Wing

I've heard a rumor that Alabeo will be modeling this for FSX/P3D but will be adding a glass cockpit.

I had the same issue, I have a wireless gaming headset and Prepar3D routes the game sound though my desktop speakers (a.k.a my "default device") and the voice sounds through my wireless headset, even if it's turned off.

Since your target audience is children getting their first flight sim experience and you're on a fairly limited budget, I would recommend spending the money on some reliable controller hardware, rather than add-on software. I would invest in a joystick or yoke, throttle, and rudder pedals. CH Products makes very reliable and well-regarded flight simulation hardware. The CH Products Flight Sim Yoke USB has built-in throttle levers and would leave enough room in your budget for rudder pedals. There are cheaper alternatives but they may not hold up as well considering who will be using them. FSX:SE should provide a fine experience for your kids out of the box. Software add-ons like ASN and the A2A Cherokee are must-haves for the serious flight simulator enthusiast, but I think the high-realism nuances they offer will be lost on kids who have never tried a flight simulator before. Also, since you're going to be running it on an i5 laptop, running a complex weather setup like ASN may be too much for your hardware; FSX's built-in weather engine should be more than enough for your target audience. In my opinion it's better to spend the money on reliable controller hardware, then later down the road think about adding some additional add-on aircraft if you have the budget for it.

Make sure to go into FTX Central, click Configure next to Southern California then turn off at least the harbor objects, if not the wind farms and other stuff. The harbor objects are particularly bad because they appear in areas that are already the toughest on your system.

I think Aerosoft SimStarter NG will do it if it bothers you that much.

I've had the exact same experience... glad it's not just me.

Also consider the Flysimware Cessna 402C. It's not the best looking thing out there but does well in every other area and is compatible with the GTN 750. I really wish RealAir would update their piston Duke for P3D.

I feel like I'm back in the third grade.

The hope that I would discover some revelation that will make it not tedious and annoying. I was compelled to get into X-Plane because there are several aircraft available for it that sadly aren't available for FSX/P3D--the vFlyteAir Grumman Traveler and the AeroSphere Seminole to name a couple. I really want to like it, it does some to have its own set of strengths and weaknesses, and a lot of people seem to be pretty passionate about it. I've invested some money and I'm not ready to delete it from my hard drive yet, so other people's experience with it interest me.

Unless you've spent megabucks on a full motion sim then debating which sim has the most realistic turbulence model based on sitting at a desk looking at a computer screen manipulating a flaccid joystick is pretty silly to me since you get none of the sensations or seat-of-your-pants feedback that you get in a real aircraft. I did most of my flight training around southern California and flew around the Ventura mountains many times. I certainly encountered my share of turbulence, sometimes pretty violent, especially when the Santa Anas were in full force. It never made me want to poop my pants though. X-Plane doesn't feel like that to me. X-Plane feels like you're in a row boat bobbing around on the ocean. To me it's tedious and annoying. For the record I'm not one of those people that feels FSX/P3D is like "flying on rails." P3D with ASN and the A2A Cherokee is a glorious combination and feels reasonably legit to me. I don't know how anyone could call that "flying on rails," but maybe if you've been bouncing around in X-Plane for many years then positive stability feels unnatural to you. For me flight simulation is largely the pursuit of that intangible joy I've experienced in real-world aviation. X-Plane doesn't do that for me. If it does it for you then that's great.

I completely agree. If FSX is like riding on rails, then X-Plane is like trying to jockey a butterfly.

You suppose wrong. I also purchased Kerbal and DIRT at a discount because they went on sale, not because they were in Early Access. There is no rule which says developers must sell Early Access games at a discount. http://store.steampowered.com/earlyaccessfaq/ "Some developers will start by offering a discount for buying early while others will charge a premium, depending on their goals and the level of commitment and feedback they desire from Early Access customers." Really really simple: If you don't want to pay full price for something then wait for it to go on sale, and if you don't want to be disappointed by purchasing an unfinished game don't buy it the moment it goes into pre-release. I have no idea what the finished product will be like, but apparently it was only released into Early Access a few hours ago, I wouldn't be too hasty to pass judgement.

You're not paying for Early Access, you're paying for a full copy of the game when it is officially released. Early Access is a bonus.

Seriously? The point of Early Access is so people that are passionate about a particular title can participate in its development. You should be giving feedback to the developers about the issues you encountered, not coming here and complaining that you purchased something that feels unfinished when it is clearly advertised as Early Access.

This is a little off topic but I've had problems with a Saitek throttle messing with my P3D control settings also. Once every 4-5 starts P3D would completely forget my controller assignments and do silly stuff like assigning the aileron axis to my throttle lever. I could fix this by restarting P3D and loading my saved controller assignments again. i thought this was a P3D thing but a few months ago I replaced the Saitek throttle quadrant with a CH Products one because I wanted the six levers for twins, and upon doing this the problem with P3D forgetting my controller assignments completely disappeared. I am 100% with you on the maintenance issue. For me flight simming is something I do for enjoyment, and I personally don't enjoy the "virtual maintenance" aspect of it, although I know that many people do and I think it's pretty amazing that A2A gives that option. I think systems modeling with this degree of realism can be a tremendous training tool for a student pilot; I wish P3D/A2A had been around 35 years ago when I was learning to fly, but as you say, at this point I'd rather focus on other things that I enjoy more than maintenance. If you don't like what's being discussed in this thread, why not just find another one or something?

