Tim_Capps

The one in the 747 is more detailed, but the basics are the same, and the CIVA addon gets the job done in period fashion. As for ATC crashes, pffft... in my brief time with X-plane I have learned to use ATC at risk of CTD sometimes. I just skip it. This seems to be a longstanding problem. But the X-ATC plug in that comes with the FlyJSim stuff just needs to go. Yeah, not holding my breath, which is why I picked up X-Plane 11 despite owning X-Plane 12. It's actually pretty decent for my purposes, and like CoastalDriver pointed out, it's currently a must for some classics. They have said they are working on it, but they've been saying that for a long time. If it brings the 737 & 727 classics into 12 with improvements, I'd buy at least the 737-200. But I'm fanatical about those two airplanes. But at the moment I'm finishing a Baltimore to Salt Lake City flight in the 727-100 using radio navigation. (I do have the CIVA installed in the 200 but like to keep things different.) I love the 737-300 too, but... Coastal Driver, you know better in your heart of hearts. 😄 Yeah, I've noticed a distinct lack of big piston pounders in X-plane. I do have the DC-3 by VSKYLABS which is an absolute psycho on the ground, not to mention bursting into flames if you look at it the wrong way. Anyway, still couldn't be happier with the rest in both versions.

I was getting CTDs on both the 737 and 727 until I removed the X-TCAS folder from all of them. Just finished a New York to Denver flight in the 727-200ADV and can't remember a more enjoyable flight. It really keeps you busy the whole time. The 737 is great, too (plus has the advantage of a cabin). If you don't have X-Camera, I highly recommend it to juggle all the views. My eyesight isn't the greatest and the "momentarily" zoom on different instrument groups makes things a lot easier. The CIVA is a nice add-on for ten bucks, too. Now I understand why it is taking so long to bring these up to a version 4 standard. But in the meantime, I'm enjoying flight simulation more than I have in years.

Guess they read that. Optimistically, the sale could mean they are wringing the last bit of money from impatient people before releasing v4. If so, you are welcome 🙂

Thanks, have looked at those mods... never tried anything like that but might get brave enough. I think a lot of those 737-200s were probably really bare-bones, and doubt many had the Delco Carousel INS installed. N9009U was donated by United to our local avtech program. 1969 vintage but in service well into the 80s. It's got nothing but the Sperry and what appears to be an early ACARS system bolted onto the panel (screen with print capability). I imagine it was never flown anyway but Slant Alpha. Sadly, N9009U will never be allowed to fly again (except in my post-apocalyptic fantasies) but the JSim at least helps me understand the basic procedures and interplay of systems. A working PDCS would be an amazing addon, though. I'm surprised no one has done it, since I wouldn't think it would be that difficult. But I don't know. And I guess United figured they paid pilots to look at table and do math 🙂

For the price of one decent addon, I got both. I was tired of waiting and really, really needed a good 737-200. Now. If they ever come through with the v4 then it will be half price. If the 727 goes on sale, I'll pick that up, too. Just made my first flight and had a blast. Neither version of X-plane knows the other is installed, so that was drama free. In 12 the Felis 747-200 continues to amaze. But for the Coolsky DC-9, A2A Connie and Aerosoft DC-8, I would probably go ahead and uninstall P3D. As it is, I have flown it maybe twice in three months. Have never felt the love for MSFS (not that it's bad, just not my cup of tea).

Well, having tried XP before, that's what I thought, too, but within a couple of weeks I had gotten use to the ecosystem (and I'm 66). In some ways it's simpler and less fiddly. But I won't get rid of P3D-- just too much investment in it... too many airplanes I doubt I'll ever find for anything else. I will definitely keep an eye on compatibility reports for P3D as it evolves.

New to X-Plane, but I've ticked the boxes for what I'm interested in: Zibo 737-800 for a glass Boeing; IEXG 737-300 for a Classic; Rotate MD-80 for a Douglas; and Toliss A320neo for a bus. I've found all of these to be enjoyable and relatively hassle-free. The JARDesign A340-500 isn't awful for the price, but if I were a hardcore bus fan I probably wouldn't like it. It does fill the long-haul slot. I also REQUIRE a DC-3 🙂 and the VSLabs one is pretty good. The SGS 747-800 looks nice and is on sale. so I'll probably be picking that up for a nicer long-haul airplane. I have actually found JARDesign's copilot to be sort of useful and entertaining, but only have it for the Zibo & the A340-500. Other than that. I was pleased to find my Stick and Rudder ATC Chatter ported over from P3D, and PassengerFX isn't too bad (although not as nice as Simsounds in P3D). I'll be checking out some of the other things mentioned here. But the scenery is pretty plausible no matter where I fly, so I haven't felt like adding anything there.

We routinely use polls with far less of a percentage, and I doubt this is wildly off the mark. This, however, is definitely not a scientific poll, but the sim usage doesn't seem widely off the mark. I wonder what % of Navigraph's own flight sim users are P3D, though. I would guess far more.

