mazex

Got a question in a PM of how I mounted that G13 on the Virpil Desk mount. I realized that I could add this here if someone else finds this old thread and wants to try that as well. I took a rather square piece of ~3 mm thick plastic and rounded the corners and edges. Then put 3M strong velcro on it - and zip-tied that "plate" to the top of my Virpil desktop mount (did some small slits just at the edge for the zip-ties to go through. Then put the other "side" of the strong 3M velcro on the backside of the G13. Planned that I could take it off if desired. Have never done that and that industrial grade Velcro is so strong that I tried doing it now for the images but it sits very hard so did not force it. It sits rock solid and feel like it's screwed on the mount 😉 But it actually is flat on the top side - but as the G13 is built with a hump-back the result of mounting the top part flat is that the hand gets rather sloped, but the actual keys are flat horizontal. But that becomes prefect when moving your hand from the throttle to the G13 with the sloped handrest and feels just right... But it is not intentional. It's just a nice side effect of the G13 really resting on the back and front part when on a table, and the midlle part actually a bit above the table. 3 images below... As can be seen the Velcro on the G13 is on the flat "bent" part that is actually not resting on the table when in the normal position laying on a table... It almost feels like it is built to be mounted this way. I did by the way sand the sides of the G13 as they where a bit "sharp" and you can get your fingers a bit on that edge when moving you had when you are at full throttle and moving up to the G13. Used 800 grade sanding paper and that worked great. Did it all along the G13 edge actually 🙂

Mmm - having worked with management and software strategies on large companies for many years, starting out as a developer initially, I am actually rather surprised. Many friends work in the gaming industry and all the talk is about creating a "game loop". And really - compared to many other things in MSFS, this should be rather easy, even though I might annoy many by daring to call it a game, instead of a simulator. There is actually almost no game loop at all. Discovery flights? Can already create any A to B in the world myself. Landing competitions? Done that many times IRL myself - never any crowds watching accept the other competitors... Reno was a try, but way too narrow niche... It's really just one big and truly magnificent sand box... That works for the VATSIM community that they for sure have already... I might naturally be wrong, pointing out that the emperor lacks clothing. But it sure looks that way to me...

I am necro-bumping this thread as I am so surprised that we still only have flight training and discovery flights in MSFS accept the best sandbox ever created for flight simulation... And sure - we have Reno air races that I bought to support the developers but have never even tried... Since I posted this first, a great number of things have been added and fixed in MSFS - but it really feels like adding an integrated career mode is a low hanging fruit? Why use external apps for this? As I said in my first post, how popular would Euro Truck Simulator 2 be without the career mode where you start with a crappy truck and select different jobs to earn money and upgrade it and you company? Imagine if you could just select "Go from X to Z" like in MSFS? How many would get hooked accept some real truck nerds? Sure - I have been flying simulators since the 80:ies and have hundreds of hours IRL - but I still use Neofly almost every time I fly in MSFS to add immersion... Why should I go from A to B - and not C? And did I really manage to do a really smooth touchdown on that odd airfield that I never would have visited otherwise as I had a very fragile cargo? I am sure that especially newcomers to simulators would appreciate it even more that are not flying a 737 over the Atlantic in VATSIM... -- And reading through my first post... Yes - I did buy the Twin Otter (that I never would have done without Neofly hooking me). And then a bunch of PMDG ac etc... Now I mostly fly the Citation in Neofly (expensive - so I had to fly a lot of cargo to buy it). The reason I returned to MSFS after a rather long break is that I saw the G5000 and Citation has been updated without mods. So will do some mission in Neofly with it. Left it at some odd airport in Germany so plan to look for missions from there to the UK, or maybe France? Let's see what missions are available. Meanwhile I can let a hired pilot continue hauling stuff in my old Baron to earn money... And I hopped down in my C208 to Africa for some real bush flying and left it in northern Nigeria if I remember it correctly? Maybe I should see what missions are available down there? But wait - first I need to update my Navigraph charts that I never would have subscribed to without Neofly... And when I say Neofly - I mean version 3.13 and not the new 4.x tech demo that is very odd right now. It's free and can be download here: https://www.neofly.net/download. But it would be soo much better having it integrated in MSFS on the home page as a standard part of the simulation by MS... Do you want to continue your career or fly a random A to B mission anywhere in the world? Mmm - wanted an airport with ILS so no missions to France or UK available from ETNH where I left my Citation Longitude months ago... There seems to be a VIP fight to EHVK though. Volkel AB? Actually heard about that somewhere - seems like a military base, need to readup on that and check the procedures... Would I ever have thought about flying there? No. Does it seem interesting? Yes... So would I ever have dreamt about flying from ETNH to EHVK otherwise? No way - it would have been Landvetter to Heathrow or similar. Done that before.

