otterspotter

Dang! Awesome shots.

Amazing shots as usual.

Awesome bird. Would love a good VC too.

Short flight around Wrocław Copernicus Airport (EPWR) in Me 262 A-1c named Tango-Tango (registration D-IMTT), built by Me 262 Project in Seattle for the Messerschmitt Stiftung in 2005. Aircraft: Messerschmitt Me-262A by Flight Replicas Skin: FSX Messerschmitt Me-262A-1c "D-IMTT" by Jens-Ole Kjolberg (me262a_tt.zip) Scenery: Polish Airports vol.3 v1.0 by Drzewiecki Design

Awesome!

Amazing!

Cool shots!

Cool shots!

Enjoying all of your extraordinary shots!

Great AAR!

Another cool one! Thanks for sharing.

Great shots and cool AAR!

Fenric, thanks a bunch for your feedback. Much appreciated.

I've been considering products like RC4 and VoxATC to get around the "imprecise" nature of stock FS ATC, but the main thing that has put me off has been the synthesized voices. Somebody mentioned extra voice download: are those voices any less robotic? For me, it kills the immersion that may be gained from using real-world procedures (this is based on the video demonstration on their website). In contrast, however limited the stock FS ATC may be, they sound much more natural.Also, is voice command the only option for VoxATC or is there a button option for those days you may not feel particularly talkative or have a sore throat?Another question: how do these ATC programs work with all the different AI packages out there (UT2, etc.) and third-party airports (their AFCADs or whatever they're called now), in terms of directing traffic both in the air and on the ground?

Thanks guys for your comments and the tip. I guess I'll have to wait till the end of July how the AMD CPU price drop plays out.Michal

Wow, posting at the same time, almost like a chat!Thanks for your additional comments. I did actually ask Alienware if they offered an ATI CF board/solution for the kind of money I'm willing to spend but they responded "not at this time." The only CF setup they have on offer is pricey (4/5 grand) and involves Pentium. The last Intel I've ever owned was Pentium 100 and I have no intention of going back... Who knows, maybe it's because there are no AM2 boards with CF as you mentioned.Thanks again.Michal

Hey Chuck, thanks a bunch! I kinda missed the fact the Alienware mobo is an AM2 board (well, the memory speeds should have been a clue...). I read a couple of previews/reviews at AnandTech on the freshly baked AM2 boards and the impression I got was in the long run those boards didn't offer much of an advantage other than future upgradeability. Anand was stressing the fact that it may take a few iterations before AMD has optimized their AM2 CPUs to utilize DDR2 memory as efficiently as they have done with Socket 939 CPUs and DDR1. He did suggest choosing AM2 boards for new machines, though.The reason I focused on Crossfire was not FSCOF but the likes of Oblivion (called along Q4 the first game justifying a CF/SLI setup) and HL2, as well as FSX. I do realize the dangers of buying a machine with DX10 and Vista round the corner, and as many have pointed out, you will need a dedicated DX10 GPU to admire FSX in its full glory, but still I wanted to give myself a little space to grow and get the best out of CF/SLI setup (since FSX is supposed to be able to take advantage of it) in DX9 before I have a chance to switch to a dedicated DX10 board. ATI (both CF and single setups) seems to edge NVidia in games like Oblivion (interesting tests at AnandTech) and HL2; earlier there were also driver issues within SH3 (UZO spray issue); and a recent article in Computer Gaming World (June 2006 issue) claims "GeForce 7900 GTX cards can't render some games with anti-aliasing and high dynamic range lighting at the same time" (the same article says not to bother with CF/SLI on monitors 19" and smaller, but I'm not sure whether they meant only LCDs and their native resolutions or CRTs as well -- I have a 19" CRT and seldom use 1600x1200 res). Following your comments I might need to give the AM2 option more thought though.Anyway, thanks again for your comments, shedding a new light on my options, and the suggested reading. I'll have to reassess my choices. With so many new technologies starting or about to appear I guess I couldn't have picked worse time to buy a new machine, but I have no choice.Michal

Hey George, I was curious how your IBuyPower machine has been doing over the last few months. I'm about to plunk down some money on a new machine, and following my not-so-great experiences in PC building, I decided to have one built this time. Long story short, I know how to put a PC together, but when there's a problem, all the time and money spent on troubleshooting (especially an elusive motherboard/memory issue) I'd rather spend on flying and warranty. I'm not that great on tinkering. There's not enought time for simming as it is, so I gotta keep my priorities straight ;-)Anyway, since together with hardware I'd like to buy some peace of mind (lost a lot of it during my PC building experience), I've taken a look at the desktop vendor reliability chart at the following link: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,a...409,pg,8,00.asp. So the main question is whether to go with a reputable builder like Alienware or a no-frills (WYSIWYG, some call it) builder like IBuyPower. Since ABS and CyberPower were rated so low, I've excluded them from the running. Obviously there are people out there unhappy with Alienware (like with any vendor, but unless PCWorld has a marketing relationship with them, the results of the survey are quite important to me. I've been looking at a similarly priced systems around $2500 total (since I live in Cali and would have to pay tax with IBuyPower) from the two vendors:Alieware Aurora 7500AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+Alienware

