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VR in bad weather is amazing


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I know there are differing opinions about VR right now, and I'm probably somewhere in the middle of many of them: flying with my VR headset (Oculus Quest 2) has its annoyances, so depending on my mood and my simming objective for the moment I don't always use it. The 2D monitor has its benefits so I often use that instead.

 

But after crashing all day long during bad weather, trying to land in Grand Rapids, MI in 2D, I decided to try it in VR.

 

Amazing.

 

My perspective probably matters here: I have been a simmer since the original 1982 MSFS, which my dad got for me when I was a kid. But I'm not a real pilot and have never sat in a real cockpit. So the feeling of being inside one in VR, with the absolutely incredible Microsoft graphics regarding icing on the window, the barely-visible ground below, and the thick snow and clouds, was literally my first time even remotely experiencing what this might be like for a pilot. It would be terrifying and daunting, by the way. But a 2D simulation could absolutely not replicate that sensation. I had not felt that way when ever simming before, in supposedly scary weather.

 

Landing the plane when the ground was still barely visible was also easier because I can look all around me by just turning my head, and therefore more realistic. That's why my first VR attempt at this succeeded whereas I had crashed in 2D the four previous tries.

 

Some hard-core simmers/pilots don't think that VR works for them because what you gain in visual amazement and head-turning ease for navigating yourself, you lose because you can't really click away on an airplane dashboard (keyboard) for all of the plane's complex functions. No argument there. Probably true. Some simmers probably love that aspect more than the stunning visuals. Nonetheless, this was amazing.

Intel Core i7 10700KF (8-Core 5.1GHz Turbo Boost), RTX 3070 8GB, 32GB Dual Channel at 3200MHz, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. Monitor: Samsung C49RG9x. VR: Oculus Quest 2.
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after crashing all day long during bad weather, trying to land in Grand Rapids, MI in 2D, I decided to try it in VR.

 

 

Why Grand Rapids? I guess after landing there, it was a relief to take off the headset and realize you were still in Arizona? :D

HP Omen 25L Desktop, Intel i7-1070 CPU, 32 GB DDR RAM, Nvidia 3070 GPU, 1 TB SSD, Logitech flight yoke, throttle quadrant, rudder pedals, multi-panel, radio panel, TrackIR 5
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Why Grand Rapids? I guess after landing there, it was a relief to take off the headset and realize you were still in Arizona? :D

 

Lol

 

My wife is from Michigan and I was actually born in Ontario, Canada. I’m doing short flight hops from my Canadian birth town all the way down to her hometown. I guess it’s cold as hell in central Michigan today.

Intel Core i7 10700KF (8-Core 5.1GHz Turbo Boost), RTX 3070 8GB, 32GB Dual Channel at 3200MHz, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. Monitor: Samsung C49RG9x. VR: Oculus Quest 2.
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Lol

 

My wife is from Michigan and I was actually born in Ontario, Canada. I’m doing short flight hops from my Canadian birth town all the way down to her hometown. I guess it’s cold as hell in central Michigan today.

 

Glad to hear your story! Fantastic with the VR experience. I can tell you as a real world GA pilot you are getting a pretty good visual and perspective sense of the real thing in Microsoft Flight Simulator. What city in Ontario?

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Glad to hear your story! Fantastic with the VR experience. I can tell you as a real world GA pilot you are getting a pretty good visual and perspective sense of the real thing in Microsoft Flight Simulator. What city in Ontario?

 

Pretty cool to hear that. I was born in Sudbury. Lived there through grade school before my parents moved us to the US. I still have family in Toronto and Calgary who I visit often (pre-pandemic anyway). Lucky enough to be a dual citizen.

Intel Core i7 10700KF (8-Core 5.1GHz Turbo Boost), RTX 3070 8GB, 32GB Dual Channel at 3200MHz, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. Monitor: Samsung C49RG9x. VR: Oculus Quest 2.
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Pretty cool to hear that. I was born in Sudbury. Lived there through grade school before my parents moved us to the US. I still have family in Toronto and Calgary who I visit often (pre-pandemic anyway). Lucky enough to be a dual citizen.

Thanks for the info! Driven the TransCanada highway bypass around Sudbury several times. Alex Trebek birthplace! Cheers and blue skies!

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Thanks for the info! Driven the TransCanada highway bypass around Sudbury several times. Alex Trebek birthplace! Cheers and blue skies!

 

Our most famous citizen. Talk about a small world: in his very last episode, my daughter's teacher from here in Arizona was one of the contestants. RIP.

Intel Core i7 10700KF (8-Core 5.1GHz Turbo Boost), RTX 3070 8GB, 32GB Dual Channel at 3200MHz, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. Monitor: Samsung C49RG9x. VR: Oculus Quest 2.
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