How do I bring joy back to flight simulation?

[caaront]

I especially love flying in VR with Oculus Rift, and before VR flying was my only PC sim/game, but I may be burnt out with flying for now.

 

With VR I have branched out and found new loves, racing, trucking simulation, artwork in VR, etc...

 

I added a joystick and throttle mount to my office chair and they fall perfectly to hand with my Thrustmaster controls, but I only flew for 5 minutes and grew bored and immediately put my steering wheel and H-shifter back in place and put my flight controls and rudder pedals away, like they have been for a couple of months at least.

 

I have hundreds of hours in every flight simulation (MSFS to P3D, not all the others) and I hope this is just a temporary thing as I have tons of money in flight simulation also.

 

I am no longer interested in 2D simming at all, even for screenshots and videos.

 

I seem to only look in the VR forums here and at Avsim anymore.

 

I want to enjoy flying again, maybe I just need a little break and someday it will be new to me again.

 

 

[JimNZ]

Carront.

 

You bring up a very good point, and I look forward to other pilots comments. Have you thought of building an airport for us to use. Even an airstrip used by a fertilizing plane, something hard to find and land on.

 

I believe everyone goes through this.  Before my disability struck, I played most sports available in New Zealand, no matter whether it golf or photography or chess, I found after a while I got bored yet after a while always returned because I loved it, but just needed to freshen up a little.

 

As to flight simming, you obviously lack a challenge.  One of our members at the moment is flying around the globe great idea with all the planning etc, I personally like finding small, very small in fact, airfields/strips by getting the help of Google Earth and tracking them down through that.  I am bed bound most of the day, so have to find my own enjoyment.  Even so I do get bored with Simming and will take a few weeks off and move onto my other love Amateur radio.  At the moment I'm bored with that but having done it for 38yrs I know after a while I'll be back full of enthusiasm again.

 

Actually, at the front of FSX there's a number of challenges. Perhaps some member(s) will come up with a flight that you have to find something that's very hard to find.

 

Good luck, but as big Arnie said once "I'll be back".

Jim

[Jack Sawyer]

Sad to hear.  I personally don't think I could ever get tired of exploring.  Orbx has so many POI's to find, and when I fly there's always a valley I want to fly into and see what's there.  It's a huge planet to fly around in our virtual world.

 

I'm working on the MacRobertson Air Race, London to Melbourne and I'm on leg three.  It was quite an accomplishment back then and I like the idea of reproducing this flight with all the handicapped stops along the way.

 

Hopefully you'll get back into it soon.

 

Best of luck!

[JimNZ]

There you go Caaront, Jack's brought up an excellent idea and what he says about gullies and exploring is absolutely correct.

Jim.

[Rodger Pettichord]

All of the above. It's not so much the simming as it is the goal of the flight. One recommendation is to shorted your flights. A good half-hour in interesting terrain is better than two hours above the ocean. A second recommendation is to go where you've not gone before--I flew the Aleutian Islands and really enjoyed the new landscape; the perimeter of Iceland; the length of the British island; Sri Lanka; the Islands of the Aegean Sea--you get the idea. A third recommendation is to go ahead with your new interests without feeling guilty about setting aside your old ones for a while. Life is short. Do what you enjoy. We support you!

[CBPilot]

Carront

I recognise your feelings and have been there too. I've never tried VR so maybe I don't know for sure but I do some things that help me - hope it helps you too.

1. Find a pack of Missions that I like and fly them as intended, then fly them again with the aircraft of my choosing. Having the purpose of the Mission helps me to stay focussed. RIght now I'm going around the world and it's been keeping me interested for months. Loads of short flights works way better for me than continental/oceanic flights.
2. Find a complex aircraft and study, study, study. Don't fly it yet - keeps the anticipation going until I feel ready to go - and that could be weeks. I've done that with QW146, iFly737 and MJC Dash8-Q400. Got my mojo back every time. If that doesn't work then go read everything you can about navigation, or flight dynamics, or glass cockpits, i.e. related to flying but not actually simming.
3. Go do whatever else you want and don't feel guilty. Sounds like you're just like the rest of us who have invested in loads of add-ons and don't want to waste them. So play sport, ride your bike, read these books, learn a new language, decorate the house (well, maybe not that extreme!) - take that break. I've been lucky that every time I stop I get that itch again sometime later and then I'm back.

