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Just realised the icon is the return key. Help other issues would still be welcome

Just purchased Aerofly FS 4 and trying to get my head around things having "switched" from MSFS2020 and x-plane 12. Is there a list published all the various commands? For example the option to have the co-pilot fly the plane has a symbol that I cannot decipher, It looks like some sort of back arrow but doesn't match any of the keys on my Turtle Beach Game Controller, nor my Turtle Beach Velocity One Throttle & Quad. As far as I can tell there doesn't seem any keyboard options. Is there a list of controls I could refer to? Thanks I have had to post on here because although I have registered on the Aerofly site forum my account hasn't been activated.

I have been running my purchased copy of AAO running MSFS. I have now gone back to running x-plane 12 and wonder if this requires a separate licence??

I have been working solely on the PMDG 737-600 recently as I was treated to a full size simulator flight with a real 737 pilot recently. I have been making progress but the question I have not been able to resolve is the reason why I cannot engage VNAV. The are copious amounts of YouTube videos on the subject but many are quite a few years old so it's difficult to decide if they are still relevant. I have tried to replicate the flights in the videos but this isn't always easy as the tutorials often start in mid-air and it needs good eyesight to see where the flight originated from and destination. The other issue that is repeated is the fact that the first waypoint has to be within 5 degrees from the departure course. I did find a YouTube tutorial on this but can't find it now. So far I have only found one tutorial where VNAV has worked "out of the box" but I haven't been able to apply this to other flights. I greatly appreciate all the time and effort people put into creating the videos they are a source of endless information but it has to be said some are better than others and it's easy to get taken down a rabbit hole. So the point of this post is a request what steps do I need to cover in order to be able to engage VNAV in simple terms including how to ensure the 5 degree rule for the first waypoint is covered. Thanks

OK point taken.

thanks, any pointers as to how I do that?

Hi, just purchased the software so still finding my way around. I have the Saitek panels enabled but find that the values in the panel e.g. ALT & HDG do not match the aircraft values. The Radio panel appears to be fine.

Thanks Scott, I am happy now but like you I will in time look at SPADneXt and see if it offers anything I need. Chris

Hi, following a suggestion by airernie I have installed SPAD (after uninstallibg SPADneXt) and my panel worked straight away.......out of the box. For me that's all I need at the moment. Perhaps I will have to look in more detail at SPADneXt later to see what it offers (perhaps someone could give me some details) but quite happy at the moment especially as SPAD needed no setting up etc. Hopefully SPAD will prove reliable. Thanks Chris

Hi been following the posts with interest. Not had panels before so cant comment on the 2 versions of SPAD. Tried to setup SPADNext profile for Cessna 172SP the panel lights up but cant change any values so clearly not doing it right. All I want is for the panel to work as it does in x-plane with the plugin which needs no special action.. Was thinking ,was thinking of getting radio panel but not sure now if I cant get it working in fsx.Don't even know for sure if I have to start SPAD first or fsx.Can post some images if anyone can help. Chris

http://www.fsgs.com/wiki/current_release

Hi thanks for the replies. I had already downloaded the SPAD version in Glynn's link but tried again and still couldn't see any setup file. I did a bit more searching and came across SPADNeXt so downloaded and installed. Went through the Wizard without really knowing what I am doing and setup a profile for Cessna 172 (I think) but tried a flight and although the panel was illuminated and responds in the Wizard nothing changed in the panel or FSX when I tried so obviously not doing it right yet. Any help much appreciated. As a complete aside from this whilst playing around with the panel etc. I realised that I can't see my Windows taskbar so can't easily switch to Windows Explorer etc. How do I get the taskbar to stay on screen when running fsx (tried various resolution settings and they haven't worked.). Never noticed that before. Thanks Chris

Hi thanks for the replies. I am running Windows 7. I found the SPAD link Glynn quoted but how do I use/install SPAD as there doesn't seem to be an exec file. Chris

I have recently bought the bovevpnel but can't get it working in FSX. When I start FSX the panel does not respond i.e there is no display. I thought the panel was fully compatible with FSX (I have it working in x-plane thanks to a plugin). I haven't installed any of the Saitek drivers or software as conventional wisdom says not to. I searched for info so I know this has been asked before and seen references to SPAD but have no idea what that is or where to find it. Can someone put me on the right road and if I need SPAD give me a download link. Thanks in anticipation. Chris

This may have been covered many times in the past but my question I hope is more specific. I have just got a Saitek Cessna Yoke (plus multi panel) which I intend to use with both FSX and x-plane. i came across a post somewhere (but now can't find it) that explained the "issues" of getting used to using a yoke compared to a joystick and wondered if anyone could shed some light. Also, anyone offer suggestions on how to they have configured the yoke (buttons etc.) for both FSX and x-plane. It has so many button options I'm not sure where to start. I haven't installed any of the Saitek software as this seems to be the recommended course of action. Thanks Chris

