Microsoft Flight Sim 2020

[Koziolek]

24 minutes ago, kestrel79 said:

Random question do we know what the former IL2 dev that went to Asobo is doing over there? I wonder if he's working on their flight model, certain aircraft or what. Would be cool to see what he's up to in his new position. I'm totally blanking on his name...

You mean An Petrovich probably

[BOO]

Day 16. Caernarfon- Biggin Hill (via Mach Loop). 240Nm (plus diversion), Real Time, Live Weather

 

 

A bright Sunny Tuesday in Wales. Today, I get to fulfil a little sim ambition and fly the Mach Loop.

 

 

Heading out towards Dolgellau and VFR all the way, we follow the A roads through stunning valleys. This is one of those “you gotta fly it” legs and gives me time to throw the Kodiak about a bit as well as settle her with trim.

 

 

It’s a great module to fly, heavy enough to make you think but responsive enough to have fun in. The sound pack is also excellent, and the buffeting and creaks of the airframe all fit in well with memories of my own limited RL experiences in GA stuff.

 

 

With Barmouth in the distance we approach Dolgellau and…..

 

 

…turning into an anti clockwise approach…..

 

 

 

…..are in the Loop, tracking through the Hills towards Corris Corner.   Now, I could post a dozen images of the loop but its just me mucking about low in green scenes. And its not what the sim does best so I wont.

 

 

Climbing away from the loop eastward, we get back to doing what the sim DOES do best – stunning mid altitude vistas.

 

 

The route into England is nice enough but a straight tracked one. Looking for something interesting, I probably miss a dozen things on route as the aircraft bucks and bounces in the turbulence south of Birmingham. (this is still Wales).

 

 

As we approach Banbury, I decide to go looking for horses and, heading south, take a small (ish) detour.

 

 

Near Uffington we find our quarry. Its been a good lesson in picking out landmarks and a chance for a little dead reckoning too. The stability of the auto pilot eases the task considerably.

 

 

Resuming back to the track, we pass Oxford…

 

 

..and now defunct airfields, interesting in their own right.

 

 

Turning onto track at Milton Keynes is a roundabout way of doing things in comparison to the route I could have taken from Uffington but then there would have been no pun.

 

 

Swinging in over Luton and setting course for the run over London.

 

 

London is…….a let down. As a Mancunian, the thought of a London succumb to a zombie apocalypse isn’t that unappealing, but the performance of the Photogrammetry on my PC/Internet connection isn’t great. The image below is taken after 10 minutes of circling – and it’s still not there yet. Manual Caching does not ease the problem either. Had I switched off the PG prior to arrival I would have been a happily immersed camper, blissful in my ignorance.

 

 

Thankfully, you can switch it off and the resultant Auto Gen rendition is actually pretty good and preferable to the popping, juddering wasteland my PC produces otherwise. Certainly, its good enough for me at any rate. What isn’t are the two super yachts taking the place of HMS Belfast, through perhaps better this that the stratified hulks I’ve seen PG and Bing produce elsewhere.

 

 

Onward to Biggin on the Bump

 

 

Parking up, I eye the…. I don’t what it is but it looks posh…. next to me and muse on where I went wrong in life…

[Gingerwelsh]

Passing Cad West, in FSX, for comparison.

Car park at the bottom and route up to the photographers perch, near the top right.

 

 

 

..

Edited April 29, 2023 by Gingerwelsh

[BOO]

2 hours ago, Gingerwelsh said:

Passing Cad West, in FSX, for comparison.

Car park at the bottom and route up to the photographers perch, near the top right.

 

 

 

..

This is one of the things where MSFS "over compensates", certainly in some  of the more rugged areas of the UK. Not sure if its to help mask lower res imagery or just an over active auto gen but----trees...big trees. Everywhere. Theres a veritable forest on top of Higher Shelf Stones in the Peaks where, I can assure you, only thre most determined of grasses persist. In general its ok although at times it harks back to the Hobbit-esqe shires of Clod. 

Edited April 29, 2023 by BOO

[ZachariasX]

4 minutes ago, BOO said:

trees...big trees. Everywhere.