[paulb]

Hi Carront, 

 

Lots of good ideas above. Like you I went though a period a few years back of being bored with FS. I only really got back into it at the start of this year.

 

To keep it interesting I aim for variety.

Try flying different types of aircraft - even helicopters! 

Google what you do and where you go - this can add greatly to the interest

Maybe one day do aerobatics in a warbird and the next day try to capture the glidescope in a jetliner

Search out bridges in Orbx land to fly under - probably looks great in VR

Take screenshots and post them on the forum here - again could be great with VR

Install the freeware 'global ships' and go ship hunting

 

Hope something here helps a bit 

[Jon Clarke]

I had a break due to sudden lack of interest a couple of years ago. Had been in the beta testing of a Race car sim and got totally involved. After the release of the Race sim I got bored with it. Tried going back to the flight sim and have never left it. I only fly VFR in a Cessna and now I fly in all parts of the world especially hilly/mountainous areas because I love the scenery whether it be Orbx of just plain Orbx Global. I never fly long flights, nearly always at the late afternoon/Dusk/late dusk time and really enjoy the visual display of the scenery and lights etc.

Each to his own, but what I am really  saying, as others have suggested in their own way, is to find a niche  and explore that. Tubeliner learning, scenic tours, missions, reproducing famous flights are all there for the taking.

VR flying in Aerofly FS 2 is yet another experience well documented and continuously developing and a great ht with VR flyers. You could try that.

[rockliffe]

Hi Caaront, I know exactly where you're coming from. I too have gone through that very same thing for the pst year. It's only now that I feel I am enjoying simming again. I think it's a little bit like marriage, it's bound to get a little stale after the initial excitement The secret is to always add a little bit of spice. What has worked for me is to rebuild a complete new cockpit around a 4k monitor. The other thing, is to always give yourself something new to learn, VoxATC, Vatsim, navigation, flightplanning, anything that adds interest. But as I say, for me, it has been adding the extra immerson factor by building a new cockpit.

[JoseCFII]

For me it comes down to learning and transitioning to new airplanes. It's so much fun to learn all about a new airplane and then go out an do the vfr & ifr flights.

 

I use my flightsim as a real training aid and not just for entertainment purposes.

 

If you don't have a private pilot certificate, that's a worthwhile goal to strive for and it will give you an idea of the hardware you'll need for a realistic personal flight simulator.

 

But, you have to have the passion. If you don't, then find something else that will give you what you are missing.

[chumley]

Welcome to the club. I have hardly touched P3D since the end of June. In fact I only went into it to unload it so I could install the update.

 

I too have found other PC based interests - editing videos and photos and racing car simulations. I know I will get back to it but it's just a matter of when.

 

The last time I had such an hiatus I was out of the loop for about a year spending many hours on my bicycle exploring the hills behind my home town (and beyond). Had an absolute ball but came back refreshed.

[teecee]

Perhaps I am just a  lonely old man, but I fly every day (when possible) for a few hours. I have been flying the sim since the late nineties, and it never, ever, bores me to the point that I would consider giving it up. It is my contact with like minded people, both in the forums and in multiplayer and with the world that I remember, and the world I have never seen in RL, and places that I know I will never now visit in real life.

Teecee.

[glider1001]

On ‎10‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 6:22 AM, caaront said:

I especially love flying in VR with Oculus Rift, and before VR flying was my only PC sim/game, but I may be burnt out with flying for now.

 

With VR I have branched out and found new loves, racing, trucking simulation, artwork in VR, etc...

 

I added a joystick and throttle mount to my office chair and they fall perfectly to hand with my Thrustmaster controls, but I only flew for 5 minutes and grew bored and immediately put my steering wheel and H-shifter back in place and put my flight controls and rudder pedals away, like they have been for a couple of months at least.

 

I have hundreds of hours in every flight simulation (MSFS to P3D, not all the others) and I hope this is just a temporary thing as I have tons of money in flight simulation also.

 

I am no longer interested in 2D simming at all, even for screenshots and videos.

 

I seem to only look in the VR forums here and at Avsim anymore.

 

I want to enjoy flying again, maybe I just need a little break and someday it will be new to me again.

