ScatterbrainKid

INDEX update of this thread showing members main posts. (Note the page numbers are with the Default forum setting which gives 10 posts per page) p1- Swampy puddles (also pp33/34) p2- Photoreal cross-country. Interesting Airfields and Flights. Bell X-1. p3- Glider assault. p4- Thermals (also p5). Map printout and bad weather flying. p5- Earhart's last flight. Livery art. Hang glider. Thermals (also p4 and 8). p6- Glider tow. Carrier (also on p7,18 and 35). Multiplayer. p7- Carrier (also p6, 18 and 35). p8- Dole air race. p14- Terrain mods. p15- Aspen approach in snow. p16- Default NY. p17- Boeing 737. p18- Helipads. Iris Texan with FTX and XOPI. Carrier (also p6,7 and 35). p19- Turbo Duke avionics. p20- Intercepting AI aircraft (also p22). p22- Following roads. p25- Photothread link. Flight 19 final flight route. p26- Leadville high-altitude takeoffs. p27- Parachute jumper. Jurassic flight. p28- Archaeology. Yosemite. p29- Landing into Eagle, Colorado. p30- Trike ultralight. p31/32- Chopper roofpad landing. Hiller H-23 heli writeup. p33- Overheated engine blows.(also p42) Sextant navigation. Swampy puddles (also pp1/34). p34- Swampy puddles (also p1/p33). Kingsford Smith trans-Pacific flight. STOL operations. p35- Eyepoints and seat raise. Carrier (also p6,7 and 18). Dials HUD-style. DME flying. p37- Zoom and viewpoint examples p38- juggling Fuel and Payload weights to affect handling p42- Hot stuff: engine fire (also p33) p46- Pacific atoll navigation

Here's a screenshot I took 2 minutes ago, I'm seeing 29 pages! I think if people are seeing another number it must mean they've got their forum display settings set up differently, I'm not sure, I'll ask a moderator about it. Anyway we could alternatively reference posts by noting their number in the top right corner of the blue band, for example this post of mine should be #290. Is everybody else seeing '#290' too, or are they seeing a different number? We'd better make sure we're all singing the same hymn number before I start writing an Index for this thread..:) EDIT- ok Stringbean just explained that the "Number of posts to display per page" setting affects what we see. I use the default 10 posts per page and I assume that's what most other people are using, so i'll stick with that..:) http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/ExIS/FSX-page_zpswm1kyqea.jpg~original

It never died, it simply kept getting pushed further down the forum as new posts came in, and people missed seeing it. However with a stroke of genius, mod Dominic has just stickied it so it'll remain at the top of the forum forever..:) It's currently run to 29 pages so i'll write an index and post it here soon, but meanwhile for our interest there's a list of notable airfields and flights on page 2 called- 'Interesting FSX Airfields and Flights'

Challenging landing?- Odd-looking airfield in North Carolina seems to be running through a golf course- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/Nth-Carolina.jpg

Hey newcomers, remember you can have fun landing wherever you want, you don't need no steenkin runways..:) For example this is my Cub taking off from a road in FSX default Yosemite- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-yosemite2_zps4387a24c.jpg~original http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-yosemite4_zpsb35debb0.jpg~original

And if we've got Photoreal scenery we can do a spot of "aerial archaeology" such as here 8 miles east of Swindon (England). 1- Dragon Hill where St. George slew the dragon, note how its blood burnt the grass off the top and where it trickled down the sides. 2- Uffington Horse carved into the chalk around 1000 years BC. 3- Uffington Castle from the same period; the word "castle" in this sense means a hilltop encampment of houses surrounded by a defensive ditch/earthwork and wooden wall, of which only the ditch/earthwork remains- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-Sthn-engl2_zpstfaajxhc.jpg~original

I can't remember where I found it, all I know is it's freeware and might have been FS2004, but it works in FSX

Fascinating, I just succeeded too with full default fuel and passengers into a 16 kts headwind and FULL flap, with pure manual control all the way (no autopilot)..:)

