dkohl

Hi.Thanks for answers 1 and 2. With respect to reverse thrusters, help me understand how this works? I'm using a CH Pro Yoke (has a throttle, prop and mixture control). When I bring the throttle to zero, say, on a Beech B200 (which is supposed to have reverse thrusters), the engines just idle. How do I set the throttles to "reverse" once I hit zero?

In FSX, I can't seem to find options to set keyboard shortcuts to:1 - Open the GPS window2 - Open the Comm stack window3 - Set reverse thrusters on those aircraft where applicable (e.g., jets and some turbo-props)Am I missing some trick? Any tips?- David----David KohlMS Flight Sim X[/b]iMac runing WinXP Home on Boot Camp[/b]CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

I'm new to MS FSX... so forgive what may be a dumb question. I have found that there are two cockpit views -- one that is static (displays primary flight instruments) and one that allows scrolling / turning. This second view is awful.... looks like a smooth, computer generated area of "flat" texture, and has a semi-clean version of key flight instruments. When I look at the screen-shot forums, I see so many fabulous looking interior cockpits. What am I doing wrong?- David----David KohlMS Flight Sim X[/b]iMac runing WinXP Home on Boot Camp[/b]CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Hello all.I am an instrument rated private pilot, and recently switched from Fly!2 because I needed a more up-to-date database of NAVAIDS so I could fly real approaches for practice. The transition to MSFX is taking me longer than I had hoped ... I would appreciate any posts to this thread with some solid "tips" for a new MSFX pilot who is using the tool for real-world training and proficiency. True, I'd like to fly through stunning scenery, but most of my use is to throw in some bad weather and fly approaches to minimums.Thanks very much.- David----David KohlMS Flight Sim X[/b]iMac runing WinXP Home on Boot Camp[/b]CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Hello all.I am an instrument rated private pilot, and recently switched from Fly!2 because I needed a more up-to-date database of NAVAIDS so I could fly real approaches for practice. The transition to MSFX is taking me longer than I had hoped ... I would appreciate any posts to this thread with some solid "tips" for a new MSFX pilot who is using the tool for real-world training and proficiency. True, I'd like to fly through stunning scenery, but most of my use is to throw in some bad weather and fly approaches to minimums.Thanks very much.- David----David KohlMS Flight Sim X[/b]iMac runing WinXP Home on Boot Camp[/b]CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Thanks so far, for the good feedback. I will continue to read postings and try to figure out the database update procedures so as to bring approaches, fixes, etc. up to date.With respect to books, DVD's, etc., I am planning on purchasing Rob Machado's book.... I've heard very good things about it. Thanks.- DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Hello fellow Fly!ers and real-world pilots.Its been 18 months since I achieved my ticket. I am about to begin my instrument training. Several of my pilot friends have recommended MS Flight Simulator as a good (and cheap) way to practice approaches and use the instruments. While this wouldn't qualify for PC simulator time under FAA rules, the practice is helpful regardless.As a long-time Fly! 2 flyer (I have a yoke and pedals as well), I'm planning to try our simulator before purchasing another. But one concern is the accuracy of the Fly!2 database, particularly given its relative age.Has anyone in the Fly! community taken out some approach plates and shot a few VOR approaches? GPS approaches? RNAV? Given the real-life value of the training, would Fly!2 suffice, or should I go out and drop $50 on MSFS which many of my friends say is spot-on accurate?Opinions welcome... and I hope nobody uses this as an invitation to engage in "simulator wars". My question is one of utility for real-life training. I hope answers will be honest and unbiased in that respect.Many thanks fellow Fly!ers and pilots.- David

Thx. AOPA forums gave me similar answers.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

I am a private pilot in the USA. I may transfer to Shanghai for two years and want to exercise my private pilot privileges, and maybe even go for an instrument rating while over there.First, does anyone know if China is GA-friendly, and if so, what procedures I would have to go through to be able to fly in China? Second, are there any GA airfields nearby to Shanghai. I only know of two large airports that house many commercial craft. Not sure if GA exists there.Anyone with China flying experience or knowledge of General Aviation in and around Shanghai, your replies to this note are appreciated.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

John Travolta it is. Does anyone know if he bought the 707 or if Quantas gave it to him?-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

