mantan

Thanks for all the great advice. I added the airport textures and ground textures which helped a ton. Still figuring out what aircraft to get. I used to fly airliners exclusively...but thinking about going with a business jets for awhile. Leaning toward the Eaglesoft Citation X as my first purchase. But I HAVE to get a yoke/pedals first. Flying with the mouse/keyboard is terrible. Was flying with the default Lear and it becomes a bucking bronco as soon as the AP is disengaged. There is just no feel with the keyboard.... edit - to correct the company...

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I took a look at both and will be giving them a spin. The graphics look a lot closer to what you'd expect with today's hardware. And if I'm starting fresh anyway, it's a good time to switch. Funny about X-Plane. For years it was always the alternative that was decent in some ways, but limited. But with FS not being supported, it looks like they've moved quite a few steps ahead. And I'll never stop marveling at how high the bar is raised. I remember when I left thinking graphics had reached their peak. And now it looks dated. But that X-plane demo was mind blowing.

OK, so it's not like riding a bike?!?> Long story short, I was a life time flight simmer since the day my dad bought me FS2 for our IBM PC. I grew up through all the versions in HS, college and my early 20s. Heck, I was even a reviewer for AVSIM back in the day. I think my last review was Bill Grabowski's ERJ-145 panel in 2002. But when our second child got around two, other things took priority and I stopped flying. There was just no time in the whirlwind of practices, games, birthday parties, vacations, school projects and life. Then I blink and suddenly they are teenagers spending most of their time with their friends and suddenly I have free time again. I wasn't feeling well this weekend and killing time in the study when I decided to load buy FSX and fly again. It all feel really familar.....yet really strange. I had loaded up a demo version of FS a few years ago. But only spent a few minutes with it. This was the first weekend I really went whole hog and even came back to AVSIM. I was sorry to see that Tom had passed, but know he would be proud of everyone for continuing his vision. Some observations... 1. I miss my old yoke/pedals. Flying with a keyboard sucks. For some reason I threw them away instead of putting them in the closet. Looking online, it looks like the same CH yoke/pedal combo is still the go to. 2. I've grown less patient in my old age. I used to spend HOURS tweaking settings, installing gauges, editing config files, etc. I built my PC specifically for flight simulator and would upgrade components to squeeze out every last FPS. Now I just want plug and play. 3. The default FS scenery looks dated. It makes sense, the program is 10 years old and PC graphics have come a long way. What was cutting edge then, looks a bit blocky now. Based on the youtube videos out there, it seems like there are a lot of scenery upgrades available. I just need to find the best way to get them added. (see #2). The plus side is that hardware has more than caught up. Everything runs silky smooth maxed out. 4. I forgot how expensive FS is. Yeah, the $25 gets me the program. I already added Traffic 360 (see #2). I'm working on what scenery add-ons give me the best bang for the buck and what planes I want to buy. And I'll likely be springing for the yoke/pedals. On the flip side, my hobby for the past 12 years has been golf - so I was spending the same money on green fees, equipment, etc. 5. It's not like riding a bicycle! While some things came back naturally, I still feel a bit 'behind the plane' in the cockpit. Each flight has been a little rough...and that's with the default Lear. My 'go to' plane was the PMDG 737. It's going to be a bit of a learning curve coming back. At $70, I may be looking for a new 'go to' aircraft, LOL. There is SO much out there, it's really hard to get a handle on the 'must haves' But it's good to be back. My wife joked last night that it was like old times. I look forward to logging a lot more hours this year.