I just landed a gorgeous FFX/SGA 737-300 in US Airways colors at KSFO 28L in a night landing. Using a totally superb (and by now fairly dated) freeware add-on panel (by, I think, Luis da Costa Pereira) it was great to hand fly the ILS for the last 18 miles from near Moffett Field and touch down with a pouf! on the runway. I have used a lot of commercial add-ons for years now and while I enjoy them a great deal, they do remain pretty demanding and big consumers of time. I still find that it's hard to beat a great piece of freeware aircraft with a great freeware panel, using FSNavigator and my GoFlight hardware. You just fire up FS9 and off you go with a saved situation or whatever. It just works so well. I guess I am in the category of simmer who has been happy to discover quite a few of the complexities of planned flight along with realistic add-ons and FMCs, etc,. but who likes to be able to just jumpm in and fly something easier and more light hearted. It's hard to do 20 or 30 minutes of flying with a major jumbo jet FMC and then call it quits. Maybe I also enjoy these freeware models because I have become a better simmer as a result of using the complex add-ons. I don't think I really understood the flight director properly until I had learned the PMDG 737 MCP, for example.I guess it's important to have diversity in the sim and remember that FS offers a vast universe of visual and technical possibilities to virtual pilots. Sometimes I am surprised by the untapped delights of my fleet and forget what I've flown and where I've been. It's just great to "re-discover" this stuff and find that it all works so beautifully and easily.This evening, in particular, I can retire for the day and feel really happy and satisfied that I had a perfect 25 minute FS session, using many of my skills, and enjoyed a visually stunning approach and landing that was flawless and that also ran A+ on the PC.Just wanted to share this with others.JS

Well said JS, I feel EXACTLY the way you do, and I enjoy my GoFlight gear as well. We would both rather be flying than programming keystrokes in FSUIPC, right? Bravo! Email me and lets trade freeware or fly on-line sometime.Regards,http://www.my-buddy-icon.com/Icons/objects/red_3d_plane.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MD

JS,Excellent expression.Yes, I feel the same way. We are very lucky to be enjoying the level of Flight Simulation we have today. We can choose to make it as simple and as complicated (or intensive) as we like.Some days, I just want to climb into my Cessna 172 (default), and take off...go wherever and enjoy the scenery. Inevitably, I'll set my GPS to get me back to the airport I took off from, but just enjoy hand-flying her back.Imagine just how "involved" FS will become in the next few months! It'll be a real "trip".

Yeah. One big thing about simpler aircraft is that they don't give you huge hits on frames. I was flying the default Baron 58 yesterday. I cranked up the cloud sliders to the max for all of them, redraw distance, density, etc. even with heavy cloud cover it was beatiful not to have to experience a slide show which complex addons will give you if you max out, particularly, the clouds.P4, 3.6 ghz, HT, 1 gig ram, Radeon X800 XT PCIe 256 mb

Yeah, very true. No fps or fluidity hits with the simpler stuff. What impresses me even more, I think, is how fabulous these older steam gauge panels look on my enormous 24" LCD. I am really taken with the imagery and sense of realism. It's an unexpected bonus.Now, then, back to that old DC-10....!JS

JS,Really enjoyed reading your post. You expressed my feelings as well. I just didn

Simplicity for the Fourth rocks! I just landed Milton's classic Dash 7 at Prince George airport in Canada colors on a snowy, sunny day. Hand controlled in every respect. What a delight. Enjoy your Airbus. I'll get one of those some day (and probably a simplified version!)Thanks for your good wishes.JS

JS has got it right. I work in the electrical business for a living and don't have the time for all the programming. I use the RFP 743and fly using VOR navigation and minimal planning as I don't have the time. Does it for me. Also the RFP has the feeling of heavy that I have been looking for in a jet for a long time.JimCYWG

Jonathan,Could not agree more. When there is only a few minutes to get a flight in, nothing is more enjoyable than taking the turbo Baron 58 on a nice flight from Prestwick to Oban or Dulles to Charlottesville. The only thing to worry about is fuel mixture and your landing gear.JF