I had a Thrustmaster Top Gun Afterburner Pro II something some time ago. I managed to destroy it accidentaly and didn't want to buy it again, because I think that this massive throttle is just too big. However it featured an alternative rudder control via one big rocker-switch at the back of the throttle. In retrospect, I think that it would be pretty convenient to control the rudder this way (and definitely more precise and natural than those twisting sticks).And the Thrustmaster Top Gun Afterburner II isn't very expensive any more and even available with force feedback.I also heard from some guys who are happy with some very cheap steering wheel for rudder control...

i'll take a look at that... i did notice the slider, i placed it mid range, but didn't seem to make a difference... i'll try maxing it...Just turned it up all the way, works great like that :)

>I also heard from some guys who are happy with some very cheap>steering wheel for rudder control...I have a wheel with pedals (Logitech) but unfortunately I can't get them to work in FSX as rudderpedals... FS just doesn't accept or see the input while it DOES see the wheel and all.>i'll take a look at that... i did notice the slider, i placed>it mid range, but didn't seem to make a difference... i'll try>maxing it...>>Just turned it up all the way, works great like that :)Cool! :)

I actually find it easier to control with my thumb, I have much finer control than with my hand. "I often have to hold the stick just a little backwards or something like that"I use elevator trim to remove this.Rudder is fine control, pull a little, you get a little rudder, pull a lot, you get a lot of rudder, let go, it centers.I find rudder control very easy with the XBox controller. Much easier than stick twisting or keyboard rudder control.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

?Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

>?>>Thomas>I think he's being cynical.

>"I often have to hold the stick just a little backwards or>something like that">I use elevator trim to remove this.Yes, so do I, but sometimes you have to hold the stick in a certain direction for a while (during turns etc.) and in that case you won't trim. Seems to me it is hard to hold your thumb steady when a small movement of a single millimeter will make a difference in the flight path. But maybe it's not THAT sensitive.>Rudder is fine control, pull a little, you get a little>rudder, pull a lot, you get a lot of rudder, let go, it>centers.Hm, sounds cool. I do not have a gamepad at all at the moment, so maybe I should give this one a try. Who knows...

Oh, I forgot to mention, I also turn the sensitivities on the ailerons and elevators way up. I've found that with the default settings you don't get full range of motion of the controls.You'd be amazed at the sensitivity with which you can control your fingers.Also, the one gripe that I have is that you can't get full range of motion of combined controls, which makes some aerobatic maneuvers difficult to do. The control stick motion is limited by a round hole, so when ailerons are at max, you can't put much elevator control in, and vice versa. But I'm thinking of opening the controller and cutting that hole into a square, and hoping there is some unused range of motion in the control stick so it can handle full elevators AND ailerons at the same time. For normal flying it's great though. I can do the red bull time trial with it just fine.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

Looks great. Did you get the widescreen XHD monitor?How does that affect FS?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

Well Steve,Your post got my attention a while back, and after watching the systems he builds for his EBAY business, and your feedback plus EBAY users, I contacted Mr. Bagley, who is now building the following system for me.Case- Antec P180b PSU- Thermaltake Toughpower 750W Motherboard- MSI P35 Platinum CPU- Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3GHz Liquid Cooled Overclocked to 4GHz Liquid Cooling System- Swiftech H20-120 Video- BFG 8800GTX 768MB Liquid cooled @ 600MHz/1800MHz RAM- 4GB Mushkin DDR2 1066MHz HDD- Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA 3Gb/s Optical- Lite-On 16x SATA DVD-ROMThis system should make FSX fly. No pun intended. Or maybe I should say pun intended, since its kind of a dog on my current set up.I will report back when everything is up and running in a few weeks. Out the door, its about $2,700 with shipping. Brian S.

Hi Brian,I hope your experience is as positive as mine has been. I think if you get 4ghz, you will really be doing something!! Your 6850 should give John lots of room to tweak with the unlocked multiplier. I maxed out at about 3.7 with my E6700. But this winter when the ambient temperature of my room decreases, I'm going to try to go abit faster. Of course each processor has it own "personality." Also if John is using the MSI board... you may get some faster speeds as well. I am not very technically minded (whidh is why I asked John to build my computer). If it doesn't go quite to 4, please don't be disappointed... It will work super from 3 gigs upJohn was telling me recently about the Swiftec system... all self contained... Sounds great... If you think of it... let me know how it all works out. That's the same price category I was in.I don't know what you have been using, but you should be in for a treat! By the way, almost everyone, by the way has some blurry experience, it seems... but with your speed, I think you will avoid 95% of it.Take care and God bless,Steve

Well Steve and fellow simmers, I just received my new system for FSX on Friday, and have been working on transferring files, finding lost cd keys, and getting used to Vista over the weekend. And I have to say that ordering a new system from Mr. Bagley has been a great experience. (and no, he is not related to me :) ) He delivers a first class, solid, high speed product. Took a little longer than I have hoped, but that was due to the his moving his residence during the build. As you can see from my new signature, I am a happy camper. I am running FSX at a very smooth 30 FPS (locked), and even in high density areas like Vancouver Plus FSX, with autogen maxed, all most every setting maxed, (except no light bloom), with 8XAA, 16X anisotropic, at 1900x1200 resolution on my 23" widescreen LCD OH MY! It truly is amazing what we will be able to do with FSX as the hardware catches up, can't wait for DX10. Anyway, I have more testing to do, but I wanted to share the amazing experience with you guys and tell you there is hope. I have yet to tweak any of the config. Maybe I should leave it be.... Oh, and one more thing. Last night I was flying FSX with Megascenery FSX for Phoenix, with the above settings with light bloom ON at sunset, and I have to tell you my jaw dropped, just WOW!

Cool, it's good to know that we are starting to see systems that can run FSX very well!!Good luck with it, and post some screen shots soon!

Great to hear!!!So happy that it is working well. I guess I will have to get an E6850 for Christmas. I'll be talking to John about that. Maybe you could put a Phoenix light bloom screen shot on for all of us to enjoy.Have fun and God bless!Steve