How do you use your sim?

[matsout]

Hi Guys,

Just curious as to how everyone else uses and flies in FSX. I mean, do you fly full blown serious all the time replicating real life down to the finest detail, strictly using one or two aircraft etc, or are you the type that just loves to cruise around at whatever FTX/OZx airport in whatever the latest nice aircraft to be released is, just check out the scenery and maybe go point A to point B occasionally?

I know of alot of people that are just straight down the line as in my first example, I myself use to be like that but since moving out of home and in with the mrs, joining the military and what not I find I have little time to do that these days, and tend to find myself just cruising around. But by doing this I feel more like I'm playing a game rather than simming.

It's just a little thought that popped into my head and I thought "hmm I wonder how everyone else uses their sim."

[Guest J van E]

I almost always fly straight from A to B with the plane that is my favorite at the moment. For quite some time now that would be a GA, flying at something like 4500 ft above beautiful FTX, enjoying the scenery. Sometimes I drift away from my path to check out an airfield (touch and go), but usually I just fly straight on, enjoying the scenery.

My flights are planned to take no longer than half an hour or maybe three quarters of an hour, but not longer. And I usually take off and fly to different airports, quite often the little OZx-ones (with the help of bgl's I downloaded so I don't have to search for them...!).

I hardly ever switch planes: right now I am flying the Carenado C182G (bought it last week) and I probably will do so for a few weeks or months: it gives me the idea it is really MY plane. (How often does one switch planes in real life? ) Usually I only have one addon plane installed...!

I always start with a cold and dark cockpit and try to end in that situation too. I try to do everything as one would do in real life (lights at the right time, setting the prop, leaning the mixture, etc.) apart from ATC and things like that: I fly around as if no one else is there (and in fact I have AI at zero, apart from 20% cars, which I love to see down there!). Sometimes I let the flight be followed or I contact tower on approach, but not always and not in a realistic way. The GPS is my greatest friend up there.

I don't mind starting a flight on the runway on bigger airports btw, even though I start with a C&D VC. On little ones I always start on a parking spot if possible, which often is the case thanks to the great bgl's I mentioned! As I said, I am alone out there, so... no one minds what I do. After landing I usually taxi to a safe spot to secure the plane. Main reason that I don't do it at the start on bigger airports is that progressive taxi doesn't work with DX10 and it just takes too much time.

I also never ever leave the VC. Only after shutting the plane down, I might open the door and switch to the external view. But not during a flight: I've never seen a real pilot do that. 

Well, that's how I use my sim. 

[John Dow]

Just about the same as J Van E but I regularly change planes, I like the challenge of taking off from an airfield, using the bgls to find another OZx or FTX strip close by and trying to land in whatever I took off in.  Sometimes it's easy but other times... well let's just say I have had to return and pick up a more suitable ride!

[Blackjack]

I ususually preffer to take things seriously but would usually stick around 1 airport of my choice in which i might practise some flying skills... sometimes i try to do this with aerobatics too even though FSX sorta sucks for that. but sometimes just exploring scenery using helicopters is just great! and sometimes i get carried away and start simulating exrtremely low level chopper flying, although i try to do it as real as possible.

and when i get totally bored i start using the outside view and start flying something that does flips well and has smoke 

[Patrick Scharnowski]

I like to do both. Recently, especially after discovering how much fun multiplayer is, I mostly do some silly flying for fun. But I also love to fly by the book, because that creates a much more realisitic experience. I feel more like being in a real aircraft when following procedures and doing proper navigation. After all... the feel of being in a real aircraft is what we're all striving for, isn't it?

[LowRad]

I try to keep things realistic in that I plan flights that would make sense in the real world. Typical flights may be 2 hours with some VOR/NDB nav (I switch off the GPS). Adherence to IFR rules is shaky at best.

My favourite flights are preplanned using the FSX planner as well at a roadmap and some Google Earth maps. I then fly low using HAT (Heading Airspeed Time) and visual navigation. These flights roughly follow military nav training. Waypoints are between 10-40mins apart with getting lost a real posibility.

Though I would never admit it to anyone on these forums, I do sometimes fantasize that I am doing it for real.

Aircraft are usually light single or twins.

[Iain Emms]

Emmsie is a cruiser i just set off from somewhere and if i see something on the ground i go and take a look at it and then carry on my way to where ever i end up this way i find places i havent seen before and i see more of the fantastic FTX scenery.

cheers

Iain

[slandreth]

I try to do it by the book.  I have my checklists on my desk.  I do everything except the walk around.  When I am flying FTX I usually just do pattern work, ground reference manuevers, stalls, etc. in the Carenado 172.  If I want to fly cross country, I use default FSX scenery.  I have my sectionals and AFD ready for PNW.  Can wait to make some cross country VFR flights with PNW.