I currently have a Thrustmaster Hotas-X and Logitech Extreme 3 Pro as backup for use on FSX & x-plane. The Thrustmaster is OK, a bit twitchy at times despite all my efforts to improve it including tightening the tension to max, but I recently came across a Youtube video of someone who had a full Saitek ProFlght setup and what struck me most was the comfortable seating position. With my joystick I have to be somewhat hunched over the controller and over time this causes me some back discomfort whereas with the yoke being that be further away from the desk the seating was more reclined. I was also impressed with all the panels being used which would enhance the whole flight sim experience I think. I have looked at the various components and they would cost me around £(GBP) 640.00 in total so not cheap and if I go down that road I would have to buy them a bit at a time starting of course with the yoke. When researching the system I have come across several articles saying that the Saitek has a pronounced null zone issue, which is not good. Also, and more worrying, is that some articles question the reliability of the Saitek and also the alternative CH yoke. Whilst searching I came across several references to the Saitek X52 Hotas joystick and the reviews I read suggest that this is a better controller than the Thrustmaster I currently have, which has made me wonder, given the reliability "issues" that have been mentioned with both the Saitek and CH yoke (which doesn't have all the add-on panels of the Saitek system) whether I would be better, if I want to upgrade, to go with the X52. The seating position problem would of course still exists unless I can figure something out but if the Saitek & CH products are suspect either one could be a waste of money in the long term Anyone have any thoughts??? Thanks Chris

Hi Karol, will PM you shortly. Chris

Hi Karol Back again, what an impressive display of instruments, are they all your own creation? So much detail I don't think even I could get lost, have you placed them in other aircraft or just the F111(?) you say you prefer to fly. I know there are plenty of replacement gauges available on various sites but which are useful and which are not I'm not in a position to say at this stage. Being able to customise the gauges to your own requirement is an obvious bonus. This is especially useful if the eyes aren't quite as sharp as they once were, like mine. Have done a few more flights this week and they have gone OK and I am reasonably confident that I can now set up an ILS flight/approach, also the fatal errors from FSX seem under control, they only seem to happen in unusual circumstances not during normal "flying" mode, but will be monitoring this although I don't think there is much I can do about it. If I can be sure the system crashes are manageable I will consider the Real Air model.On the subject of crashes have been aware of the Steam version of FSX from various posts but never understood what it was, Have now done some reading and it seems Steam gets over the Windows 7 crash issues. It will cost be £19.99(GBP) but could be worthwhile.......any thoughts?? I don't think you need internet access to play on Steam which is good as my connection speed is quite slow. Being able to create and fly an ILS flight is a big step forward for me and I think you have covered about a number of chapters in my book in a very short time and in a very constructive and informative way. I will of course keep reading the book and perhaps even use the lessons that came from the publishers Wiley as they could be useful. Flying on autopilot is fine but obviously I need to be able to fly to non ILS destinations as well to make things interesting. To that end I went back to the airport in the book Post Mills (2B9) and created a small flight plan from Hartest State (KVSF) of 65.5 miles with to waypoints KRUT (airport) and (90VOR). The flight plan is as follows: KVSF (Hartest) take off KRUT (Rutland airport) Alt 2500 HDG 317 Distance 21.9 miles GS (kts) 115 Time 0.11 mins 90VOR Alt 2500 HDG 097 Distance 25 miles GS (kts) 115 Time 0.13 mins 2B9 (airport) Alt 2500 HDG 032 Distance 18.6 miles GS(kts) 115 Time 0.09 mins According to what I have read the runways at Post Mills are runway 5 049 magnetic, 033 true and runway 23 229 magnetic and 213 true. As there is no ILS the final glide path will have to be manual and as the final heading to Post Mills on the flight plan is 032 I assumed the best option would be runway 5 (less course correction) although runway 23 would be more interesting perhaps. Did a couple of passes with autopilot and arrived OK at Post Mills but not aligned to the runway. Next pass I used your crib sheet and at about 15 miles turned autopilot off and attempted to do a manual swing to the correct runway heading with mixed results. Did manage to land on 2nd attempt but still came in slightly across the runway. Is there anything I need to set on the instruments to assist and what's the best procedure once autopilot is off to make the necessary course adjustments to align with the runway, wherever it is, when doing a manual approach? I think if I can crack that, although I will still be a novice with a lot to learn, I can look forward to getting some real enjoyment out of FSX. I have an atlas arriving and with that (and my protractor), my book and all your posts, I will have plenty of information to absorb and lessons to work through, both on paper and actually "flying". It should be an absorbing few months!!!! Chris PS Hopefully all these posts will benefit other beginners as well.