Well, I have flown in an aircraft where the owner had demanded that his ashes where scattered from the aircraft he loved and had renovated extensively himself with good friends. So I can guess the end result. Let's say he and his beloved 1938 aircraft are one these days. I knew him and I am sure that he would have loved the way it "backfired". An aircraft made of tubes and canvas is very open on the inside with the rear part impossible to access. The only way to "correct the mishap" would have been to re-skin it... His friends that co-owned the aircraft agreed that he would have been the first to day no to that, and laughingly tell the story by the bon-fire after a good day of flying... He's still flying.

Another thing is that just going by albedo will not be correct either... Many good thermal generators are nice heat generating surfaces that are covered from wind by a forest or similar in the wind direction, so the hot air gets some nice and quiet growing space. But not too covered as the hot air bubble generated over that nice field need some help to get "ripped off" to not get stuck 🙂 A bit nasty story but anyway... Thermals can be rather unexpected many times and it's very hard to know the source... There was a crematorium near the downwind area of the airfield where I started flying. Some days you got unexpected weak thermals when low there and felt the smell of burning hair at the same time... Helped me at some occasion when too low there. A last helpful hand could be a positive way of seeing it.

Agreed that this really could take the throne from Condor 2 that is the king of soaring simulators right now - even though the graphics are very dated. But you sure would need to be able to set up racing that is correct to the real world. That's when it can get really interesting online... And even thought it looks very interesting with the thermal simulation I am a bit concerned if they get the thermal "bubbles" right? The simulation of generating hot air particles based on albedo of the satellite photos sound interesting but you also need the correct temperature gradients, block layers etc. And the very important dew / moisture points etc. As a glider pilot you stare almost all the time at small cloud whisps that could be potential fat cumulus clouds when you get there. Or not 😉 And when you get to the cumulus you look for the darkest part of the underside at the wind direction side... And get exited when you see that the underside really look concave... You look for the clouds and their life cycle, not the surfaces where they are created. And the real goal is a nice row of those fat Cu's. I know some pilots that only fly fighter jets and gliders. One of them told me why many years ago - he was only flying the AJ-37 Viggen and gliders then - but went on to the JAS-39 Gripen (and gliders) after that. He also liked sailing boats but was not a big fan of powered boats accept for transport and had this analogy: Anyone can drive boats with engines when you have mastered getting in and out of the harbor that is a bit tricky. And that last docking part needs a lot of practice to perfect. But out on the ocean a kid can drive. So then you basically just navigate, drink coffee and use them to get from A to B. And powered planes are much like that as well. But sailing boats need experts focusing 100% all the time to get it right. To succeed you need skills and tactical / strategic decision making every 5 seconds - and at the same time 1 hour ahead, all the time... Just like fighter planes. And gliders are very similar to sailing boats and need constant decision making and flying skills to not end up on the ground after 15 minutes - and especially for winning races. Do you believe that you will get 5+ m/s under that nice looking Cu nicely aligned with the desired course you really should fly a bit faster (wasting altitude for speed). Or what about that other one a bit further away to the left that maybe looks a bit be better? And is that a row of smaller clouds behind it that are growing? But it is a bit off course, so you will be dangerously low when you get there, so you should go slower then to not waste precious altitude? And when you get there - should you turn a bit steeper to center the thermal for the best lift as it seems narrow - or is the increased decent due to the high bank not acceptable for the benefit of increased lift in the dead center of the thermal? And thermals are very seldomly predictable and "round" - you need to recenter constantly to get the best rate of climb, just like when on a leg in a sailing boat to get the optimal speed / angle. When in a tough thermal the skill difference between pilots really shows quickly. And the ones that are pros realize that the climb in that thermal is too weak so having a 360 plan they don't waste time there and go for that odd small cloud that they have logged in their mind as growing fast instead. Leaving the rookies behind spending time turning too hard in that 2 m/s thermal as they are frightened to leave it as they feel too low to dare go for something else. And when they finally leave for that cloud the pro went for, it's too late as he has left for the next one that will give him/her that altitude to go for the final glide at 300 km/h towards the goal line. And the cloud that the pro got 7 m/s in 15 minutes ago is no longer good by the way, as the thermal that created it is gone... So while the pro crosses the goal line they have to find some field to make a landing at, as no airport is close enough... And the docking / landing part is not easier in a sailing boat / glider 😉 Especially not on some odd emergency field that is rather common in gliders while flying races. Flying gliders that way is really something that I am looking forward to in MSFS!

