BoeingGuy

Sorry for my super late reply. I was afraid of this :( Beats not playing at all, I guess! Thanks!

Hello everyone! I'm going off to college this fall. Hard to believe, really. I joined this forum when I was in 8th grade! Anyway, I'm dual-booting Windows 8 on a MacBook Pro that I'm taking with me to college so I can run FSX. So basically, it's on its own Windows partition and I don't plan to use Windows otherwise. Most of my time will probably be spent on Mac OS X for academic purposes. It is an Early 2011 15" MacBook Pro. Specs are: 2.0 GHz i7 quad-core, 4 GB of DDR3-1333 MHz RAM (that I will expand to 8 GB before classes begin), a 500 GB 5400 RPM HD (that I hope to upgrade to an SSD sometime soon), and, what I'm really worried about is the GPU. It has two GPUs: an Intel Graphics HD 3000, and a Radeon HD 6490M with 256 MB of GDDR5 memory. Can someone attest to the performance of FSX on this machine and GPU? I really have some buyer's remorse (even though my dad bought it originally) because they spec-bumped this model to a 2.2 GHz i7 and a Radeon HD 6750M with 512 MB of GDDR5 VRAM practically 3 weeks after we bought this one. But I have heard that the Intel Graphics HD 3000 alone can run FSX on almost all maxed-out, and I know that the 6490M is faster than the HD 3000 and even 4000, putting it about on par with the 8800 GT in my desktop (on which I have settings at about 90%, excluding traffic). What have your experiences been? Thanks a ton!

This was indeed very shocking news. The Flight Sim community lost a true gem of a member in Opa. He will be truly missed. Condolences to his family and friends, my thoughts and prayers are with them during this sad time.

Hey everyone,Well, I'm about two years behind, but I finally got my hands on 64-Bit Windows 7 Ultimate. I just needed to clarify a few things.First of all, does FSX run stable on Windows 7? I've heard a few horror stories but I'm hoping it works out.I've decided to clean install 7 rather than upgrade from Vista, hence a lot of my settings and files will be wiped out. To combat this, I have ordered a 1 TB hard drive for backing up FSX among other things.This is the BIG question. If I clean install FSX + Acceleration on the fresh install of Windows 7, will it be as easy as dragging, dropping, and overwriting folders from the backup to the Win7 FSX install to get all my add-ons back? I have REX and UT2 as payware add-ons. Will I have to reinstall them from scratch?Also, what's the FSX performance like from Vista to 7?That's all I can think of for now but any and all help is much appreciated. Thanks all!

Tom,First of all, as an avid EVP user, I'd like to say thank you so very much for doing this. The attention to detail you have exhibited in these mods shows through really well. Keep up the good work.I agree with Jeremy's recommendations. It's always good to have a primary source on-hand to make it more realistic :( One thing that's always sorta bugged me in FSX is the "TRAFFIC ALERT!" I looked up some phraseology for this in an FAA handbook and in real life, the controller says something along the lines of "TRAFFIC ALERT (aircraft call sign), TURN (left/right) IMMEDIATELY, (climb/descend) AND MAINTAIN (altitude)." It'd be awesome if the appropriate directions could be chosen by FSX ATC depending on the position of each aircraft but I don't think that this is possible. But I think it'd add a bit of a realistic flair if the FSX ATC controller said something like "Advise you take immediate action" or something along those lines.I also focused on the altitude alerts, for example, the "you are xxx above/below your assigned altitude." In real life, phraseology varies but I think it's along the lines of "Low Altitude Alert, check your altitude immediately" for low altitude. I don't know about too high altitude though.Just my 2 cents!Thanks again for doing this!

Hey guys,Microsoft has posted this new webisode of "Flight" to their showcase. I don't know if it'll be on the actual Flight website itself, but nevertheless, enjoy!http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/098672e6-98fc-43b6-92f5-b424696e40ccPersonally I love the new mountain scenery but I want to start seeing more than just scenery, such as atmosphere, airliners, etc.What are your thoughts?

Hi Rob,I've sent you a PM via AVSIM'S Messenger system. I'm interested in trying out this gauge!Thanks!

Hello all,Does anyone know where I can get freeware aircraft-specific FPDA/Altitude callouts as I am on final approach? I've tried a few so far but they were either only meant for FS9 or else were very buggy.Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,I had a small rant in mind:I don't know if it's just me or not, but I feel as if the sim doesn't accurately convey the illusion of altitude. For example, in the real world, when cruising at 38000 feet, you are so high up, above so many cloud layers and such, and the ground just seems like a distant green quilt.In FSX, you can still see every airport and patch of landscape as clear as though you are just a couple thousand feet above it. REX's low-level fog helps somewhat, but it still feels much lower than FL380.Any opinions?Thanks!

Thanks Zingiber,I looked up "777 hydraulic demand pump" and found many answers, all relating to this same whining noise. Do all large jets make this noise, or is the 777 just so large that even its own hydraulics "demand" that much from it?

Real life and FS9 do of course count. :( After reading some of these responses, 599 kts feels like peanuts all of a sudden, compared to what has been done in real life and in other people's simulators.JMR, that is a fascinating link! To see hard evidence that real airliners can catch such a tailwind and fly so fast truly astounds me.I wish my Shift+Z info would display winds faster than 99 kts, I always have to go into the FSX Weather menu to check the true speed.But thanks again for the responses, I look forward to seeing more!Cheers!

As I type this, I'm simulating British Airways Flight 218 from Denver - London-Heathrow. My aircraft is a Boeing 777-236ER.As I was flying over Kuujjuarapik, Quebec (say that 5 times fast :( ) with my autothrottle set to maintain the 777's cruise speed of Mach 0.84, I decided to check the GPS and my groundspeed due to the 108 kt tailwind I was getting.I open up the GPS and...HOLY SMOKES!!! I'm flying 599 kts / 689 mph / 1109 kph! It is the second fastest speed I have ever achieved with a subsonic airliner in FSX, the first being 602 kts. / 693 mph / 1115 kph.I have a screenshot here to prove it! This one says 598 kts because I'm in the middle of a right turn, resulting in the fact that I don't have a direct tailwind anymore, thus slightly reducing my groundspeed.So to all you commercial airliner aficionados out there, I ask...What is the fastest groundspeed you have achieved with a subsonic passenger transport?I look forward to hearing your responses!

During approach you hear it sporadically, and then what puzzles me the most is why it sounds at 6:19 into the video, I hear that in every 777 landing video. During takeoff, you hear it from 0:48 into the video until about 1:33. :( :( B) That was brilliant, Al! I haven't heard a good aviation joke in years! That was it right there! Thanks for the laugh!

Thanks for the speedy replies guys,I'll have to seriously consider this gauge if I can't find anything else, it looks spectacular. Does it switch between metric and US Units as well?Is there also a freeware gauge like this anywhere?Thanks again!

Hello everyone,I've been watching a bunch of videos of Boeing 777s landing and taking off. What is the high-pitched whirring noise that starts during the takeoff roll, ceases during climbout, starts again during approach, and, most interestingly, starts up again immediately before touchdown?I thought it may have been the flaps motor, but that is a much deeper sound.It's not much different from an Airbus A32X PTU sound, in my opinion.Thanks in advance! :)