Christopher Low

2:13 Termimal 2 Beta testing skills never leave you

Maybe not a show stopper, but definitely one of the highlighted features. I would be surprised if they are not investigating the issue.

Apparently the airport received a Braathens SAFE Boeing 737-200 during an air show in 1983.

That is the beauty of a flight simulator. I do not have to abide by real world restrictions.

I did not think that the navigational data in the MSFS version of the PMDG 737-600 would be that old?

Performance on my PC at 250/125 is excellent, even in dense scenery areas. Maybe it is because I have PG switched off?

That is an interesting comment. I also removed the powerlines mod, but I kept the solar farms because I like seeing the ones that are close to airports. I think that this was after following the instructions in the above video, but I cannot remember if it was roughly the same time or not. EDIT: On a side note, what Terrain LOD and Object LOD settings do you guys use? I have mine at 250/125.

....and yet I noted an instant improvement. It is difficult for me to dismiss a connection.

I never expected the performance of MSFS to be so good on my mediocre PC. It has really come as quite a shock, and that includes really dense scenery areas like London and Amsterdam (with addon airport and scenery packages installed). The only issue that I have seen is that it takes a bit of time for all of the FlyTampa EHAM Amsterdam Schiphol scenery to appear after the scenario has been loaded. Nevertheless, once the scenery has been fully loaded, performance is just as impressive as anywhere else.

I am using the navigational database that comes with the PMDG 737-600, as I do not have a subscription to Navigraph. However, since the FMS provides the option of an RNAV 12 approach, I would have thought that it would be correct? I will try it again, but it was taking me directly over the mountain in a straight line to the airport when I tried it last night (as opposed to that 12 degree offset). For the record, I have also had a problem with the RNAV 02 approach @ EGHI Southampton (a problem that was also evident in P3Dv4). As for the runway length, I am using the full extent of 1751 metres with my 737-600, although I departed and landed at the airport last night within both thresholds.

I installed MSFS for the first time in November last year, and installed all of the world updates (including the recently released WU15). I was very impressed with the performance, even in dense scenery areas. However, after a while I noticed that I was getting micro stutters quite frequently. These were most noticeable on final approach, but they were also evident through turns. I had no idea why this started happening, but I solved it by following the instructions in the video below. This was several weeks ago now, and performance has been solid as a rock since then (including plenty of short flights in Norway, Sweden and Denmark). In short, I now have really impressive performance across the board......and this has remained the case since I installed WU16. I do not use AI planes at the moment (and I do not see me activating them any time soon, as I am enjoying the combination of smooth framerates, minimal stutters, and incredible graphics far too much to risk spoiling the experience), but if my PC from yesteryear can handle it (i5 7600k @ 4.5Ghz/32GB DDR4-3600 RAM/6GB Nvidia GTX 980Ti), then the vast majority of flight simmers should have no issues whatsoever.

I have the correct charts now, and they show the RNAV and LOC approaches to runway 12 offset by 12 degrees to the right, so the RNAV approach in the PMDG 737-600 navigational database is seriously in error. I was looking at a visual approach to this runway at first (which follows the valley).

I took advantage of an ORBx offer of 200 Orbs for ENNO Notodden Airport this evening. I set up my usual quick circuit (departing runway 12), but I had to be careful because of the mountains interfering with a direct approach to the runway. I noted that there is an RNAV approach available for runway 12, and the charts indicate that this follows a valley until visual contact with the airport can be obtained. However, when I selected the RNAV 12 approach in the PMDG 737-600 FMC, it displayed this as a straight in approach. I decided to check it out to see what would happen, and sure enough I turned onto final approach with a mountain directly in front of me. I could just see the airport over the top of this mountain, but clearly it was not a safe approach. I switched to the LOC 12 approach for my next test flight, and this took me nicely down the valley until I could see the airport in the distance. I then disengaged the autopilot, and conducted a manual landing approach with a slight turn to the right to line up. Not a problem, and I made a smooth landing. My question is......why did the RNAV 12 approach not take me down that same valley? A straight in approach is hopeless in that location. It seems to me that the RNAV 12 approach at this airport (at least, the one that is in my 737 navigational database) must be faulty. Has anyone else tried this approach at this airport?

