PhantomTweak

Just think F-4 Phantom II. Put enough thrust... It's (relatively) controlled flight. Usually. Think about the story of Randy "Duke" Cunningham and his RIO trying to egress N. Viet Nam after getting either a very close call or a hit by a SAM. The plane, on fire from the SAM strike, would roll inverted, he would become very religious, he'd get the plane upright again and become a fighter pilot again, the plane would then roll inverted, lather, rinse, repeat. He made it to the Gulf of Tonkin before the fire aboard finally got too close and the RIO ejected them both before he got cooked. In any event, "controlled flight", mostly :D He went on to found the Top Gun, or Fighter Weapons School. Glad he survived! So: you put enough thrust behind a brick, you've got the Phantom :pilot: Pat☺

"We need to run!" said Tom, swiftly. "Very nice sweater." said Tom, pointedly. The list goes on, only limited by one's imagination. They're called Tom Swifties. Robin, in the famous Batman TV show, had a million of them. Enjoy Tom Swift, and his amazing electric flying machine :D Pat☺

I'm afraid the authors made a small mistake, here. Probably never been at hi-power during an afterburner test. It does change the sound of the engine when the AB lights up. You get a whole new deep rumbling sound added to the engine's regular rumbling/whining mil power sound. Really a very "cool" (as in awesomely nifty, not temperature wise!!) effect. At least in the real world, wherever that place might be. One note, though: do NOT stand directly behind the tailpipe! Off to side slightly is MUCH prefered. ;) I think the authors may have been talking about the the sound inside the cockpit, though. Most are pretty well sound isolated from the outside world. Makes comms a lot better. As well, the faster you go, the less sound is able to keep up with the entrances to the cockpit. Only the sound conducted by the plane's structure can make it in, and, as I say, it's pretty well isolated from all that. Anywho, have fun, all! Pat☺

When I was learning gliders, I had to learn how to recognize the initial indications of spin entry, what a spin was actually like to encounter, and how to recover. Training gliders are so stable, it was actually difficult to force a spin, and super easy to recover from. Just center up all controls (ie: "let go" of the controls), and wait a second. Didn't even have to pull out the dive, the glider would nose up by it's self as the speed increased. They were so easy to recover, and used so little altitude, that even a spin at 1,000' AGL was very survivable. It usually wound up at about 800'. If you were anywhere near the airport you were now at pattern altitude, if not, you could usually pick up a nice thermal, gain some altitude, and then head for the airport. Just look for the local avian wildlife, like hawks or vultures, and soar with them. They usually didn't mind too much :cool: Or go back to soaring, if you so desired. Or the IP desired :D He had a big, hard, yardstick he used to correct my behaviour. What he wanted was my command :p After the first spin or two, they weren't even really scary. Just another maneuver. Of course, I was only 14 at the time, so to me, they were just another exciting part of flying ;) Spin training taught me a very important lesson, as well: when the straps are so tight they are leaving bruises, they are almost tight enough. I lived that from then on. You just never know... Have fun, all! Pat☺

N= Rotational speed, usually in RPM, or a percentage of the maximum RPM the turbine may operate at. G= Defines the item that N is measuring. In this case, G is for Gas Generator, or the turbine used to get rotational energy from the air that was mixed with fuel, and then ignited and burned in the burner cans, thus imparting a large amount of energy to the air, which then flows over the gas turbine blades. The energy thus "picked off" is then used to rotate the gears and shafts in the "transmission", and hence the propeller, as well as the compressor blades (or not the compressor, depending on the engine type). As shown in the links provided, some engines have 2 shafts, one used to pick off the high energy rotational power from the very hot air from the burner cans, and a separate turbine used to make the compressor blades torn. Some engines have only one shaft from the high energy turbine, used to power the compressor(s) AND the propeller/rotor system (for helicopters). Both are still the G you are curious about. Thus, NG is the rotational speed, either in RPM, or a percentage of the total RPM the turbine may function safely at, of the gas turbine. Does that clear is up? As clear as a San Francisco fog, anyway :D Pat☺

