Just out of curiosity, what sort of simmer are you?1) Do you do an external "walkaround" before each flight by using external views?2. Do you make sure your fuel tanks are topped?3. Do you follow the checklist for startup procedures?4? Do you do a piston engine warmup and check magnetos and carb heat (if part of your panel setup) before taking off in a piston engine plane?5. Do you make a visual check out left or right windows before making an airborn turn?In short, how much do you do to make it as real as it gets?Sherman KaplanHighland Park IL

Turn on the computer, start fs2002, select the aircraft I want to fly, start at a parking spot. Flight plan for 45 min or so, download weather, then check against real weather through DUATS. Make sure I have full load of fuel, fire up the engines (twin screws for me), make sure the operating temps are nominal, request taxi clearance, taxi to EOR, (end of runway) give the aircraft the once over one more time, await my turn for depart, and then Im on my way.

1) No, because generally theres nothing to check, but if i'm feeling especially realistic (or flying the DF Archer II, i'll just pan around it a couple times2) Yes, because usually I save a flight from where I shut down, with the aircraft in exactly the same positon, so, its vital for not crashing3) Almost always, yes, because I'm not quite to the point with any aircraft where I can go through the checklists with anything4) Usually5) Almost alwaysAnd for those added bits of realism, I always fly real weather, real time, use a flightplan, always start up and shut down, taxi, and use ATC. At first I didn't do any of this, but as things got 'easier' flying unrealistically, I slowly started to pick up these habits.Thanks for bringing this up, its always interesting to see what people do, necessary for fs2002 to work or not, to make flying more realistic. Although I'm not a real pilot, I try to make my flight experience as real as possible so I can at least call myself a 'virtual pilot'Scott

One of the reasons I brought up this question (aside from natural curiosity) is that I have befome lazy in my own simming. I have about 20+ hours of training in a Cessna 152, but could not pass my medical. I noticed that while I was actually a student pilot, my simming was more exacting and I was demanding more of the sim and myself. But, in recent years, I took a lot of shortcuts, and realized I would get more out of the sim, and myself after reading posts from many pilots who use the sim. OK, I am rambling here, but I now try to follow more real procedures, especially when flying the single engine props. I really like how the rpms drop when you do magneto or carb heat tests. Now, maybe I will get a skinny little chair, uncomfortable as possible to try and make things even more realistic....:-)Sherm

1) Start FS2002.2) Select and aircraft and location.3) Download real weather.4) Start sim -- engine running on active runway.5) Go to spot view to take a quick gander at aircraft to admire designer's handywork.6) Pan around virtual cockpit.7) Request takeoff clearance.8) Apply full throttle and release brakes.9) Pause sim when interupted by wife for some task that MUST BE COMPLETED RIGHT NOW!!! like taking out the trash or vacuuming.10) Shut of PC after FS2002 and Windows crash after being in power-save mode.