Navigraph 2023 Survey Results P3D is less than 5%; barely above Infinite Flight (never heard of it TBH) and half that of X-Plane. Still using P3D for "legacy" 3d Party (nearly everything for P3D now), but spend more time in X-Plane myself, with MSFS for occasional fun. Each has its purpose for me.

L1011 is still my favorite CS airplane, if you are interested in something different. Otherwise, when I'm in P3D I use their 737-300.

All I got to say is that with both P3Dv5.4 and MSFS having serious issues with me (or vice versa) I couldn't have picked a better time to get curious about X-plane. It looks fantastic out of the box and I'm having a blast with the Rotate MD-80. A steal for $59. P3Dv5.4 might end up being second choice for old stuff we're just not going to see anywhere else.

Sorry, but I don't have v6. Usually, if it will load, it will fly. I never had any trouble like you've described in v5.2. If you've worked through the tutorial flight and it's nothing procedural, I don't know--might be specific to v6. Yeah, it's a fun airplane with a fascinating, if relatively less-than-successful, history.

This is 5.2 and these are all P3D airplanes. The Aerosoft DC-8 required a registry trick to work. The VC10 Pro (weirdly) did actually work, except as noted. I prefer the non-Pro version, though, in P3D 5.2. The rest work just fine without any bother, although the mods help a lot.

I've been flying the very nice Aerosoft DC-8-50 and finally got tired of the anemic night lighting. (Worse than I remember; but I had not updated my drivers in a year or more--not been doing this much lately.) I used FSLSpotlights to start fixing each individual dial, etc. and was pleased. But when I started messing with a dome light, I discovered that it brought all the dials to life at night without even having to make the cockpit very bright. So, the easy fix is to use one FSLSpotlilght cockpit light and the dials somehow pop without a glary look. FSLSpotlights is not really hard to configure; it just requires some patience. (If I can do it, it can't be hard.) So, that's one pretty easy fix if you're still flying this classic jet and displeased with the night lighting. I went ahead and made a fairly elaborate complete setup to include separate source lighting for panel, overhead and engineer's station, plus landing and taxi lights. I also kept the captain's side individual dials and added some variations to a few gauges to give a bit of "older" ambience (at least at night) that the textures unfortunately lack. I don't know who else is still using this airplane, but thought I'd mention it. While in a different category, the JustFlight DC-8 series is still fun, and I have a different mod that improves the night lighting (an actual texture mod, not FSLSpotlights) and some other problems with the original. It's not mine, and I don't know if it ever got made generally available. It's still a decent airplane and looks better, in my opinion, plus you get more models. The over-complicated DC-8 fuel system does work btw, even without the mod--just not like the real thing (or the way the JF manual explains it). One of the reason's I'm still with P3D is the access to a nice selection of classic jets. Besides the DC-8s, there are Coolsky's great DC-9 series (complete with an ONS version!) and Captain Sim's L1011 (JF has a decent 500) and 737-200 (with an extensive mod available). Also JF's VC10. That last seems to pose a dilemma: the later version gives you a working INS, but the startup sequence is unworkable; the earlier one, if you can find it, starts according to the manual but lacks a working INS. Oh, and David Maltby's BAC-111 series is wonderful--better than JF's version, which is plagued by the usual JF eccentricities. Finally, while not a jet, thought I'd mention Hauke Keitel's crazy-good freeware Fw 200 Condor. I had given it a pass due to its complexity and German documentation, but got things translated well enough to get it into the air. Worth a look if you haven't checked it out.

Last weekend I was playing in SIU Aviation's 737-200 that we're restoring to at least taxi around KMDH in. Dry motoring was in May and more volunteer engine work next week. (Do I know anything about engines? Of course! I can reliably tell one end from the other!) Unfortunately, this 1968 beauty (donated to the program by United) will never fly again, but you couldn't tell by looking. If the other picture doesn't look like a 737, it's because that's from the beautifully restored American Flagship Detroit DC-3. Snuck in the evening before and spent a lot of time with the crew, then had a super ride the next afternoon. Just wow. Sitting in the last row but one it was quite a noisy and lively ride! It was down at Madisonville, KY at a very tiny airport hosting its first show. If you have never been in a DC-3, I can say they look much smaller on the inside than from the outside! Two of my favorite airplanes in as many weekends close to home. Weird trivia: before Air Illinois collapsed after the 1983 crash of a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 it was operating BAC One-Elevens out of KMDH. Yup, classic Britjets right out of southern Illinois. Another simming favorite of mine.

I live in a college town and the things are just abandoned wherever they stop (rentals). Sunday I encountered a big one with a seat occupying the bike lane. A flying sidekick from a 230 lb man on a bicycle sending a surprisingly heavy hazard to navigation to the curb must have been an impressive sight.

I think you need to install a Tamil font. Yup.

