Mithras

I'm doing the same. Flying, landing, manoeuvres - that's the easy part. Navigating - now that can be hard and potentially lethal if you get it wrong...

I suppose you could remove the music files from the FSX folder: Sounds/UI Music. There might be a ON OFF command in the FSX.cfg file, also. That would be better.

For you: FSX 2020 all the way. Not for me though, I have so much invested in building my twin cockpit set-up with thousands of pounds of hardware and software and TIME and ENERGY. I couldn't stomach going through all those years of work again to get the improved eye-candy. So its FSX for me. But with A2A, Milviz, Active Sky and Orbx, I'm a very happy guy! I know my weather engine is fantastic. I know with Milviz and A2A my aerodynamics are spot on. I know that my Orbx scenery is accurately placed and fits the region perfectly. My cockpit build replicates every switch and lever in the plane ... I'm in heaven and my rig is stable as hell. The last CTD was back in ... 2019, I think. Each to their own!

I consider myself quite experienced in FSX, only 7 years, but I've built a cockpit and studied pilot handbooks, read charts, METARS, and learned how to dead reckon, navigate 30's style with NDBs, etc ... I've had relal life flying lessons too ... but I was getting a bit bored flying my Alabeo Aztec and A2A Cherokee by the numbers into some tough strips. Flying these things had gotten way too easy. But then ... I went back to an old old purchase, Milviz's Cessna 310. This was untaxiable and unflyable. It drove me mad, and on the forums and in reviews I saw that I wasn't alone! But I thought - crack it Paul, be a dang pilot! So I put in lots of hours and taught myself how to fly this thing. Milviz are known for the most accurate performance and behaviour in twins (particularly in single engined performance) , and I think a pilot called Bert Peake who owns a Cessna 310, was instrumental in its handling. I did crack it, but it was and still is hard. And I think that sums up accurate twins like the Cessna 310. Instead of swerving and snaking along the taxiway, I use gentle nudges of the throttles for steering. On take-off, to stop ploughing into the grass off to the left, I ease throttles slowly, and add tiny, tiny amounts of corrective rudder as I increase power until I am at full throttle with just the right amount of rudder. I takes a huge amount of work. I'm in love with flying again!

The people who make Ultimate Traffic also do a sound upgrades for all AI and also player selected aircraft, it is fantastic: Audio Environment.

The Aero Commander from Carenado is also a short field plane, the Alaska Forestry Service used at least one - that’s a fact.

Press the keys for widescreen after you click on the icon , it works for me.

Autopilot on? It’s happened to me a few times - it’s why it’s on the checklist!!

The Carenado/Alabeo Aztec is beautiful and has an incredible short field performance just like the real thing. I updated the sound package from Simmarket though.

Jon, Ive never had much luck getting that 'kick' or 'bump' from the landing with a buttkicker. I too use Accufeel. Do you have any suggestions??

Yes, it is fabulous, I would hate flying without it now. I had a buttkicker, but I think it overheated or blew fuse. I upgraded to the Pearl Throne Thumper which is fantastic. Never gone wtong, and to make sure it stays cool I bought a little desk fan on eBay and mounted it to blow air into the vents. It cost me £250 but since I have a cockpit build, I just added it to the bill. I've got it attached under a car seat I use, but the clamp is built for drummers stools or office chairs.

It is easy to do just by swapping the Air file, but only testing will tell if it works. I had a freeware Jet Provost and was not at all happy with the handling, and I spent a while looking for an Air file to swap in. In the end I think I used a freeware Gloster Meteor that was perfect in speed and handling.

Rick, I agree. They gave me a full refund on a plane I bought, because it was not working with my Saitek switch panel. I deleted the plane - they are good guys.

I had a similar problem, but my scren went a bit purple - in the end I worked out I had streTched the cable and pulled apart the connector a bit from the cable. Check your cable connections, and the pins inside your connectors - it might be an easy fix.

