Whatever happened to steam gauges?

I noticed most of the aircraft are glass cockpit in the GA aircraft on the standard edition. I checked out the Coronado 182T as well and they all seem to be mostly glass cockpits. Is there a war on old school make you scan and think while flying? If I want the old school 172 I have to get the premium deluxe. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against technology. Am I alone in this? Does anyone know of any plans for payware/freeware for say 182 or 208 old school style? Has anybody tried the freeware 172 FS9/FSX conversion? Is it worth installing?

 

Thanx...

I am with you. I use the 172 with the steam gages and the gns530. But hardly use the GPS. I rather fly using my instruments old school style style and tuning in my navigational radio et cetera et cetera.

At some point I'm going to need to learn to use the Gns 1000 I've just been putting it off. I'm waiting for the skymaster to come out and knowing that everything is going to a glass cockpit they're probably going to slap one in there also instead of doing it the way it was meant to be with the steam gage

If you look at the picture I attached I'll always have my setup with steam gages even if even if the plane comes with the glass cockpit release I have my own flight panel to try to work around it

 

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I noticed most of the aircraft are glass cockpit in the GA aircraft on the standard edition. I checked out the Coronado 182T as well and they all seem to be mostly glass cockpits. Is there a war on old school make you scan and think while flying? If I want the old school 172 I have to get the premium deluxe. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against technology. Am I alone in this? Does anyone know of any plans for payware/freeware for say 182 or 208 old school style? Has anybody tried the freeware 172 FS9/FSX conversion? Is it worth installing?

 

Thanx...

 

So, if I wanted to get a 172 with Steam gauges (which I do want!), I would have to buy the Premium version? That's a lot of $$$

I am not sure. I know I bought the premium version out the gate because it was a $25 difference when j pre-ordered it. I am very surprised it's not in the regular version. Are you on pc or Xbox? I am in pc. I guess that was obvious with the pictures lol. Sorry for stating the obvious

 

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Thats an awesome setup.. I'll get there one day!

So, if I wanted to get a 172 with Steam gauges (which I do want!), I would have to buy the Premium version? That's a lot of $$$

 

Yeah, thats true. I'm in the same dilemma. I'm using Gamepass ultimate since I got this PC for this sim but I also have other interest like racing and other games.

I am not sure. I know I bought the premium version out the gate because it was a $25 difference when j pre-ordered it. I am very surprised it's not in the regular version. Are you on pc or Xbox? I am in pc. I guess that was obvious with the pictures lol. Sorry for stating the obvious

 

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I"m on PC, I can't see dropping the coin for a new and improved Xbox. I got the X1X right after release and had to be a second for my wife. she's on her 2nd X1X now and mine still keeps on going. I got off lucky on the PC. All I had to get her was a much cheaper laptop. Hence why I dont have the awesome setup you have, or at least more of getting there. I do have a throttle coming to get me by until I can scrape up enough for the HC Bravo.. I bailed whe P3d came out and bought a Harley. I didn't realize how expensive that was to become. Turns out I can change the oil in my GMC Truck cheaper than I can the bike.

So, if I wanted to get a 172 with Steam gauges (which I do want!), I would have to buy the Premium version? That's a lot of $$$

 

Yup!

 

I bought the Deluxe version for the steam gauge 172, the Baron and Cape Town Intl. It also includes the DA40TDI, which has steam gauges (but it's not fully featured, like many of the extra aircraft).

I bought the cheapest version and figured I could upgrade later on. When the wife offered to let me do this (as an anniversary present) I found out about the "upgrade" process. I am NOT going to pay for another FULL version(and then more) just to get a couple more planes.

 

Oh well :)

I bought the cheapest version and figured I could upgrade later on. When the wife offered to let me do this (as an anniversary present) I found out about the "upgrade" process. I am NOT going to pay for another FULL version(and then more) just to get a couple more planes.

 

Oh well :)

 

Ha, yes. I happened to catch that particular fine print before I gave them my money. They definitely could have made the process more transparent.

