Balzarog

While the Concorde was, without a doubt a tech breakthrough, it really wasn’t very feasible for commercial service. It burned fuel like a forest fire, wasn’t allowed to land anywhere in the U.S. except a couple of airports because of the noise, cold carry only about 70 passengers, etc. I had the honor of touring on-board in 1974 or 1975, don’t remember exactly which year, at Boston airport when I was attending an airframe and powerplant school for the opportunity to take the FAA tests for Airframe and Powerplant mechanic certificates. The most memorable thing was when I extended my arms to the side, and was able to touch both sides of the cabin without moving. This was of course, before the airplane was certified in the U.S. for service, and was on a “demo” tour.

It appears that your first upgrade, if you’re able, is your RAM. Most modern flight sims require at least a minimum of 16Gb, with a recommendation of 32Gb. I’m currently running a GTX1080Ti and 32Gb RAM. I lock my FPS at 30 FPS, and MSFS and X-Plane 11 both run reasonably well. Since you already own both, it really isn’t a question of which you should get, but how you can upgrade your system to run them. Then, after you get used to running both, you can decide which you like better. You can download the X-Plane manual, which tells you more than you probably need to know, from the X-Plane website. MSFS2020 doesn’t have any user manual unless you want to pay for one from a third-party.

I have held an FAA Airman Certificate with Airframe and Powerplant certifications for 40 years. The C-172 has magnetos (left and right), and the fuel is gravity fed except when you have the boost pump turned on. A dead battery with the alternator turned off would affect only the electrical systems, and would not cause an engine failure. That is one of the primary reasons “most” reciprocating engines in aircraft use magnetos, although it isn’t uncommon to use a magneto for one plug and battery for the other plug. This is a safety design.