I'm playing about with the freeware FSX Parachute Jumper, go here and scroll down to download him, he's file specops2- https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/fslib.php?searchid=40762500&page=2 http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-Para_zpsb9ff5ozy.jpg~original He doesn't actually jump out of a plane, you select him on the Aircraft Selection Screen, then hit 'Y' to enter slew mode, then hit F4 to send him into the air, then hit 'Y' to exit slew. He'll be dropping like a stone in freefall so hit the flaps key to pop his chute and steer him around with the joystick and rudder. You can hit key 'I' to activate his red smoke canister, and 'L' to start a strobe on his belt flashing. Tip- pull back the stick to flare him just before landing or the 'crash' message might come up. Below- screenshot I took of my boy in action over Watervliet field, Michigan- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-parachute-jumper_zpswp2umbwl.jpg~original

Yes you can let your GPS tell you where to go next..:) Alternatively I use a printed paper map like this and pencil in a number 1-10 against 10 airfields and then roll a 10-sided dice to let it tell me which airfield to go for next. I don't access the inflight map because that'd be too easy as it always shows you exactly where your plane icon is. Also, before each takeoff I roll a dice three times to let it set wind speed, wind direction and visibility so that each flight session is refreshingly different because it's decided purely on dice rolls.. "I have set my life upon a cast, and will stand the hazard of the die!" -Shakespeare's Richard III before Battle of Bosworth http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/FSXmap7.gif http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/FSX-flam2b.gif "Will we be landing at Vegas soon Captain?" "Er..I'll let you know sir" http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/FSX-flam7b.gif

Wait guys i've lost track! I asked if anybody can takeoff a default 747 with default full fuel and default full passenger load from KLXV Leadville Colorado because I haven't been able to do it (sniffle). Are you saying you can or can't do it?

I'm just a fun simmer and don't know nuffin bout fuel and temp and air pressure and stuff, I just jump in the cockpit, slam open the throttle and shout "wheeeeeee!"

This is KLXV Leadville, Colorado, the highest airfield in North America at 9,927 feet I managed to get a default FSX 737 out of there (below) but it needed careful handling to coax it into the thin air with a 15-knot headwind. But try as I might, I couldn't manage to take off with a default Boeing 747, it ran off the end of the runway with its nose high and its tail almost scraping the runway and the dreaded 'Crash!' message came up! I tried different flap settings with no joy, the 747 refused to unstick, maybe I should increase the wind speed to gale force to give the wings something to bite into, but that'd be a bit like cheating. If anybody has better luck getting a 747 out, let us know how you did it..:) http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-737-Leadville_Col_zpsj96575qc.jpg~original

I once tried flipping between FSX and X-Plane but hadn't got the brainpower capacity to have to memorise whole different sets of keys and buttons and stuff for each sim..:)

FLIGHT 19 Here's a challenge, follow the Flight's intended route over the Bermuda Triangle, taking off from Ft. Lauderdale (1), and flying through points 2 and 3 and back to Lauderdale. My take on the incident is that when they approached some of the Bahama islands, leader Taylor thought he was over the Florida Keys because they looked exactly like them, so he assumed his compass had got thrown off by the earlier practice bomb runs at Hens and Chickens Shoals (B) and became hopelessly disoriented. (PS- I don't know if the Shoals are in FSX, I haven't found them yet) 5 December 1945, Fort Lauderdale, Florida at about 2:10pm Eastern Standard Time. "A warm day with billowing clouds soaring overhead in the current of a gusting southwest trade wind. The temperature was 67 degrees. The general weather conditions were considered average for training flights of this nature, except within showers." http://www.nasflmuseum.com/flight-19.html#sthash.22n3Z02x.dpuf http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-flight-19a_zpstdvvry0n.jpg~original https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_19 Some other Avengers http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/TBF__Avengers-fwp_zpsr6kmsuca.jpg~original