Mods… those „tree fixes“ are a big help. Several big cities look like they have been reclaimed by the jungle. Autogen trees are usually way too tall as well and on my end this helped a lot:

https://flightsim.to/file/392/tree-height-modification-for-mfs2020-shorter-realistic-trees

 

And here, there‘s some more help, especially regarding Britain:

https://flightsim.to/discover/tree fix

 

[LukeFF]

Huahin Airport, Thailand (VTPH) to Pleiku, Vietnam (VVPK). Distance flown: 486 NM. Real-time weather, time of day, and traffic.

 

 

It took some time to requisition the spare parts I needed to repair our fuel pump, so as this is a tourist area we killed some time before finally setting out again in the early afternoon hours. I also took the time to spruce up Huahin from its bland, autogenerated scenery to something more lively:

 

 

After checking everything extra closely this time (and, sure enough, that stupid GPS circuit breaker was popped again), we took off from runway 16 and headed east, out over the Gulf of Thailand:

 

 

There was a lot of shipping traffic in the Gulf today, including this freighter:

 

 

After passing over the densely populated eastern shore of Pattaya City we passed over the occasional stretch of mountains as we headed eastward toward Cambodia and Vietnam:

 

 

 

There were some clouds on our route today, but generally, the weather was very pleasant with a minor headwind. The terrain grew greener as we headed east. In between the mountains was farmland:

 

 

Eventually, we reached the Mekong River, the last big landmark before our destination:

 

 

We had to overly some high terrain as we made our final approach into VVPK, followed by splitting between some buildings at less than 100 feet altitude:

 

[LukeFF]

 

VVPK is a small airport and another one that received an upgrade from the bland, default layout before this flight. We tumbled out of the plane on yet another hot afternoon, thankful that this time nothing misbehaved during the flight:

 

[BOO]

1 hour ago, ZachariasX said:

Mods… those „tree fixes“ are a big help. Several big cities look like they have been reclaimed by the jungle. Autogen trees are usually way too tall as well and on my end this helped a lot:

https://flightsim.to/file/392/tree-height-modification-for-mfs2020-shorter-realistic-trees

 

And here, there‘s some more help, especially regarding Britain:

https://flightsim.to/discover/tree fix

 

Thanks Zacharias. The addons are great but not needing them after so long and a world update would be even better. I will welcome all and any "this'll fix this" pointers btw.  Often, after a leg Il look up anything that I thought "off" - usually there is a fix paid or unpaid but I think the trick is knowing which one are good and which are not. especially given the age of some of them. 

[ZachariasX]

58 minutes ago, BOO said:

Thanks Zacharias. The addons are great but not needing them after so long and a world update would be even better. I will welcome all and any "this'll fix this" pointers btw.  Often, after a leg Il look up anything that I thought "off" - usually there is a fix paid or unpaid but I think the trick is knowing which one are good and which are not. especially given the age of some of them. 

I do think we will need such fixes for quiet some time. This due to the way AI recreates the world. Essentially you are using one process and when it looks right for your area of interest(s), then you apply it for the whole world snd hope for the best. Looking at specific places will then usually require a fix. It‘s amazing how well this technique works on the whole though.

 

I have a some „must have“ addons, and then I add just what matters for the route I am taking. After doing those flights, I delete the addons again just to keep the comunity folder as small as possible. I also only have the most recent versions of the addons when I just add for when they are needed.

[Lusekofte]

I added all small airports up in north to make a believable route for my Wideroe twin otter. 
I do not fly that much abroad 

I do however look on Alaska bush flying. And look if some add on can improve that. I seen some awesome bush strips out there

Edited April 29, 2023 by Lusekofte

[BOO]

@ZachariasX This is true. Is there a fix for the whole of the south of France? ?  Im really struggling to enjoy this leg of my tour due to the awful terrain popping. At first I figured it was me but going back over other areas Ive flown all those are great. Just done a leg from the Alps to Marseille past Monaco and it almost turned me to murder...awful. And it looks crap in comparison to where ive already flown. 

[ZachariasX]

10 minutes ago, BOO said:

And it looks crap in comparison to where ive already flown. 

