Bilbosmeggins

I’ll have a peep. Thanks 🙂

Thanks for the link. I remember seeing this some years ago. I had a similar title called Hangsim back in the day. Unfortunately, it is now very dated. After being spoilt by the eye candy of MSFS 2020, it is very hard to go back to something so basic. Also, anything not supporting VR, is a no-no. I cannot play flat anymore. I guess Condor Soaring would be the nearest thing to a decent free-flight sim now. Even though it looks as ropey as hell. It does have a great physics engine, and solid flight models. Also supports VR.

That looks an interesting collection. I’ll have a browse and see if any fit the bill. Thanks very much 🙂🙂

It’s no good unfortunately, because, again, it relies on files for either FSX or XPlane being used alongside the lessons. Which would put me right back to square one. Thanks though 🙂

Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve had a look at the reviews, and the chapter topics that it covers. It is obviously a great book, and has a lot of followers. However, it appears to be covering the principles of flight primarily, and that is not what I’m searching for. It’s systems, instruments, and protocol that I’m needing to acquaint myself with. And a lot has changed since 1944. Except the basic principles of flight, and theory of lift etc, which, as I said, I’m totally okay with. It may be a book that I could see myself purchasing further down the line, purely for light reading, and entertainment purposes. It’d be nice to see his hand-sketched drawings etc, outlying the various topics, as it does seem like it was a labour of love when he wrote the book. However, it’s definitely not the book I’m needing here and now. Much appreciate the heads-up though 🙂

Thanks. Although I should point out that I have been flight simming since the early 80’s. But my enjoyment has always been from the actual flying, rather than the learning of instruments. Consequently, I can get most things up in the air safely, handle most conditions, and return to Earth again with a reasonable degree of skill. From the instruments, I tended to learn only what I deemed as being absolutely essential to get me up, round, and down again. At the risk of upsetting, and alienating, most of the people on these forums, I’ll readily admit that I have little to no interest in most aeroplanes. In real life, I flew hang gliders and paragliders. So I’m reasonably well acquainted with the theory of flight. If there was a decent simulator for either of those activities then I wouldn’t be on here. If birds and flying insects were offered up in a simulator, I’d be on it in a flash. I’m in love with flying in it’s purest form. Not engine types, SIDS,STARS and all of the rest of it. Having said that, I have taken the trouble to learn various procedures in the past, but, because I’ve not religiously practised and applied them, they have fallen by the wayside, and quickly been forgotten. So, I thought it was about time I took a systematic approach, hence looking for an up to date equivalent (or better) of the FSX book mentioned in the OP. See if I can wring a bit more depth out of the sim than I generally settle for. Hope this makes some sense 😉

Thanks @DaveCT2003 I have had a bit of a mooch around, and come to the conclusion that there is no real substitute. So, given I still have my old, and very capable, PC, I am going to install FSX on it, and go through the old book, along with all of the training files. I can use my new PC for fun, and implementing what I’ve learned, and the old one as my training station. Best of both worlds then. Thanks each 🙂

Thanks each for the various suggestions. From what I can glean, it looks like there is no true successor to the original book I listed. That’s a shame, because it was right on the money. I’ll find something, somewhere eventually 😉

Thanks for the suggestion, but they are way too dry and formal for me to follow. My poor, old brain needs gentler, friendlier learning. Plus, I’m UK based, so would gravitate towards the CAA if I was forced too.

Thanks for the link. I shall look into it. I’m just about to start work, so it shall be tonight’s mission 😀

Thanks for that. I am actually registered on the Vatstar program. But it’s no substitute for the book. In fact the initial training consists of watching a myriad of YouTube videos. And Vatsim is a long way down the road for me.

Yes, I know tech has leapt forward. But the old, basic instrumentation remains the same. I fancied learning everything from scratch, the old way. Rather than just popping up the VFR map and following the magenta line.

It was the fact that it was to be used alongside the custom training files. Sure, it can still be used as a reference book of sorts. But a lot of it’s friendly usability is then lost.

Are there any decent, MSFS2020 specific, training books either available or on the horizon? Back in the day, I had a superb book called Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots - Real World Training, by Jeff Van West and Kevin Lane-Cummings. It had a very friendly, informal approach and led you from basic flight theory, all the way through to using Vatsim. But the real beauty of the book was that, upon purchasing it, you were given a link to download umpteen training files that sat alongside each lesson. So, for any given lesson, you had various parameters laid out for you; Departures, destinations, waypoints, wind strengths and directions etc. So, if the lesson concerned was dealing with crosswind drift, and the necessary calculations needed to navigate the old-fashioned way, then the book could be followed along nicely. It was a fantastic way to advance one’s knowledge. I’ve done a bit of Googling, and cannot see if any update for that particular book is forthcoming. Somehow, I doubt it. And I’m not sure if files can be loaded into MSFS2020 in the same way as for FSX. Or maybe they can. Can someone clarify? So, back to the question, is there anything of a similar vein either available or imminent? I know that there is an absolute plethora of YouTube content out there, but the book format really resonated with me.

Well I'm seriously looking forward to flying it. My Warthog HOTAS should be delivered tomorrow, and my Saitek Combat Pedals Friday then it's all systems go. Cannot wait. And if it really hooks me I'll be looking at building a new system to suit