Computer Age

Hi guys, I'm back with a few more questions. 1. So far, it seems as if I'll be getting the X52. Excited for that 2. I have some old steering wheel & pedals laying around. How do I set my old pedals up as rudder pedals & brakes? I can only set the pedals as rudder axis, but I can't set them for brakes since they're already assigned to the rudder. How do you suggest I got about this? Does the X52 incorporate the twist that allows me to control the rudder yaw? Are pedals even necessary with the X52? I'm horrible at taxiing, I end up going to fast somehow and going all over the place. I also don't know how to brake. Help please thanks, -rf

For now, I guess I'll have to stick with my bare-minimum specs. Besides, I have SATs coming up, plenty of midterms, and not to mention regular homework, so I'll be keeping flying time at a minimum. However, I think that the X52 will reignite my yearning to fly and over the summer I'm sure I'll be taking many courses. Thank you so much guys! I'll let you know if I have more questions

My primary (and only high-end) computer is my Macbook Pro (which I use Windows on as a dual boot). My specs are: 8GB DDR3 1067mhz RAM 750GB 7200RPM Scorpio Black Hard Drive Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26ghz (one of my shortcomings) NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256MB (another shortcoming) Windows 7 Ultimate. I might just stick with my single screen, however, my graphics card seems to easily handle an extra display.

Thank you for your help! As much as I love Boeings, Airbuses are my preference. Plus, I don't plan on becoming necessarily a commercial pilot, maybe I might just fly as a hobby. The yokes I saw are expensive, so for now I'll start off with a joystick. I do have the money to upgrade, and because I'm getting it from Amazon I can return the X52 and replace it with the Saitek yoke. Any suggestions on my display setup? Thanks, RF

Thank you so much guys for the warm welcome. At this point, I can't afford an entire setup with a yoke & pedals. However, I think the X52 suits me well. Even though I want to fly Airbuses & Boeings (which use yokes), I'm more comfortable with joysticks (because I'll also use it for Battlefield 3). In addition, I'll check out the link. Also, I have some pedals from a racing wheel. I heard there's some way to hook them up as rudder pedals. Any ideas? Lastly, I have two monitors- one on my laptop (obviously) and separate monitor. I also have TVs to hookup, but I'll work with that later. Whats the best setup? I'm thinking primary VC display on my laptop and instruments & GPS on my secondary monitor. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you so much! -RF

Hi guys, I'm new to this AVSIM community and I have a couple of questions. I love planes, however, I haven't been able to successfully fly one in a flight simulator. As a teenager, I want to be a pilot when I grow up, so this is important to me. I have a Mac with Windows 7 on Boot Camp, and I have Flightgear on my Mac partition and FSX Acceleration on my Windows partition. After I upgraded to 10.8 on my mac, FG stopped working, so I turned to FSX on Windows. I love it, and I really want to learn how to fly. I have been using the tutorials, but finding extremely hard to taxi and navigate in general with the keyboard. In fact, it is impossible for me. When landing, I can't even line up with the runway and when taxiing, I apply too much power and go in crazy circles. My parents have offered to buy me the Saitek X52 Flight System for Christmas, and from what I see it looks amazing. My questions are: 1. I'm a lefty, but I've never used a joystick before. I think using it in my right hand would be no problem, considering there's no feel I'm used to already. Will this be ok? 2. Will getting the X52 significantly help me learn how to fly? I heard that FSX is nearly impossible with a keyboard and a joystick makes all the difference. 3. Are there any other lessons than the base tutorials they offer for me to download that will help me understand planes better? I don't understand some basic functions, like how to start the engines and what the function of flaps are. Thank you everybody so much in advance! I hope to get help from the FSX geniuses themselves Thanks -RF