FrankWhittleworth

I just wanted to say thanks to the guy's at Avsim for making this game come out on X Box. I'm really looking forward to it. I did get my P 3 D sort of working but it became too annoying when other planes kept crashing into me. My son told me to speak to the people on a web sight called Read-It and they were very helpful and we had a good laugh. Here's wishing you all happy flying. Frank.

Hi everyone, Firstly, thanks for all your supportive replies and especially to Jim for providing context on the licensing restrictions with ESP - I had no idea about all that. Secondly, I understand that the add on developers work very hard and must put bread on their tables. I am just a little overwhelmed and frustrated at trying to make all the add-ons work properly having spent what I consider to be a lot of money. I watch my son and grandsons playing x box video games in which all they do is destroy things and I think how wonderful it would be if they could find an easily accessible and equally advanced flight simulator to inspire them. Flying will always be a passion for me and I wish that young people will continue to be inspired like I am. Perhaps DaveCT's idea to bring the community together and make an entry level simulator is a good way forward. I realise that it's all about money nowadays and few people are fortunate enough to be in a position to take a financial risk on a product that may not be successful. Anyway, I'll switch on my computer next week and try to mend all the 'bugs' that plagued my virtual flight from Heathrow down to Gibraltar today. Blue skies and tailwinds to all, Frank Whittleworth.

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend anyone. My post was meant to be semi light hearted but it seems that my humour isn't welcome. I'd be very grateful if someone could recommend an x box simulator, although my son told me a PC was best for flight simulators. Once again, I apologise for offending you Jim. All the best, Frank.

Good afternoon everyone! Now, I've retired, I decided to get into flight simulation as I kept seeing advertisements about how realistic it all is. I done plenty research and found some excellent advice in the chat rooms. This is what I chose: Prepar3D Pro-ATC/X for air traffic control ORBX for scenery Active Sky for Weather Aerosoft for Airbus A320 GSX for ground services Now, I'm no computer expert and I spent the best part of a week installing all the software and must say, I was disappointed to learn that the latest Prepar3D was just like I remember Microsoft Flight Simulator from all these years ago. The air traffic control sounded exactly the same and it still had the old runway 23 at Heathrow! Good lord - it's 2018! A very helpful lady at Lockheed Martin (Poppet ?) told me to follow a troubleshooting guide and to take off all the add-ons and start again! So anyway, I started my journey and the jetway came out and broke into 3 sections. I looked down at the jetway and it had no wheels! When the fuel truck arrived it parked UNDER my fuselage!! I then kept getting a message to Open Exit 3 (no idea what door this is meant to be). Oh, well I suppose you can call it a 'bug' and all add ons can't be perfect but £30 for some cartoon men? When the baggage truck arrived, the little cartoon man tried to load the suitcases into the same door as the cargo containers! Then I was a little surprised to hear that the Heathrow push-back man was American! And so was the air traffic control man! I was told to taxi to runway 27-L, but the real Heathrow traffic was taking off on runway 27-R! I thought the weather add on would tell the ATC add on the correct runway? Maybe another computer 'bug'. As I was taxiing, a lorry crashed into me as if I wasn't there and I had to start again. Second attempt as I was lining up on 27-L, another plane (MD-80?) I remember from old Flight Simulator days tried to line up in front of me! When I started my takeoff roll, everything got very jerky and I just about managed to get off the ground. That is when things got very weird. I was following the SID and got cleared up to FL130 and the plane went up like an F-15 - 7000 FPM!!! I decided to switch off the automation and selected something more realistic - 2500 FPM. I asked about this on the Aero Soft chat room and an angry German man shouted at me and told me I didn't read his step by step guide and that I must have put in the wrong performance data. As I was climbing through FL250 the cabin door rang and I checked the cockpit camera and a nice flight attendant appeared on the security camera. She must have had a quick sex change because then I heard a man's voice saying 'here is your coffee captain'! Right in the middle of the climb I got a cup of coffee stuck on my tray table! Maybe another computer 'bug'. I had a good chuckle at that. It's just as well I have my model trains because I don't have time to fiddle about with all these add ons. I'm surprised that an enterprising company hasn't made a simulator with everything built in? Maybe that's too complicated for today's great minds. I feel that flight simulators are more for computer geeks who have hours of free time to change settings and play around on their keyboards whereas I'd rather spend my time flying. It also seems like a big money making scam. Anyway, I hope you had a good chuckle at an old ex-pilot's foray into simulators. Take care all, Frank.