Overwhelmed

Hello,

I am clearly new to flight sims in general and am just seeking advice. I have trialed both FSX and x-plane 11 and want to choose a direction to head. There is so much information even just on this site that i find myself being overwhelmed with how to start. Here is a list of wishes i want to accomplish to fulfill my flight sim experience.

1. Graphical Realism - I have what i think is a plenty powerful enough system Intel I7 with 16 gigs of ram and a GTX 1060 with 6gigs.

2. Learn to fly - I have very little experience with any sims so i would love to learn the real way to fly.

3. physics realism - sort of inline with the previous two i just want things as real as i can get them.

4. Community - I would love to be able to fly with others in a realistic fashion.

Again i just feel like no matter how much research i do i find myself to feel very overwhelmed and am not sure where to start really.

Any advice on which sim i should move towards and possible a list of starting add ons for the things im looking for? Or perhaps maybe even a mentor to take me under their wing "excuse the expression" so i can learn more about this fantastic world that appears to exist.

Again sorry for posting a cry for help but any info would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

First of all, Welcome aboard!:pilot: Next, what is that expression??? Oh, yeah...."You'll be sooorrryyy!":eek:

OK, kidding aside, from your list of wants and warrants for Graphical realism. An inexpensive Sim I would recommend FSX-SE or if you love to spend money, then P3D. Plenty of freeware scenery for FSX and some for P3D. Lots of payware scenery for both, as well as aircraft.

FSX has a built-in flying school to learn the basic aspects of flapping your wings and doing pilot related stuff. I have heard that some of the GA flying in X-Plane lacks some realism. FSX or FSX-SE has the Multiplayer experience you are looking for.

When you say "powerful Intel I7 CPU", how many GHZ? 4.2 and above would be best. Now you can laugh if you look at my specs in my signature!

I'll have to look when i get home but it's brand new as of October of last year ... it's an Asus Republic of gamers laptop so it should have plenty of horse power.

What is your feelings on the steam version of FSX? Can i do all the same things?

Forget about buying addons until you have more time spent with the sim. To save yourself a lot of disappointment.

Learn to fly first. The basic sim is plenty good for that.

Get to know the computer program in and out while using it.

Then, in about 6 months or so, start with freeware addons.

As in real aviation, if you rush, things go wrong and break.

Now you can laugh if you look at my specs in my signature!

Ok, let me see here...

Ahem...BWAHahaahahahahahaHAHA! ahem

;) :p :rolleyes:

How was that? I can try to make it longer, but I was running outta air.

As they say, we aim to please, and your aim will help.

I read that on a bathroom wall once. :D

I am just having the wackiest day today...

Pat☺

Ok, let me see here...

Ahem...BWAHahaahahahahahaHAHA! ahem

;) :p :rolleyes:

How was that? I can try to make it longer, but I was running outta air.

 

As they say, we aim to please, and your aim will help.

I read that on a bathroom wall once. :D

 

I am just having the wackiest day today...

Pat☺

Not enough sleep and too much coffee this morning, Pat?;)

Keeping in mind that even the best of the sims don't behave exactly like a real aircraft, there are certainly plenty of add-ons for FSX/P3D. In both of these, the developer of the aircraft (this includes the default/included aircraft) has to set the handling characteristics for the individual aircraft, and they're not always done well.

However, for much of the learning process you can get by with even the default aircraft, using the lessons built in to the sim (start with a Cessna or such and save the airliners/big iron for after you've learned to fly the sim). But there are plenty of other resources, too, including a look at the "Real Aviation Tutorials & FAQs" below, much of which was compiled from forum questions over a lot of years, but includes stuff about real aviation, as well as the sims. It includes a broad range of subjects, including some very basic instructions on exercises you can do in the sim to learn about how an airplane flies, including Takeoff and Landing and Basic Aircraft Control.

Also, this page of the FAA web site gives you access to the FAA's handbooks and manuals, including the Airplane Flying Handbook, the Pilot's Handbook Of Aeronautical Knowledge, and the Aeronautical Information Manual, among many, many more items there. Lots of good stuff for free. And it's accurate, unlike some things I see on the web about aviation/flying, even some things on sim sites.

So I suggest you dig in (probably with FSX, to start), get your feet wet, don't try to do much in the way of eye candy initially -- it chews up your frame rates (read smoothness), especially if you don't have a very high end system -- learn how to fly the sim consistently well, and THEN go for eye candy. By that time you'll have experience enough to know what you're getting into.

Oh, yes -- this forum is often a good resource, too, so don't hesitate to ask questions as you learn.

Best of luck.

..........What is your feelings on the steam version of FSX? Can i do all the same things?..............

Yes - the Steam version of FSX (FSX-SE) is essentially a digital (i.e. download) version of the long out of production boxed version of FSX Gold. FSX originally came in 2 editions - Standard and Deluxe. Then an addon pack called Acceleration (which added additional functionality to the original versions) become available as a separate item and also in a bundled version called FSX Gold (this being the deluxe version plus Accel).