 

 

 

It really helps if you are doing any kind of flying in the real world (even RC planes). Virtual reality is close enough to the real world experience that simulation brings to life the experiences you get in the real world. Without doing flying in the real world at least at some time in your life, simulation will get stale. Cheers. PS) anyway, good to take a break from computers occasionally anyway.

[caaront]

Use to fly a lot before I injured my neck, will get a sport pilot certificate some day.

 

[teecee]

Carront, you really should try multiplayer, find one or two people online and fly with them.. it really is a different world. Teecee.

 

[caaront]

Thank you all, and sorry it took a while to reply.

 

I added a couple of new hard drives and Windows 10 and have not had a chance to get very much done yet.

 

I shall give multiplayer A TRY WHEN I GET BACK ON p3d EVENTUALLY.

 

I REMEMBER SHARING A HELICOPTOR RIDE WITH A FELLOW FROM bc AND HE TOOK ME ON A TOUR OF HIS NEIGHBORHHOD BACK WHEN fsx FIRST CAME OUT, sorry for the caps lock, wasn't yelling, lol.

 

Windows 10 is temporarily installed on my 4TB HDD for now, I am going to install it on the SSD, but Oculus Rift will only initially install onto the same drive as Windows, and now you can move it to another drive somehow, but rather than deal with that while I am feeling weak and cruddy I will just do it later.

 

When done I will have Windows 10 on it's own SSD so if it fails I will not have to reinstall every program I have.

 

Programs ill be on a 4TB drive, data on a 1TB drive, and there is a 2TB hybrid drive for whatever.

 

I have no idea really.

 

Thanks for all the great ideas.

 

 

[Gollum]

I came to flight sim via IL2 . I don't miss the competitive aspects of IL2  but would like to see a little interaction between fighter planes and ground targets .

[psk2449]

I have a considerable collection of airfields and have always been fascinated by the ambience of them. When I get a bit tired of flying from them I explore with "Bob". Just walking around like the real thing. Refreshing wandering around enjoying the scenery and watching the traffic.

[Gypsy Pilot]

For me, the thing that I love most about flight simming is that there is almost no limit to the things you can do.

 

Dale

[Iahawkeyedds]

Falcon 4 BMS... free F-16 sim... go blow some stuff up.

[Mike707]

Here is a suggestion that I have been pondering. See if an elderly care facility would let you set up your system in their location for an afternoon and have some of the residents fly virtually. That way you could have a very different aspect to flight simulation by sharing it with those who do not have the knowledge of how to do it. 

[skelly]

sign up for ground school .... learn about what your doing... you dont have to spend 

thousands for a ppl unless thats your goal. but just do the ground school theres a ton

of stuff to learn about

[caaront]

Been there, done that, soloed in a Cessna 150, and later a Citabria in preparation for flying a conventional gear ultralight a friend designed.

 

It would whip around and ground loop faster than a rattlesnake strikes, lol.

 

Then in the Army 6000+ miles from home I almost broke my neck, two surgeries, titanium hardware, cadaver bones, and permanent damage .

[JohnnyJohnJohn]

To me, what got me into flying again was VR.  Such an immersive experience, I but I see what you mean about the other game attractions in VR other than Flight sim.  I however have been practicing my touch and goes religiously in my C177 cardinal, something that I did miserably before was landing. I am doing it perfectly now in VR.   

 

In fact, I am considering branching off into jets shortly, which I only flown the single engine props before too, but practicing my touch and goes have now built up my confidence in jets, at least to start off with a Phenom by Carenado.   Then I'll work my way up to the larger.  

[JimmiG]

Been into flight sims to and from since the mid 90's. It comes and goes... There have been periods of several years when I only played flight sims, and sometimes I've taken "breaks" for just as long. A couple of years playing mostly shooters instead, or driving games, or RPG's, or making music...

Right now I haven't played flight sims that much, which is a shame because P3D v4 on my current system seems to run better than anything I've used in years.

 

I'd say don't force it. The sim will still be there the day you decide to return.

[Geezer]

Don't worry about it.  There's nothing sacred about any hobby including flight simulator.   People's tastes change as they get older.  Do what you currently like to do.  Life's too short to do otherwise.  

