It's funny, but the development of a Sim Pilot doesn't just happen overnight. I've been flight simming for years, and it's only lately that I'm finding myself with that big, dopey grin of satisfaction. Now, don't get me wrong. Upon opening the box, any version of Flight Simulator is intimidating to the new flyer. Just getting the bird into the air is a challenge, and having done so, the pilot is rewarded with grand vistas of default scenery. Bland, at best. But despite that, the rush is there. And, getting the bird back down again in one piece for the first time is not unlike one's first kiss: a little bit fumbly and with ample room for improvement, but fun nonetheless.

Once having experienced this, we separate the FS wheat from the chaff. From here, you are either bitten by the bug or you are not. Think about it. You go up, fly around for a time, and you come down. Big whoop. Where is the fun in that? No jumping from the plane, no projectiles to dodge. And, crashes are just a sudden stop at the end of an unscheduled landing (don't you find those programs designed to enhance the crash sequences annoying?). But to others, a light comes on, and a flame is ignited, one that continues to burn with intensity and passion for what is, in reality, just make believe. Yes, it's true. We're all insanely passionate about a make believe world in which we fly make believe aircraft.

Isn't it great?!

So, what's the point? Some "get it", other's don't. Well, I'll tell you. I'm one who "gets it". Both my hard drive and my credit card account will attest to that. My devotion has taken me to two sides of the flight sim world, those populated by the default aircraft and the payware ones. The SuperSims, as I like to call them. And, I know that in the past, I've talked about my inability to wrap my head around the SuperSims, and my continued predilection for the default birds. Well, I'm taking a little stroll on the other side of the fence.

I don't bring this up to boast. Quite to the contrary, I still don't know how to navigate using the OBS and VOR's and whatnot. I know you dial the radial, and the little thingy is supposed to deflect as you approach, and there's a little TO/FROM flag. From here, things get a little fuzzy, and it's off to the fridge for a cold Molson. Some things are just meant to be, and my inability to navigate is, at least for now, one of them. The FMC/CDU has also long been a nemesis, with many a morning after headache to its credit.

But no, I bring this up to prove a point. It is said that, in simple terms, output is directly related to input. With Flight Simulation, I am finding the greater the effort, the greater the satisfaction. For the longest time, I was satisfied with a low and slow from KSYR to KITH, a short hop of perhaps sixty miles or so. Naturally, it got old pretty fast, and before too long, it was longer flights with heavier aircraft. If you recall, your first flight in the default 737 was pretty darn intimidating. At least, it was for me. But like anything else, practice and effort result in a comfort factor, which is directly proportional to the boredom factor.

It's about now in the evolution of a Sim Pilot that we become interested in tinkering with the program. Adding scenery, freeware aircraft, the works. And, of course, taking that giant leap of faith resulting in the purchase of payware, financial hardships and marital discord. Now, armed with a vast array of complex aircraft and dazzling scenery, comes a crossroad. This is about where the next great separation of Sim Pilots happens.

May as well face the fact that some of these payware birds are complex. Some of them prohibitively so. There's an ATR that I still haven't figured out. So, what to do? I do one of several things. First, I print all the manuals. Then, I put the damn bird away once I realize that I have neither the time nor the inclination to give the SuperSim the attention it requires. Then, of course, I try to find another really complex SuperSim that maybe I'll be able to master without all the fuss and study necessary to get from A to Z. I have little doubt that I am not alone it this approach. Usually, the result is a hangar filled with absolutely fabulous aircraft, gathering dust while I fly some damn puddle hopper.

And, so we go. Possibly for years at a time, generations of the sim. But, we're there. We "get it." And, even if we're not firing on all cylinders, we're still reading the forums, keeping tabs on the web sites for new and interesting add-ons, and still flying in any fashion that we find fulfilling. Personally, I always had in the back of my mind something that was inciting me to keep at it until I could get whatever it was I needed in order to fly the "big boys".

As you well know, I've been anxiously anticipating the release of the PIC 737. I just love those Guppies! And in typical fashion, I bought the thing the moment it was released. In concert with this, I picked up a couple of books relating to the aircraft and her systems. And then, magic!

Don't get me wrong; I've spent hours with this damn bird. Days. I've read books, tutorials, forums, and email. Something in me pretty much decided that this was "The One". If I wasn't going to put it all together with this bird, it wasn't going to happen. And damned if it did!

Sometimes, things just come together. The combination of the aircraft (being as it is my favorite) and the information and layout of the books brought it all home. And as it happens, last night was perhaps the best flight I've ever taken. Islip (KISP) to Baltimore (KBWI). What made this so special was that I was using the PIC 733 (Boeing shorthand for the 737-300), Radar Contact 4, FsPassengers and Flight Deck Companion V3. As an aside, FDC is another program on which I've spent literally hours tinkering until I got it just right, and the results are more than worth the time investment! I wholeheartedly recommend all these programs!

So, I programmed the FMC/CDU and it worked as it should. At the Top of Descent, the aircraft descended on its own. It followed and obeyed all crossing altitude and speed restrictions I had placed in the FMC/CDU, which I had taken from the approach plate for runway 28. ATC coordinated with my flight plan, my passengers were all fed and happy and my checklists (which I lovingly created to match the appropriate flow of the overhead panel - tres' cool!) played and responded as anticipated. I chickened out at the last minute, and did an autoland - I just couldn't bring myself to screw up such a terrific flight with one of my patented bone-jarring landings.

Something else that I did I thought you might find interesting. Being as I simply cannot leave well enough alone, I added two small gauges to the PIC panel. Please don't tell the FeelThere guys about it, as it'll void my warrantee! Here's what I added:

Pushback Panel v2.0

This little beauty is a terribly simple Pushback gauge. If you are at all comfortable with monkeying around with the panel.cfg file, you'll have no difficulty with installation. The directions are short and explicit, and if I can manage it, anyone can. Once installed, I used FS Panel Studio to move the Icon to where I wanted it. Here is the line I entered in the cfg file to get it where it is:

gauge03=Harrier_pushback2!HarrierIcon_pb, 1091,966,27,29

The 1091,966 are the horizontal/vertical values. 27,29 refers to the size of the icon. Once installed, you simply click the icon, assign the total pushback time and the desired left or right angle of the tail (up to 90 degrees) if any. Then, press pushback and you get a rather cool dialogue between the cockpit and Lefty, the ground person who will instruct you to release, and then after the push, set your parking brakes. Easy, neat and just may give you a swell tingly feeling the first couple of times you use it.

The next little gem is this:

FS2004 Power Seat Gauge PWRSEAT1.ZIP Available in the FlightSim.Com library.

This is a nifty little gauge that permits you to click up or down, and have your eye point move accordingly. Nice for those long climbs to cruise when all you can see out front is blue and/or clouds. Click down and watch Mother Earth fall away beneath you. Then, if you're like me and forget you did that, and find that on final you're watching treetops instead of the rabbit, you don't have to madly click the up arrow to get back to your default eye point. Simply click the 'R' button, and back you go!

So, I did it. Flew a SuperSim the way it was designed to be operated. Do you know how long I've wanted to do that? All it took was some work and determination, and damned if it wasn't within reach all the time (tap your ruby slippers three times and repeat after me - there's nothing like a SuperSim...). I just had to put in what I wanted to get out. The point is, if you are like me, and find yourself going back to the default aircraft due to your inability to successfully fly the SuperSims, take heart! They are not beyond your grasp! With effort, you will find that not only are they relatively simple to operate, but once having done so, you will perhaps rediscover that dopey grin that hooked you way back when!

Three Green!

Chip Barber
rfbarber@optonline.net