jdhowell73

always the best option!

Ive been debating this for awhile now....Do I turn on the AI traffic or not? I finally have a rig where with Ultimate Traffic 2 it doesnt hurt to have AI on at 100 percent. But having the extra fps is nice if AI is off. Plus there is the fact that AI just seems to keep the ATC super busy and not able to keep up with my flight when time comes i need finals and such. Im seriously thinking of getting Radar Contact soon just so i can ditch the FSX ATC altogether. And yes i know of VATSIM and while that does have its advantages (and disadvantages), that particular option just doesnt sound like my cup of tea. So how do you guys fly? AI on or off? Do you use the FSX atc or another option?

what is the setting in the fsx .cfg file that adjusts the pop up distance for airports?

you do realise that the human eye cant tell the difference on fps at anything above 30~. and your monitor cant display anything above its refresh rate with is probably set at 60. So the best thing to do is use the external fps limiter or even better if you have an nvidia card...use nvidia inspector to restrict the frame rate...makes for butter flying and no stutters for me

yes it is very hard to find out what the current "magic fix" is....so many tweak guides running around out there...i just use bojotes fsx.cfg tweaker and the NVIDIA inspector fps limiter and that does wonders for me

id like to run fsx in full screen, but having fscommander and whatever else on that second monitor is REALLY nice...and for some reason FSX in full screen (for me at least) really doesnt like doing the alt tab thing, it does just fine with alt-tab in windowed mode though. Anyone else have a similar issue?

Is there a DOCUMENTED performance boost with running in full screen opposed to running in windowed mode?

I have a dual monitor setup, so i run FS Commander on the second monitor...so i run in windowed mode..

The weather engine in AS2012 is without equal IMO. Simply the best. And they have done their homework to make sure the wx engine works beautifully. I too am an owner of REX and to be honest, i dont use it anymore because AS2012 has a great set of textures that replace REX for me. AS2012 is worth every penny to me.

Been trying to do this...i cant stand having military AI flying around in unrealistic amounts. Last night i was flying around KMCI and counted no less than 20 military AI planes flying around, so i would rather disable them rather than have to look at them( and lowering my frame rate) Does anyone have experience with the traffic tools for my traffic x? and could give me a simple run down on how to do this?

A few days ago the old Nvidia 210 i had running fsx finally decided it didnt want to play nice anymore, and got thrown into the "crap hardware" bin i keep in my basement. I was feeling froggy on what to replace it with and decided to bite the bullet and REALLY do an upgrade and bought a Geforce GTX 550 TI 2GB. Easy install, and divers were already installed so that was a breeze too. Then the problems started. I went to run the windows experience index just to see what it would score and suddenly the computer hard shut down on me. Not a good sign. Did some research on the symptoms and found out it was looking like i had an underpowered system. So I crack the case open and dig out the power supply and discover that it had a 240w power supply! (this is the stock power supply on a HP quad core, and i had no idea it was so low or i would have replaced it a long time ago.) Off i go to the big box and plop down another 60 bucks for a 520w power supply and get everything hooked back up again and fire it up with fingers crossed. All good there. Run the windows experience index again and this time it scores great with a 7.4 on the graphics result. I start FSX and it is running great. Smooth as silk, just drops to 20+fps in those heavy areas, but it is simply great everywhere else. The only sliders i dont have on full are the cloud coverage which is set at "dense" instead of "extremely dense." And the AI is backed down to 40 percent for the airliners and 15 percent for the GA, but i have My Traffic X installed and those settings are about "realistic" settings for that addon. Then i found that new trick with Nvidia inspector and using it to limit the FPS to 30, and ANY hint of stutters are gone now too. Very happy and satisfied with fsx now, but somewhat sad because sometimes half the fun of this hobby is tinkering with getting it to run good, and it doesnt look like i have to do much of that anymore. Maybe i can actually devote more time to flying now.

Just finished a flight from some tiny field in southern Mississippi to KSRQ (sarasota, FL) in the Cessna Grand Caravan. The flight started in the late afternoon. (time kept by FS Real Time) I was doing this flight because Air Hauler sent me their to deliver goods to Sarasota and my in need of cash cargo company would make a tidy profit from it. The weather was beautiful with a few high clouds and a north westerly wind provided by Active Sky 2012. I filed my flight plan with FS Commander 9.1 and took off and got to my cruising altitude of FL140 and enjoyed the view, which was enhanced by Ultimate Terrain X USA and Ground Environment X. The skys were not very crowded today, but MyTraffic X made sure things stayed "real" with the ATC. The ATC guided me down from FL140 and into perfect alightment with the ILS runway 32 in the dark and i made a nice "greaser" touchdown and completed a 3 hour flight. Folks, even though we gripe and tinker, this wonderful simulation can always bring a smile to my face. FSX brings to me something i probably will never have the chance to do in real life. And thats magic

get real enviroment extreme or active sky 2012. They both have options to change airport lighting. and a whole bunch more. my personal preference is active sky 2012

I was just wondering what settings do you find to be the most realistic for AI coverage? Right now i have it set at 80% airliner and 20% for GA....anything higher than that seems like too much especially on the GA side

Now i know everyone raves about REX, but doesnt Activesky 2012 now do the same thing? I have REX, but after i bought AS 2012 i decided it wasnt needed anymore because AS simply has more choices of textures

Great book by Steven Coonts, and i seem to remember having a download years ago that had the flightplans for the route he took in that plane. But that was years ago. And now i cant find it on avsim or anywhere. Anyone out there remember this and can point me the right direction? Not really after a fs version of the plane, but im after the routes he took so i can recreate it in FSX.