I have probably a couple dozen add-on aircraft including all of the A2A GA aircraft and the fact that I'm have an issue with an aspect of the flight model of ONE of those add ons does not point to a grand sweeping controller problem with my setup. I don't know what the common denominator is in regards to why some people have this problem and some don't. A duplicate-axis-assignment would certainly manifest itself in a larger way than for a split second on takeoff in one specific aircraft. That said, I have been playing with FSUIPC's joystick assignments/calibration over the last few days and it has most certainly made a difference for me. The snap-yaw on liftoff has been reduced significantly and now I get more of a gentle left rolling tendency which feels natural. I have to say I've owned FSUIPC for several years and have never played with the joystick calibration features because i though they were redundant and not for the general off-the-shelf-controller crowd, but I've been really liking the level of control it offers, not just for the A2A 182 but other aircraft in general. I really like the slope feature which allows you to tone down the "twitchiness" that some aircraft have if you so desire. The profile-specific settings are also huge bonus. I'm happy for you that you don't need to use FSUIPC with your super high-end controllers, but not everyone can afford or justify spending $2K for a yoke and pedals. I'm using a CH FlightStick Pro and FSUIPC has helped dial in my controls better than the default P3D settings. Thanks to Pete Dowson for single-handedly putting out such a great piece of software and supporting it as well as he does.

Toonfan I think you hit the nail on the head. I do have FCUIPC which up until this point I've mainly used for interfacing with an external GPS and the occasional joystick button reassignment. I will have to experiment with using it for joystick tuning and see if I can get better results than the default P3D control options.

The 300 offers the Navigraph add on but if you're going to do a GTN 750 mod then that probably doesn't matter. The Carenado G1000 is buggy so the GTN mod is probably a good option. I'm trying to figure out how to minimize some of the memory issues with the F1 Mustang. It seems if you turn off the PFD inset map that helps, but that's just my early testing so I'm not 100% certain. Overall it's my favorite biz jet and I do like it considerably better than the Carenado Phenom when you can work around its performance quirks.

I asked the same question a couple of months ago and got the same answer repeatedly: Active Sky Next. That's what I purchased and haven't had any regrets.

If that were the case it would manifest itself with other aircraft. RealAir is noted for their realistic flight models and I have no problems at all with the Legacy on take off. A bit of right rudder during the take off roll and crank in some rudder trim during climb out and all is nice and stable. This, plus the fact that I'm definitely not alone in experiencing the A2A exaggerated p-factor issue, tells me there is nothing wrong with my setup. I don't know why some people say it's "docile" and others have problems. Maybe your realism settings are not cranked up all the way to full? It's not always possible to diagnose why one person's system behaves differently than another in a forum thread. I have 35 years of flight simming experience and several hundred hours of high-wing Cessna time in real life so I feel like I have a good handle on how to set up my sim and what to expect in terms of a realistic flight model.

To me p-factor in the A2A GA aircraft is exaggerated. For my money the A2A Cessnas require too much attention and excessive rudder input during takeoff and climb just to keep the wings level. Cranking the rudder trim 100% to the right will help some, but you still need to keep your right foot in it during climb. It almost feels like you're flying in a twin with the right engine out. Taking off with a crosswind from the right compounds the "snapping" problem on lift off due to the weather vane tendency on the ground. If you keep practicing you'll eventually get the hang of it. Create a scenario where you're sitting on the runway ready for takeoff then once you get airborne reset the scenario and keep repeating until you get a feel for it. Make sure both fuel tanks are 100% full. It will help balance things out a little if you add a passenger to the right seat that's the same weight as the pilot.

I just watched an excellent TrackIR set up video a couple of days ago in anticipation of purchasing my own.

If a Conquest is what you're after you should probably take a look at the one from Flysimware. The visuals aren't as pretty as Alabeo's surely will be, but the engine and systems modeling are absolutely superb.

I have a Dell U3415W 34" 21:9 ultrawide monitor. I'm thinking about investing in a TrackIR. I'm a low-and-slow VFR piston fan and am constantly using mouse look, so I was hoping a TrackIR would free me from that. The thing I'm worried about is that this monitor is so wide I often find myself physically turning my head left or right to focus on what's on that part of the screen. I'm wondering if that will cause usability issues with TrackIR. I've watched a few YouTube videos on it so I have some idea of how TrackIR works, but I've never actually tried one. Any input on how well TrackIR may or may not work with a 34" ultrawide?

I made the switch to P3D in December and have been 100% happy about doing so. The increased performance and visuals have made it easily worth the cost to me. The only thing I really miss are the Reality XP GNS units. Dovetail has no firm release date for their new flight sim, and LM hasn't even announced a 64-bit version of P3D, so playing the "let's wait for the next big thing" game should not be a factor in your decision in my opinion. Even if one or both does actually get released this year, you will need to wait months or years for there to be a sufficient number of compatible add-ons to raise the level of either of those sims to where P3D is today. It will take a bit of start-up cost to get going in P3D, and whether or not you can afford it is something only you can answer, but I can pretty much guarantee you by the time the next big thing comes along you will have more than gotten your money's worth out of P3D.