FSX-MS A2A C172 or JustFlight C152?

[TextRich 88]

19 hours ago, JonP01 said:

But unfortunately too for me, performance (in terms of FPS) has to be a very big consideration. I had hoped to upgrade my now 9-year old first generation Core i7 in the next 15 months, however I think real life has got in the way of that, so I might be stuck with my prehistoric machine for quite some time yet.

Oh, and just a final question regarding the A2A 172 if I may. When you deploy the flaps, does it push the aircraft into a nose-down stance? The panels on these Cessnas seem to be higher than the panels in the Pipers and with the short field work I am wanting to do, good forward visibility is very important if I am flaring on landing and still want to see where I am going. I have no problem with the JF Warrior in this respect but am curious how the C172 handles it. I don't really like having different positions and camera angles for cruise versus landing, etc so prefer just to find one position that suits me in all phases of flight (something the default position in the JF Warrior does very well).

If you have an i7, you're fine for FSX.  Don't upgrade unless your sim is slower by using payware aircraft.

To answer your flaps question, no, there is not a noticeable difference when flaps are deployed.  The only time in simming I remember a noticeable difference is when flaps are used in Flight Sim World.  If you can't see the runway when landing, you are flaring too much.

[JonP01 104]

4 hours ago, BF Bullpup said:

If you have an i7, you're fine for FSX.  Don't upgrade unless your sim is slower by using payware aircraft.

Good to know. The funds really aren't there - especially when any upgrade will also enforce moving to Windows 10. Realistically the only thing I could even consider upgrading is the graphics card and even in that respect it would just let me further improve the image quality and not FPS (though with respect to my comments below it would certainly help with those "textureless" moments when textures are loading).

Anyway, I pulled the trigger last night on the A2A Cherokee. Yes, it was a complete punt but all the posts I ever read about it were universal praise and with no complaints about system performance. And I can attest that this is the case as well even on my very old machine. The only noticeable performance difference is the textures will sometimes take a bit of time to load if you are cycling through views, but there is no escaping that with an 8 year old graphics card that only has 1.5 GB of RAM onboard. But I guess that would be an excuse to save up for a modern 1660T Nvidia GPU.

The flight characteristics are an eye opener too. Reminds me of the first time I ever bought a Realair aircraft back in the FS2004 days. And it behaves very differently to the JF Warrior. I guess that yes, they are different aircraft but they behave so very differently in the sim I have to ask myself, which is the more accurate compared to real life. It would seem the A2A might be - but regardless I am very happy and grateful my old machine can handle it.

So next (probably rhetorical) question is will it handle the A2A Constellation??!! (I think the term "that would be a miracle" comes to mind).

[sloppysmusic 240]

38 minutes ago, JonP01 said:

So next (probably rhetorical) question is will it handle the A2A Constellation??!! (I think the term "that would be a miracle" comes to mind).

I think you might be surprised. I don't notice a huge difference between the Cherokee and Connie as regards system resources. A helpful pointer might be that even though A2A don't offer trials they DO sometimes give refunds if you are having a nightmare getting a plane to run on your system, particularly if you intend to use the money to switch to another plane like the Comanche or T6 (absolute dream). 

Now you have the Cherokee you could get involved in their forums as there is a lot of useful info there, if in doubt PM one of the staff. They are mostly very friendly about refunds if you are polite and reasonable and don't tell them their plane is garbage and won't run lol. I'm sure you seem the polite type I'm just writing that for anyone else down the line that might read it! 

The Connie can be a lot of work if you don't use the auto crew options. Then again when you are not in a hurry and want to relax, there is something quite wonderful in just starting all the engines for example. Tickling and coaxing each one into firing up with the inertia start system is very rewarding. Especially the first one as it means you can now provide heat or cooling into the cabin and the passengers can start boarding. If you board them too early they will let you know if it's not comfortable in there! 

Edited March 19, 2019 by sloppysmusic

[JonP01 104]

Thanks. Well I might consider it then (when I have the money). Actually that was another thing I was curious about. If you have an auto-crew "engineer", what control does that give you as the sim pilot over the engines and props (serious question though you may laugh). I assume the auto-engineer is watching temps, mixtures, torque, manifold pressures and prop syncro, etc but the pilot still can use the actual throttles!!

Edited March 19, 2019 by JonP01

[sloppysmusic 240]

https://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=57110

This will answer all your questions! But yes you retain all flight control and throttle control, if allowed to the engineer basically tunes the plane to your flying mode. For example if you throttle up and climb he will open cowl flaps. If you start your descent he will initiate depressurisation, you have the master prop control switch whole he fine tunes individual engines so they are all in sync. To be true he's a hard working fellow for sure he deserves a pay raise. You get all the glory he does most of the behind the scenes work! 

 

[JonP01 104]

Thanks very much. I just joined the A2A forums as well. I just love the Warrior. It really has taken my flight simming to the sort of fidelity level that race simmers (including myself) have enjoyed for years now - and that is the sheer joy of flying simply to be immersed in truly believable physics.

As for the Connie, I don't think I'll be earning much glory. I will probably run career mode only when I am in the mood for a laugh. I can see lots of crying babies and an ever-decreasing salary coming my way!