Real Flight Simulator

i have been fortunate to fly the real Fight Simulators run by a private company at night when they were not in use by commercial Airline Pilots, years ago I used to play flight sims on my computer and have decided to try out this flight sims, I can say without doubt it is easier to fly the real simulators than this game, but there again I am a newcomer to the game so in fairness I may have prejudged the game, can any member tell me a affordable joystick that I can use, I have a GXT 555 but find it impossible to get it calibrated to a decent level,

 

thanks for your reply in advance, you can PM me if preferred.

 

susan

Welcome Susan to the craziness of flightsims. Which Sim are you using? I can heartily recommend the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick. I use it and it works great. Please do not post your email address in the open forum. There are Spambots lurking everywhere. I'm sure a moderator will remove it.

real Fight Simulators ??????

FS9, FSX and P3D are real flight simulators, too. Of course they don't have all the features that the full motion sims (or even the airline non-motion procedures trainers) have, but they also don't cost several million dollars or take up more room than a house.

 

So yes, they don't do motion and don't (unless you go to a lot of trouble with add-ons) have much of a physical presence beyond the computer screen and whatever joystick/throttle/pedals/etc. you choose to use. But more importantly, most anyone can have one of these.

 

Sorry -- you pushed one of my buttons.

 

Now, about affordable joysticks -- many folks have been happy with one of the CH or Saitek units, and some folks really like the Thrustmasters. If you search for these company names you'll find a number of sticks, yokes, throttles and pedals available, any of which might serve you well, depending on your tastes. Personally I have the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog for my stick and throttle, but they're a tad more expensive than most choices available. My pedals are CH Pro, though I'd like to have something that fits my feet better (more like rudder pedals in a real aircraft) that would also allow me to use the toe brakes (my feet and ankles don't bend this way), perhaps PFC Pedals, though I've never actually had a chance to try them.

 

So you'll likely get several different opinions here, but the choice finally comes down to your preference and your budget.

 

Here are some links for you:

CH Products

Saitek web site

Thrustmaster

PFC (Precision Flight Controls)

 

The above links take you to the home pages for each of those companies. You can search also for individual products, as there are many stores (including the online one associated with this site: fspilotshop) that carry one or more of the products available. There are also specialized things, such as helicopter sticks/collective, etc. as well as gauge, radio and instrument packages of various kinds.

 

Good luck.

thanks for the info Mr Zippy I wont put my e-mail address in again

Susan,

 

I owe you an apology for the tone of the first part of my post above. I guess I was in the wrong frame of mind to be posting, but at most I should have commented only on the terminology, and certainly not the way I said it.

 

My apologies, and welcome to the forum.

Hi Susan, & welcome to this crazy hobby of ours.

So, depending on budget, you can use a joystick or a yoke & pedals.

Flying a Cessna with a yoke & pedals seems more 'real' than with a joystick.

 

Something to consider is realism vs immersion.

 

We have 2 simulators at our virtual club, an Avro Shackleton, a recon aircraft that flew from our base, and an 'Impala' twin seater, actually an AeroMacci MB326 that our Air Force used as a trainer.

 

Both these use a pretty much standard PC with FS2004, believe it or not, & we have gone the immersion route. When actual pilots fly the sims & come in to land, they actually 'bump' themselves in the seat, anticipating touchdown.

 

Anyhow, quoting from a departed simmer scenery designer, the late Garry Smith,

' Simming is all about Fact, Fiction & Fun'

 

Kind Regards,

Robin

Cape Town, South Africa

FS9, FSX and P3D are real flight simulators, too. Of course they don't have all the features that the full motion sims (or even the airline non-motion procedures trainers) have, but they also don't cost several million dollars or take up more room than a house.

 

So yes, they don't do motion and don't (unless you go to a lot of trouble with add-ons) have much of a physical presence beyond the computer screen and whatever joystick/throttle/pedals/etc. you choose to use. But more importantly, most anyone can have one of these.

 

Sorry -- you pushed one of my buttons.

 

Now, about affordable joysticks -- many folks have been happy with one of the CH or Saitek units, and some folks really like the Thrustmasters. If you search for these company names you'll find a number of sticks, yokes, throttles and pedals available, any of which might serve you well, depending on your tastes. Personally I have the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog for my stick and throttle, but they're a tad more expensive than most choices available. My pedals are CH Pro, though I'd like to have something that fits my feet better (more like rudder pedals in a real aircraft) that would also allow me to use the toe brakes (my feet and ankles don't bend this way), perhaps PFC Pedals, though I've never actually had a chance to try them.

 

So you'll likely get several different opinions here, but the choice finally comes down to your preference and your budget.

 

Here are some links for you:

CH Products

Saitek web site

Thrustmaster

PFC (Precision Flight Controls)

 

The above links take you to the home pages for each of those companies. You can search also for individual products, as there are many stores (including the online one associated with this site: fspilotshop) that carry one or more of the products available. There are also specialized things, such as helicopter sticks/collective, etc. as well as gauge, radio and instrument packages of various kinds.

 

Good luck.

 

thanks for your reply I will check out the joystick you mention, I have at this moment a GXT 555 and it is a swine to calibrate to a acceptable level, so I am seeking a better one, thanks for your help

 

smm

its ok thanks for the reply, when I was posting I was really referring to the flight sims I used to play online in the 80ts, and flying the real sims at Gatwick Airport, of course there was a huge difference way back then in the old days lol, the new Flight Sims programme is very much up to date as the real Aircraft,

 

smm

sounds good wobble, I live by a RAF flying base and see all sort of jet fighters, and training aircraft passing close by, Unfortunately the Red Arrows Flying team had on of there Hawks Crash the other day killing the Flight Engineer the Pilot ejected a fraction earlier and survived, lost a few men the Red Arrows over the years for one reason or another,

 

 

they are not based here they had flown over to use the hawk simulator to train for this years flying shows, a ongoing investigation is under way

 

smm

In my Fs2004 'library', from many years ago, I have a Red Arrows formation flight, with 4 planes in formation. So, you actually fly 4 planes at once.

 

For FS2004, see http://simviation.com/fs2004military4.htm