[caaront]

20 hours ago, JohnnyJohnJohn said:

To me, what got me into flying again was VR.  Such an immersive experience, I but I see what you mean about the other game attractions in VR other than Flight sim.  I however have been practicing my touch and goes religiously in my C177 cardinal, something that I did miserably before was landing. I am doing it perfectly now in VR.   

 

In fact, I am considering branching off into jets shortly, which I only flown the single engine props before too, but practicing my touch and goes have now built up my confidence in jets, at least to start off with a Phenom by Carenado.   Then I'll work my way up to the larger.  

 

 

The helicopters are great fun to learn and fly in also.

[JohnnyJohnJohn]

45 minutes ago, caaront said:

 

 

The helicopters are great fun to learn and fly in also.

Funny you bring that up.  Helicopters are on my FS Bucket list.

 

[caaront]

They are a blast to learn.

[porsche]

On 10/30/2017 at 9:12 PM, teecee said:

Perhaps I am just a  lonely old man, but I fly every day (when possible) for a few hours. I have been flying the sim since the late nineties, and it never, ever, bores me to the point that I would consider giving it up. It is my contact with like minded people, both in the forums and in multiplayer and with the world that I remember, and the world I have never seen in RL, and places that I know I will never now visit in real life.

Teecee.

You've got the right idea on how to spend your time now at this phase of life. Getting out and exploring, maybe trying things with a different aircraft or a more realistic version of same from someone like A2A. I am retired though recently (May 2016). I flew for 40 years and while I don't really miss medicals and check-rides I really do miss what I got to see out the front window all those years and P3d lets me continue to do this. I get to learn aircraft I never got my hands on in the RW.  I like to add actual weather and then go visit. Silitz Bay and Bowerman are a couple of my favorites especially in the evening when the temp is dropping getting closer to the dew point and viz is going down in mist. Flying there in Reality XP or flysimware creations is a nice way to spend an hour. May get the A2A cub. Other aircraft with round engines is nice too. I spent some time in the RW on the CL215 and the sound of those round engines...music. PMDG DC6 has essentially the same engines, they've nailed the sound, and it's a joy to fly. So are the A2A creations.

For places to explore check out Bella Coola and Stuart BC.

As to going places you'll never see in real life try Paro, Bhutan. It's a payware but worth every cent.

Just some thoughts. It's a great past time. My spouse can't quite understand why I still like to fly on the computer. Also, you get to interact with some nice people.

Dave

[teecee]

Thanks Dave.. My sentiments exactly..It's like you read my mind. Terry.

PS. Sent you a PM.

[Gypsy Pilot]

Have you tried Backcountry Flying? 

There are hundreds of dirt and grass strips out there for you to find,

Flying down a river canyon to find a strip that is nothing more than a clearing in the forest or a bulldozed strip in the side of a mountain can cause a little excitement.

 

Dale 

[porsche]

What aircraft do you use for the back country flying?

Dave

[Mithras]

Since I started simming four years ago I fly every day. I limit my planes and try to really master just one. I have been using Instant Scenery to really add the scenery details to my local county, that job never stops! The thing I'd recommend is to fly the stories in the news like I do, you need a few plane types, but anything can inspire a flight, from repatriating an ebola victim to firebombing in California to air dropping aid to refugees fleeing Mosul. I get to fly. real world missions, in great places...

 

[kitte]

When I started getting bored of Flightsimming in the beginning of 2000, I registered as  a member on SATCO as it was called then, and then VATSIM. This added a whole new dimension to flightsimming and eventually also helped me in getting my license in real life. I have a friend who is a commercial pilot who taught me the ropes and then I had a purpose with all my flights. When I pulled up at the gate and shut down the airplane I sensed that I somehow had accomplished something, done something very concrete. I haven't flown in over a year now (which hasn't stopped  me from buying some 500 euros worth of add-ons from ORBX during the same time) but I am about to pick it up again any day now!

 

/Krister

[Gypsy Pilot]

 

20 hours ago, porsche said:

What aircraft do you use for the back country flying?

Dave

 

I like the Cessna 185 Tundra for its speed or the Super Cub Ultra as my go anywhere aircraft.

If the weather is good I like the Stearman or one of my WACO's.

Those early WACO's jump off the ground and are gentle flyers.

I really enjoy those open cockpit biplanes from the 30's.

 

Dale

[Museumkeeper]

Leonardo Da Vinci

 

“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”

 

Kind regards

 

Ian S