Per167

I suppose you have a point there! But it can get a little too much as well. A couple of weeks ago I think I spent almost an entire Sunday reinstalling and tweaking my flight sim stuff. Towards the end of the "session", getting more and more frustrated with that things didn't work the way I wanted them to, I suddenly realized that I had already forgotten why I started the whole process. Can't say if I achieved what I was aiming for as I still can't figure out what it was..

Thanks for your comments. When looking around a bit in the other forums on AVSIM it seems like 30% of the FF users are really happy about it and 70% think it doesn't work at all. I guess it might be a bit of configuration work to get it to the level you want it to be. Maybe I should stay with my Saitek X52 for a while and spend the time I get for simming on flying instead of configuring joysticks. :)

Hello,I suppose this isn't just an MD-11 specific question but as that is the plane I'm mainly flying at the moment I'm mostly interested in if this would work well with the MD.As I have understood things the force feedback features in FSX is by default just some shaking when landing or getting the stick shaker before an imminent stall. Nice as that may be, what mostly interests me is a more realistic simulation of aircraft pitch trimming. There is an add-on called FS Force that would supposedly add some realism in this sense.I am not a real world flyer but from what I understood the trimming of a real aircraft goes like this: 1. push the yoke to acheive the pitch you want - 2. turn a wheel/push a button to relieve the pressure on the yoke you are currently sustaining with your hands.In a simulator without a force feedback joystick, trimming becomes more like: 1. push the joystick (or yoke) to acheive the pitch you want - 2, turn a wheel/push a button "a bit", 3. release the pressure on the joystick and see what happens, 4. reiterate 2-3 until the aircraft is trimmed.The simulator way of doing it is (at least in the way I imagine things) not just less realistic but also more difficult as you have to guess how much trim you need instead of immediately being able to feel it in your hands. Which leads to my two questions:1. Has anyone tried this FS Force add-on? Was it any good?2. Does it work for PMDG MD-11? I guess the LSAS might play some tricks here but I might be wrong..Thanks and regards,Per Isacson

Thanks for the replies! I just tried disconnecting the ATS and for whatever reason it seems, like you say, that the engines keep an N1 of around 44% at 20,000 ft with the throttles idle. I also changed some altitude constraints on my way down to get a couple of thousands of feet above the profile. In this case it looks like the ATS is more cooperative and really keeps the throttles idle. In the situation I referred to above I was more like 100 feet high when N1 went up to over 65% while "ADD DRAG" was still displayed. I'll investigate more on my next flight.

Hello,I've just finished the advanced tutorial for the MD11 and am really amazed with the quality of this add-on aircraft. It's really a wonderful feeling to have studied the plane for about 50 hours and still knowing that you have just learnt a tiny bit of all there is to know about it.Anyway, the descent on this flight went without any problems but I have noticed on other flights that I usually get the "ADD DRAG" message although I've entered the winds correctly in the FMC prior to departure (only on the INIT page - not manually for each waypoint in the FLT PLN). Getting the "ADD DRAG" message I deploy the spoilers but what I see then is that the ATS increases the thrust up to around 60-65% N1 and constantly stays about 100 feet above the profile. In the advanced tutorial I saw the following sentence: "Now if for any reason ATC asks you to expedite a descent, in this situation you would not pull the speedbrake lever but instead select an idle clamp descent via the FCP." (p. 33). I am well aware that no profile calculation will be perfect and depending on the winds I will get the "ADD DRAG" message now and then. What surprises me is that the AFS/ATS seems to be working against me when I try to resolve the situation by deploying the spoilers.So my questions are:1. How do you select an idle clamp descent via the FCP? Or is this just another way of saying "FL CH" (pull the ALT knob)?2. Have anyone else experienced this problem; that the ATS is counteracting your deployment of spoilers with increasing thrust when above the profile? It also seems like the thrust generally is set to around 45% N1. Wouldn't it be more economical to idle the thrust completely (25% N1)? I could try to post some screenshots if it is necessary in order to tell what is going on. Regards,Per IsacsonP.S. The FMS is setup in policy descent speed 290 and I have no anti-ice deployed.

Hmmm.. after reading your post a bit more carefully I now see that it's the real 767 and not the simulation you are talking about. If these differences between the real 737 and 767 made it all the way inte the simulation it's even more interesting!