I know… I bought Vinon LFNF in the marketplace (an ok addon), an old stomping ground. But for reasons you mentioned, I don‘t fly there often. When I do, then with the glider and with that flights are less scenic…

[BOO]

29 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

I know… I bought Vinon LFNF in the marketplace (an ok addon), an old stomping ground. But for reasons you mentioned, I don‘t fly there often. When I do, then with the glider and with that flights are less scenic…

After a protracted conversion to a very nice Irishman called Keith, it appears there is also some issue with my internet which isnt helping matters. Seems my download is a little "variable". At present its up at where i can be (should be is an altogether different conversion I have yet to instigate with Sky) and, yes, things are a little better but, in comparison with some, that area is half baked, literally. Looking forward to getting to Spain where I hope things improve again. 

[Lusekofte]

About the internet connection. Mine is very fast. But we are up to 4 using it. But in msfs as the only software sometime claim I have no connection or rather connection lost message. 

[LukeFF]

2 hours ago, Lusekofte said:

I do however look on Alaska bush flying. And look if some add on can improve that. I seen some awesome bush strips out there

 

The Return to Misty Moorings addon is a must-have for Alaska bush flying. It's excellent in every way.

[BOO]

3 minutes ago, Lusekofte said:

About the internet connection. Mine is very fast. But we are up to 4 using it. But in msfs as the only software sometime claim I have no connection or rather connection lost message. 

It’s something of an abusive partner is MSFS. Constantly telling you that it’s all your fault. It’s your connection, it’s your gpu, it’s your add on, it’s the way the you looked at that other sim…… 

[LukeFF]

33 minutes ago, BOO said:

It’s something of an abusive partner is MSFS. Constantly telling you that it’s all your fault. It’s your connection, it’s your gpu, it’s your add on, it’s the way the you looked at that other sim…… 

 

I had the "your graphics card was naughty" error last night, which crashed the game after clicking on the error message. Thankfully, I hadn't taken off yet, so I reset my driver settings, cleared my rolling cache, and I was then good to go. 

[Lusekofte]

19 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

 

I had the "your graphics card was naughty" error last night, which crashed the game after clicking on the error message. Thankfully, I hadn't taken off yet, so I reset my driver settings, cleared my rolling cache, and I was then good to go. 

Had this om final approach, in a DC 6. I tru to keep the throttles in decent settings until touch down only using the flaps as a speed moderator. And the annoying thing was this was my first approach witch not had too much speed , might even been to slow. And I won’t know , will I ? It is the darnest thing. I really try to handle it like it should. 

[LukeFF]

Alright, time for a little diversion:

 

"Steep canyon walls in all directions." "Go-arounds not recommended." (Taken from the info page for today's destination).

 

That sounds like a challenge! ? 

 

I finally took some time this afternoon to take the JPL C152 out today, as well as making a flight from McCall Municipal (KMYL) to Soldier Bar USFS Airport (85U), a little dirt strip in southern Idaho. Realtime weather and time of day.

 

 

This is a great little airport, very well-crafted by a third-party designer (don't mind the gigantic Cessna in the background ? ). Sadly, because of the way MSFS currently interprets snow coverage, everything was covered in snow for this flight. Anyhow, the misses and I packed up our camping gear and the dog for a weekend of hiking and hunting to one of the many remote airstrips in this area.

 

 

Some Swiss dude by the name of Zach was hanging around the airport and saying that "real men navigate by VOR", and so sure enough the plane we rented today was equipped with the finest in '80s radio gear and a rubber duck for a sideslip indicator. The plan would be to pick up a nearby radial, fly the ~65 or so miles to the location of the airport, and then pick up the airstrip with the assistance of an (ahem) handheld GPS device.

 

The skies were clear and the winds were light, but as I soon was reminded, the C152 is very easily bounced about by turbulence. Nonetheless, the visuals were beautiful. 

 

 

Once our DME gear told us we were within the vicinity of the airstrip, we began our search for our landing spot. Soon enough, we picked it up:

 

 

Then, contrary to the advice given, we had to make a few hair-raising go-arounds, first because we were too high, and then secondly because I realized at the last moment we were on the wrong approach heading (this airstrip is strictly a one-way in and one way out affair). I could tell the misses was not enjoying this. ? 

