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New but old


Whizzer

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HOWDY! Yep! I'm new to this forum but old by age. Maybe old to some but not to others as age is a mental thing.

Really enjoying the MS Flight 2020, especially the training sessions. Getting better although there are a few hiccups along the way. Currently waiting for the Bravo throttle setup and using keyboard for throttle until it arrives.

 

Want to do touch and goes and trying to find out if there is a place within the MS Flight 2020 sim where it is setup. Very possible I'm looking right at it and do not see it which would only prove what my Bride has been telling me all along.

 

Anyone can offer a bit of advice on that will be greatly appreciated. I did several touch and goes yesterday but they only show as one landing and do not record the actual number of attempts. I say attempts as some were really, really, bad landings. That is why I keep practicing plus this way no one gets hurt and the equipment stays in one piece.

 

Looking forward to replies. Thank you!!

 

WHIZZER

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Hi Whizzer, from one oldie to another. As you know, you're never too old to make a fool of yourself! This might pertain to your landings. There is no escape to the old adage "practice makes perfect", so don't worry, just keep doing circuits. A few tips: use a simple General Aviation aircraft e.g. the trusty old Cessna 172. Do a bit of reading about circuits (sounds as though you know what to do). Set the heading bug to the runway direction you take off, then you can see on the compass your turns, so you can make nice 90 degree turns. Helped me a lot, before I did that, I was all over the shop. Watch your altitude, try and keep it consistent. Doesn't have to be perfect, but you'll feel joy when you can do a roughly 1,000 ft altitude circuit, more or less rectangular, then do 'finals' approach and touchdown. Give yourself plenty of room, don't cut in too soon, read the tutorials and turn onto base leg once you see the strip disappear from your behind 45 degree view out of your side-back window, don't come in too fast, get yourself set up with a nice proper speed e.g. say 70 knots, then just let the plane descend by itself. Enjoy. That's what it's all about! If you haven't got a joystick or yoke, go get one, you can't really do stuff with keyboard alone. A yoke is better I find than a stick. Don't spend heaps of money, a good nice old second-hand yoke does the job (I got mine from the junk shop). It has much finer control than a stick that perhaps was designed for kids doing shoot-em-up gaming. Throttle via keyboard is fine. And if you're not using flaps, learn about them and drop 'em to have a better landing experience. Edited by MAD1
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In addition to what MAD1 says, here's another tip: All too many folks have problems with the landing because they try to land the airplane. I know that sounds strange, but when you are nearly down to the runway, the drill is to hold the aircraft a foot off of the ground, don't let it touch, but with the power at idle your attempt to hold it off will require constantly increasing back pressure on the stick, a little at first, then more and more as the aircraft slows. At some point it will touch on the main gear, but don't relax yet. Maintain the back pressure as it touches, then after you've rolled a short distance then gradually, gently ease off of the back pressure to ease the nose down.

 

Finally, don't stop flying the airplane until it comes to a stop.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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And another thing, do gentle turns, only small movements of the controls. And if you find yourself starting to over-correct, we've all done it / do it, you'll get yourself into what's called "pilot induced oscillations" (PIOs), and then things start to go pear-shaped. Better to just say "ho hum" and do what you're supposed to do in Real World (RW) actual flight, abandon your landing attempt and do a "go around" and try and set yourself up better at your next attempt. Of course, being a sim, if you're feeling tired and thinking "to hell with this, I'll give up" simply pause the sim, go take a break (e.g. a cup of tea or coffee and a lie down) then come back refreshed and resume the sim. Most folks don't have the patience to use the sim in a proper simulation way, they rush things, also they don't learn to get a circuit under their belt properly. That's fine, if they want to treat the sim as a "game", but you can also treat it as a good proper simulation/training environment. Being an oldie, I presume you're like the rest of us oldies who realise that life isn't instant coffee.

 

Perseverance with patience over a decent length of time does bring satisfaction. I also "mess about" but in coming back to simming after a long break, I decided I wanted to "get it right, do it properly". The built-in tutorials in the sims are very good. (My sim is the obsolete, but still good, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, and the Rod Machado training within it, plus the FS2000 book makes for a very good training setup.) And remember, you're in control of the plane, but it'll fly itself. Be gentle with it, if you get cranky with it, it'll bite back! (PS: as a young buck I got 6 hours solo under my belt in a Blanik glider, so when in the sim I relive my RW experience, however I never did powered aircraft other than as a passenger with the guys at my local aero club as they practiced circuits.)

Edited by MAD1
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And another thing, do gentle turns, only small movements of the controls. And if you find yourself starting to over-correct, we've all done it / do it, you'll get yourself into what's called "pilot induced oscillations" (PIOs), and then things start to go pear-shaped. Better to just say "ho hum" and do what you're supposed to do in Real World (RW) actual flight, abandon your landing attempt and do a "go around" and try and set yourself up better at your next attempt. Of course, being a sim, if you're feeling tired and thinking "to hell with this, I'll give up" simply pause the sim, go take a break (e.g. a cup of tea or coffee and a lie down) then come back refreshed and resume the sim. Most folks don't have the patience to use the sim in a proper simulation way, they rush things, also they don't learn to get a circuit under their belt properly. That's fine, if they want to treat the sim as a "game", but you can also treat it as a good proper simulation/training environment. Being an oldie, I presume you're like the rest of us oldies who realise that life isn't instant coffee.

 

Perseverance with patience over a decent length of time does bring satisfaction. I also "mess about" but in coming back to simming after a long break, I decided I wanted to "get it right, do it properly". The built-in tutorials in the sims are very good. (My sim is the obsolete, but still good, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, and the Rod Machado training within it, plus the FS2000 book makes for a very good training setup.) And remember, you're in control of the plane, but it'll fly itself. Be gentle with it, if you get cranky with it, it'll bite back! (PS: as a young buck I got 6 hours solo under my belt in a Blanik glider, so when in the sim I relive my RW experience, however I never did powered aircraft other than as a passenger with the guys at my local aero club as they practiced circuits.)

 

I have well over a thousand hours and still enjoy, in my case, P3D. I, and many others, use it to `preview` airports prior to a real-world visit.

 

Sorry, but MSFS just doesn't float my boat as a simulation. Simply too inconsistent, with all these terminal - and non-optional - updates: When they get it right it should be a game-changer, but it's so far away at the moment...

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HOWDY! Much appreciation for the responses. I am trying to be a persistent old phart. A lesson learned in concert with patience when I closed in on the 8th decade a few years ago. As an example, I do not consider myself proficient until averaging 80% in training sessions. Figure the remaining 20% will fall into place with practice.

The thing that throws me off at the moment is getting to proper altitude (1000') holding it and judging the turn distance into the downwind leg. A few days away while visiting our daughter is giving me an opportunity to clear and regroup the mindset.

Using a yoke after giving up on a joystick which was too touchy and doing little more than creating frustration, something not necessary at this stage of life. There is a major issue in reading the gauges as the sim shows a glare plus they are small on a 32" tv/monitor although the search is on for a used 50" tv/monitor. Something will come along sooner or later. Just have other things of what are considered greater importance right at the moment.

The thing is, I want to do this right and fly as if it were not just a simulator but a realistic flight experience and with the kind assistance from all feel it will happen. Thank you.

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