Hi Karol Just seen your latest post will read in depth later. Thanks Chris

Hi Karol Just quick update. I tried some more flight planning etc. yesterday based on your last reply but unfortunately I started to get the dreaded Fatal Error screen from FSX. I am using Win 7 and I had this earlier and followed the advice to place the uiautomationcore.dll in the fsx route directory and this seemed, until yesterday, to have worked. Don't know if it is related but as a result of your last post I found an SF260 on the files page (not sure which one as I saved it to my main PC which is not powered up at the moment just to see what it looked like and felt like for flying , which seems good. Will be having another session later today but not using the SF260 just to see if I still get the same error. If I do then will need some help coming up with a fix I think. Incidentally, what makes the Real Air version of the SF260 better than any of the freeware versions available from here to download.

Hi Karol Just spotted your latest reply. Thanks for the update and all the words of encouragement Will reply in more detail later, sufficient to say I have been busy trying to enhance my knowledge of navigation since our last exchange of info. Chris

Hi again, pleased to say that my first flight today was a success, the only thing was that autopilot didn't bring the aircraft to a stop I had to do that manually. That apart all went smoothly so have no idea what I was doing before. Will try the flight a few times again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. 8. Set Elevator Trim for Take Off (nose UP) , that is half way down from neutral. Still struggling with take off as can't determine what percentage this should be or whether the "wheel" goes forward of backward. 2. GPS display , note the text data , and zoom level , usually 15 - 35 zoom. Zoom out to 350 nm note map of England , try to get an understanding of the geographical situation. Try to determine a rough heading to firstly Lossiemouth AB in Scotland , also to Manchester. Get used to doing that as a part of your ball park navigation , or Situational Awareness. Return zoom to normal levels ie; 15 nm. Took me a while to realise the UK map was on the slant. How do I find Lossiemouth AB or Manchester on the display? ( ILS APPROACH ) 3. * At 15 nm to go in the GPS. * Do the following in the Autopilot , * - Set mode from GPS to NAV button - Set APR button (Approach/ILS) . 4. Observe , the aircraft will now do a 'S' turn to align itself with the exact EGMC runway heading (236). 5. When the aircraft has completed this little 'S' turn , bring power back to get 140 kts exactly. You might have noticed that the Autopilot ALT hold is still On , it will automatically go Off upon Glideslope capture. 6. At about 7 -8 nm to go in the GPS , the Autopilot will automatically "CAPTURE THE ILS GLIDESLOPE" , and start the descent to the runway. Do these figures apply to any aircraft or does it vary depending on type?? 7. Reduce power to get exactly 140 kts. 8. When the speed falls below 152 kts ,??? - Set Flaps to 15 degrees , and - Lower the GEAR. If I wanted to land on runway 5 which has I believe a heading of 055 what would I need to change in the plan other than the HSI NAV 1 setting?? I assume there would be times in real life when this would be required. Now that I understand some of the principles I would like to setup some other flight paths so that I can learn more and also avoid too much repetition. If you have any suggestions on suitable flights to try I would be grateful. I have been going through all my old FSX print outs to compile a file with the most useful items. Didn't realise I had so many. Chris

Hi Karol, back again. First flight attempt no good due I thought to my trying to speed up the sim rate. Second attempt much better but height on final approach seemed too high and speed a bit fast and autopilot didn't stop the aircraft. I did see the correct visual flight path on approach which was good. Tried three attempts to day but not very successful. Followed you instructions to the letter but the first attempt failed to activate the final section from CLN and was flying away from Southend. The last attempt followed the correct flight plan (ILS APPROACH) but when I set APR button the aircraft did the "S" turn but the Autopilot ALT hold button went off and the altitude started to drop too quickly so that the aircraft "landed" well short of the runway and I didn't see the visual flight path. I haven't changed anything in the plan so a bit bemused as to what is happening. Could it be I need to "reload" the flight plan?? Also, I found take off difficult the aircraft struggled to climb. I think it may be that I have the Elevator Trim incorrectly set.I was "winding" the wheel backwards i.e towards me. What percentage should it be set to? I have no doubt it is something I am doing incorrectly and I intend to try again tomorrow, perhaps a fresh day will bring a fresh result.

Hi Karol Thanks again. Will be closing down for a few days later today. In the meantime can you tell me how you manage to post images. As I said earlier I tried using my dropbox and following the latest info on the site with both .png and .jpg and got error that the file format was invalid so I sent you a pm with an image which I hope you got. Chris