[Sniper31]

I'm a by the book, step by step flier in FSX too. Mostly due to my long military service, I very much like structure and order. I am a big user of Air Hauler, so that adds to the process. Like J van E, I pretty much stick to one payware aircraft at a time (currently the Quest Kodiak), pick a job from Air Hauler, plan the flight in FSCommander, load up some real weather with Rex, load up atc with Radar Contact and bust out the checklists. I like AI traffic, so using Traffic X I have my GA and Airline traffic at about 60%. I will admit that I have made my own streamlined checklist for the Kodiak so that I am only turning on systems and switches that are modeled in the aircraft sim. I start Cold and Dark, fly the flight as per ATC instructions using a combination of ADF, VOR and GPS information. The joy (and sometimes frustration) of Air Hauler is that sometimes (especially if your a/c is not new) there will be system failures and malfunctions during your flights. There is no way to disable that feature either, which I think is cool. There have been flights I've been on where the HSI goes kaput and you can no longer fly using the AP, or the Altimeter fails and ATC is cussing you up and down about busting altitude. And yet another time, my flaps would not retract after takeoff and I had to fly the whole flight that way. I admit, I should have landed back at the airport I departed from, but it was a short flight anyway. Keeps things interesting. At my arrival airfield, I offload cargo, get paid (hopefully, if my erratic flying did not damage it, or I was late) and then I shut down according to my checklist, back to a cold and dark state. At that point I save that exact flight situation, so that when I repeat the whole process next time, my plane is already parked, cold and dark, at the last airport I landed at. Again, Air Hauler encourages you to actually fly your aircraft from point A to point B, no slewing allowed. Of course, all this cargo flying is done over FTX scenery, and my 'Jobs' take me to small, out of the way airstrips (OZX and Ant's style), and everything on up. Its a great way to discover many airstrips that I might never have picked or found to fly to otherwise. Once I save up enough money in Air Hauler, then I would purchase a 'used' C-130 (Captain Sim) so that I can run larger cargo operations and mo' money! That gives me a goal to shoot for in FSX too!

So, that is how I do it.

[Guest J van E]

I am a big user of Air Hauler, so that adds to the process.

OT: Sounds cool...! Never heard of Air Hauler! I'll check it out. Sounds interesting. Are there reviews of it somewhere? EDIT: Found a review on Youtube (I can't post the link here without the video showing up...). Looks interesting, but it seems you have to take off from the same 'base' everytime...?

[Sniper31]

I am a big user of Air Hauler, so that adds to the process.

OT: Sounds cool...! Never heard of Air Hauler! I'll check it out. Sounds interesting. Are there reviews of it somewhere? EDIT: Found a review on Youtube. Looks interesting, but it seems you have to take off from the same 'base' everytime...?

Here you go:

http://www.avsim.com/pages/0709/JustFlight2/AirHauler.htm

[Agrajag]

I barely use it at all at the moment. I fly my own plane on average around 1.5 hours a week so I don't have so much desire to play with FSX anymore. Funnily enough I still buy add-ons, check them out, then don't look at them again. I never said I was smart! )

The last 18 months that I had used it I was doing circuits and nav exercises while I was an Recreational Aviation student. I flew the FSX Eurostar 80% of the time with the rest between the two Carenado birds.

I am thinking of getting a PPL so might jump on again to use VATSIM to help get used to controlled airspace.

I do sometimes have breaks so maybe it is only temporary though one break was for like 15 years!

Steven.

[macca22au]

This just shows how varied our use of FSX is, and how flexible the sim is.

Yes, I do love the tubes as well, and enjoy the whole task of setting up the LDS767, or one of the Wilco airbuses, or ...  and planning fuel, climb and descent.  The Jetstream turboprop from PMDG is outstanding.

If I just want to fly, I use the PC12 from Flight 1, or do circuits in the Carenados. Or the FSD Seneca.

I haven't tried any missions, because as a real world pilot every flight is a 'mission'.

Orbx is fantastic, but if you want a different experience I suggest a site called Four Flights Every Hour.  http://www.fourflights.com/  It is US based but gives you a choice of VFR, marginal VFR, IFR and heavy IFR weather, each with many routes.  It really tests your flying skills, and forces you to learn correct procedures and careful planning.

[Dexter Dog]

I'm pretty much a "pick an airfield and head off to find a nearby OZx field" person  ,  sometimes I'm a bit more "checklist" but usually I just go! I do like realistic startups and shutdowns though, and save a lot of flights at my favourite fields with particular weather.

[Penzoil3]

Then there's Flight Sim Economy, a great freebie. Rent a plane, take a job to ferry 3 passenger to airport X. Deliver the passengers, get paid.  Rent a different plane to ferry cargo to airport Y, get paid. Pay for rental and fuel, ground crew. Do another, anywhere in the world. Buy a plane make more money. Have an autopilot and GPS installed, make it easier. Rent the plane to other people when you are not using it. Save money, open an FBO...

ad infinitum... 

  Lotsa fun...

    Sue

[schugab]

I am a big user of Air Hauler, so that adds to the process.

Using Air Hauler, most of the time.

It's really great and when you take it with the BGL Files of Oz Airfields, you can deliver Cargo to the smallest Strips. Tongass Fjords with a lot af Waterbases works real good, too. 

[CathyH]

I pretty much fly "by the book" Lots of heavy metal and propliners.

I also tend to set up accidents I've read up on and try to replicate them, see if I can handle the emergency as well (or better in the case of ANY Indonesian airline as the real crews did.