Im reading "Skygods: The Fall of Pan-Am" on my kindle right now...very good read

For those of you who dont know, The AHM was formerly known as Save-A-Connie. And their main claim to fame is they have one of the few remaining flyable Lockheed Super Constellations on the planet. It has been awhile since i had been there, and apparently during that time the Connie had a engine fire which grounded her, but they have repaired that and shes ready to fly again and are just waiting on the final go ahead from the FAA to hit this summers air show circuit. I was told in the meantime they have permission to do test flights and will be flying sometime this month. My neighborhood is in the approach path for KMKC and the Connie has flown low over quite a few times. And it makes quite an impression. Most of the people who work and fly the plane are retired TWA and Ozark airline employees. (i was led around today by a former Ozark DC-3 pilot) Just being in the cockpit of the Connie is a big thrill for me! Also at the museum they have an airworthy Martin 404 thats in very good shape. But the highlight for me on the tour was the Douglas DC-3 they are close to finishing a complete restoration on. They have a bit of work to do on it yet, as only one engine was on the airframe and my guide said they had to swap the radios out for modern equipment. But everything else is done, they have 3 spare engines for it, and they hope to have it ready for 2013. Remember these old guys are retired volunteers, so nothing happens fast with them. They had me watch this video presentation and it made me laugh several times because when they were describing different models of historic airplanes, when they didnt use (or couldnt find a decent stock photo) in the video, they used a screenshot from Flight Simulator instead! Speaking of which, they had a nice 3 screen FSX setup in their lobby, complete with yoke, throttle quad, and pedals. It wasnt running when i was there, the tour guide told me that was for the kids! I took a slew of pictures and may post them on flickr sometime in the near future.

Air Hauler! Love this program. Basically a complete frontend for simulating running and flying for a Cargo Airline. Think FS Passengers but with cargo, and a bit more in depth

There is also a really nice freeware Citation X i found over on another site, which i dont know if i can post the link...54 megs worth and here is the authors name Alejandro Rojas Lucena search that and citation x and you should find it

explain this furthur please...im interested in this too

Air Hauler. For me one of the best add ons ive ever had the joy of playing with. If youve never heard of it, basically you run a freight airline from the ground up and build it into a huge cargo airline. And you fly the flights...and then hire "bots" that "fly" your planes, you earn money, you buy more planes. And there is even a stock market simulation buried in there too. Not to mention the thing keeps track of damage to your plane and even 100 hour inspections. Oh and keeps track of landing fees at the airports you visit.....it just goes on and on how deep it is. I especially like the way it keeps track of fuel and cargo weights and adjusts it in the sim accordingly. So you have to buy fuel at real world prices (yes it keeps track of that too) Basically it is THE addon if youve ever dreamed of flying for UPS or Fed EX. Ive started my little freight op Sunflower Air at KTOP....busy flying the heartland delivering goods where they are needed.

Just bought this and i have a question about a couple things Weather wise-Can i still use Active Sky 2012 with this? and technical- I use the external FPS limiter....Do i need to launch from within Ideal flight or can i create a flight then go to my fsx >bat file and launch fsx from there? If the above two can get a good response....than this addon gets my vote for addon of the year....the possibilities are endless with this

Oh yes i forgot Accufeel...bought that last night and thats a wonderful little addon

Hi folks! After a LONG time away from the FS scene, i decided to reinstall FSX last week and get back up to speed with this hobby which has caused me so much joy (and pain) over the years. Having done my homework on the latest tweaks and such on how to get the most out of the sim (the CFG tweaker is amazing, not to mention the external FPS limiter!), i got down to the business of installation. Not just FSX, but all this too UTX USA UTX Canada UTX Alaska UTX Europe GEX North America GEX Europe Ultimate Airport Enviroment Fly Tampa St Maarten Fly Tampa Grenadines My Traffic X and Active Sky 2012 (newly bought, and i am using the textures included in this addon to largly replace FEX) and Flight Sim Commander(which goes on the 2nd monitor for a nice map view) not to mention a bunch of freeware planes from avsim and other sites total installation time was a good 4+ hours because after each install and confirmation that whatever i installed was working in FSX, i did a reboot. And the end result is aviation bliss...im getting good FPS with it all cranked on, it only gets a bit stuttery when AS2012 decides it is cloudy outside,but i think you would have to have a CRAY to make it smooth. Im really enjoying this sim again, and i wonder what others have experienced with install and having the satisfaction of it all running well... Also any tips or suggestions or questions are welcome....