4535jacks

Lets not forget shared ownership would bring down your fixed overheads and I think there are many people flying shared C42s Jabirus etc. if they do 100hrs pa then I'd expect them to be paying around £30. The point that I was trying to make is that cheap flying is possible in the UK and that people should not be put off by the perceived costs. Looking at the overheads on your aircraft, If you shared the aircraft with 5 other people then it would cost you £29ph if you fly 50hours per year and £23ph if you fly 100hrs. It would also mean that your investment would be ~£6k and you would only lose a share of the depreciation.

I used to own a Murphy Maverick microlight which burnt 12lts of mogas per hour (£15.60ph for 10hrs pa - £1560) hangarage was £96pm (£1152 pa) insurance was ~£600 and BMAA plus permit was ~£300 as mentioned that totals £3612 for 100hrs or £36ph which isn't far off of £30. In my post I was making reference to the new breed of low cost ultralight that burn 5-7lts mogas an hour such as some SSDR, Minisport SD-1 (can be trailered), MC Luciole etc. Also the 1/2 VW engined aircraft such as the Hummel Bird have a low furl burn. Other aircrft that may creep into this cheap bracket are those with folding wings that can either be trailered home or hangared for cheap (i.e Kitfox, escapade etc) and motor gliders that can cruise with low fuel burn. Also the more you fly, the cheaper it is. I also think that an all metal 912 or Jabiru engined aircraft that could be tied down would also be around the £30ph figure, such as a Savanah or Zenair Zodiac would also be around this price due to a combination of low fuel costs and lower hangarage/tie down. I agree that buying an aircraft is a big investment but I have found it to be a good investment so far. I sold my first aircraft for what I paid for it and my current aircraft is valued at more than I paid for it. The value will depend on engine hours and if you add lots of hours and take it up to TBO then yes you will lose some money but buy right and this will take half a life time and only make a couple of £K difference to the price which is bearable. Don't forget that they can be ran on condition. If you buy the right LAA/BMAA aircraft then you should not lose money on it, particularly the popular vintage types such as Jodels . With EASA and the economy as it is, I predict that LAA aircraft will become more sought after so increase in value. Do you agree?

I own and fly a Jodel 150 Mascaret in the UK. I am planning on trying for a fATPL and hopefully a change of career. Aircraft ownership can be surprisingly cheap and many people fly for less than £30 an hour. I see owning an aircraft as owning another vehicle which I can use to commute or to go away for weekends and ultimately every hour i fly, I am training and in investing in a new career.

Hey guys, thank you for your efforts in developing a great flight sim, it really goes to show what you can do with an iPad. Also thanks in advance for the future updates. I thought I would give you my thoughts on feature that would improve the game for me personally. I am a GA Pilot and so I few suggestions maybe around GA flying rather than the larger commercial beasts. 1. Working Cockpit. I am sure you get his alot but it the main feature that is missing, working dials. I am sure that it is very difficult to achieve and so my suggestion to is start small, a Pipe J3 cub would be perfect and would open up to the smaller grass strips just waiting to be explored! The cockpit would only need a working ASI, VSI, RPM, Altimeter, slip turn and some T&Ps. Small slower aircraft are great as they it will mean that will take a lot longer to run out of airspace. It would then be great to see a working cockpit for the 172 (great new model by the way) with working Nav and Comm where the player must select the correct freqs and radials for VORs and ILS etc. The comms freqs could be used to gain permission to enter restricted airspace/ATZ. You could also have an adjustable altimeter in order to set QFE and regional QNH. Working buttons such as start, mags and lights would finish the package off. 2. Checklists. Could you put a button some that would then display some aircraft checklists and figures such as approach speeds. 3. Approach Plates. A similar feature that would display the plate of the airfield you intend to land at, selected by the freq entered into the comm or nav maybe? 4. More control features. I see this more of an optional feature. It would only be for the simpler piston and turboprop types. Please add an option that brings up more sliders that allow you to independently adjust mixture and prop setting as well as throttle. This would be great if it was linked to a full working panel that showed rpm and MP. It would also be great to have a carb heat button in the simpler types and the game would simulate carb iceing if the player selected appropriate weather conditions and was descending through cloud etc. 5. Expanding options boxes. These would contain the extra controls and options such as Nav and Comm, fuel selector, Nav Lights, Landing Light etc. They could either be a box on the screen like the brake button that expands out or if you press and hold a certain part of the cockpit, i.e press and hold on the radio to expand out the radio stack with working buttons. It would also be great to have an expanding box for ignition with magneto switches, primer and a start button so that we could go through the start up procedure as per the checklist and conduct a warm up using the gauges. 6. Restricted airspace. It would be great if you added ATZs and restricted airspace which we had to go under, over or around or select the right freq on the radio and press a button that request permission to enter the airspace with then ATC instructions to follow and a Squak code to put in the transponder. There could also be buttons that asked for permission to take off or land or for QDMs. When asking for landing or takeoff, the ATC could give you a runway based on wind and a QFE based on the field altitude which could be adjusted on the altimeter. 7. Improved Mapping. It would be fantastic if when you pressed the Map button, it showed an actual aeronautical map (or a representation of one) with place names, freqs and the restricted airspace. In cockpit view this could be a rolled up chart to the side of the seat which expands if you double tap on it. 8. Failures. Please eventually add an option that will randomly generate engine failures, electrical failures stuck throttle etc. 9. Weather Engine. Please add clouds, different types at different heights, it would certainly improve the athletics of the game. 10. Individual Improved airfields. This could be like the addons for FSX where we would pay for an individual airfield/airport that was highly rendered with improved graphics and features. These could be coupled with an aircraft such as little dirt strip and a Cub! 11. Other Traffic. It would be nice to see other traffic both in and out of the circuit. The ATC could inform you of it and even give you instructions to land behind depending on your position. 12. Buildings. I think you are already on this one. 13. Braking. Could please make so if you lower the throttle past idle, it become the brake and if you then apply alot of rudder it become individual toe brakes. The brake button would then only be used as a parking brake and would only appeared when you are fully stopped, this would declutter the screen. 14. More smaller aircraft! I can see that the team has an interest in airliners but I would love to see more GA aircraft as their speed means it takes alot longer to cross the larger maps and they can land at the smaller strips. A few suggestions if I may: Piper Cub/Super Cub Cessna Grand Caravan Jodel 150a Mascaret (my aircraft) Islander DHC Beaver Stearman/Tiger Moth Auster King Air Anyway, I have ranted on long enough. The game is brilliant and definitely one of the greatest apps out there. You and Aerofly FS are really showing what the iPad is capable of. I know that alot of the above features are too in depth for those that want to just press a button and throw a jet around but I would certainly pay extra for a 'professional' package that has these extra features as would those learning to fly or those pilots looking to practice procedures whilst not flying. If in the next few years, you could achieve all or most of these things then this would be the genre leader and the best app out there by a county mile. Keep up the good work and thanks again. p.s. if in-app purchases means more development and more features like the ones I've just listed, I will happily keep paying. What a bargain!! Gary

