridges you are flying next to in FSX. e.g. if your wing clips a boulder or tree we all know what is going to happen, either the wing will slice straight through said trees or boulders or else that dreaded static crash screen will appear with a crunching 'crash' sound - in other words there wont be any 'cloud of fibreglass splinters' except in our imaginations.  So that sort of experience pretty much kiils realism in FSX for me....whereas what I do enjoy these days is the occasional casual VFR flight in GTA-5's intercative environment.  Granted its a small world area compared to FSX, but it has many features that make flying fun and enjoyable, including crash detection, gear damage, bird strikes, uneven dirt runways, leading edge dirt on wings over time etc etc.  In fact I reckon many newbies could learn a lot from watching a few of this guy's GTA videos (he's a long-term FSX user by the way)......

 

GTA-5 flying tips (old gen PS3 version)

https://youtu.be/v0k3hmEVaeY?t=591

 

Enjoy whatever you fly,

 

Fly09

(Formerly PropheadX. 

Name changed due to password issues).

 

I refer you to my earlier point about not hitting things 

I refer you to my earlier point about not hitting things

 

I think you'll notice that in the GTA video above, and in the previous two GTA videos I posted, the pilots didn't hit things ..although the guy (above) could well have hit say a wing when turning at the end of the runway if he wasnt careful and looking out.  My point being that in FSX you cant do that since the wing will simply slice straight through nearby ghost planes, trucks or fences etc.  Hence FSX tends to give us a false sense of reality in as much as wing-tip bumps and knocks while taxiing etc are all but ignored..  Again I'm not knocking MSFS..as I've used it for over 10 years, just pointing out the limitations that we've grown up with.

 

Accidents do happen in real life.btw...

https://youtu.be/o30McrW636o?t=17

I think you'll notice that in the GTA video above, and in the previous two GTA videos I posted, the pilots didn't hit things ..although the guy (above) could well have hit say a wing when turning at the end of the runway if he wasnt careful and looking out.  My point being that in FSX you cant do that since the wing will simply slice straight through nearby planes, trucks or fences etc.  Hence FSX tends to give us a false sense of reality in as much as crashes, bumps and knocks are all but ignored..  Again I'm not knocking MSFS..as I've used it for over 10 years, just pointing out the limitations that we've grown up with.

 

And those are fair summaries of the limitations, but for me at least they are far less immersion destroying than the other compromises GTA makes on world scale and feel of the aircraft.

 

But, as I said, different target markets.

And those are fair summaries of the limitations, but for me at least they are far less immersion destroying than the other compromises GTA makes on world scale and feel of the aircraft.

 

 

Like I said, many FSX users enjoy flying in GTA-5's multi level environment.  True its not world scale, but personally I'd much rather fly around casually in prop planes and helis in GTA-5 where there is 'life' on the ground as it were.   But as you say..its different target markets.  Each has its positives...and not everyone wants to drive to the hangar... ;-)

 

https://youtu.be/v0k3hmEVaeY?t=58

 

The other issue of course is that there is a disconnect between the glider and those ridges you are flying next to in FSX. e.g. if your wing clips a boulder or tree we all know what is going to happen, either the wing will slice straight through said trees or boulders or else that dreaded static crash screen will appear with a crunching 'crash' sound - in other words there wont be any 'cloud of fibreglass splinters' except in our imaginations.  So that sort of experience pretty much kiils realism in FSX for me....whereas what I do enjoy these days is the occasional casual VFR flight in GTA-5's 'real-world' environment.  Granted its a small world area compared to FSX, but it has many features that make flying fun and enjoyable, including crash detection, gear damage, bird strikes, uneven dirt runways, leading edge dirt on wings over time etc, plus of course a 'living' interactive environment beneath your wings.

 

That's part of the reason why I used Flight Unlimited 3 (and the Flight Unlimited 2 San Francisco scenery region) exclusively between 1999 and 2008. The FU3 "world" was only a fraction of the size of that in MSFS, but it was a much more believable world as far as I was concerned.....and that included aircraft breaking apart on impact (with either the scenery, or other planes). I have mentioned this before, but one incident I always remember occurred just after I had departed Oakland International, and was turning left over the bay to head down to San Jose International. I had just levelled out at low altitude (maybe 1000-1500 feet), and I had just enough time to look to my right before the AI Boeing 777 smashed into my plane. The wreckage of my Beechjet fell into the bay, and the 777 carried on in complete ignorance! Of course, FU3 had so many other features that were way ahead of any other flight simulator of the day, but sadly Looking Glass Studios went the way of the Dodo before these could be further improved :( One of the saddest days in gaming history for me, because LGS were pioneers that could have done a whole lot more for gaming if they had survived.

That's part of the reason why I used Flight Unlimited 3 (and the Flight Unlimited 2 San Francisco scenery region) exclusively between 1999 and 2008.

 

Ah yes, Flight Unlimited.  I loved that series.  I remember doing a scenario where you had to fly a patient from an asylum to somewhere..and at some point I think the outer limits theme-tune starts playing part way through the flight.  I cant recall the exact details but it was a spooky and unique experience.

 

FU landing....

https://youtu.be/uajE4wv4K64?t=109

 

GTA-5 'hard knocks' crash landing.......

 

The FU3 Beechjet was an awesome plane. The simulation of thrust reversers alone was miles better than anything available in MSFS at the time. In fact, thrust reverser sound effects were quite pathetic in MSFS until at least FS2004 (and I never owned that one, so the situation might be even worse). Thanks for the video link. It brought back many happy memories B) :(

Thanks for the video link. It brought back many happy memories

 

Cheers Christopher.

 

You might also like these GTA scenic flight vids....

 

 

Barnstorming fun.-with perhaps the funniest ending to a flight video ever ;-)

https://youtu.be/PwCWOPNOtQI?t=697

 

F16 fun flight.....

https://youtu.be/eIKNcqCYvRI?t=387

 

GTA-5.sightseeing, coastal route.....

https://youtu.be/PwCWOPNOtQI?t=191