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How do you keep FSX interesting?


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Here's a cool thread I found a few days ago. Plenty to check out in here for FSX:

http://www.simtours.net/

 

Mitch

I was born on the North Coast, where they coined the phrase that they still call Rock-n-Roll! Asus Maximus VII mb, Wind7 64-240 GB SSD-8GB RAM-IntelCore i7-4790k Haswell Quad Core 4 ghz-GTX 1060-TH2G-2-Saitek Yokes, -2-CH pedals-GFTQ6 throt, 49" Samsung Monitor.
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Yeah FSX is tremendously flexible, there's no end to the interesting things we can do with it.

For example one guy at another site is flying round the world in an FSX light aircraft , he posted a list of the dozens of airports/airfields along his intended route, it's taking him weeks and the last I heard he still hadn't finished, I guess weather/winds/day/night/hills/mountains play a big part..:)

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Personally I like exploring the world. There are places that I've covered in detail in FSX (and FS2004) that I'll probably never get to in real life.

 

I tend to fly low and slow.

 

But I also enjoy the challenge of recreating historic flights, using DR navigation, historic aircraft.

 

The first airplanes I got a chance to really get to know and examine were Lockheed Constellations in the US Navy. I love old radials.

 

So that helps.

Hello Dave

 

@ PawPaw's house - near KADS, Addison, Texas, USA

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GIANT-RIDING

It can be fun making your way cross-country in a glider by thermal-hopping.

Here my freeware Grunau is about to enter this nearby one, then he'll circle in it as it takes him up as high as possible, then leave it to head for another one such as any of those three further away.

Thermals are about half a mile in diameter and rise thousands of feet, you can switch them on via Options>Settings>Display>Weather, and choose 'None', 'Natural' or 'Schematic'.

These are Schematics in this screenshot, it's the easiest way to find thermals. If you want to try 'Natural', they won't show onscreen but sometimes birds will be circling in them which gives away their position.

Turbulence is another indicator that you're in one, so is your altimeter readout and your rate of climb/descent indicator. (Gliders usually also have an audible bleep to tell you if you're going up or down).

 

To set up a thermal flight, first decide which airfields you want to take off from and land at, then set a random wind speed/direction (I use dice rolls). Slew 'Y' to the middle of the nearest thermal to the departure airfield, then hit 'F4' to slew straight up to give yourself a few hundred feet, then hit 'Y' to exit Slew mode and away you go, (and NO changing airfields or wind on the way to make things easier!)

The trick is to judge which thermals to use as stepping stones to your destination, taking into account wind speed/direction and the optimum glide speed/sink rate of your glider-

 

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/FSX-therms6.gif

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What would you do in a real life emergency?

 

I discovered this Canadian TV series called MAYDAY. There are over 89 recreations of airline disasters based on NTSB reports. Not all of them are suitable for Flight Sym recreations, but I have taken to re-creating and re-flying a few of them. My first effort was FLight Air Transat 236. Still trying it.

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I managed to keep myself entertained for an hour or so the other night with the default J3. I set up a 40 kt wind directly down the runway and had some fun hovering, levitating, "flying backwards", etc. Takes a while to get trim, power, etc dialed in, but the Cub will eventually hover in place ten feet off the ground with your hands off the stick. It's impossible to hold the airplane still on the ground with brakes, you have to fly it continuously, also don't let yourself drift downwind or you'll spend the next hour trying to get back to the airport. Fun, try it... :)

 

Jim

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Try landing a 747 on an iced runway while trying to eat your hamburger, arguing with your girlfriend about who'll wash the dishes and finding out the dog is making love to your leg.

FSX ACCELERATION, ASUS P5QPL VM EPU-INTEL E8400-3GHZ-DDR2RAM4GO-WINDOWS7SP1 -GT220GEFORCE

if you never wonder about something, its because you know everything....:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

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You could try Air Hauler. You start up a air freight company and grow. Buy/Lease aircraft, hire pilots. You pick loads you want to haul from a loadboard which has sent me to airports I would never known about. It's a pretty cool program.
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FSX INGAME MAP PRINTOUT

Accessing the ingame map makes navigating too easy because it always shows the position of your plane icon.

But if you take a screenshot of the in-flight map, enlarge it and print it out like this, you can use it instead for more of a challenge-

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/FSXmap7.gif

 

 

 

Of course, finding your way around is a piece o' cake in good weather..