Thanks Jimmi for the numbers. They are actually very respectable. I don't know why my original impression was so significantly different than what I had experienced in real life. I definitely don't expect FS planes to be always on the money. The real Tomahawk I flew felt more sluggish, but as you rightly point out, no two planes are ever the same. Does the full package include an American paint or do you know if somebody made one?Michal

Anybody notice anything unusual about Tomahawk's climb? Seemed very vigorous to me (I flew Tomahawks in my PPL training over a year ago), but now my demo is disabled, so I can't check it again. Maybe my memory serves me wrong...Michal

"I would be suprised if any accomplished simmer took much more than minimu hours for a PPL."Talk about arrogance. ;-) So I guess it is the simmers that make a large part of the I-got-my-PPL-in-40-hours crowd. :D It took me 63 hours to get my PPL (USA national average: 67 or 69, don't remember). I guess this doesn't make me "an accomplished simmer," although I've simmed quite a bit before then. It has always irked me how people boast about how little time it took them to get their ticket, as if that by itself was a tribute to their airmanship. But you're right in your last statement: the attitude and stick'n'rudder skills are most important. And FS can give you plenty of the former and too little of the latter...Still, procedurally and in terms of situational awareness (navigation)FS can be an invaluable tool. It's all about being aware of its limitations. Short of owning a full motion simulator, it may take any simmer a good while to come to terms with all the physical feedback and forces the PC sim cannot really simulate.Michal

jfri,I believe Holger's previous post answered your last question: yes, MegaScenery may offer more photographic accuracy (the satellite textures), but at a relatively high altitude (although they swear that the optimal altitude is 3000+, it looks satisfactory to me only at 6000+, I can't accept the lower resolution at lower altitudes). Takeoffs and landings in MegaScenery often ruin the perfect immersion of the cruise flight. With Misty Fjords, the area will look just as breathtaking at any altitude and bush flying is all about flying low and slow, if only you can forgive the lack of photographic accuracy that the MegaScenery textures provide. Instead of photographs, other enhancements increase immersion: accurate coastlines and elevations (indispensable in this coastal and mountaineous country), enhanced textures, and a multitude of 3D objects. If the screenshots can't convince you, download a few movies from their forum, or better yet, try one of Holger's freeware creations, Glacier Bay or Northern Washington and compare them to the default.I own all MegaSceneries so far (can't wait for Northwest) and think that the comparison Holger suggests makes a lot of sense. MegaSceneries and MistyFjords enhance each other's weaknesses: photographic accuracy vs. much greater immersion at lower altitudes and a whole bunch of little details to explore. I was myself shocked at the price (45.78 USD last time I checked on SimMarket), but I'm still considering it as it is one of my favorite places to fly in the world and there's no more exciting flying than bush flying.Michal

Excellent! Chader's video is a must-see! I don't remember seeing an FS video that would remind me so much of real aviation videos in its style and camera work. And the music is killing me! Thanks, Holger. Can't wait for the release.Michal

I'm not aware of any payware Arrows, but have really enjoyed Rien Cornelissen's freeware Warriors and Arrows. His latest Warrior (warrior6.zip) can be found here in the library. I couldn't find his latest Arrow here, but you can find his arrow-3a.zip on "the other site." Rien's Arrows are FS2002 models I think, I don't know how they function in FS9. Hope that helps.M.

Hey Barry,I'm sorry that it's still not working.Xomer's An-2 is available here at AVSIM: an2x_1.zip through an2x_4.zip plus texture pack/fix an2x_up2.zip. It's a FS2002 model but works fine in FS9.Xomer (Anton Nikolaev) also has a website: www.xomer.narod.ru (you can choose English version), the forum there answered some of my questions.Had a blast with this plane, although it does require some learning effort as the 2D and 3D panels are entirely in Russian and the English documentation can be a little skimpy. It's also on the hardcore side regarding engine management as it's easy to overheat. If you want an "anglicized" "easy-rider" An-2, people raved about Tim 'Pigglet' Conrad's version (available at flightsim.com). Never tried it myself though.If you have questions regarding An-2 operation, some of them may be answered in the following thread:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...=4273&mode=fullI hope you like this bird.M.