Might be that time machine feature in MSFS causing it? Karlatornet in Gothenburg was in the first screenshots even though it will be completed in 2023. And then ESSB will be gone and replaced with padel courts? 😉

The only problem is that a P38 need guns that work and proper missions. I have 100 times more hours in IL2 than MSFS and highly recommend it for people that love WW2 fighter air combat. It looks good and I will buy it to support them (like I did with their Spitfire), but look way more forward to the Twin Otter from Aerosoft for MSFS.

Absolutely. After SU5 + WU6, MSFS runs completely fluid in VR with ultra settings on my rig - and I love it. And you are right. We in Sweden are like the Brits. Sarcastic almost all the time...

Yesterday was a unique day. For a while threads like this filled the forum and the air was filled with positivity. The birds where singing and even the IRL weather in Sweden was good! Today everything is back to normal. Trees are awful, MSFS clouds are pathetic and the textures are a blurry mess. Just wait until later tonight when the friday stiffies have been poured! 🙂

I can really recommend the VKB T-rudder Mk IV pedals. Never miss a take off in a 109 in IL2 with those... Or that tiny lead adjustment to get the Mk 108s to land exactly where I want them to.

The scary thing reading this on a mobile is that I had to zoom in on that last image to realize it's not MSFS but the real world... But we don't have trains yet naturally 😉 I grew up at the bottom of a lake with Fighter Pilot on the ZX Spectrum. I can tell you a screenshot from that game would never be mistaken as reality or vice versa, but I think I still have more hours in it than MSFS. I think it ran at 3-4 fps by the way... 🙂

You need to take everything you read in the Hitchhiker's guide with a pinch of salt 😉

Well - agree that it's impressive what has been done to keep the Falcon 4.0 code alive with BMS. I would say that it unfortunately feels a bit too old in the graphics department compared to DCS with VR. In version 2.7 with the new clouds you really get the feeling of being IN an F16 and not looking at a representation on a screen of it. Anyway - I like BMS as well, especially the dynamic campaign. But to go back to the topic of the lack of meaning in MSFS - I fully agree that it's the major problem with MSFS now. I think you either need to go full Monty with the online VATSIM community - or some third party "mission generator / finance simulator". I really can recommend giving Neofly a try. It's free so no hurdle there. Before I started using Neofly I flew MSFS for an hour or two and went back to DCS and IL2. With Neofly I got hooked with the missions that give a purpose that works for me why I need to fly somewhere and make sure to get down with less than 200 fpm to not damage that sensitive cargo. And when you buy a new aircraft you really want to understand all the features of the autopilot etc. I am not the least interested in getting military aircraft into MSFS but look forward to transport aircraft now 🙂

Reminds me of this that an ATC friend shared that is related to Frankfurt from the 70:ies (?) - from http://www.eaa67.org/Miscellaneous/jokes.htm: The German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-tempered lot. They not only expect one to know one's gate parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt ground control and a British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird 206. Speedbird 206: "Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of active runway." Ground: "Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven." The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop. Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?" Speedbird 206: "Stand by, Ground, I'm looking up our gate location now." Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?" Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes, twice in 1944, but it was dark, -- And I didn't land."