I attempt to make things in FSX feel as close to reality as I can. The default zoom level is .69 that gives a pretty good balance of reality and peripheral vision. For landing purposes I zoom to 1.0, as I feel that's what a pilot actually sees and presents the proper feel of speed over land. On the other hand, if I set the zoom at .50 the ground textures look so much sharper and the autogen popup is much less apparent. So I feel I'm left with a choice to pursue reality that includes a lot of blurriness, or zoom out for great scenery but nothing that simulates reality. Any other opinions on this?Curt

You might also try Ctrl-Backspace and Ctrl-Enter.This moves you forward (and aftward) in the cockpit. I've found this a good way to combine with zooming to keep the proper perspective, but also get good views of my gauges.In some craft, with small cabins, you can introduce some issues when turning the plane (blind spots) so you have to play around and adjust it to your liking, but I've found this a great solution.

Sitting in a cockpit one day, I decided that a pilot can see at least six times the amount of frontal & peripheral area, that we see on our monitor at a 1.0 zoom rate. Therefor, I feel more than comfortable when using those .69 (FSX) or .75 settings for FS9. 1.0 just doesn't work for me.L.Adamson

If you get TrackerIR it takes care of all this as you move your head around to "zoom" in and out like real life. A whole other dimension of realism...http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

Geofa, I couldn't have put it better myself :-)

Primarily, however, for gaming at night ... unless you live in a dungeon. Don't know about you Geof, but I have windows in my game room that interfere with the TrackIR, so I only use it at night.I love sunlight, so, covering the windows for me isn't really an option.

I'd rather fly in a dungeon WITH TrackIR than in a sunny room WITHOUT TrackIR. FS without TrackIR is a no go for me. When I fly I don't care about what's around me: I am IN that virtual world and couldn't care less about real life. ;)TrackIR rocks and is the best 'FS-addon' (taken into account hard-

My computer room is surrounded by 4 windows. I rarely find it a problem-and when it is-shutting the blinds on one window usually does the trick.http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

Don't forget that you can fine-tune your TrackIR to filter out many extraneous light blooms. Also, I found a greater degree of control over extra light sources using the excellent TrackClip Pro. Lastly, if you have the cash, you can opt to do what I did, and move to the Vancouver area. Sun? What sun? Jeff ShylukAssistant Managing EditorSenior Staff ReviewerAVSIM

Flying without tir is unthinkable for me. Spent allot of time in prop combat sims, started using a tir2 at time of it's release. For me tir was love at first sight.The first time I engaged an opponent in a scissors maneuver I knew I would never want to fly without it again. It was the biggest immersion builder I'd ever felt. I was able to just effortless lock my eyes on my quarry and fly the plane instinctively through every aerobatic maneuver without loosing contact for a second. Wow, it felt great being locked up in that fight.And man does it make formation flying soooo much easier for me. Not to mention dive/skip bombing. It also gives you a better sense of speed when you are strafing an airfield or trains.I can't wait to see Oleg's BoB. I'll turn my buttkicker gamer up and let those engines vibrate through my body. At least I hope so, sound has never been his strong point imo.