(freeware Flamingo from Classic Wings)

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/FSX-Flam1b.gif

 

 

 

...but not so easy if you crank down the 'Visibility' slider like this to create a nice mist-

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/FSX-flam2b.gif

 

 

 

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/FSX-flam8.gif

 

 

"Are we lost captain?"

"No sir, we're somewhere in Canada, now kindly resume your seat"

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/FSX-flam7b.gif

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I think the continual learning curve of FSX (and Flight Sim in general) keeps it interesting.

 

A lot of the replies focus on various challenges which really keeps it top of my list as the best way to "waste" some time.

 

On top of that their is a whole world to explore in FS and some of it modelled to a high level of detail.

May your number of landings equal your number of takeoffs.....
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What would you do in a real life emergency?

 

I discovered this Canadian TV series called MAYDAY. There are over 89 recreations of airline disasters based on NTSB reports. Not all of them are suitable for Flight Sym recreations, but I have taken to re-creating and re-flying a few of them. My first effort was FLight Air Transat 236. Still trying it.

 

I might be wrong, but many of the shots in these series seem to be from FSX...

 

I do not have the hardware necesary to run FSX, but Ive bought it, and Im waiting. Till I get a new PC, im using FS2004. Its nice to fly VFR using the Piper Cub, with no gps, and without accesing the map. Soaring is also fun, try doing a cross country flight in a sailplane.

Flights around the world are a very interesting way to spent your free time. You can use different planes, or the same plane during your trip. Try using a small plane, like the C172. It can get boring, but most likely it wont.

Also, a good way to keep going is start developing addons. You can start with your home airfield.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

 

Asus X550V

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Wow. There is so much to explore in FSX. Beyond the obvious ATC-NAV-proceedural type flying.

Airshow routines- from solo and formation(multiplayer) military displays, aerobatics, civvie solo aerobatics.

Air tanker operations, solo and MP.

Sub-orbital boost-glide flights over inter contenental distances-no engine after inital boost to altitude. Go from Canaveral AFS and try to hit Wake Island. A variation is Suborbital bomber- same same except drop a nuke on the xring and get back home.

Military training regimes, modern and historical- navigation exercises, agent insertion, tactical and strategic ordinance delivery , Time on target competitions, interception exercises, training senario's like oil burner sorties,AAR exercises, Recce exercises, ASW, SAR,EEZ and fisheries patrol with addons like Veitnam war project, oilburner routes, NAS Fallon(ranges) ,Iraq MDC, Solomon islands 1943, Chichijima, Ians dark corner UK ETO, SEA sceneries, FSX freeware weapons packs. Various aircraft carriers and warship packages enable naval operations for USN, IJN, RN, RFN, and AVMF from first world war to OIF. Solo and MP.

All of the above in numerious combinations for what if scenarios- Luft46, Olympic-Coronet 46-47, DROPSHOT NATO-WARPAC scenarios from the '50's.

Obscure epic flights . One of my favorites is Peter Hogg and Ronald Edelsten's 1934 trip in a war-surplus Bristol F.2B with a handful of AA(roadmaps) maps,inoperative wet compass, wrist watch, and dead reckoning — destination Baghdad. Spare fuel carried in gallon cans and decanted through a biscut tin and chamios into the main tank from the rear cockpit in flight!

Aug-10-1934: Witney - Gravesend (forced down by bad weather)

Aug-11-1934: Gravesend - Brussels - Frankfurt - Munich.

Aug-12-1934: Munich - Vienna - Budapest.

Aug-13-1934: Budapest - Belgrade.

Aug-14-1934: Belgrade - Sofia (forced down by bad weather)

Aug-15-1934: Sofia - Philippopolis (Now Plovdiv) - Istanbul.

Aug-16-1934: Istanbul - Eskisehir - Konia - Adana. (All in Turkey)

Aug-17-1934: Adana - Musulmei (Aleppo,Syria). Landed on wrong airfield, Flat tyre from running over Camelseed pod thorns.

repaired with help of Armee'd air fitters, followed by a night of elbow bending in the Mess at Musulmei.

Aug-18-1934: Musulmei - Deir ez-Zor (Syria). Wrong fuel delayed flight.

Aug-19-1934: Deir ez-Zor - Baghdad.

