Balzarog

That's a great point, one I think we tend to overlook because it just... it looks so sleek and modern, so high tech... but yea, that really was long time ago! Heck, it wasn't yesterday that they grounded the fleet either.

 

Got to see it twice in one day, landing at CYVR, with huge vapor turbulent behind it's wings, nose down, coming in to land like some giant prehistoric robotic raptor bird... and then later that day, tiny little thing on the runway, eventually the afterburners kicked in, and then picked up some real speed and... climbing and climbing until it was out of earshot... and then out of sight.

 

Vancouver was not a regular destination for the Concorde. Not even entirely sure why it came, think it was a charter for some cruise ship tour? That was in... mby 1998 ? Apparently it did come to Vancouver in September of 1998, and then again in Oct 1999. Also two flights in 1986 for the world Expo86 event.

 

Kinda strange that they developed a working airliner to cruise at over Mach 2, just two decades after breaking the sound barrier for the first time... and today we have nothing like it.

 

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.

Yeah, I'm thinking more of an upgrade. It looks to me I meet the requirements (minimum) already for MSFS, up until my video card foremost. Minimally speaking, I meet those requirements with 12GB of RAM. Not sure if I can expand the RAM to 16 or if it is at its Max. Current graphics card I have is the NVIDIA GeForce GT1030. I'm trying to find a good in-between; a graphics card that will run well but not too pricey.

 

I also have to keep in mind the dimensions of the card too as the space to fit a video card is a tad small, barely was able to fit the GT1030 in from my old PC to the new one. Those dimensions are:

4.72 x 6.68in

 

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.