There are three "tests". The written, the oral and the checkride. The written is, in my opinion, the toughest, b/c its a lot of memorization. If you get some ground-school DVDs and a good study guide (I used Gleim's book + the Sporty's DVDs), you'll do fine. I ended up with a 97%. 70% is passing, so my instructor told me I studied 27% too hard.The oral exam is given by the FAA examiner. I spent about 90 minutes with him, mostly discussing stuff. He had given me an assignment a few days prior to map out a flight plan. Most of our chat was around the flight planning and execution, and then some scenerios built into the flying (like "what happens if you're here and the engine fails" or "so you land for a $100 hamburger and realize that you're really close to not being able to take off due to hotter than expected temperatures?") The oral turned out to be pretty much a breeze b/c its all practical questions, which by the time you take the oral exam, you're ready for. That said, its not a blow-off either.Today's checkride was exactly as expected. Pick up a "PTS" guide and just learn all the procedures. My examiner covered normal, short and soft-field T/Os and LNDGs, diversions, slow flight, steep turns, power-off stalls, points-around-a-turn, pilotage and some communications while doing pattern work. DXR is class Delta, so I'm used to tower communications. I found it slightly more challenging to work the untowered airport we went to, but nonetheless did fine.My examiner was a stickler for coordinated turns. I knew that in advance (instructor told me), so rudder coordination was always on my mind. At one point during the exam, the examiner asked for the controls to demonstrate that rudder is needed only when the yoke is turned also, not when the yoke is level (even if the plane is turning). He had noticed my over-use of rudder. That said, he didn't fail me for it - he just pointed out the proper control. I would say my checkride was part demonstration of my skills, and part lesson. He was terrific to work with.We arrived back at DXR after logging 1.6 on the hobbs. We taxied back to the FBO and as I shut down the engines the examiner said something to the effect of, "Great job today. Let me see your checklist for a second....." I gave him the checklist and then he said, "Yep. As I thought." He then wrote something down on his pad of paper and told me he'd meet me inside, but it must be a relief to be done.At that point I was thinking, "Geez. Does that mean he passed me or I screwed something up and he's waiting to tell me the bad news inside." But my instructor came out to the tarmac to chat with the examiner. While I couldn't hear them (I was closing up the plane and tieing it down), when I saw my instructor give me the thumbs up, I knew I had achieved my goal.I took home my "solo" T-Shirt (photo attached from my March solo), called my wife, my folks and a few friends on the mobile, and then wrote this post to AVSIM.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/90561.jpgIts been a good day. My kids are at grandma's for the night, so I'm off to spend some congratulatory time with my beautiful wife. Who knows, maybe I'll wear my captains outfit and she a Pan Am flight attendant.... oh... I was dreaming for a minute.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/90563.jpg(Quick quiz - what is this plane, and who is the real pilot behind my face?)-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

To my fellow Fly!ers - 56.5 hours after my first intro flight at Jefferson County Airport on the Olympics in Washington State, I am, as of a few hours ago, a licensed private pilot. True lesson-time, including solo practice, was just under 50 hours. The other 6.5 included some sightseeing dual time in Hawaii and two intro flights at out-of-town airports before hunkering down and taking lessons.To say that Fly! was not the inspiration would be a lie. It was an addiction that finally had to be conquered with the real thing. Attached are a few photos from my last out-of-town trip in the Rockies. Got to 13,000 MSL in a Cessna 172! Thanks to the Fly! pilot community and the few real pilots for the encouragement. All the best! Oh... anyone who wants a ride, email me anytime. I'm up for anyone in the NY metro area. I fly from Danbury CT (DXR) and White Plains (HPN).-DKhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/90531.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/90533.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/90534.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/90535.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/90536.jpg----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Erik:Congratulations on your solo. Many congrats. Keep on pressing forward. The road is shorter than you think.I am very hopeful that within 24 hours, I will be a licensed pilot. I have my FAA checkride tomorrow, weather permitting. Last time I got rained out. Tomorrow sees some morning fog, but if it burns off early enough, I'll be in the skies with the FAA examiner at 11am EDT. More to come.Good luck to you.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

No problems. Works fine.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Great plane! Can't wait to share with my instructor.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

I think the reason I started this thread was because I was excited to fly the new v230 PA-28, but found it to pull to the right, when, in fact, it should pull a little left at high power settings, but fly straight and level at lower settings.Perhaps we can get back to that topic. Does anyone have the time or technical capability to work that magic?My Best.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Geez - in the 2 weeks or so since I've not been able to login to AVSIM, I see a caused a big stir and I apologize. My real Piper pulls to the left on takeoff, causing me to need right rudder. When I posted to AVSIM, I made a mistake in describing my plane. So perhaps I can fix what confusion I must have caused... again, I apologize.The reason for my original post was that the PA-28 v230 from ROTW appears to pull to the right, begining a bank if one does not keep a foot on the pedels at all times. This is different than the real plane that will bank left if one does not use right rudder to counteract engine torque at high power settings.To make v230 more realistic, one would have to program a bit of left roll tendency into the plane during high power settings, which would not be the case during lower (cruise) power settings. Sorry to cause all this confusion. It was late at night when I made my original posting and after flying the v230 for two hours, I guess I had it mixed up. N3024z and N81441, two planes I fly regularly, both behave as all Warriors do. I am just suggesting that Fly!2 v230 might need some P-factor tweaking at high power settings to increase realism.Again, sorry.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Must be my mistake on the flaps. I'll try again when I fly the v230 next time. On the P-Factor, torque, etc., I'll give it a shot to play with the numbers, but it may take me a week or two. I don't get to enjoy my PC much these days.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Yes - Would love more details. If you explain the concept and which files, I can work on a tweak (it may take me a while, as I'm in front of my PC much less than I used to due to difficult work schedule and real-life flying). If you want to give it a shot, here's the essence. When the engine is running at full throttle, there should be a right tendancey, which requires left rudder to compensate. This will occur on takeoff and during climb-out. Once the RPM's dip into the green, that tendency should reduce, and by 2400-2500 RPM's, the plane should more or less fly level without rudder input.In really slow flight, the controls should get mushy, meaning that responsiveness to controls is weak. One will need lots of rudder or aileron to keep the plane level. That's probably more difficult to model b/c the interaction with wind is much more pronouced at slow speeds. From a Fly!2 perspective, I'd work on the right tendancy during high power settings - get just a bit of left-rudder need during takeoff and climb-out, and then settle it back to level wings thereafter. If you can model that, you'll have a pretty accurate PA-28.-DKPS: On another topic, how many flap settings are there in the v230 model? In real life on my plane, there are three settings (clean plus three additional settings to approx 42-degrees, if my memory serves me on the number). I think I noticed only two notches of flaps on latest PA-28. I'll check that next time I fly the ROTW plane, but I seem to recall not being able to pull the final flap on landing yesterday night.----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

