Tristan

Thanks, I've been opening FSX through the 'START' page and running it as administrator. I haven't had any big problems, the occasional crash, but so far seems ok.

Hi Jude, Not sure exactly if installed FSX as admin, but I do remember installing it express (recommended) as per the software options. Tristan

Hi there, I've recently bought a ASUS notebook with WIndows 8 64bit. My graphics card is Nvidia GEFORCE GT 650M, CPU Intel Core 17 2.4Hz, 8GB or Memory, DirectX11. I basically bought this notebook to run FSX and add-on aircraft mainly PMDG. Well FSX and my notebook don't seem to agree, after maybe a couple of minutes, FSX will stop working, I will still hear the sounds coming from FSX but the screen will be blank. I occasionally get a message saying "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered: Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 314.22 stopped responding and has successfully recovered." There was a period when FSX was running fine, but these problems return. Other times, the screen will go blank and I get a message saying "FSX is not responding." Many thanks Tristan

Yeah I think FSX looks like the go, but I love the look of the 727 in Xplane, the 72 is one of my favourite aircraft. How has the weather features in FS progressed? I remember one thing about FS9 was the lack of fluid transition between weather patterns. For example, if I set my departure airport as CAVOK and my arrival aerodrome as broken cloud and rain down to the minimus, you would not be able to see the poor weather ahead, it would simply be blue skies then in an instant change to the desired weather settings. Tristan

Thanks for the replies. They're some pretty impressive videos, the scenery has come along way! Bimmercop, yeah I was aware about MS scrapping plans to develop beyond FSX, but I guess it still looks like a lot of fun. Xplane looks interesting, but I think I find the detail in aircraft add-on like PMDG most appealing. Eyecandy is just a bonus. Thanks heaps

Hey there, I was a flightsim enthusiast some years ago, FS9 and PMDG being my main setup. With the arrival of FSX in 2006, I had started my real flight training and every last cent went into that, thus not simming as much and not upgrading my software. Now that I'm flying commercially career wise, I'm now starting to develop an interest in flight simming again, go figure:-). I remember reading the forums just after FSX was released, and remember reading some very negative posts from users, mainly with the performance issues. So my main question is, how is FSX now? Has it progressed a lot since its release in 2006? Are simmers finding their hardware can cope with the FSX engine, and the add-ons. Can users max out their settings along with advanced add-ons and get good performance out of it? Tristan

Could a simmer land it without loss of life and structural damage to the aircraft? Yes it's possible. However, the rate of success depends entirely on the circumstances. Scenario 1: Your average NGX fanatic is put in a level D sim with a check and training captain = 95% chance of success. Scenario 2: Your average NGX fanatic is put in a level D sim by himself and left to his own devices, ops normal and CAVOK = 60% chance of success. Scenario 3: Your avarage """" is put into the left seat of the REAL THING and is the only option after pilots incapcitation, CAVOK = 10% chance of success. Scenario 4: Your average """" sames as above, but at night with weather down to the minimus, 3% chance of success. When you're in that left seat and you're dealing with the gravity of the situation, i,e, wow if I mess this up it's going to be the end of me and the 150 people sitting behind me, things are going to look and feel a lot different to the computer screen at home.

Wow what a surprise! I never thought I would find reference to Torres Straits on this site. I fly in and out of of Murray Island regularly, I'm amazed how detailed and accurate it is. I love the shark jaws gate on the apron which was designed to resemble the Murray Island traditional head dress which the men wear. Keep these pics coming, Darnley Island, Coconut Island and Yorke Island would be great to post. CheersTristan

Once you've seen where I live and how much I get payed, you probably wouldn't swap :( Although I do love what I do :(

full time charter pilot (Island hopping) Although when I joined the forum I hadn't begun my flight training.

Love the Baron performance wise, it's like a sports car. But its ergonomics is atrocious. For some reason Beechcraft decided to swap the position of the pitch and power levers and the gear and flap levers to conventional set up. As a result, been a few wheels up on the tarmac. That's why Baron instructors will teach special after takeoff checks specific to the Baron, e.g. "flaps identified, then confirmed, then select up". Apart from that, best light twin out there.

Wow..totally relying on DR would have lead to quite a bit of navigation error. I guess they had specialist navigators on the flight, but for DR you really need to have regular reference to ground features, i.e positive fixes. Flying over extensive cloud cover without reference to the ground for long periods would certainly have caused track error, especially if wind aloft differed some what from forecast. Tristan

I'm assuming they didn't use dead reckoning, as they cruised at heights of about 30,000 feet and they flew in IMC. Tristan

Engineers/ground handlers for 737 and above, without them they wouldn't be able to get into the aircraft, unless docked up to a jetway.

>I agree, I think somebody with enough hours on a simulator>such as the PMDG or LvlD and who can keep their head in any>situation may stand a chance, besides, if the crew are out and>nobody else can do it what have you got to lose by trying? If>you were going to die anyway you may as well give it a shot, a>snowflake's chance in hades is better than no chance at>all...Yeah that...I think there is a misconception about how difficult airliners are to fly. They don't design aircraft to carry hundreds of passengers day in day out, difficult to handle and fly. Providing you know the Vref and flap settings, and you have a good picture of what approach profile to maintain, it is quite possible. In addition, the person flying the jet doesn't have to commit to the first approach attempt, they can always go around to cct height of 1500ft agl and fly a circuit for another approach attempt. The person I have in mind btw, is a PPL in real life and is fluent with the PMDG and LVD sim products.

I'd say it is a possibility that one could land an airliner safely, but it all depends on their circumstances, there are just too many influential factors. For argument sake, we'll take a 737ng that is serviceable i.e. not suffering total hydraulic failure, and the destination aerodrome is CAVOK and LV winds. If the PIC had no experience using flightsim or flying a real plane,he/she would most likely crash it due handling errors and lack of basic theoretical knowledge i.e. stalls. But I think if some one who had quite a bit of knowledge of the aircraft systems from the PMDG model, and maybe some real flying experience may fare a better chance. I've heard of flightsimmers going into Level D simulators and perfectly landing an a340 or 757. But in reality the stress of the situation could be an overwhelming factor for the pilot. So it really depends on the PIC, whether he could stay cool, has knowledge of the systems, and fly the plane.

Hi there,Yeah I guess I better RTFM. The thing is that I only cruise at about 15000 feet, it wouldn't be freezing there. But anyways thanksTristan

Hi there,I'm having alot of fun with the 748 and the VC is stunning, but when crusing above 10000 after a while the engines cut out for some reason. I don't have the anti-ice on when cruising, not sure if thats it. ThanksTristan

If it will revolutionize performance then...YESTristan

Thanks for the suggestions I guess I just after a planner that will give me the way points or import flight plans. Route finder seems like the go.CheersTristan

Hi there,I downloaded the flightplan files for the Queen from the PMDG website and I love them. I seem to see alot more AI during flight, perhaps because flightplans are more accurate. So which flighplanner would you recommend I purchuse for the QUeen, FSBuild or FSnavigator? Can these programmes import flightplans into Queen's FMC? CheersTristan

Thanks Michael,So I'm guessing it's usual to make corrections after flying outbound? I was under the impression that the skill of IFR flying could be down to a fine art? Tristan

Hi there,When inbound on a VOR, at what DME should you start your turn to go outbound and not overshoot? Presumably speed and rate of turn are important factors? Are there any methods for acurate VOR flying? ThxTristan

haha...thanks guys, I was hoping some of you would see the bright side of things. happy flying Tristan