It's worth remembering that FSX addon planes cover everything from the Wright brothers onwards, and for modellers out there the pics in these threads at the Mission4Today forum will come in handy as they mostly display fullscreen in high definition and blow our socks off- WW1 AIRCRAFT http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=ForumsPro&file=viewtopic&t=16323 For example Albatros DIII http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/Albatros_DIII_dog_zpsm1erbopa.jpg~original VINTAGE 1920's/30's AIRCRAFT http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=ForumsPro&file=viewtopic&t=16352 For example Ford Trimotor at East Boston 1929 http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/Ford_Trimotor_East_Boston_1929_zpshrds6jhm.jpg~original WW2 AIRCRAFT http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=ForumsPro&file=viewforum&f=92 For example P-40E at the Curtiss plant, Cheektowaga, NY, Aug 1941 http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/CMSF/P-40E_Curtiss_plant_Cheektowaga_NY_Aug_1941_zpshcfmpps0.jpg~original

I waltzed into my local computer shop last year and said "Build me a super-duper PC capable of handling all the high-end flight sims and strategy games out there", and they built this one for 1100 GB pounds (1600 US dollars)- Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit Intel® Core™ i5-4670 CPU @ 3.40Ghz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz Mem: 16Gb RAM NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 And yes it plays FSX and everything else as smooth as silk, so the moral is don't be shy, just splash out on a good computer and it'll be like a Godfather to you, right Don Corleone? "Right, I can make all your troubles go away" http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub1/family.jpg

CROP CIRCLES AND ALIEN SHIPS IN FSX https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?290359-cropcircle-pics

TALLY-HO CHAPS! You can intercept AI planes for fun, you'll spot their red data in the sky cycling their type, height and distance, so if you fly towards the data the plane will show up visually when you're near enough like this. I'm flying a stock FSX Mustang but any plane will do if it's got the speed to intercept- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-must-intcpt1_zpsesrdxave.jpg~original This airliner is easy meat because it's slowed for landing, so I drop my gear and flaps to avoid overshooting- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-must-intcpt2_zpsnqf9pjki.jpg~original and formate on it to give the passengers a thrill.. http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-must-intcpt3_zpsbb78vtpb.jpg~original ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX update of this thread showing members main posts. (Note the page numbers are with the Default forum setting which gives 10 posts per page) p1- Swampy puddles (also pp33/34) p2- Photoreal cross-country. Interesting Airfields and Flights. Bell X-1. p3- Glider assault. p4- Thermals (also p5). Map printout and bad weather flying. p5- Earhart's last flight. Livery art. Hang glider. Thermals (also p4). p6- Glider tow. Carrier (also on p7,18 and 35). Multiplayer. p7- Carrier (also p6, 18 and 35). p8- Dole air race. p14- Terrain mods. p15- Aspen approach in snow. p16- Default NY. p17- Boeing 737. p18- Helipads. Iris Texan with FTX and XOPI. Carrier (also p6,7 and 35). p19- Turbo Duke avionics. p20- Intercepting AI aircraft (also p22). p22- Following roads. p25- Photothread link. Flight 19 final flight route. p26- Leadville high-altitude takeoffs. p27- Parachute jumper. Jurassic flight. p28- Archaeology. Yosemite. p29- Landing into Eagle, Colorado. p30- Trike ultralight. p31/32- Chopper roofpad landing. Hiller H-23 heli writeup. p33- Overheated engine blows.(also p42) Sextant navigation. Swampy puddles (also pp1/34). p34- Swampy puddles (also p1/p33). Kingsford Smith trans-Pacific flight. STOL operations. p35- Eyepoints and seat raise. Carrier (also p6,7 and 18). Dials HUD-style. DME flying. p37- Zoom and Viewpoint examples p38- juggling Fuel and Payload weights to affect handling p42- Hot stuff: engine fire (also p33) p46- Pacific atoll navigation

PLAYING ABOUT WITH THE VISIBILITY SLIDER Go to World> Weather> Customize> Advanced> Visibility, and set a band of zero visibility with the lower edge at about 1000ft higher than the general terrain (the top edge is offscreen at 100,000ft) http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-visibA_zps3d93f53a.jpg~original Take off (this is a freeware Savoia-Marchetti SM.74)- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-visibD_zpsf5618139.jpg~original And enter the cloudbase (strictly speaking its the 'visibility base'). http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-visibF_zps597ae3a0.jpg~original Stooge around for a bit, then begin (gulp) descending out of the murk.. http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-visibB_zps7c8f5cac.jpg~original And hope that when you pop out of it you'll be over or near the airport you were aiming for. The fun comes from doing your navigation purely by compass and dead reckoning, and hoping that when you pop out you won't be staring at a mountain or whatever, doing that has killed hundreds of pilots over the years- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-visibC_zps9ee0d809.jpg~original