Sure one has been built, Jorgen! It's called a CRAY. They're used for all kinds of stuff. I do wonder if it could handle any MSFS with the sliders all the way up... :p As mentioned, try resetting the sliders back to default, then change ONE at a time, move it up ONE unit of adjustment at a time, then test under different conditions. Over big, dense cities, like Seattle or LA, over heavy jungle, mountains, etc. See how it looks. If all is OK, either move that one slider one more unit up and test again, or move another slider you want to increase up ONE unit. Test again. Slow process, but makes certain that when you overload your computer's GFX system, and you most certainly will, you'll know which slider is the culprit, rather than just guessing. You also might consider making some of the recommended changes to the FSX.cfg file. Like Kosta's Tweaks, and things like that. Might help you coax more performance from your computer. Well worth taking a look. Again, make only one change at a time, unless several things are recommended for all computers. Like the HIGHMEMFIX=1 change, and things like that. But anything that has number, especially, like RUNWAY_LIGHTS_SURFACE_SCALAR=0.75 or TEXTURE_RESOLUTION=23 , be careful, and make SMALL changes, then test. Remember, every computer is different from all the others. What works really well, and looks great on one PC, may be total bunk on another. Have fun all! Pat☺

What a lot of folks don't realize is that the various formations, and maneuvers, the various flight demonstration teams display are nothing more than the formations and maneuvers the regular pilots and planes of the regular military utilize during their daily operations. Granted, the demo teams might do the various stuff lower, or closer, than most of the military they're attached to, but no military pilot is granted their wings unless they can fly all the formations, and maneuvers, the demo teams fly. It's just more difficult to see the regular military pilots doing it all, as they are generally much higher, and/or in restricted areas away from the general public. Yes, the demo teams impress me, and most, with their fancy flying, but really, they're mostly just lower, and thus more visible. They also practise flying the formations closer, but not a lot, than the regular pilots do. Still impressive to watch :D Thanks for the pictures, Khalid! I loved the Phantom, before, during, and after, the time I worked on them... Pat☺

It may have been added to FSX, after FS9 came out. Thus, the FSX engine can interpret it, but the FS9 can't. There are 2 different XML syntax, one for FSX, one for FS9. The two can't be mixed up. Most of the syntax that is specifically made for FS9 will probable work flawlessly in FSX, but not the other way round. Thus, your (A:TOTAL WEIGHT PITCH MOI,slug feet squared) variable is perfectly valid in FSX, but not FS9. Does this help? Pat☺

Hey! Welcome to the Gall Bladder Gone Club ;) I got mine out a while back, and was up and gone the next morning. In one afternoon, out the next morning. I don't know what your doc is going to do, but they didn't even slice me open. Just used the laparoscopic method. 2 small cuts, heck, I've cut myself worse by accident, in goes the borescope, out comes the gall bladder. I think it took them about 30 min actual slice & dice time, the rest was putting me to sleep and waiting for me to wake up. No pain at all, either, and I had a whole 2 stitches I pulled out a week or so later. The whole point here is, don't sweat it. Yes, you COULD die on the table, but chances are pretty small. Presuming you get a decent anaethesiologist (gas passer :D ), who hasn't been into his own mixtures too much, you'll be pretty safe. Heck, I even died on the table back in '92 during eye surgery. Spent a whole 7 minutes on the other side. Don't remember a thing. Didn't even know until my wife told me about it a few years later :p Never fear, they're pretty good these days, and the less invasive the surgery, the safer you are. Heck, take your laptop to the hospital with you, and we'll see you back on the next morning, while you're waiting for the doc to show up to let you go home :) Good luck to ya! Pat☺