That's more or less the answers I was looking for. I fully understand that there are limits to how close you can simulate the touch and feel of a real airplane in MSFS. What confused me was that the PMDG 737 and the LevelD 767 were so different. Probably the heavier feel in the 737 gives a better clue to what it's like controlling a real passenger jet. Thanks Dan and Joseph for your comments!Regards,Per

Like I stated in my original post: I am in no way implying that the behaviour of the PMDG 737 is not as realistic as any other MSFS addon aircraft. As I have never flown any kind of aircraft for real I am in no position to comment on that. What I say is that the feeling flying this aircraft in the simulator is different from the LevelD 767 for FSX. And that the difference is that I have to pull the joystick harder to make it bank or pitch.My question is primarily whether other people have made the same observation or if it's just me. If it's just me it's probably something in my setup (either of FS2004 or FSX) that is not working the way it should. I guess everybody who attempts to fly these kind of planes in the simulator are interested in getting as close to reality as possible within the limitations posed by a 24" computer screen and a plastic joystick as compared to 100,000+ lbs of heavy metal. When I notice such a difference between two aircraft and/or the two simulators FS2004/FSX I'm interested in finding out which behaviour would be the more "realistic" - or if it's just two different ways of simulating the behaviour of an aircraft; each way with its own pros and cons.Regards,Per

Thanks for the tip. I'm afraid it didn't really solve the problem though. Clearly, the surface deflection indicators show that when I push the joystick fully to one side, the indicator reaches the limit on the lower EICAS. I don't think I'm using any custom settings except some joystick assignements, e.g. one button for gear up, another one for flaps down. The realism settings are fully right on general and almost to the right on P-factor and Gyro (although this shouldn't have any impact on a jet).It still feels a little like I'm flying in syrup compared to what I'm used to from FSX..

I have been flying the PMDG 737NG for about half a year and really enjoy it. It seems to me though that the plane is quite "heavy on the controls". What I mean is that you have to move the joystick a lot to make the plane bank (or pitch). I can understand that it should not feel like a Cessna but compared to e.g. the LevelD 767 for FSX it is still quite heavy. And that leads to my question:Is the reason for this that the 737NG is a FS2004 aircraft and the flight model of FS2004 limits the way the aircraft is controlled? Or is the reason that I haven't been very successful in setting up my joystick for FS2004?Of course I cannot say that one way or the other is more "realistic" as I have never flown a real 737 (or any other aircraft for that sake either!) What I can say though is that the feel of the 767 for FSX and a number of other FSX add-on aircraft is somehow "smoother" and nicer to fly.Has anyone noticed the same thing?Regards,Per Isacson

Wonderful! You just solved my problem. Now I'm back to where I was before starting with the reinstalling.. A big thanks!

Hello,I have a problem with FS9 that is about to drive me nuts. Everything basically worked fine until I decided to reinstall the application a couple of days ago. I can't even remeber why I wanted to do it in the first place. Anyway, since the reinstall I have a very strange problem. When running the application in full screen mode everything works fine. But I normally run it in windowed mode so I can look at charts in Navigraph while I'm flying and since the reinstall the graphics won't update when running in windowed mode. If I try to look left or right with the hat switch in the 2D-cockpit the same outside view is "painted" (frozen) in the window. In VC and spot plane view nothing happens when I try to move the point-of-view (or change a switch in VC). If i minimize the window and then bring it up again the image has updated so I know it's "only" the graphics that is not working. There seems to be a way around it though. If I undock the window the graphiocs update - just like in fullscreen mode. As soon as I "dock" it back the problem reappears again. The problem is that for some add-on aircraft (Yak-40 by SD in my case) it doesn't really work to undock the view as I then can't see the panel in the 2D-view.Did anyone see anything like this? Do you have any suggestions on what might be wrong? I have already updated the graphics driver to the latest version. Windows is also updated with all the latest updates. FSX runs fine in windowed mode. Just like FS9 did before I i reinstalled it..System spec:AMD Phenom II X4 9454GB DDR2 memoryATI Radeon 4670 1GB graphics cardWindows Vista x64Samsung SyncMaster 2494HS LCD-screenRegards,Per Isacson