I have not seen pink tarmac, but I have seen a pink airliner a couple of times. I assume that means that there are missing textures in the AIG package?

I should also mention that I have fond memories of FS4, which was the flight simulator that I used with my very first PC way back in 1992. Whilst I did fly in some areas of the USA (with those scenery disks that could be purchased), my favourite scenery packages were definitely Hawaii and Tahiti from Mallard Software. I remember starting a flight from Kure Atoll in a Cessna 172 at the far west of the Leeward Islands, and flying all the way to the big island of Hawaii They even created a Grand Canyon package, although that was not quite as absorbing as island hopping.

I have not voted, because....despite having a great deal of fun at the moment in MSFS (and it is by far the most beautiful and realistic flight simulator that I have ever used), I would have to say that my "golden age" of flight simulation was between the end of 1999 and 2008 when I used Flight Unlimited 3 (and the FU2 San Francisco scenery region) exclusively. It may not have had the scale or popularity of its MS equivalents of the day, but there was something about it that was extremely satisfying. Maybe it was the photorealistic scenery, the advanced ATC system, randomised AI planes (I liked not knowing what planes I was going to see at each airport), sitting in my parked plane on the ground while listening to the rain falling, realistic floatplane physics and effects, and the best simulation of thrust reversers in flight simulation at that time in the Beechjet 400A. I also thoroughly enjoyed making scenery packages with the Flight Unlimited Editor, adding a network of electricity pylons throughout both high resolution scenery regions, together with radio towers, water towers, fire lookout towers, wind turbines, marinas, breakwaters, oil terminals, electrical substations, and plenty more. I also completely stripped down and virtually rebuilt the taxiway lines, lighting, and AI pathways at all of the airfields and airports in both regions to make them look and work better. I felt like a really big part of the Flight Unlimited 3 scene, and that lead to writing two articles for PC Pilot magazine about the Flight Unlimited series. Those were good days for me in the world of flight simulation

I would think that the BBJ version of the NG could easily fly any distance that the MAX can.

Raul @ FSReborn will be developing a 727 after the Phenom 300E.

It is the interiors that are visible through windows or glass fronted buildings that are the most important. If I could see inside the terminal (or any other building) from my real world plane as I taxi in (or when I am at the gate), then I want to see it in the simulator. It adds a massive amount to the immersion for me, although I understand that it does not do the same for everyone. It is difficult to describe, but it just makes me feel better when there is detailed interior modelling (even if I am not able to see all of it from my plane), or when all of the airport textures are high resolution (even on a small shed at the far end of the airport that I will never get to see close up unless I take a little drone flight over there). If the texture on this hypothetical shed were low resolution, it may not affect my day to day business of flying, but I would know that it was low resolution, and it would bug me!

I like how the one star review has a drop down menu above it titled "Language filter"

Yep, detail is everything in a next generation flight simulator. I am not buying lots of new airports for MSFS because they have bland textures, empty interiors, and are surrounded by autogen buildings that look like something from a kindergarten drawing competition.

UPDATE - I have just completed a quick circuit of the airport after departing from runway 18, and then took the drone for a spin around the apron, terminal and other buildings. I did not experience any framerate or stutter problems whatsoever. The airport is in a beautiful location, and there is a very nice rendition of the Sandnessund Bridge spanning the stretch of water between Tromsoya Island and the much larger Kvaloya Island to the west that can be seen on final approach to runway 18. So, for anyone who is still on the fence....go and get it!

Add another one to the list..... Twice now I have experienced a loading screen to nowhere. In other words, the loading bar moves right to the end (which it does not normally do, as it jumps to the end at the last part), but the music carries on playing, and the snippets of information about the PMDG 737 keep being displayed one after the other. The loading sequence never completes, and once again I have to sign out of Windows, sign back in, and load MSFS from scratch.

I am hoping that there will be a Valentine's Day sale at the MS Marketplace, because there are plenty of airports that I want to upgrade from WISH LIST to OWNED!

Thanks, Howard. That looked really nice, and those weather conditions are similar to the ones that I used when checking out the harbour with the drone. I did not see any of those black lines in your video, so that is encouraging!