I've noticed what I suspect is engine torque pulling this great PA-28 to the right constantly. I'm wondering if I've not set something correctly, b/c it seems like there is too much right tendancy, even when the engine is not at full power. I am learning to (really) fly in a PA-28, and I would love to increase the realism a bit more since I expect engine torque on takeoff, but not in cruise.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

To all:Staring my long-distance flying on Monday. First time I'm flight planning, fuel planning, etc. I am using an E6B calculator. I thought it might be cool to integrate such functionality into Fly!2's flight planning module. I don't have the technical capabilities to do such work, but wanted to point out this real-world requirement.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Ken:I see you have 1.1 hours in your signature file. Either you update that graphic weekly, or you've stalled there. Hope its the former. And thank you to ALL for the hearty congrats. Can't wait to get up again next Monday....-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

That would be pretty cool. I'm sure Arrow Aviation would be fine with it. Quite frankly, I think they'd be pretty flattered!-DK

Thanks for the well wishes. Note that the upper fuselage is pale grey.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

Well Fly!2 friends, its been a very long time since I last posted to this forum. I've been extraodinarily busy in my job, and whenever I have free time, I've taken to the real sky's. And after about 20 hours dual, with some significant lost time this winter due to the horrible weather in New York, I finally crossed a major milestone today.I am proud and very excited to share with everyone my first SOLO photos. I did three takeoffs and landings solo at KDXR (Danbury, CT) in N3024Z, a Piper Warrior PA-28-161 (very similar to the one modeled by ROTW). After two touch-and-go's together, Rich pulled out my logbook and signed the endorsements. He told me to taxi back, explained a few things, and asked if I was ready. A bit nervous, but nonetheless confident, I gave him the thumbs-up and with that, he turned and exited the right seat. For a few seconds I just sat there. I looked at the tail number etched on the panel and thought of the call to Ground for a second. Sure, I've made that call probably 15 times already..... "Danbury ground, Warrior 3024Z at Sadler with Lima, ready to taxi." But I thought it through for a few extra seconds, pressed the PPT button on the yoke and made the call. Danbury wasn't very busy, so I received clearance to the active and was on my way. As I turned right to the runway hold-short line, I switched frequencies and before calling, looked to my left for any approaching planes. Seeing one on short final, I knew I had a minute or two before being cleared. Again, I stared at the tail number, but without delay, called for clearance, "Danbury tower, Warrior 3024Z at 35 hold-short, request takeoff. Staying in the pattern." I was first told to hold short, as expected, and then cleared to position and hold as a fellow student pilot touched down to my right. As she exited the runway, I knew the big moment had arrived. And sure enough, as the radio crackled with a clearance, my heart raced, and I pushed the throttle smoothly forward. Checking all gauges (in the green?) and keeping an eye on the center line, I waited for 60 and pulled the yoke smoothly toward my chest. And that was it. I was in the air. Nobody by my side. This was me... fully me. I'm in command. I'm in control. I'm flying!I was sharing the pattern with a Cessna, and for three landings and two more takeoffs, we traded the runway and our midfield downwind reports to the tower. My landings were controlled and smooth. I felt comfortable in the pattern, despite the bit of chop and wind that had picked up. My confidence boosted with each touch to the ground. Several other CFIs were outside, and as I taxied past, got thumbs up, clapping and a photo snap or two. What a moment. What a memory. How exciting! I am sure I will always appreciate N3024Z. Today will mark a major milestone. Tomorrow starts the next chapter in what I hope will be many wonderful (and safe) years of flying.I'm guessing I spent over 1,000 hours simming first with Fly!2K and now with Fly!2. I am certain that these hours have helped tremendously in many ways. But to all those considering the real thing, mark my words today.... There is simply nothing like it!Enjoy the photos....-DKFirst solo takeoff role....http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/68965.jpgNice smooth landing on Rwy 35....http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/68966.jpgTaxiing back for more....http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/68969.jpgCelebrating with Rich, my CFI after shutdown....http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/68967.jpgPinning up my "Solo Shirt" at Arrow Aviation flight school....http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/68968.jpg----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v52.16, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.