Sounds to me like you either need to put the choke on more, or you might have flooded it. Just check to see if you smell fuel from the exhaust pipe when you're cranking it. If so, it's flooded, if not choke it! Maybe pump the gas pedal a few times while you crank it... :rolleyes: :D :p :D :D Sorry, I just couldn't resist... Seriously, or as seriously as I get, anyway, is you default flight the one the sim comes with, ie: the Trike over Friday Harbour, or is it one you set up, with the engine(s) shut down, perhaps? In other words, what flight shows up when you first load the Freeflight page? If it's not the original default, try making the default flight the trike, like when the sim first loaded on your computer. Easy way to that is to make sure the sim is closed, and open up the FSX.CFG with NotePad or NotePad++. Never use a "word processor" like MS Word, or the like. Look down through the cfg file for a line that reads Situation= , where can be anything. Simply delete everything after the "=" sign, save the file, close it, and start the sim. It will set the correct default flight for you. The reason for the above is that quite often, with a "non-standard" default flight, some of the variables the sim uses are not set correctly when it loads the flight. For example, if the default flight you have set, especially if the engine(s) are shut down, might still have the mixture set to OFF. Mixture, for a JET, you ask?! It shuts off the engine's main fuel valve if it's OFF, preventing a start. If you use the mixture setting to shut down the engine(s) of your default flight's plane, and don't turn it back on, when you use a different plane, it won't start. No promise, but it's a possibility, anyway. Good luck! Pat☺

Bear in mind, the Navy/Marine Corps don't "grease" landings. Even when landing on shore stations, they get the correct AOA set for the current weight, get the descent rate set at about 700 FPM, which makes the AOA correct, and make fine adjustments in power to keep the AC aimed at the touchdown point on the runway. Mostly use the V V on the HUD, and "meatball" on the boat, or beside the runway, to ensure they're aimed correctly. Then they fly the plane down onto the runway. No flare, no floating, touchdown should be right about 700 FPM. A "firm" placement of the mains onto the runway. I can't speak from personal experience, but there's a running "joke" that they're told, from their first landing in flight school, that if they flare a landing, they'll be court martialed. True or not, makes a lot of sense. This keeps them in practise for trapping aboard a boat. Let's face it, that's they're main job, after all. It makes sure, using the AOA, that the hook touches the deck an instant before the mains. Too soon, or too high an AOA, too slow a speed for the weight, and the wire will catch with the plane still in flight, and slam it onto the deck. Very not good!. Too low an AOA (too fast, or flared and floating) and the hook will skip the wires entirely, forcing a go-around, or "bolter". Also not good, as it will get another plane in the pattern for the Air Boss to deal with, disrupting the fine timing of a carrier pattern, possibly cause a need for a mid-air refuel, increase the stress on the pilot a great deal above what it already is just for a trap on a carrier, and so on. The Meatball sets the glide slope to ensure they are aimed to catch the #3 wire, the correct wire for a good carrier trap. Nothing wrong with landing this wonderful little firecracker as you like, but if you plan of practising to trap aboard a carrier, just thought you might like to break a "bad" habit pattern before it can really get firmly entrenched. How's that for a big word of the day?? :D Have fun! Pat☺

That's Chiloquin Airport, 2S7, South-Central Oregon. Right between Klamath Falls, KLMT, and Crater Lake it's self. Really good food, at lest IMO, across Hiway 97 from 2S7. Place called Melita's. Chiloquin the town, 1 main street, no lights, only a very few Stop signs From what the archaeologists say, is the longest continually inhabited village/town in CONUS. 11,000 years. Not bad, eh? And the local Native Americans are actually very nice people in general. They accepted my lovely wife and I seamlessly. Not Tribal Members, since my Grandfather, who was pretty much pure Nez Perce, didn't keep any records of his lineage. Not proud to be a Native American back then, I suppose. He spent most of his working career in Panama, Army Corps of Engineers. My mother, now get all this, was born there. IN the Canal Zone Army Hospital, so American Citizen. Dark hair, and all that. Spoke fluent Spanish, at least when she was mad at me, and English. She was a Pan Am stew, back when they were the airline Glamour Girls, married a UAL Captain. Complicated, huh? Given his lineage, I'm about 1/4 Native American, but no proof on paper, so they can't accept me as a Member. Oh Well. Chiloquin Airport may appear to be wilderness, but it's really not. Just beautiful area is all. I am glad we found this place. I wanted to live someplace like the redwood forest I grew up in, but nowadays a 1/4 acre unimproved patch of dirt in Woodside is over $1.0 MILLION, so that was out. Besides, sadly, most of the trees have been cut down to make room for the Silicon Valley super Rich. Some over 5,000 years old. It really sux. I won't get into the politics in California but I am really glad I can't afford a piece of rock to stand on down there. Chiloquin fits me well... Anywho, have fun, all! And my thanks to Michael for the pics! Pat☺

