Kronovan

I'll 2nd the idea of running FS Radio on it. It's what I use with my 10" Android tablet and it's a terrific app. I find just for being able to set the radio COM and NAV radios with my touch screen is worth the $10 price alone.

Unfortunately it seems to no longer be available in the Avsim library. Is there possibly another site that's hosting it?

Yep, after posting I saw you mentioned that it's working correctly with X-Plane 11. I've almost always had inconsistent results if TrackIR is started 1st and have read of others having similar experiences. I'd recommend trying it in that start order at least once, just to be sure you aren't now encountering issues that I and others have.

Thanks for the reply Bill. I had indeed thought about the Dash 7, but I've wondered how well it would work with only a dual throttle quadrant setup? [Edit] Remembered something else...On the flightsim website where I could find a reference to the fan-made Dash 7, it read like it was a conversion from FS2004. That's potentially a no go for me, as I run with DirectX10 graphics and most Fs2004 conversions I've tried don't display with correct textures.

It doesn't sound like the problem is necessarily software related. Does your TrackIR calllibrate and track properly with the TrackIR 5 config applet? [Edit] As well, I'm sure you're aware of this (best not for me to assume anything though) but the TrackIR software needs to be started after FSX is loaded, due to it needing to make the simconect conection with a fully loaded client. The times when I forget that TrackIR is already running before I start FSX, TrackIR usually doesn't connect, but sometimes I get unexpected results due to an unstable connection.

Thanks for the additional aircraft suggestions, I've considered most of those - especially the PBY Catalina, but I couldn't find a source for a quality payware or freebie. I sort of burn out on the DC-3 with FS 2004, for which I put in a lot of stick time in with it. A newer FSX edition is probably worth a consideration though. Indeed I'm leery about Carenado products - my Cessna 206 Stationair by them is 1st rate, but my Bonanza V35 is lacking. I've been eyeing their Shorts 330 and 360, which is no stranger to the skies here in the Pac NW. I think I need to dig up a review or 2 on those Shorts.

Simconnect does indeed get installed by FSX, but FSX is designed to simultaneously host multiple versions of it. I posted a question about that in the Simconnect forum and ddwason confirmed that FSX is designed to support multiple versions - unfortunately I can't successfully link my post for some reason, but you'd find it if you browsed to the 2nd page of that forum. Since TrackIR uses simmconect to connect to FSX, it not working after an uninstall of another FSX addon could be due to the correct version no longer being installed. While the intermittency could be due to TrackIR initially connecting on an incorrect version. That's no doubt a bit of a shot in the dark and no guarantees it'll resolve the issue. Reinstalling TrackIR isn't that difficult though and if it needs a different version of simconnect its installation procedure should install the correct one. If you do reinstall, be sure to back up any TrackIR profiles you've created.

I'd recommend uninstalling the TrackIR software, rebooting your PC and then reinstalling it. That, because FSX supports different versions of Simconnect and I'd be worried that the version TrackIR requires was inadvertently uninstalled.

No problem for me with throttles, mixture, etc - I have a Flight yoke, 2 throttle quadrants and rudder pedals. That's why I'm particularly looking for twin prop aircraft. I've been having a blast recently putting all that gear to use flying the WW II Bristol Beaufighter, Blenheim and Petlyakov PE-2 in the IL-2 series. When I looked at my FSX aircraft for bush piloting though, other than the Twin Otter and an AAA fan-made Grumman Mallard, everything I've bought is single prop. I'm probably going to get the Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 too, but that's more for Air Hauler 2 and the med-long airstrips in the Pac NW.

Great suggestion HighBypass - many thanks. I wouldn't have come up with that aircraft on my own, despite it being well reputed for its STOL capabilities. That's no doubt partly due to me being in western Canada where DHC's Otter and Twin Otter absolutely dominate the STOL market. The BN-2 was available @ PC Aviator for which I have a discount coupon, so I bought it. I haven't got any yoke time with yet, but I've been reading the doc and it looks well written - really like that it has decent procedures detailed from startup to shutdown.

I have the Aerosoft Twin Otter Extended and enjoy flying it. Other than it though, I only have the default FSX:SE twin props and a Piper Aztec I got as a freebie with FSX, which TBH is quite terrible. My $ comfort zone is in the vicinity of what the Milviz add-ons cost. I say STOL, because I mostly fly in the Pac NW with Orbx and RTMM scenery, where a good number of airfields are short. Non-STOL that don't have long take-off requirements would work too. If anyone could recommend some twin props, it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks for the reply robs - that's good info. I've only been referring to saved flights, not saved flight plans, so the names I input when saving only results in 3 different file types; those with a FLT extension, those with a FFSAVE extension and those with a WX extension. I'm not familiar with cumulus X!, but I'm guessing if I had that addon installed I might also have a file with the same name and a CMX extension. I'm surprised about the purpose of the FFSAVE files, as that wiki I linked identified those as something used by Vista Game Explorer. I'm really not familiar with the fsdeveloper.com website though, so I'm not 100% sure about the reliability of that wiki. I'm leery about leaving the WX files, because a few times I've loaded one of my saved Cold & Dark flights, Active Sky Next has crashed. Typically I just switch which 1 of my Cold & Dark flights is auto-loaded at startup, to avoid issues FSX has with caching values/settings from the saved, default flight.

Nevermind; after some better google-fu I found this wiki on flight files. The files with the WX and FSSAVE extensions are optional and as I suspected the WX files save the current weather state. The FSSAVE file is / was for the Vista Game Explorer, which allowed FSX saved flights to display in the Game Gallery. VGE was discontinued with Windows 8. Too bad Dovetail didn't ditch the FSSAVE files with FSX:SE, but with Win 8 being such a bomb I suspect a majority of their initial customers were running Win 7. Anyhow...I won't be adjusting my batch file and I'm moving my WX and FFSAVE files out of my ..\Flight Simulator X Files folder.

I've recently created a batch file that allows me to choose a C&D saved flight from 5 options, which then gets loaded as the default when I start FSX:SE. So far I've been using the files with the FLT file extension for this, but I'm wondering if I also need to include the files with the WX and FSSAVE file extensions in this process. I'm guessing that the WX is the file that records the weather state, but I'm not sure about what the FSSAVE file is for? As well, if I'm correct about the purpose of the WX files, do I even need to bother with them if I'm running Active Sky and always have dynamic weather being used? Any info about the purpose of WX and FSSAVE files are for would be much appreciated.

Do you have DirectX 10 preview enabled, or are you running in DirectX 9? I ask, because a recent Win10 update broke DirectX 9 support for Nvidia GPUs and one of the symptoms is a black screen. IIRC DirectX9 support can be established by downloading and installing a specific release of DirectX9c.