I will keep practicing!! Since you seem to be feedback driven, I thought I could add my two pence worth: Are there any other virtual cockpits in the pipeline as they really are the selling point of the sim. I would love to see a few more GA types such as a Piper Cub and a Cessna Grand Caravan. I personally would also love to see a slight camera wobble when in virtual cockpit view to replicate the movement of the pilots head and the movement of the aircraft (like EzDock Camera for FSX). Keep up the good work!!! Gary

I only seem to fly the P-38 and Bombardier as they have a virtual cockpit. I think I have the P-38 mastered but I am struggling to land the bombardier. I am using a apporach speed of ~150kts with full flap and using a mix of throttle and spolier to ensure a round-out close to the threshold and I am flaring at around 20ft. I fly taildraggers in the real world and so I am concious of over flaring. As soon as the aircraft comes close to the runaway, it seems to experiene loads of ground effect (it not only floats but gains height whilst bleeding speed and so it stalls). Is it an error in my technique that is causing this? Do I need to deploy spoilers in the flare to counter the ground effect experienced by this very low wing airliner? To the Infinite Flight Team, well done on a great simulator!!! Thanks in advance.

This has probably been covered before but since I am new to the Simming world, I thought I would ask. I am Private Pilot and I own my aircraft. Unfortunately the weather in the UK means that I can easily go weeks without being airbourne and so I am looking for a hobby that will compliment my flying. I intend to buy a high spec system (Intel I7 4.8Ghz with Nvidia GeForce GTX 680) and load in with all the add-ons and scenery packs I've seen recommended on the internet (REX, GEX, AccuFeel, EzDock Camera, UTX, some ORBX scenery packs, UK2000, Horrizon Scenery, Ultimate Traffic, GTX, Treescape and Shawbury Fields plus some Carenado Payware and some Just Flight Payware.) Prior to spend a lot of ££ on what will hopefully be a great setup, I need to fully understand how realistic FSX (or X-plance, Virtual Pilot 3d and Prepar3D) is and how it will benifit my flying. So can some real world pilots who also play FSX answer some simple questions: 1. Will flying basic GA types help to keep me current and reduce skill fade? 2. Can I use FSX to familiarise myself with new aircraft types prior to doing a full type rating 3. Can I use FSX to practice VFR routes (with the high end scenery packs), circuit practice and emercency procedures. 4. How well do the payware aircraft (particularly the Piper PA-28, PA-32 and Cessna Grand Caravan) compare to the real aircraft in terms of handling and internal layout and switch gear? - I understand that it will be absent of the feel of the aircraft, the feedback and the smell but do you get so immersed in the game that you think you are flying the real thing? 5. How will FSX benifit me when I undergo my CPL and IR training in the future ( a career change to flying commercial twins is in the pipeline) 5. Are there any yokes with feedback or adjustable resistance to make the controls feel more realistic. Aplogies in advance for a very convoluted question. Gary