I started flying the first MSFS back in the mid 80's with an 8088 processor in CGA, and that was about 8 years after I got my PPL. I have had just about every version since then , and did all the tweaks, and suffered all the CTD's, lockups, and everything else that could go wrong with a PC program on a continual basis, until I finally gave up on FS and got it off my hard drive about 5 years ago. I very recently saw a video of the A2A C-172 on Youtube, and having flown one in real life for a couple of hundred hours, was amazed at how realistic this video looked. The next thing I knew, I was downloading P3D, and frankly was expecting this to be no different than the last version of FS that I suffered through, and I decided if I saw the same kinds of problems that I had with FS, I would just pay for the one month subscription with P3D and chalk it up to experience.  From flying real aircraft, and also flying commercial and military sims that was part of my job before retirement, the one thing that ruined the immersion for me with MSFS was the constant stuttering of the video. Every Time I would see that , I would wish that there was some way that I could get the smoothness of real life flying in a home simulation, without the jerkiness, and constant hesitations. I can remember shooting landing approaches in a big city back then , and seeing the sim go down to 15 fps and below, and having  each frame  showing  the aircraft in a slightly different position as I approached the runway threshold. Talk about ruining the immersion.  

 

So now I fire up P3D, use the default settings for graphics, set the desired FPS at around 30 fps and off I go in the Maule. I flew in the Ft Lauderdale area which I had many times in MSFS, because that is where I soloed and got my license in real life. I flew around, did some touch and goes, flew down the coast to Miami, and just flew around. Wait, where are the stutters, I don't see any. I cannot believe that I have finally after all these , found a program, that runs smooth, doesn't herk and jerk, and looks great.  Probably beginners luck, so now I crank up some Ai, and buy a couple of A2A aircraft, which are more complex, and do some more flying. Took off from LGA airport in New York City, and flew up the Hudson, past the George Washington Bridge, and flew an approach to RWY 4 at LGA. All smooth as silk, FPS around 28-30 even in the NYC area, and this is with Active Sky giving me the real weather and flying the A2A Cherokee. At this point I probably have about 25 hours on P3D, and not one stutter, lockup, CTD, or any other strange behavior. It just works, and it works great. My hat is off to Lockheed Martin for doing a great job with this program.  

 

 

My hat is off to Lockheed Martin for doing a great job with this program.  

 

Couldn't agree more!

@Bobsk8

 

Fantastic news.Wish I could say the same. Would you be willing to PM me your .cfg settings(Prepar3d.cfg)?

Always refreshing to read about good experiences with P3D.  Enjoy the flying!

I took me until v2.4 to feel mostly positive with P3D, but now it really seems to have arrived.

@Bobsk8

 

Fantastic news.Wish I could say the same. Would you be willing to PM me your .cfg settings(Prepar3d.cfg)?

 

Sure, tell me where to find them. That being said, I really have tweaked nothing which is a first for me on any flight sim I have used. Sort of flying it right out of the box so to speak. 

 

 

I really have tweaked nothing which is a first for me on any flight sim I have used.

 

And there is the best tip for all P3D users. Don't tweak just fly!

 

Great to hear you're enjoying your flying in P3D. All running nicely here with no tweaks on an old (2010) PC.

 

 

Fantastic news.Wish I could say the same.

Same here. After a full system format and clean vanilla install of P3D 2.5 all settings low (on a GTX980 gpu) I got so significant stuttering that I just uninstalled and didn't bother trying to improve from there. 

 

When 2.6 or whichever version is next is out, I'll try again. I'll never abandon my hopes for a smooth, fluent sim experience. I've had it before, it can happen again.

And there is the best tip for all P3D users. Don't tweak just fly!

 

Great to hear you're enjoying your flying in P3D. All running nicely here with no tweaks on an old (2010) PC.

 

My Pc is a late 2012 model Dell desktop with an i5 at 3.4 ghz, 6 Gigs of ram and a GTX 750 Ti which I just got last month for my TS2015 Train Sim. BTW, I don't think the Train sim is going to see much activity now that I got P3D running so well. The only thing I do is to run Jetboost prior to firing up Track IR and Active Sky and then P3D   JB shuts down quite a bit of activities which I believe frees up t he memory and CPU to focus more on P3D.  http://www.bluesprig.com/jetboost.html

Bob... Really good to hear about your experience, thanks for sharing. I often now go for trips, some which I've done in real life. What's so refreshing is I know I'll reach my destination without a lock up, freeze or complete crash, well unless I don't look where I'm going.

 

Your past experiences did make me smile and brought back some frustrating memories. I can honestly say I've had all of them.

Bob... Really good to hear about your experience, thanks for sharing. I often now go for trips, some which I've done in real life. What's so refreshing is I know I'll reach my destination without a lock up, freeze or complete crash, well unless I don't look where I'm going.

 

Your past experiences did make me smile and brought back some frustrating memories. I can honestly say I've had all of them.

 

I can remember years ago when flying the PMDG 767, flying from Atlanta to Brussels, which I have done many times in real life as a passenger, and being on final to Brussels and MSFS would CTD     :angry: . It's a wonder I didn't throw  my PC out the window....

 

 

PMDG 767

PMDG 767? I don't think they ever made a 767. Do you mean Level-D's  767-300ER?

PMDG 767? I don't think they ever made a 767. Do you mean Level-D's  767-300ER?

 

Yes that is right, the Level D was the 767, I had a PMDG also, and I can't remember what Boeing that was, maybe a 737.  The first time I flew the Level D was at a Flight Sim convention in San Diego that Avsim held about 9 years ago I believe. Got home from the convention and bought it. Had probably well over 1500 hours flying that 767, and wound up flying the 767-400 ER at the Delta Training center in Atlanta for about 4 hours one evening with a check Pilot. Made some nice landings, and the pilot kept asking me how much " turbine time" I had, and was surprised when I told him that the only real aircraft I flew were C-150-172s and Piper Warriors. 

With a newer PC and with all the right tweaks FSX did eventually work reasonably well for me. It still threw its toys out of the pram randomly however. P3D for me has never exhibited this behaviour. Granted, if I push the 32bit VAS limit it will, as expected complain. And I know who to blame.

 

It's great to fly those real life flights from the cockpit. Don't know about you but unlike any other flight sim I've flown, P3D gives me that feeling of déjà vu.

 

 

a check Pilot. Made some nice landings, and the pilot kept asking me how much " turbine time" I had, and was surprised when I told him that the only real aircraft I flew were C-150-172s and Piper Warriors.

All kudos to you.Well Done.My hat's off to you. You should feel very proud that a Check Pilot for one of the US's is not the world's major airlines paid you that compliment.