Michael, how did you get involved in flight simulation?

Hmm... This takes me back to 2005 when my brother received a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 ACoF. Since I was only 6 years old at the time, we installed it onto our old computer in my father's office and played on it for hours. I myself would always take the Mooney Bravo and fly in-between Heathrow, London City, Northolt and Biggin Hill, as these airports are all within close proximity to each other (London area). My father's computer at the time was an AMD Athlon XP 2600+ running at 1.2 GHz, coupled with some unknown motherboard, an ancient form of Nvidia graphics, 1GB of DDR RAM and a 220 GB hard drive!

I also remember my first add-on aircraft, a freeware A320 British Airways, with one of those Ethnic Livery tails off of Simviation. At the time I really liked it, but now looking back, I think it's just plain ridiculous!

The first time I really became serious about flight simming however, was back in 2014. I was looking for our old FSX Gold Edition disks which had gone missing (again) and because I couldn't find them, ended up taking the plunge and purchased FSX Steam Edition. Funnily enough, the FSX disks were found the next day...typical! From then on I've been learning about the different aircraft, installing as many modification packs as I could physically fit on my drive (at present FSX takes up a whopping 165 GB), breaking down and modifying the config files, learning about the simulator itself, you name it, I've done it! It's with this period I'm currently in, which I'm enjoying the most! The reason being, there are so many high-quality add-ons released, from a range of developers, that I'm simply stuffing my simulator with software, so as to get the most out of it.

What is your best flight simulation memory?

I've had quite a few memorable experiences (across multiple simulators), but let me share two standout memories with you...

Both of these highlights come from Flight Simulator 2004. The first would be my circuit flying in London, where I was hopping between Heathrow, London City, Northolt AB and Biggin Hill for about two hours in the default Mooney Bravo. I was 8 years old at the time so what in reality was maybe an hour and a half, felt like days, to which I was most proud of. I flew to each airport, maybe four or five times and completed a full taxi, shutdown and [Ctrl] + [E] start-ups, which as a kid blew my mind!

The second memorable experience comes from the first time I completed a 'full' commercial flight. This was from Stansted to Rzeszow, in Poland. I remember being at my nan's house playing on my laptop at 11 pm as a 12-year-old when I decided to fly this route. This was using a modded Project Open Sky Boeing 737-800 in a Ryanair livery. At the time, I didn't know that much about what was going on as I was used to flying GA aircraft, and therefore did the whole three hour ordeal without using the autopilot.

I also had no idea about trim, and as I was flying with an Xbox 360 controller, was constantly adjusting the left stick for the entire trip (up and down). It's safe to say that the cramp I experienced at the end of it was one to remember, but I was proud at the time to have completed the flight, and since then I've never looked back!

Last year I also started a YouTube Channel, which emphases more on the simulator genre of gaming. I like to talk when I game, something I've always done. The channel lets me open up to the community in my own style which has generally been well received.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFESEwS4dHmBPNJYhrTdu_Q

Michael, what are your favorite freeware/payware add-ons and why?

The Precision Manuals Development Group Boeing 737 NGX!

One of my most recent buys, it is probably already my number one favourite aircraft to fly! My favourite aircraft series is the Boeing 737 as for a commercial aircraft, it's a little more hands-on and gives the pilot more control over the aircraft and how it flies; as opposed to an Airbus where computers do 99% of the work! The NGX is a realistic representation of the aircraft to which PMDG claims is within 95% of the real thing! High fidelity, high functionality, it's been a joy to fly with since picking it up.

Tenkuu Development Studios are also very good when it comes to their freeware Boeing aircraft, as I have been using them with a modified 737 virtual cockpit for a few years now; right up until I was able to afford the PMDG. The flight dynamics are strong, the modelling is better than most aircraft you get out there (payware/freeware) and the community that surrounds it is also strong, spanning multiple Facebook Groups online!

Carenado is also a favourite developer of mine too, with two aircraft of theirs topping my list! My all-time favourite real life general aviation aircraft is the Mooney M20 series, so Carenado releasing one for FSX was always going to be a fast buy from me!

Their Dornier Do228 is also a favourite, as this utility aircraft is often seen in some of the world's toughest conditions.

Do you have a particular route you like to fly, if so could you tell the readers about it?

Yes, London Stansted/Luton to Rzeszow Jasionka! I fly this route every year when on my holidays in Poland, so I like to re-enact it within the simulator. With UK2000 providing the airports in the UK and Drzewiecki Design's Polish Airports Volume 1, it allows me to have high-quality airports on both sides of the trip, plus VFR Scenery surrounding each airport, giving me a realistic approach over what represents the real world below! As Ryanair is the sole operator of this route, it also gives me a chance to fly the PMDG 737 across Europe, whilst looking down at the different cities as they pass by. I recently decided to try out VATSIM and fell in love with it from the first flight. The learning curve was a little steep, but once you've completed a couple of successful flights, your confidence increases greatly!

I also have a fondness for Lanai City in Lanai, Hawaii. I don't know why, but it's an airport I thoroughly enjoy flying in and out of.