A quick, easy walk across Highway 97 from Visitor Parking to Melita's Restaurant and Motel. Be careful, though, you might have to wait for 1 or, on a really heavy traffic day, TWO whole vehicles to go by before you cross. There's you're $159.00 Hamburger! Tasty they are, too, and their onion rings are fantastic! Great people, too. Especially once you get to know them. I love this town! Pat☺

Hi, Michael! It was an honor and great pleasure to meet you here. We both enjoyed every minute :D Have fun, wherever you are. That's what matters :) Pat☺ Wendy

And don't forget, there are files stashed in folders about the HD. They don't get deleted when you un-install, nor are they over-written when you do the new install. Files in folders like C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX, which holds your FSX.CFG, DLL.XML, EXE.XML, and a few others. Another is C:\Users\\Documents\Flight Simulator X Files, where the Logbook.bin, and saved .FLT files, is kept. And don't forget C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\FSX, where the Scenery.cfg file is located. If you think it's corrupted, and preventing FSX from running, this is where the file you want is, NOT the one in the FSX root folder. That is a reserve file, used when FSX initially installs. You can re-name the Scenery.cfg file in the Users folder to something else, to make a back-up file of it, then copy the virgin .cfg file to this folder from the FSX root folder. FSX won't start without a valid Scenery.cfg file, located here. FSX won't over-write this Scenery.cfg, or any of the other .cfg files located in these "remote" folders when you do a fresh install, so you'll be right back to where you started. If one of them is the problem, you won't have solved anything. The only one you don't have to re-install manually, so to speak, is the FSX.CFG file. Just rename it, and when you run FSX the first time, it will create a new one. Don't rename it, it won't. FSX will continue using the old one. Something to think about. Pat☺

The AP PID settings are mostly contained in the aircraft.cfg file. Naturally, some custom, 3rd party xml AP's have their own controller settings built in, but the default AP for FSX is, to the best of my knowledge, using the settings in the aircraft.cfg file. Thus, it's just a matter of fine tuning the settings in the [Autopilot] section of the aircraft.cfg for a particular aircraft. Of course, fine tuning the settings of any PID controller can be a bit of an adventure, no question. Yes, I found the one by Heretic the Wiki on Gauge and Panel specifies, and it's super good. Well written, and lots of references. Definately a great article. Really, the concept of the PID controller is pretty simple, but the actual implementation can get somewhat complicated. The actual function of each setting in P I D (which actually names the three controller settings) are very interdependent, and sometimes one or another isn't necessary, so you have to worry about two controller settings. Still complicated to set, but much less so. Anyway, I just thought I'd throw this out there, in case it might be of help for someone. We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread posts :D Pat☺

That sluggishness is a result of the settings of the Autopilot's PID controller. I think the default values of the settings is an attempt by the sim's designers to make an average AP that is applicable to a wide variety of aircraft. Anything from commercial airliners to a C172. IF, and it's not easy to learn, for me at least, you understand PID controllers, you can tweak the settings in the aircraft.cfg file for a particular aircraft's responses to the control surfaces. Then there's R1199 in the .air file. Some of those settings apply, some don't any longer. Some alter the PID controller's responses, some have no effect. Some aren't even applicable to APs. Airfile Manager has the most information I've found on that record so far, but even that's incomplete. You get the best results though, tweaking the settings in the [Autopilot] section of the aircraft.cfg. Just be careful, a small change can have a huge effect down the road. If all this is already known, I apologize for wasting everyone's time. I just wanted to throw it out there... Pat☺

