lzamm

*Don't* reinstall x-plane. Just delete the scenery_packs.ini file, x-plane will rebuild it when you next run it. It will put all the sceneries in the "Custom Scenery" folder in alphabetical order, so the HD Mesh (starting with zz_) will be at the bottom. That'll probably be OK without any further editing, at least if you don't have too many other custom sceneries.

I don't believe Microsoft, Lockheed-Martin and Laminar made FSX, P3D and X-plane out of "altruism", yet Bob hadn't done too badly off the first two at least 🙂. There's a world of difference in the skill-set required to produce top-quality aircraft and those required to produce the base "game" and default-level planes. The best aircraft come from specialist developers (PMDG-Boeing, FSLabs-Airbus, etc) and those that go for a wide range are ... well, think Carenado. Having said that you have to realise that "serious simmers" are in the minority and a giant like Microsoft will be more interested in the large numbers of casual simmers, particularly if they're pushing FS2020 for X-box. So while I think the scenery makers will suffer and have to look for their niche, the best aircraft developers actually have a golden opportunity. And there doesn't seem to be any sign of Microsoft cutting out TPD's. Certainly Aerosoft's Mathijs Kok is very upbeat about it.

Microsoft were perhaps being too honest (and off-putting) by giving that list. They could have just said: which gives the program the rights to do just about anything anyway, without telling you about it. There's at least one add-on for P3D that has the same requirement.

Ah, but they won't be, will they? They'll be better than the FSX default but don't expect too much from them. To quote Aerosoft's Mathijs Kok from a post linked to on another thread, "we will make the Airbusses, our friends at PMDG will make the Boeings..." They're expecting to make oodles of cash out of this, and I don't think they're wrong.

Yes. Also both course selectors have to be on same setting (the runway direction). DES NOW is only needed if you need to start to descend before the TOD (top of descent) calculated by the FMC. Normally for fuel efficiency you want to stay high as long as possible, but you may be asked to descend early by ATC. In many simulation aircraft VNAV is not very accurate (and the winds may not be correct) so adding a few track miles to the descent may be a sensible precaution.

This is a special feature only available in approach mode, and activates both autopilots (normally pressing CMD B deactivates CMD A and vice-versa). It is so that one autopilot can monitor the other (fail passive) or even take over if a failure occurs (fail operational). It is essential in order to perform an autoland. Also on the busses, by the way, and for the same reason.

Seems like the benefits of being associated with MSFS have already started.😀

You won't get every cloud that's raining in your back garden, but it looks like it'll be pretty good, at least over uncomplicated areas. The 250 million cells over 60 altitude levels they mentioned correspond to a 10km grid on the earth's surface, if I did the sums right - that was par for the course in professional weather forecasting a few years ago. Have a look at this: https://windy.app/blog/what-is-a-weather-forecast-model-guide-on-forecast-models-all-around-the-world.html#:~:text=Both%20global%20and%20local%20models,5%2C%202%20or%201%20km.

Good as this sim is going to be out of the box, I would think MS/Asobo realise that a viable ecosystem of third party developers is good for the longevity of their product - even if those third-party developers will have to subsist on income from limited numbers of purists.

A poorer man's AT is to use FSX's built-in function via CTRL-R, which toggles the autothrottle on and off at the current airspeed. You will have to set autothrottle_available=1 in the aircraft.cfg if it's been set to 0 by the developer. In XML you can do it via K:AP_AIRSPEED_HOLD. You can also set and read the held speed via other events and variables. I've done something similar to you in xml (for Dave Maltby's Trident in FSX, where I wanted the autothrottle to control only engines 1 and 3 as was apparently done in real life), but the autothrottle is one of the things the sim does pretty well and I never managed to tune the PID to work reliably without hunting under different conditions.

MCDU in the A320 cockpit looks good. Anyone know how functional it is?

And there's a case against Boeing still pending at the WTO. It's a ping-pong game, as Chock said.

The real issue with face masks is that you're forcing air through them all the time and they basically trap everything on their outer surface - that's how particulate air quality monitors work, drawing air through a filter paper which is then weighed and analysed. Look at the fans in your PC to see what I mean 🙂 . So after a few hours' use there's a lot more gunk on the filter than you're likely to experience at any one time - gunk that can be easily transferred to your hands and respiratory system. Health workers follow a protocol when removing and disposing of masks, but it's not feasible to expect the general population to do so. When removing the masks, cleaning or disinfecting or otherwise handling them, minimise contact (and movement) as much as possible and wash your hands well immediately afterwards.

If it's not being used for Academic or Professional purposes, what else could it be? 😉

Dreamfleet 727. I hung on to FS9 for years after FSX was launched because of this plane.

Isn't it the other way round, you can't arm both autopilots unless APP is engaged? Pressing the second (unlit) AP button when not in an approach or go-around mode disengages the other autopilot. Edit - already been said, I should have read FDEdev's post better :)

This is correct when the A/SKID & N/W STRG switch (to give it its full name) is OFF according to Airbus documentation (http://www.smartcockpit.com/docs/A320-Landing_Gear.pdf page 7) No reason appears to be given, but yellow is the alternate braking system and switches in automatically if the switch is ON and green pressure is too low. So the switch may have a dual function in forcing use of the alternate system in case of a fault with the green system and the automatic changeover does not happen. Have a look at the logic diagram in page 1 of http://www.smartcockpit.com/docs/A320-Hydraulic.pdf , particularly that big OR gate near the bottom. On the ground with only one engine running (L/G SHOCK ABS, BOTH OFF and BOTH ON signals not present), the PTU will only run if the parking brake is off (and the towing pins are not inserted, which I don't believe is modelled). Again no reason is given, but this stops the PTU running unnecessarily during a normal start sequence while still allowing it to run in the air with one engine out or during single-engine taxi.

That's a toehead, though, isn't it?

That was fun . Perhaps the English-speaking world should have followed Mark Twain's advice

My particular gripe is with the loosers who can't spell. To say nothing of those who are unable to tow the line properly.

To the best of anyone's knowledge, are there going to be any airliners (classic or not) in MSFS out of the box, or will we have to wait for the 3rd party devs to step up? Talking about classic jets, lets's not forget the European ones like the Trident and the Caravelle which were quite common this side of the pond.

Take-off trim has nothing to do with cruise trim - the speeds are very different, also flaps have an effect. You are trimming in flight, aren't you? If you're leaving the trim in the takeoff setting it's quite likely the plane will settle in a low-speed, nose-up attitude in cruise, hands off.

You haven't provided much info as to what you're trying to do or which aircraft you're using. In general, lift (a) depends on air density (b), speed (c) and angle of attack (equivalent to pitch angle in stable, level flight). So if your pitch angle is too high, then you're either (a) too heavy, (b) too high or (c) too slow. In any combination, of course. The Honeywell FMC won't help with that as it's a generic add-on that is not specific to any aircraft.

I'm the eternal pessimist, but so far we've seen support for legacy aircraft, support for legacy sound, a screenshot of an ESP MSDN page and now support for legacy IPC. Is this going to be two sims in one or just FS-XI with a few (albeit major) bells and whistles?

Thanks - I'll look into it again!