Flying lighter aircraft such as the Carenado Mooney M20J, Just Flight Socata TB-10 and TB-20 or even the Sim720 Ikarus C42, island hopping can be fun to perform when I feel like just doing short flights to pass the time.

Michael, are there any FSX performance tips you would like to share with the other members?

Yes, I'll give you two! The first one goes into the FSX.CFG file, which is usually found in these locations:

FSX SP2 and FSX Acceleration (Windows 7, 8 and 10):

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX

FSX SE:

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX

Under the [BUFFERPOOLS] tag, insert the line: 'Poolsize=0'.

This will tell FSX to reserve zero video memory, therefore smoothing out the entire gameplay. It may cause some minor scenery glitches depending on your system (and in certain locations), but this is generally not too major.

Another line you can add to the FSX.CFG file is: 'AffinityMask=X' under the [JOBSCHEDULER] tag. The value will always change depending on your system, so it's recommended you use the Affinity Mask Calculator to find this value.

Basically it will tell FSX to attempt to run the simulator across multiple cores and threads, something the simulator by default will not do.

The other performance tip I'd like to share is about increasing your virtual memory! If you go to 'Performance Options' in Windows 10, then to the 'Advanced' tab and look for the box that gives you the Virtual Memory options, select [Change] and then input (in my case) 20,000 MB. This number should be in both the initial and maximum size options.

Having an increased amount of virtual memory will help speed up background processes (more space to store instructions). This will give FSX more time to do what it needs in the processor - which in most cases is too much!

How do you think we can encourage others to join the hobby?

Just be open and help out the new players! Every person has their own style of flying, and there are so many simulators out there now, that it's possible to match any user's preference! Help them pick the simulator they want and run through the basics - If this new generation of players can enjoy themselves, then who knows what the future will bring!

One thing I have done myself (as mentioned earlier) is to start up a YouTube Channel! Flight simulators feature quite a bit on my channel with a fair amount of viewers coming for either my weekly livestreams or FSX FSPassengers flights! With it, I've been able to communicate with a small group of people who are also interested in flight simulation and a few others who are also thinking about getting into it themselves! I've also created a few tutorials online about different add-ons and tweaks that can be used by the flight simulator, and these are generally well received by the viewers. This includes my recent Flight Sim World "hacks" per se, where I was able to port over an FSX Boeing 737-800 into the simulator. Product reviews are another thing I've also started doing at FlightSim.Com. This allows me to analyse different add-ons that are released onto the market - a great way of helping others find an aircraft that suits their particular style of flying.

I like to communicate with people, so YouTube was my way of getting my views across to the community. While YouTube may not be your thing, look for something that is! Steam groups and Discord servers are plentiful, and even the forums on this site are full of helpful people that will try to give you the best in what the simulator has to offer. Virtual Airlines are another thing people do, where you can fly real schedules and flights within the simulator behind a set system such as smartCARS and FSPassengers. Don't be too scared to ask anything, the community is always happy to help.

Michael, when you're not busy flying in the simulated world, what else do you like to do for fun?

When I'm not flying within FSX or recording for my YouTube channel, I'm quite happy to head into Steam and play whatever game I've got on there. I've got a couple of mates who I'll play War Thunder, ArmA III and whatever else is on my system in which to pass the time. I really like my simulators and games of a 'realistic' nature! OMSI Bus Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator II, anything from the ArmA series, you name it!

In the real world, I also like photography. I don't live too far away from London Heathrow, so I will sometimes go out and take photos of aircraft landing and whatever else we've got in the local area! I do also enjoy a bit of Airsoft too! That's another thing I do with some mates from time to time. If you don't know what Airsoft is, it's basically a real-life 'military sim' where a group of individuals will shoot each other with plastic pellets in a forest for fun!

Other than that, I am probably the most boring person you'll ever meet...

How could FlightSim.Com make this hobby better for you?

FlightSim.Com has always been one of my go-to locations for flight simulator add-ons and news and I do hope to see it grow even more in the future! While the site (in my opinion) doesn't seem to be attracting the mass members of the past (which is a shame), the community itself has been going strong for over 20 years with a good and friendly user-base to chat with in the forums.

As long as FlightSim.Com can keep itself relevant with all the latest flight simulator news and downloads, then you guys are definitely on the right path! If I were to make a particular request however, how about a 'download of the day' on the front page? Something where each day a random file from the freeware section is put into the spotlight for people to download. Other sites do it, and it's about time FlightSim.Com did the same!

Michael, what are your hopes for the future?

Hopefully, with the release of the latest round of simulators, we can begin to see a major improvement in terms of realism. If the user-base within the flight simulator genre increases, developers will be more inclined to provide a new and wider selection of aircraft and sceneries for users to enjoy. FSX Steam Edition alone has 6000+ players daily. X-Plane 11 on Steam has 1000+ players daily.

This doesn't take into account those that use disk and other digital download versions of the game, meaning a large user-base is definitely there! Within FSX, there are numerous sub genres, and these have become increasingly popular with users. For example, AirForceProud95 who recently shot up to fame with his FSX Multiplayer videos, have attracted plenty of new players into the game.

We just need to hone in on these players and keep the community going as strong as ever.