OR, like me, you need to use reading glasses :rolleyes: Have fun! Pat☺

Karol, you make some awesome instruments. I see you over on FSDev forums sometimes. They even have some similar to your's, or maybe they are your's, I don't know, in the TMAP Add TacPack to Any Plane kit. Amazing work. I have the F-111 PIG HUD project v8.1, I think it is. It's GREAT. I love to fly it for relaxation sometimes. Thanks for your hard work! I sure appreciate you publishing it for public consumption, and I'm sure others will too. I'm downloading this as soon as I can find it :D Have fun! Pat☺

And now, the FSRecorder website is not showing up anywhere. I believe there has a link in the FAQ section I linked to. I am sorry. I'm still tying to find that version, but no luck so far... Pat☺

Matbe it's been changed to install the right Simconnect, and Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Runtime, but the link I gave says it doesn't. You need to do it yourself. Did you unzip ALL the files contained in the zip file you downloaded into a temp folder, and then run the Setup.msi? Did you manually add the proper entry into your DLL.XML? May I ask, which OS you're using? It apparently matters to how you run FSRecorder. Read through the File/directory permissions section of the page I linked to you. It may solve your problem. May not too :) Just a couple of thoughts. I don't know if they'll help any or not... Besides, I get so few lately, I have to get them down fast or they die of lonliness. Good luck! Pat☺

Every system is unique. Remember that a tweak which improves SE on one system, may have the opposite effect on another. Or no effect at all. I've tweaked my SE to heck, starting with Kosta's tweaks, but not all of them. Some from here, some from there. Google, and Bing, have been my close friends. Even NVidea Inspector has been tweaked. Having said all that, if Mr. Johnost's FSX:SE works fine without a single tweak installed, then I'll take his word for it. I hope he enjoys it. I sure enjoy mine! Pat☺

Just to be sure, double-check ALL your Simconnect versions. You must have v10.0.61355.0. Make certain you have that specific version loaded. Best way to check, is to open your PC's Control Panel window, and select Programs and Features. Search down through the list for the Simconnect entries. The version numbers are listed a few columns to the right. If you don't have that specific version number, you'll have to google it to find out a decent download site. Only trust a Microsoft site. There are a lot of others, but some are malware, viruses, whatever. Just be careful what you download :) There's a lot of really useful information HERE. I suggest you read through it. Other than that, I haven't a clue what it might be... Pat☺

Just so you know, if you want, and you don't have to, but if you want, you can install Steam, and FSX:SE, where you want. I have mine on my D:\ drive, and it works fine there. Again, though, if you want to, please feel free to install Steam, and FSX:SE where you want. If you want to place things in C:\Program Files(X86), and it works for you there, go for it. I won't, just for my peace of mind, but that's just me on my system. It's your system, and you payed for FSX:SE. Put what you want, where you want. :) I'm not trying to be snarky. I'm serious. What works for you is great. I wish you all the best. I am not a all-knowing PC Guru. Just another user, just like y'all. Enjoy the sim, however you use it. :D Pat☺

The installs to C:\Program Files(X86) may not be a problem for you, and others with older Windows versions, especially with the UAC turned waay down, or off. Windows 10, from all I hear, will have severe personal problems with permitting any sort of editing in the folder in question. Win10 doesn't seem to care where or how you set the UAC permissions. It doesn't permit editing files in those two folders. I'm getting this information from posts here, and on the other sim forums. I personally don't have Win10, and I'll avoid it as long as I can. I also don't install anything into the two "evil folders", ever. By the same token, I always start programs, like FSX, NotePad++, Notepad, AICarriers, you name it, as Administrator. It's just become a habit for me. I don't know if this has anything to do with it or not. When I warned against installing FSX, or FSX:SE, into C:\Program Files (X86) I was simply passing along what I've read here, and other forums. If it's working for you, and has been, and keeps on working, for you, then great. I'm glad to hear it. Really I am. :) I'm still going to warn against installing anything you plan to change, or edit somehow, into the two "bad" folders, though. It seems to be the consensus among the people with experience doing such things, so what the heck. Besides, it can't hurt anything NOT to install "stuff" there, you know? If you have a setup you're happy with, and works well, then more power to ya, by all means, go with it. And, as I usually recommend... Have fun, all! :D Pat☺