FlightSim.Com New User Help

Welcome to FlightSim.Com, The Ultimate Flight Site. This site is open to all and no access fees are required.

Getting Started

New users must establish an account using a login name and password (it's free!). The name and password are anything that you choose. The first time you use FlightSim.Com enter any name and password that you wish. As a new user you'll be required to fill out a short form and then you'll get right to the main menu. On future visits just use the same login name and password and you'll get right in. Please remember that both the name and password are case sensitive. The user name you pick will be how you are known in the message forums so be sure to pick something meaningful.

Ready to get started? Then choose a Login Name (i.e. janedoe) and a Password (i.e. mypasswd), then press the button.

Want to just browse the site before registering? Then click here.

Having Problems?

Having problems just seeing the site? Certain browsers seem to have bugs that cause problems when using a site like this one. To make use of this site, and most Web sites for that matter, you really need to be using either Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Even with these browsers, there can be problems with the way the browsers cache Web pages, which causes problems with forms such as the login screen, new user registration form and dynamic pages used here. This problem also can make you think the site is busier than it really is--with the "all nodes busy" page being reloaded over and over from your own local cache, even though you may actually have logged in successfully. The problem can sometimes be worked around simply by hitting the browser's reload button whenever you get an error. You should also look in your browser configuration and adjust your cache settings so that caching is either turned off, or so that the page is loaded from the web site--not from cache--every time.

CHECK YOUR CACHE SETTINGS

For many people this is the key to using Web sites like FlightSim.Com where the pages change dynamically. Exactly how you adjust your cache settings depends on the browser you are using, and since there are so many versions we cannot give exact instructions. You'll simply have to learn how to use the software you are running. In general, browsers use one of the following ways of controlling caching. There may be a check box to turn it off or on. Or they may be a cache size that you can control; setting the cache size to 0 (zero) is the same as turning it off. Or there may be check boxes which allow you to select when caching is used; set these to load the document every time.

For additional help on setting up your browser cache (also known as "temporary Internet files") please go here.

Why We Ask You To Login

Even though this is a free site there are many reasons for it, and one of the the biggest is the ability for you to be able to keep your own preferences.

In the file section you can customize the display for the output of the file searchs any way you like. You can shut off fields and descriptions and many other things.

When you come back to a message base, you can go right to where you last left off and find messages sent to you. You don't have to enter your name and other information every time you write a message either.

On other sites your email address is often right out in the open when you leave a message, right where the spammers can grab it. That can't happen here.

Other features, like our monthly contests, don't require you to fill out lengthy forms because we already know who you are.

Check the speed of the site compared to others. Well, that all comes from us being able to know who you are so we can load your preferences again each time you come in. The speed of the system also comes from being able to limit the number of people we have using the site at any one time, although you will rarely have trouble getting into the site.

Notice how other sites force cookies down your throat, asking your browser to hand them information off your system that you may not even want to give them. Well, there are NO cookies here. All we ask is you use a name so we can set you up the same way each time.

You'll find that our message bases are not full of get rich quick scams and ads for pornography and that we all get to enjoy the subject at hand unlike open sites.

Studies have shown that the more a person reveals their real identity on the net, the more mature they act. It's a direct correlation.

This site has grown to be almost triple in size for files, message activity and sponsorships then its nearest competitor. Well, that happens because of a closed system, it is also the secret to our huge success. So, now the secret is out. In reality, it's no big deal for the users, and they get big benefits, and secure usage for doing it.

FlightSim.Com is not just an anonymous speck in cyberspace, it's a community of flight simulator fans. I hope this helps you understand how the FlightSim.Com community works.