Sorry for the delay, friends, and thank you for the responses. I've been finishing my initial 90k word draft of an aviation adventure novel and this was the only absolute dead end I ran into. PMDG is a great idea; I did not know that. One nice thing is when all else fails, a writer can just add "enough" men to get the job done. I was supposed to get all the way from Manassas to Ushuaia, but only got as far as Mayaguana in the eastern Bahamas. But 90k words is already very long by today's standards, so I'll be into the next after the usual editing, rewrite/de-write and finding someone else to proof. An airplane story practically writes itself, and flight simulation is very helpful. Stick some people with secrets inside a tube with a million things that can go wrong, and just sit back and watch. When you get tired of that, have them land somewhere and encounter other people with whom to have conflicts. Possibly armed ones, depending on how you're feeling that day. (Yeah, it's pretty pulpy.) Amazon has changed publishing a lot, for better and for worse. The better would start me on a rant that would probably offend some and bore everyone. So would the worse, come to think of it. Let's just say the biggest laugh I've had in years was watching Nine Perfect Strangers, a pretty bad HULU series. But Melissa McCarthy plays a writer and she's on the phone complaining that her editor won't let her describe the appearance of her main female character. Yup. Sometimes you might not need to. But sometimes it's a plot point. Hello Draft2Digital. Glad I don't have to do this for the money.

I found nothing online about this, and I suspect that C-47s had to be manhandled sometimes. Does anyone have any idea how many men it would take to move a DC-3 into a hangar by hand? It does have wheels, but it's also 8 tons. If not, does anyone know the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? I'm trying to get over to the excellent little aviation museum in Kansas City (actually there are two, but I have not been to the TWA one yet) and someone there would probably know, but thought I'd try here. Thanks!

I went to our local airport, KMDH (the one with the microbrewery) for a burger and two or three glasses of Cadence Porter and noticed a bunch of American Eagle CRJs, and a Mesa Airlines one. There is no scheduled service to this airport by anyone, although defunct Air Illinois used to operate BAC One Elevens out KMDH, weirdly. Apparently, they're parked because they don't have pilots to fly them.

That Cyprus BAC-111 looks familiar 🙂 I'll use them unless I'm flying high with heavy coverage. Unless I missed something, I still get waffling. But I also like ASCA, too. Either one can look fine, depending.

I'm entirely secure with P3D--I haven't even updated to 5.3. I'm aware of what P3D offers and what it doesn't, and P3D still ticks all of my boxes. I suppose what I find odd is how this thread has been allowed to dominate this forum, especially given how it has wandered and stumbled like me after liberty in Marseille. It just makes me look forward to visiting this forum a little less, that's all. I'm not sure what purpose it serves, especially given a risk of inviting contentious comments or invidious comparisons. Again, maybe that's where we're at, and there's just not much more to be said about P3D, and this thread should be the last word after 34 pages. I agree that it's more about how we use the sim than a lot of the things we usually talk about when we compare things. If you want to fly airliners, you have more options in P3D--and some very good ones. If you want to fly classic jets, P3D is probably your only option, because I think the market for those in any sim is dead. If you spend more than half your time looking at scenery, maybe you make a different choice. Depending on what you're willing to spend and your expectations, P3D can look pretty good. On occasion it has caught me by surprise and literally taken my breath away. I think we have different forums for different platforms for good reason, and it usually doesn't end well there's cross over.

I think it's been a stealth P3D is dead topic since the beginning. It's like when my wife comments, "It's been two weeks since..." (whatever) it's not small talk. But given the enduring popularity of this meandering mess of a thread, I suppose it doesn't look good for P3D. Why even check in on this forum just to see this as a virtual sticky and not much of interest being discussed? Begin countdown to: "But there's nothing else to discuss."

I think it makes sense to learn the basics of flight like we do in real life--in a single engine trainer. Not sure that mastering piston twins is going to help him much if he's really interested in a 737. Once he is confident with pattern work, I think he should pick whatever he's most interested in (with a good tutorial) and go for it. I don't have any idea how many worry much about radio navigation these days, for example. I think I learned 90% of everything I still use with Leonardo's Maddog--the FS9 one that came in a box and a nice spiral bound manual. And he can always backfill his radio navigation skills, etc. The reason I think starting off in a trainer is better is that they're slow, which gives a new pilot time to think and learn. When he gets into his jet, Edwards AFB is very forgiving to practice. YouTube makes things so much easier these days.

Cool. In my biz, we used to say, "You can't make this stuff up." I'm still not sure that's true, but if you did, it would be wrong. Couple of questions. Are military pilots superstitious? i have read that, like baseball players, many are. The other question is whether any pilots flying out of Thailand ever suspected they were facing Soviet pilots, or even Warsaw Pact? I believe some Soviets were in theater for training, but officially never flew in combat. A lot of things weren't official, though. I was told by an F4 pilot they could see a SAM coming at them "like a telephone pole." They would have to wait until just the right moment for their break so the thing couldn't quite follow them. That would have been nerve-wracking to say the least. I have a lot of admiration for any pilot, and especially the mud movers of that war. It was the dawn of the missile era and there was a lot to figure out and no safe way to do it. You would know better, but I've heard most of our losses were due to AAA, not missiles, because pilots would head for the weeds when painted by missile radar, only to be shot down by guns. Those stories by those guys are harrowing, especially that kid who was hit and got 40 miles before having to eject. That colonel's story about taking out the antiaircraft sites was amazing, too. Good post, buddy.