Boxed versions of FSX are still available but are often expensive, whereas FSX-SE is cheap and often on sale. The only difference between the Gold and -SE versions is that the -SE version has been slightly updated to include some well known tweaks that you would have to manually add/make in the boxed version.

Many of the addons that work in Gold will work in -SE. It should also be noted that, although -SE is 'based' on the Steam client, there is no need to be permanently connected to Steam or, indeed, the internet to 'fly' the sim. Once you have downloaded, installed and validated the product you can change various Steam settings to allow you to 'fly' offline'.

WRT XP-11 - I don't own it so can't really comment other than it is the more modern of the two products and whilst it currently has considerable less 3rd party addons to choose from it is seeing increasing support among 3rd party developers.

As to your rig specs - they will be fine and should allow decent performance. As pointed out by Charlie you don't need a top end rig to run FSX (although I beleive XP-11 does) and get enjoyment. I actually run FSX on two rigs - one with a i5 2.4GHz CPU, 8Gb RAM and a 2GB ATI Radeon GPU and the other with a i7 3.2GHZ, 16Gb RAM and a 4Gb NVidia GPU.

Hi

Welcome to the world of aviation .

My recommendations are ;

1. Use the FSX Flight Simulator initially to learn , it affords you the greatest of options and add ons .

2. Get a really good aircraft to learn on , I recommend that you avoid the default Cessna 172 it is terrible to fly , I have countless hours on General aviation and Military aircraft and still find it terrible to fly .

Just Flight have a payware Piper Warrior II , I don't have it but it should be a nice handling aircraft to fly , that aircraft is commonly used in the real world to train pilots from the beginning .

You must have an aircraft like the Piper Warrior with slow airspeeds to give you reaction times that allow learning to take place , if it's too fast it makes the whole process much harder .

I cannot stress enough the importance of having a good , nice handling aircraft to fly , make the wrong choice of aircraft and you will be frustrated by having to fight against difficult aircraft with poor or erratic handling qualities .

3. Get yourself one other aircraft to have fun in , possibly a faster more powerful one such as a PC-9 , initially avoid airliners , if you want them delay getting it until you have mastered the basics .

4. Divide your flying into (A) disiplined learning and (B) fun flying .

The learning will take a quite a while , so break it up with fun flying , also you will find that during the fun flying you are , applying your learning exercises , learning as you go , and gaining experience .

Don't allow the learning to kill the joy of flying .

5 . Choose one airport to do your learning at , it should be one that is clearly visible and easy to find when airborne , become totally familiar with the area around that airport , so that you can recognise landmarks to give you a comfortable reference as to your location at all times , it's all too easy to get lost while flying .

6. Don't be concerned about making a hash of your Landings , they will improve with time , Landing is the hardest part of the flying .

7. Learning to fly in the simulator is different to learning in the real world , in the real word you have an instructor up there with you , you don't in the simulator .

The two most important exercises are (A) Flying straight and level , and (B) turns .

The straight and level portion is then expanded as follows ,

** start flying at a constant altitude and heading ,

** then add power and climb to a new altitude about 2,000' higher ,

** then fly level at that altitude ,

** then reduce power and descend to your initial altitude ,

** then level out ,

** REPEAT IT , then keep on repeating it until you are doing it reasonably accurately .

The above might appear to be easy ... WRONG ! ... actually doing it well and accurately takes a lot of practice and effort , you are after tight tolerances in areas such as , altitude , headings , airspeed and VSI , you must strive to get and maintain a given value , you would be surprised at how few bother to achieve that level of mastery.

This is a critical fundamental aspect of flying , get it right and most other aspects will flow on from it , and you will be mastering flight .

You may have noticed this previous exercise contains most aspects of a typical flight ,

the climb is similar to a take off , the level bit is similar to a normal flight cruise , and the descent is similar to the descent during an approach to a landing .

Practise them while airborne , well away from the ground , repeatedly , doing that while airborne without landing removes the pressures and stresses associated with landings .

Once you achieve a comfort level with that exercise you will find it makes landing a little easier .

The above basics underpin the rest of your flying .

8. As you have no instructor with you in the simulator , you alone carry the burden of quality control , so you must always strive to keep on improving your flying ability and accuracy , each time try to be a little better than last time ,

Hopefully that's what we all do regardless of our level of experience .

Never be daunted by your failures , see them as learning experiences , you will be surprised with time it will all come together , you just need to be patient with yourself .

9. Keep on asking questions and seeking help , we all have to do that .

10. Most importantly have fun with your flying .

Cheers

Karol

EDIT

For a detailed review of the Piper Warrior II see following link

http://www.mutleyshangar.com/reviews/ag/bs-pa28/bs-pa28.htm

Note that the review states complete documentation and checklists .