Woohoo! Got Fly! II Patched (finally)

[Guest Max Cowgill]

Well, after a full HD reformat and reinstallation of Windows 2000, I was finally able to get Fly! II installed and patched to version 240. I can't wait to start using this sim! I've been a long-time MSFS user (almost 10 years now) and I look forward to using a different GA sim for the first time in awhile. I purchased the original Fly! when it was released but never really got into it and have also tried the X-plane demo through a few releases but never bothered actually purchasing the full version of the program. I'm eager to start fly!ing but have a few questions before I do. Are there any live weather utilities available for Fly! II, like the built-in real weather option in FS2k2? Are there any 3rd-party clouds/skies available? Is there any high detail scenery for Minneapolis, MN, and Tulsa, OK (these will be my main areas of flight and I would like to make them as realistic as possible)? Are there any 3rd-party commercial freeware aircraft availble for download or are they all payware like the PMDG aircraft? Any other must-haves?thanks in advance,Max Cowgill

[RandallR 446]

Hello Max, and congratulations on your patch-up!I'm kind of on the run here, but here's a short list:1. Real-time weather was built into Fly!II from the beginning. You can download weather metars in-flight from the TRI server. BUT, this server has a habit of being down or unavailable most of the time....therefore, I most highly recommend Infometar. This great utility by David Sandberg will access the latest metar data, allow you to thin it and save it to Fly!. Infometar is available in the Avsim library under Fly!, as it is a tool for both versions.2. In the library you will find a TerraModels scenery pack of MSP airport and a taxiway set for same. The author of both is Don Bishop. I could find nothing for Tulsa yet, but some tools I will mention soon would help you to make your own. :-)3. Download Allen Kriesman's texture packs for TerraModels so you can use the afore-mentioned scenery.4. Download the whole TerraModels program from Allen, so you can take care of Tulsa. :-)5. Download Todd Klaus amazing landscape/elevations scenery generator: TerraScene. Using TerraScene you can make very realistic renderings of your favorite areas - generated from USGS data for the US, and offering options for making scenery of other areas.6. Get Jure Dolanec's clouds - they are much better than the default.7. Download one of the many skies that are available: Bluesky, BrightSky, marcs_sky, real_sky3, skyfire20 - I recommend all of these sky-coloring sets. There are probably new ones available that I'm not aware of.8. Aircraft - hit the Avsim Fly!II library - there are really some good ones. ROTW (Rest of the World) has produced some remarkable aircraft in the best Fly! tradition. In the library you will find the Piper PA-19, Piper PA-28, Socata TBM700 (a real marvel), and their latest release, the P-51 Mustang. There a number of other good aircraft there - I mention ROTW's first, as they are so well done. (They also have a great web site with many Fly! utils and sceneries - be sure to have your French translator ready).Also, there is the payware Citabria/Decathlon from RealAir - worth every penny!For a better ATC experience, the original C4TO (Cleared 4 Takeoff) in combination with Flyscripts! does a better job than the default. You may note that there is a new version of C4TO available as a DLL with improvements (somewhat of a beta right now) - the author is making good progress and you might want to check it out. If you have any problemms with it, the original C4TO makes a good "fall-back".Also be sure to download Rob Young's flight model adjustments for the Flyhawk and the Pilatus.I hope this is helpful - gotta run!

[Guest Max Cowgill]

Holy cow! Thanks for all the suggestions Randall. I've already downloaded and installed infometar and Jure's sky and cloud packs, as well as the ground texture enhancer. Quick question: how do you import metars into Fly!II from infometar? I was able to d/l the latest metars, but couldn't figure out how to get the weather into Fly!II. I have to admit I haven't really sat down and learned how to use Fly!II properly yet, I'm just kind of messing around and checking out the sim at this point... Are there any good freeware commercial aircraft out there? Specifically 737s, 757s, 767s, 777s, A320s?I could use a render.ini file for my GF4 Ti 4200 128MB card as well. If anyone has one of these I'd appreciate it.thanks,Max Cowgill

[Guest spenik]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Fly!II I hope to hear some more of you in the near future, but it's 8:33 PM in Hawaii and I have shool tomarow so I am going to sleep soon. Do some touch and goes at KOA for me!Good night and God bless!

[RandallR 446]

Max,Just go through the great Infometar Help file system - when David makes a program, he doesn't kid around. The menu system will take you through all the operations and setup, but here's 2 quick things:1. Go to Edit, Options, Misc. and set the path to your Fly! II Metar folder (if you didn't get this in setup). Close Infometar and restart. After you download, set your flight path and thin the metar, choose Save As... and name your adjusted file. It will automatically be saved to the proper location. In Fly! II select Weather, Load Metar - load the file you saved.2. Check the Fly! FAQ at the top of the forum - there is a section there from David Sandberg on the best way to use Infometar w/Fly! II.I'm not up on the heavies - I doubt any freeware is going to approach the capabilities of the PMDG aircraft. I know there are some airliners in the file library - give them a try. Someone who flies the heavies more than I do may be able to point out the best to you.I use several renders mattering on the environment I will be flying in. I'll need to look over my "collection" and get back to you with some recommendations.