Any flight simmers here?

[dwight]

Given that diabetes crushed my dream of achieving my lifelong dream of getting a pilot's license, I moved into the (virtual) world of MS Flight Simulator. That's my chillax escape after or before work.

If any of you are up for VATSIM, let me know. I'm thinking of starting up a virtual airline called "Apollo Airlines" using all the logos from the good old days. Possibly with the fleet named after the respective CSM and LM. Crazy I know, but who cares?

BTW I am slowly migrating to Lockheed Martin's FSX follow-on, Prepar3d so I may have my hands full on the tweak front.

[Echnaton]

I used MSFS back on my Apple IIc, then somewhat less often on my various PCs.  More recently I've used the Google Earth flight simulator, because the price (free) is right for the little amount of time I use it.    Is the MSFS vastly better than the one in Google Earth?  It must be a large improvement just to be networked for joint flights.  Playing alone gets boring for me but flying with a team would be fun.

[dwight]

18 months ago I found an old copy of MSFS 95 and I ran it to relive some fondmemories. I then became curious as to how the latest (FSX) version looked and was promptly blown away byhow good it looked. Since February I have been using FSX and have a mini home cockpit using 3 monitors, the Saitek range of instruments panels, yoke and so forth. I also run it in stereoscopic 3D and it is as good as any commercial static cockpit (not official trainers, but the static general public ones).

When my wife flies to the UK on business, I tend to mimic her fligh in the same aircraft flying Köln-Bonn to London Gatwick.  I was duly impressed when on a recent flight the aircraft flew the same flight path I had on FSX the day before! Online is cool. I often fly together with my Dad who is in Australia.

[Echnaton]

Well I've been telling my wife I need to watch less TV, so maybe I can use this as an excuse to by more video screens?  Ya, right!

[Glom]

Value added tax SIM?

[LunarOrbit]

It's been a while, but I used to use MS Flight Simulator quite a bit. I'll have to install FSX on my new laptop and see how rusty I am. Hopefully I finally have a computer that will give me decent frame rates.

I recently tried MS Flight, the latest version which is free to download. It is seriously limited... you start out with just one plane and can only fly around Hawaii. If you want more maps or planes you have to buy them separately. Part of the enjoyment of a flight sim is being able to take off in my home town and fly... anywhere. I'd get bored too quickly if I was stuck with just a small area to explore.

[dwight]

LO jump straight over to Lockheed Martin's "Prepar3d". It is the next gen of FSX as they bought the source code from MS. MS closed the development team down for FS and brought out that arcade game "Flight". Prepar3d is a flight trainer which takes FSX and build and improves on it. It is very early days yet, but I have only heard great reviews about the experience. Long term goals are 64 bit and true multicore compatibility (which FSX never really had).

www.prepar3d.com has the info you need. And the support team is amazing. I had a response within 45 minutes and that's posting something out of hours here in Germany. On top of that apparently all your FSX add-ons should be easily ported to prepar3d. They also allow submarine and spaceflight simming in the same program!!

[dwight]

VAT-SIM is Virtual Air Traffic Simulation and is the nuts if you are into flight sim. No value added tax necessary

[LunarOrbit]

Wow! Prepar3d looks amazing! Thanks, Dwight! I hadn't heard of it before.

I was extremely disappointed when MS closed their Flight Sim team. I had my hopes dashed when I saw what MS Flight turned out to be. But I'm thrilled by Prepar3d. It's a bit expensive for me, but I vow to own it by the end of the year.

I installed FSX and discovered that I can get a steady 30fps frame rate with the graphics set to ultra-high. So that's good. My landings are a little rough, but I'll keep practising.

[scooter]

I'm pretty active with FS2K4 and my VA, Lynx Airways. I'd love to use FSX but this machine is old and can't handle it very well. Also have been active with VATSIM, controlled with DEN CTR for some years but don't have the "uninterruptable time" for it anymore. The fly-in's are fun as a pilot, the stress during a crowded arrival is very real... have learned much about ATC and instrument procedures with the big iron.
Am an inactive PPL type, Dad had an old C182 decades ago, that we flew a lot, I found it online recently and she's busy flying parachutists now, looking real spiffy with a 3 bladed prop no less!!

[SolusLupus]

I figure this counts enough.

The Kerbal Space Program so far is downright hilarious.

I got some kerbals stuck orbiting earth indefinitely.  Poor guys.  I should download a mod for an automated laser defense system to clear "space debris"... though I'd probably forget to land the kerbals...

Man, I'm sadistic.

[mako88sb]

It's been ages since I've spent time with a flight sim but DCS A10C sure looks interesting. here's some videos:

[SolusLupus]

For those interested in World War 1, the Rise of Flight is a pretty nifty flight sim.

[VincentMcConnell]

I play Kerbal Space Program and Orbiter 2010.

[VincentMcConnell]

The Kerbal Space Program so far is downright hilarious.
I got some kerbals stuck orbiting earth indefinitely.  Poor guys.  I should download a mod for an automated laser defense system to clear "space debris"... though I'd probably forget to land the kerbals...

It's Kerbin not "Earth" haha.
Did you get the paid version? EVAs are going to be released next update, so our Kerbals can do spacewalks and walk on the Mun and Minmus.