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2.3 GB non-silent update here (does that make it a "noisy" update? 😁). Store version. No noticeable change between this and the original SU7 release that I can see, at least flying the TBM 850. Must be time to pull the Phenom back out of the hangar! Scott

And the number of times I've had to "wait in line" is exactly... zero. It's not like this happens a lot. I'll gladly trade the (very!) occasional network /server glitch for the (very large) number of times I'd CTD in P3D. Or the long load times, the lousy scenery, the middling performance, the dead flat runways, the wx that didn't reach the horizon, the limited areas I flew because I couldn't upgrade scenery everywhere... In short - I do NOT MISS P3D. AT ALL! No, MSFS isn't perfect and there are certainly issues I'd love to see resolved. But for me, it is BY FAR the best, most trouble free sim I've ever used. I'm seeing some pretty strong reactions here, considering the number of times we've been locked out of this thing. Perspective. Scott

Well, I'd not go so far as to say it quite so definitively, but for a host of reasons I've always felt potential server load/bandwidth issues to be a far more likely culprit than the villain of some many Avsim denizens' - the dreaded console. I certainly can't quantify or prove it, but among other things I've noted my worst perceived scenery quality issues all seem to come on weekends when loads are most likely the highest. (And a special shout out to the first person who jumps in with "but I've got 1.21 gigablobs of superfiber bandwidth, that can't be it!".) 😆 Another telling sign - since I'm retired, my biggest block of free time is nominally in the afternoons so that's when I usually sim. And I just don't typically see many of the issues reported here so often. My mornings and evenings are my busiest times so I don't typically sim in the evening when loads are much higher. Scott

Excellent! Many thanks! Scott

Understood, but that's what was being referenced in regards to reductions and MS bandwidth. Scott

Coupla things here. First of all, the LOD decrease at altitude issue has nothing to do with streaming vs downloading. We ALL stream the base scenery - so bandwidth (Microsoft's, not yours) could well be the ruling issue. And second of all, despite what you may do, as we all get pushed more and more to the MP, more and more streaming will occur for most users. So again - bandwidth at MS's end. Scott

Be careful here. Those "Darn Consoles" are pretty much why we have this sim. Scott

Following the magenta line is really as much a "using the autopilot" thing as it is a purely navigational thing. You can always choose to hand fly, whether VORs or GPS waypoints are used. You just miss the joy of having to tune frequencies and manage which VOR or NDB you're tracking and the additional joy of accounting for signal degradation, scalloping, station passage and all that fun stuff. Despite the many decommissioned ground navaids, you can still usually piece together a reasonable VOR to VOR flight plan with a bit of work - at least in the US. It's something I do fairly regularly just for grins. One other thing to consider about GPS however that's very much an advantage to GA IFR flying. Back when I started RW flying, smaller GA fields were often limited to maybe a non-precision VOR or NDB approach or no IAPs at all. These days with GPS, more and more small purely GA fields feature multiple instrument approaches, often including precision LPV approaches. In many ways, it makes GA instrument flying far more versatile than in the "good ol' days". And yes, in some ways even more fun. And again, it doesn't HAVE to be about the magenta line as you can still "fly the needles" yourself. I love hand flying instrument approaches, whether they're traditional ground-based or RNAV (GPS). Just some additional thoughts... Scott

There is a decommissioned mod on flightsim.to, but I believe it only works in 2020. https://flightsim.to/addon/72415/worldwide-update-decommissioned-navigation-aids Would love such a thing as well, as I too still enjoy the occasional old school navigation. Scott

Yes, I'm aware he's still around and active, though I don't know anything about FFX 😉. Just wanted to make sure the OP knew that the video gave excellent - but at least partly out of date - information. Scott

I don't have the Honda Jet so I can't comment specifically, and there are things in this video that are probably gonna be helpful, but a warning. Many of the Les O'Reilly videos on SPAD, while very good, are also very old, and SPAD.neXt has changed a lot over that time frame. The video was done on what was then a beta of 0.9.12.47. The current release is 0.9.24.26. FYI. Scott

By contrast, Say Intentions supports GA very well, both VFR - including flight following - and IFR, and includes GA traffic flying RW traffic patterns at smaller airports. That said, I agree with what Craig has said here. Without a background in navigation and proper IFR and VFR procedures I think both programs will simply frustrate you. They're not really good for initial learning, though they can be valuable to hone what you have already learned. There is a lot of information and many tutorials out there which you may want to check out first. Then when familiar, you'll have a better framework to consider what you might like for ATC. I did a quick look on Google for "tutorials for aviation navigation and atc" and came up with a fair number of good resources. Perhaps others might have more specific suggestions. Scott

After I lost all my controls in 2020 and prior to moving to 2024, I moved everything to SPAD.neXt. This both guarantees I won't have the issue again regardless of sim used, and allowed me to bypass the somewhat clunky 2024 control setup. And yes, those SPAD.neXt profiles are backed up. Prior to this, I already used SPAD.neXT for all of my switch and radio panels, but did rudder, yoke and throttle axes in MSFS. The only reason I posted was to let the person who thought 2020 meant he was safe from the problem know that it can happen in 2020 as well. Scott

The only time I've ever had this happen was in 2020. Scott

It's not a premium voice pack, such as you get with BATC. It adds the option of a different AI which they say can be a bit faster to respond and a bit better at voice recognition. It also allows you to amp the traffic levels "beyond 11". If you subscribe, you can get a one week trial of the optional AI. I did that and it didn't seem much difference in the AI's capabilities for my use. I forgot to try enabling the extra traffic levels so I can't comment on that. It also enables persistent memory for your flight crew which I don't use. For the time being, I decided not to keep it after my trial ended. YMMV. If paying monthly it's an additional $5.95, or an additional $59.95 for one year. Scott