I didn't know I was lucky to get the top version! I find the analog gauges so much easier to use. Apart from increased functionality, glass gauges are a pain in the a.. to use IMHO.

I bought the cheapest version and figured I could upgrade later on. When the wife offered to let me do this (as an anniversary present) I found out about the "upgrade" process. I am NOT going to pay for another FULL version(and then more) just to get a couple more planes.

 

Oh well :)

 

Glad I went with gamepass ultimate, I'll be buying the deluxe premium before long.

I agree on the need for more steam gauges. I got my PPL in 1971 so you know what I learned on and that is all I've flown over the years. It was disappointing to see so few steam gauge aircraft on MSFS but I made do for awhile with the 152 and the DR400 160 &180 hp mods, but really didn't like their characteristics. So on the first day it was available I bought the Just Flight PA28-161 and that is my go-to aircraft. It is a well modeled airplane and really enjoyable because of real time Cherokee 160 time I've logged. I can do okay in the Asobo 172 but just don't enjoy it as much with the glass! I too hope to see many more small aircraft with steam cockpits. I'd really like the Grumman Tiger for MSFS!!

I also learned to fly before glass (and before computers were a household item) back in the mid-late 1980s. Radio navigation and reading paper maps (VORs, NDBs) is a lot more meaningful to me since technology took over and the G1000 system in GA aircraft. In both sim and real world flying, sure the glass life which includes tablets for nav is easier than folding paper around based on where you are, but there's just something more intimate in flying going old school skill dial instrument and physical charts and ground reference navigation. That said, there are still plenty of FBO rental fleets out there with traditional steam gauges simply because of economics. If I were a student starting today, I'd much rather learn old school hardware first. To me, it just helps train your eyes for instrument scan better than our eyes already stuck in daily life toils of smart phone screens and computer screens where TMI is packed in a small space.

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Glad I went with gamepass ultimate, I'll be buying the deluxe premium before long.

 

On a side note, are you sure about that RAM spec in your signature? I’m going out on a limb that you learnt to use computers in the 90’s….:p

On a side note, are you sure about that RAM spec in your signature? I’m going out on a limb that you learnt to use computers in the 90’s….:p

 

ROFL... you are correct sir, I learned and started building in the very earl 90's. Matter of fact DR DOS (Digital Research) was far superior to MS. Thanx for calling that to my attention!

I noticed most of the aircraft are glass cockpit in the GA aircraft on the standard edition. I checked out the Coronado 182T as well and they all seem to be mostly glass cockpits. Is there a war on old school make you scan and think while flying? If I want the old school 172 I have to get the premium deluxe. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against technology. Am I alone in this?

Yep I'm 100% with you on this and while I was very impressed with MSFS when it just released, I was disgusted with the large number of glass-cockpit aircraft. Luckily I decided to just "try-out" MSFS with my XBOX GamePass for PC, so for me it is a relatively small monthly cost so far, plus I have access to a very large library of other games.

 

I will wait another year before even considering paying full price for MSFS and hopefully by that time there will be more steam gauge aircraft, a flyby view, and significant discounts to upgrade to the Premium version or perhaps even a merging of versions.

 

Even in real life I far prefer steam gauges, to the extent that when I recently did a conversion to a Sling 2 (a slick little LSA), which comes equipped with EFIS instrumentation (essentially an iPad screen, cluttered with an enormous amount of information squashed into a tiny space), I almost always switched the EFIS to a mode which only displays the usual "six-pack" dials on the glass screen. That was the only way I could enjoy flying instead of trying to manage a computer.

Edited September 23, 2021 by rooitou

ROFL... you are correct sir, I learned and started building in the very earl 90's. Matter of fact DR DOS (Digital Research) was far superior to MS. Thanx for calling that to my attention!

 

Haha, you're quite welcome. I was the proud owner of a blazing 75 MHz Pentium I, with 4 MB of RAM and a voluminous 700-and-something MB hard drive. FS for Win 95 ran at a perfectly acceptable 22 FPS.

 

Fun times.