 

Stayed in Baghdad from August 20th to September 5th, where the boys performed a near total tear-down and overhaul of the old Brisfit with help from the RAF fitters and riggers at the Baghdad station.

 

Sep-5-1934: Baghdad - Hinaidi (no longer exists) - Rutbah Wells (no longer exists) - Amman (Jordan).

Sep-6-1934: Amman - Gaza - Ismailia (Egypt).

Sep-7-1934: Ismailia - Cairo.

Sep-8-1934: Cairo - Mersa Matruh.

Sep-9-1934: Mersa Matruh - Tobruk - Benghazi (Libya).

Sep-10-1934: Benghazi - El Agheila - Sirte.

Sep-11-1934: Sirte - Tripoli - Gabez - Tunis (Tunisia).

Sep-12-1934: Tunis - Palermo - Praia - Naples.

Sep-14-1934 Naples - Rome - Pisa - Cannes - Marseilles.

Sep-15-1934: Marseilles - Lyons - Dijon.

Sep-16-1934: Dijon - Paris (Le Bourget) - Calais - St. Inglevert (Cap Gris Nez) forced down to wait out thunderstorm.

Sep-17-1934: St. Inglevert - Lymphe - Croydon - Heston - Whitney.

And on and on. The fantastic thing about FSX is the open source, highly configurable nature of the program, and the mountains of add-ons. If you can imagine it, there is usually a way to make it happen..

How can one be bored.

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EARHART's LAST FLIGHT

This is one of flight simming's greatest challenges, the 2555-miles flight from Lae to tiny Howland Island, I haven't tried it myself yet-

 

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub3/Howland_Island.jpg

 

 

Howland

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/howland_island-B.jpg

 

Discussion thread about it-

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?248088-Howland-Island&highlight=howland

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CREATING LIVERIES caters for anybody with an artistic bent, as with this freeware FSX Tiger Moth and two Bucker Jungmanns, they're not mine, I can't paint for toffee-

 

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/FSX-Tmoth-woburn.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/FSX-Jungmann.gif

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub4/FSX-Jmeister.gif

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ScatterbrainKid posted a thread a while back about thermal visualizations which I hadn't seen in the sim yet. I had flown the DG–808S a couple times and enjoyed it, so this evening I decided to see if I could catch a thermal and ride it up. Had a blast, ultimately made it to 15,500' from a 4500' tow and was still climbing like a homesick angel when I finally closed the sim.

 

Go into Settings > Display > Weather and turn on thermal visualizations. I used the "Schematic" setting this time around (which makes soaring too easy but for the first try I figured I'd need all the help I could get).

 

Next load up the DG–808S and slew it to the end of the runway at your favorite airport, I set the flight up for mid day around the middle of June in North Idaho with the "fair weather" theme.

 

Use CTRL+SHIFT+Y to call a towplane, the Maule will appear in front of you with the tow rope connected. Try to stay behind the tow plane and don't do anything too crazy or you'll break the tow rope. Let him tow you up a couple thousand feet, then release the rope with SHIFT+Y or use the yellow knob on the panel. Look around for the thermals, they look like a green ribbon corkscrew affair. Fly into one and you'll hear the variometer start chirping rapidly when you're in rising air. Circle around in the lift until you gain enough altitude to fly on to the next thermal. Have fun :) .

 

http://www.cat-tamer.com/flightsim/atchmnts/thermal01.jpg

 

http://www.cat-tamer.com/flightsim/atchmnts/thermal02.jpg

 

Jim

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FSX HANG GLIDING

This is the freeware A.I.R. Atos, it flies fine, you dangle and tuck up his legs with the 'G' key-

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/FSX-hanglid1.gif

 

 

Go boy go!

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/FSX-hanglid2.gif

 

He's one kewl dood!

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/FSX-hanglid3.gif

 

Scuffs his trainers (sneakers) a bit on landing and kicks up some dramatic dust..

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/FSX-hanglid4.gif

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I use FSPassengers X and lots of Payware and Freeware aircraft. I have my own Virtual Airline (Turboprop Regional) and as the name says its all turboprop and its regional (Mainland US South East). Using this combination with REX, GEX, UTX, and FS Global Ultimate I get different weather patters every time I fly, plus the graphics are stunning, and I fly to over 40 different airports from municipals to internationals.
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