>Super! And when you're read to work off that popcorn I should>have this one ready to go:>http://www.steve-lacey.com/blogarchives/20...ontroller.shtml.>Haha, I was toying with idea of using my midi guitar pickup to control autopilot, but this is even better :)

"I think most users here wouldnt have a xbox controller, they think its a toy only for little children and could not be used for something advanced as a flightsimulator."-------------Of course there are tons of non-simming people who would see grown adults sitting at computers 'playing with planes' as being like children with toys hahaha. So I guess it's all just relative.

>In case you missed it:>http://blogs.msdn.com/tdragger/archive/200.../17/513958.aspx.>Well I noticed during the video of the FSX presentation that the speaker was a using an XBOX 360 controller to fly the Jet Ranger and he appeared to do so quite easily. I'll stick with my CH HOTAS and Vmax yoke for flying but may get one to simulate RC flight and play my other games.

OHN if Microsoft came out with a Yoke and Peddles comparable to CH Products offerings I might give it a look. It's already a travesty some are still using joysticks to fly Cessna's, Beech Baron's, and 747s. Joysticks do work well on aircraft such as Helo's, Airbuses, or RealAir

Let me just say that if you like X-Boxes, it's still perfectly fine to fly IRL. I liked PS2's before I started flying. You don't need a "1337 hardkore" setup with a yoke and pedals to be serious about flight simming.

Hello All, Well, I guess there is a difference between serious simmers, half serious simmers and just FS fans.When I first started with FS, it was a toy, sort of fun, and any old joystick would do. (I think the computer was a 25 mhz including the 'turbo' button on LOL) As most of you know, I'm a real world pilot with a ton of heavy iron experience -- so it WAS a toy. Then FS got better, and I started to look at it as more than a toy. Around the time FS5 came out, I decided that flying heavy stuff, (yes, we did have a few freeware developers back then who did great stuff), I decided that a joystick just wasn't cutting it any longer, so I got a CH yoke and pedals. Although it wasn't that close to the real thing, it WAS better than trying to fly a 737 or such with a joystick. PLEASE, joystick users, no flames, I'm not slamming you, just making a point that for ME, it just didn't feel right.At FS 98 time, I bit the bullet and bought an AETI desk yoke, this was made for them by Percision Flight controls, I've used it almost every day since then and it is still the same today in every respect--what a quality piece of equipment and worth every dime. Now that was getting pretty close, in fact, it mimicked my old Cessna 421's yoke pretty well -- (they styled this yoke after a SAAB 340 I believe). Later on came the go flight stuff, and the two different throttles, for turbo props and 2-3-4- engined jets. And of course, I have a ton of bucks in all this equipment, not to mention all the millions of dollars LOL of software I've bought for FS since day one. Any of you guys remember how thrilled we were when Flight Shop came out and you could really build a neat aircraft? Now, I am not close to a home cockpit, I can't see myself doing that, however, I have three computers running 7 monitors, all hooked up to FS because I like the different views and Nav programs. And because of all that, I HAVE to make the right amount of time to fly as it is an ordeal to get everything fired up, in sync with each other and then do the flight. Nothing is more frustrating than to go through the 15 min set up and have some darned aircraft or scenery crash FS . . .grrrrrrrrCould I go back to just a joystick? Nope, I'd have to quit first, as all this good stuff has spoiled me. At the same time, it has given me a ton of enjoyment, and also frustrations, (why all of a sudden did the fps's fall down? thats the Flight simmers nightmare) but it keeps me busy and off the streets, and makes my wife a FS Widow LOL. It also has made me spend a ton of money on computers, never handing down the old one, just adding it to the FS nightmare of wiring, boards and monitors! Yeah, ok, I'm obsessed!BestClayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

"You don't need a "1337 hardkore" setup with a yoke and pedals to be serious about flight simming."I beg to differ depending on how you use FS and if you

We had simulators of F/A-18's that I had the chance to fly numerous times when I was stationed in NAS Lemoore CA (VFA-94). You get allot more slack with a conventional stick but in the air the F/A-18 is still touchy. I love the way the seat in the F-16 recline back. It's like you

"A joystick never worked for me after I started flight lessons."---------Of course a yoke won't be very authentic if one flies old biplanes or others which have a stick in real life. Is a simmer who uses a yoke flying those planes as "not serious" as one who uses a joystick to fly a plane which has a yoke in real life?----------------"I guess there is a difference between serious simmers, half serious simmers and just FS fans"------------------Is there a list somewhere which can be used for judging various types of simmers and where they belong in the hierarchy of "simming seriousness".In the end, it matters little except whether one gets something out of it they want.

"Although it wasn't that close to the real thing, it WAS better than trying to fly a 737 or such with a joystick. PLEASE, joystick users, no flames, I'm not slamming you, just making a point that for ME, it just didn't feel right."I guess Airbus pilots would feel right at home, though :)Great post, thanks Clay!-John

>I beg to differ depending on how you use FS and if you

<>Not sure the point you're trying to make. I'm a PPL and a joytsick/Xbox user. Could you elaborate????

>>If XBOX is your thing OHN (and others on the same track) then>go ahead but I hope you stay on the ground in the real world>and have no thoughts of venturing into the air in the pilot's>seat. Anyone serious about aviation GA or otherwise would do>well to get themselves some realistic controllers for the>aircraft type their flying.>I'm "serious" about GA aviation, but ......unless I owned a heavy duty metal yoke like Clayton's, I'll stick with the Saitek X-45 stick.

This was the biggest reason I dumped my CH yoke. It just felt too flimsy and light compared to the heavier one that's in the 182 I fly. I'm much more comfortable with my joystick. Which makes sense, since I usually fly with one hand on the yoke and one on the throttle, so it's kinda like having a joystick to begin with. :-)

Like I said above L.Adamson a joystick is great for the planes you mentioned. I can't afford to train in a P-51 Mustang and seeing we don't have decent Airbus A320 simulations in FS9, I'll have to stick with a yoke... FS can be used in many different ways; my original point was directed at XBOX gamepad use. I can't see how anyone would want something like that but that's the beauty of Flight Simulator... :-)