Currently running UA 811, and BA 009

[macca22au]

Cathy H, please tell me that that picture is your avatar,  If it is not, then I'm in the wrong site!

[kerrysl]

I am also a big user of Air Hauler. So are my kids. It gives purpose to the open ended FSX. I use it in career mode, so had to start with a C172. Currently I am Captain status with 15 AI pilots and planes. My fleet ranges from Beech 1900D's through Dash 8's and now have 4 737's. Daily AI flights make me between 1 & 2 million per day.

I fly mostly the Beech 1900D which is a really nice plane to fly, but I do want to upskill to the jets. I haven't got any payware aircraft yet but am interested in the LDS 767, but will need to get my skills up on the 737's first.

[drumsonly2002]

Right now, nil, but the goal is getting a DoDo helocopter and haul beer to the outback. Got to learn proper navagation. Initially GPS my way into hard to land at camps with beer and grub. Also  emergency type scenero's with bigger units once flying skills are attained. Night flying, storms etc making it interesting.

  Use to fly F-18's in Janes, night ops, nasty weather using instruments, online voice com with several other chaps. We would have a briefing, then go onto the carrier and set up our systems BTC) before takeoff checklist. The entire flight and mission planned. Taking off and returning onto the carrier with 4 other guys on coms. Landing was the most tense part as one could foul the deck by crashing. You had to get it right or you could monkey the fun. One guy use to get drunk during the mission, crash and foul the deck. We caught onto this and decided to place him last in the landing pattern.  I find night flying in a storm with others online becomes very tense and  realistic. after the mission, de brief then fly another. Approx 1 hour per mission. Right now rather fly non combat, more akin to beer runs / rescue and passenger cargo type flying. I can see myself getting into cargo hauls with commericial type flying in rough weather, night / instrument flying. I do like proceidure and structure. Eventually learn enough to get into on line Vatsim type flying. FSX can be as real as one wants. Voice com, prociedure, air traffic, protocall, night and storm flying, in a room lights off = recipe for fun.

[alexf]

I am currently doing a tour of Australia. Never fly tubeliners, always GA or the Dodo 206. Started at Cairns and flying South by the coast or up to 70nm inland sometimes, always looking to see the little strips (all are shown in my Plan-G map with the published import files). I have reached YMAV yesterday. It is fun to see all the little strips (thanks Orbx and ANT!).

Never use GPS, do VFR navigation with VOR/NDB when  available and the  current plane has gauges (e.g. not the J3 Cub). I always save my flight after shutdown (make it cold and dark) in a file called _LAST_  so I can resume next time (this file has its own profile in FSXGo).

Always fly legs of no more than 30min-1hr and I do try to fly by the book. I do not change planes often. Only when I'm in the mood for something different or when I need more speed to do a longer leg (jumping of to Tasmania in a Cub would be scary).

I switch between my few favorite aircraft: Dodo 206 / A2A Cub / Real Air SF-260/ Real Air Spit / Chipmunk / Carenado Mentor. No matter what the aircraft, resuming the flight means I have to be looking for fuel sometimes (always refuel at stations). Only time change I do is when I land late, then change the next leg to sim morning (always on current date) so the seasons stay real.

[mike20]

I fly FSeconamy all the time it gives me an interesting environment and lots of jobs to pick from I own my own group Skywest Air charter service and a few FBOs with a few pilots flying for us its very adictive and I have been flying in FSE since march 2006 I enjoy it its very relaxing and with FTX scenery it  cant be beat regards Mike

[AKJohn]

I fly my own 152 II a lot irl, and my favorite plane is ... yep. Carenado's 152. It really does feel right. When I get a new ftx airport I like to load up in a nearby airport, then fly to the new field and take Bob for a walk there. Generally I follow the full blown procedures, traffic pattern and all, but often I get a bit silly. I've taken Bob out skydiving from my 152 (carenado's that is). Naturally, that ends in a respawn, to use the fps lingo.

[Arismac]

I really think we should warn that FSEconomy is a highly addictive occupation. Three months ago I was flying somebody else's Baron, Then I brought one of my own, next I brought a King Air, now I am flying a Buffalo. You can guess what I am going to fly next ...

[tim_A]

I tend to fly long, rambling, multi-leg tours. Always in GA. Sometimes with a designated (& painted up) tour aircraft, other times I may switch every 4-5 legs or so. Mostly they start from my home airfield in the UK. Past tours have included England -> Australia, Australia -> England, England -> New Zealand, New Zealand -> England "the wrong way" (via Antarctica and up through the Americas!), England -> Cape Town, England ->Oshkosh (for the virtual airshow!), several European tours, including Norway, Spain, Italy, a US Coast-to-Coast. Currently I'm working my way around OZ, state by state, with the intention of landing at every single airfield. So far I've done Tasmania, and almost finished Victoria...

As far as I'm concerned, as much of the enjoyment is in the planning as in the flying, and I always try to research the paces I'm visiting or passing. Inevitably it leads to many disappointments, when X or Y feature that you'd like to see just simply isn't in the sim. But there are occasional pleasant surprises too.