Do you mean manually? I install every piece of freeware manually these days after some early disasters which destroyed my FSX set-up. I always install the plane, scenery, etc into a folder on my desktop and manually place the files according the the titles of the subfolders inside. This way, if I get trouble when testing that plane/scenery etc, I know exactly what files went where. I never overwrite files either, but rename the original xxx.BAKUP, so that I can undo a bad install easily. I have learnt the hard way and want to protect my nice stable system :)

John, I'm with you on this topic! The best options are Active Sky 16 with its turbulence slider, and/or (I'm an 'and') Accusim with its own turbulence slider. I flew a cherokee 180 for an hour last year and took careful note of how unsmooth the flight was, even on a bright sunny day. Back in the sim, I refined those two sliders to get the exact same response from my A2A cherokee. I also employ a 'buttkicker' seat vibration device (mine is the Pearl 'Throne Thumper' used by drummers) for an extra feeling of immersion. Weirdly, I have an Alabeo plane, the PA-44 Seminole that had that wayward jiggle right off the bat.

Sorted, as expected it was Shock Absorber setting in Accufeel. 😝

I’m still flying this great aircraft, but continue to notice that the Simshed Nimrod taxis like its on uneven ground, no matter which airport I use. Is this just me? I do run Orbx Accufeel, and Im willing to consider that software might be responsible, but Im not sure how.

Oy! Less of the "crappy"! I bought my sim computer in November 2013, the bbest I could afford. And it still serves me well today, Orbx and all. God, that's six years old!!

Hi, I fly FSX, with a full cockpit build, Saitek and iPads, all tied together with FSUIPC. Flying ww2 aircraft in the FSX modern simulation lacks atmosphere. What could I move to, to experience exciting WW2 air combat? And could I use my Saitek cockpit? That last part is important! I've heard of Il-2. Cheers, Paul Elliott

Are you using three screens? With wide view?

Thanks for the advice guys... I love my hobby, and read aviation books non-stop. Last week I had a trial flight in a Cherokee from my local regional, the same aircraft (A2A) and airport I fly out of in the sim. It was my third time! And now I can't tell if my memories of what I saw are real or from all my flights in the sim!! I'll take a break and plan some flights. I'm happy with my airline flying, I too go for 'perfection', I start with a score of 10 and deduct 1 point for every screw up or glitch (like the airbridge not working, or GSX messing around and towing me onto grass, or not picking up the ILS beacon for some reason, or getting lost on the taxiways. I halve the score if I have to save and reboot FSX for some reason (once or twice a year my Saitek panels freeze). I love GA flying, though, and that's where I am finding it too easy. I am thinking of going dead-reckoning and VFR navigation all the way for a while, I'm also thinking along Howard (stratocruiser1)'s lines and flying the Manfred Jahn's C-47 on an epic journey, purely VFR and dead reckoning. The best, scariest, most thrilling flying I ever did was my Amy Johnson flight to Australia. Being terrified of getting lost is fun! Anyway, THanks again for the advice ... I will chill out for a bit ...

Hi, I'm going through a bit of a dry spell and can't find anything in simming to motivate me, I wondered how you guys flying for Virtual Airlines keep flying the same routes over and over. Why? And how? I have a full cockpit build of a GA plane and have flown lots of UK airfields, and overseas bush airstrips. I think my pace is slackening, I might have 'mastered' those flights and maybe getting bored with the easiness of them. I've flown airliners, helicopters... Cold War jets ... how do you keep doing the same type of flying, but keep it interesting or challenging? Thanks! Paul

Sorry, I did mean AS2016. That is what I have.

Ah, I run ASN with Turbulence set to 100%, the C47 does not like it! Sliding down to 30 or 20% is much better. If I have to do that just for this aircraft, that is no problem. I'm considering some epic cross-continent flight using only map-reading, dead reckoning and radio beacons (NDBs) - old style!