Jets CAN land on the static FSX Default Golden Gate carrier! It took me a good number of attempts but I eventually managed it, although a good deal of luck is needed. The winning formula seems to be- Set a strong headwind blowing down the angled deck from 70 degrees. Come in as slow as possible with hook and airbrake out, and flaps fully down. Apply brakes before touchdown and hold them on til the plane stops. Newcomer note- this Golden Gate carrier is simply a basic platform for having fun with, it doesn't move and it's arrester wires are non-functional, and it has no catapult. I dropped the hook purely for eye candy. For a proper carrier use one of the default FSX moving carriers with working wires and catapult (see earlier posts about them in this sensational thread) or download a working carrier. Here my default FSX F/A-18 stops with plenty of deck to spare on the Golden Gate boat- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-carr-Ggate-land_zps9cbd03d5.jpg~original http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-carrier-Ggate_zpsfac3edd1.jpg~original The carrier doesn't show on the map but your plane does, here's mine (below) sitting on the deck. You can find the carrier by dragging your plane to its approx position then finding it by eyeball, or you can type in the lat/long coordinates as shown (but remember to also type in a couple of thousand feet height for insurance). The 'airspeed' readout is wind speed because the plane's not moving- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-carr-Ggate-coords_zps88c9c964.jpg~original

HELIPADS AT AIRPORTS There are dozens all over the world, the full lists are here- USA- http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2758894/FSX_Helipads_part_1_USA.html Rest of world- http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2758896/FSX_Helipads_part_2_The_Rest_o.html Some pads are just a simple 'H' like these three at 7V6 (Camp Guernsey, Wyoming) http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-helipad1_zpsd18d40d6.jpg~original HELIPADS on OIL PLATFORMS There are about 30, some have NDB or DME - http://www.simtours.net/oilplatform.php This one is said to have the best graphics, it's in the North Sea at- LAT n52 12.02 LONG e3 29.21 http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-helipad-oil1_zps234069c8.jpg~original http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-helipad-oil2_zps00b303bc.jpg~original

ROOFTOP HELIPADS This one is on a Tokyo hotel, open the map and type in its Lat/Long coordinates- n35 39.49 e139 45.52 I tried to land this stock EH101 on it but failed miserably after multiple attempts, usually by crashing into the edge of the pad or dumping lift too quickly to pancake on it, or running off the far edge- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-helipad-tokyo_zpsb0d383b3.jpg~original http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-helipad-tokyo2_zps2dc40f30.jpg~original So I gave up on the EH101, went off to pout and sulk for a bit, then came back and tried this stock Jetranger instead, it's much easier to handle and it only took me a dozen attempts to land successfully- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-helipad-Tokyo3_zpsd9ba1619.jpg~original Below- this other pad is on the Metlife building in Manhattan, I haven't tried it yet but it looks easier than the Tokyo one, these are youtube shots of somebody landing on it- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-helipad-NYC1_zps4bb22f75.jpg~original http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-helipad-NYC2_zps957256ba.jpg~original

And apart from the B-25, there are plenty more freeware and payware WW2 and WW1 planes for FSX..:) Many FS9 planes will work in FSX, so it's just a matter of trying them, and if they don't work, just delete them and try another. Some have slight graphics glitches but there are often fixes. And some are very short on cockpit detail and dials. I fly in external view most of the time, so internal detail is not a high priority for me. Here are some more of my freeware downloads- Handley Page Halifax- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-hallybag_zps0f0660aa.jpg~original Curtiss Helldiver- Note the default FSX carrier anchored off the Golden Gate which you can do carrier takeoffs and landings on, check out the carrier operations posts earlier in this sensational thread- http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-helldiver_zps8efd72a7.jpg~original Friedrichshafen R-plane http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-R-plane_zpsade9c502.jpg~original (Note they don't drop bombs or fire their guns, so if you're seriously into warplanes a combat flight simulator like IL-2 Sturmovik is your best bet)