 

Finally, though, we touched down, though I cut power a bit too soon and we drifted off to the left of the runway. Thankfully, I was able to recover and bring it back on line. 

 

 

Once we landed and breathed a sigh of relief, we noticed that someone else was there already. From the look on his face, I could tell he was amused by our adventures. Oh well - time to pitch the tent, start a fire, and take a nap in the hammock. Our beagle was all too ready as well to get out of the plane.

 

 

This one was a lot of fun! I'll definitely (after we fly the return flight to McCall) fly this one again, as well as to other airstrips in the area. Because of the way we navigated, we didn't have the most ideal approach, coming in from the south. Because of the way the airstrip is situated, it's much, much better to come in from the north. If I'd done that I probably wouldn't have had so many instances of having to go around.

 

But yes, both these airfields are highly recommended. McCall is definitely within starting distance of a lot of challenging airstrips in this part of the US.

[Lusekofte]

Where do you find the snow? I flown here all winter and not seen any in the sim. But 5 people died in avalanches last month. 
so we got snow

[BOO]

Two randoms from an aborted leg that now dont fit in with the narrative. 

[BOO]

@LukeFF you keep on tempting me with McCall damn you man!

 

After flying the South of France today it certainly appears not all regions are created equal. Idaho for sure is very well put toegther though which makes the £40 I need to curate the collection in that area seem a sensible investment....no! Damn it!. 

 

The JPL C152 is very sweet. Should be payware. 

[LukeFF]

8 minutes ago, BOO said:

The JPL C152 is very sweet. Should be payware. 

 

Yes, it's definitely the gold standard when it comes to the 152. 

[LukeFF]

7 hours ago, Lusekofte said:

Where do you find the snow? I flown here all winter and not seen any in the sim. But 5 people died in avalanches last month. 
so we got snow

 

I dunno, it's weird. My father lives in northern Idaho, and the snow there has melted long ago.

[BOO]

Day 16.  Biggin Hill, UK – Voisins, France. 286 Nm, Real Time, Live Weather.

 

 

Pt 1

 

 

After being made to feel decided unwelcome in the Biggin Bar due our of lack of appropriate neckwear, we decide to make this a short stop and head out for France directly. I’ll admit Im nervous. This’ll be the first country we’ve visited where speaking in English, no matter how loudly or how  slowly, will not do. Fortunately, I have a CSE in French although that was obtained back in the days when people thought Jimmy Saville visiting a hospital was a good thing and it hasn’t been used since.

 

 

In bright skies we bounce and bump our way to the South Coast over pleasingly auto-genned scenery.

 

 

Beachy Head is something of “meh”, its cliffs glitching as we pass and its representation decidedly Sunday League. I have to say that the selection of what areas are given more than that bing map splat in this game are bizarre.

 

 

Onwards, over some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world……..and this is despite the sliders being maxed.

 

 

Enemy Coast…er …France…ahead. Crossing at Le Touqet, the scene of many an emergency 109 landing in simming days of yore..

 

 

We follow the Canche, SE to Frevent. The scenery is pleasant, and the Bing landscape’s lack of repetitiveness helps add realism to the landscape in start contrast to what went before.

 

 

Turning at Frevent we head NW to Arras……

 

 

…before turning SW at Arras to Albert with the intention of fulfilling another sim bucket list and overflying Thiepval.

 

 

Theipval!! – Of course this is a sim and Im not gonna die in a ditch about a virtual memorial for 72,000 men who did exactly that, but even so Asobo….What the Furst World War is that? Looks for all the world as if someone has erected a wedding marquee in their back garden. Cultural significance aside the Thiepval Memorial is an imposing and distinct landmark in its own right. It really should be there in the base game even if the countless other cemeteries are not. I think its more annoying that something is there. Clearly someone recognised it needed marking but with a gazebo… really?…. Massive fail as far as I’m concerned.

 

 

Anyhow, calming down, Amiens Prison is present.

 

Day 16.  Biggin Hill, UK – Voisins, France. 286 Nm, Real Time, Live Weather.

 

Pt Deux

 

 

As we approach the outskirts of Paris….a sign! All will be well!

 

 

Sadly the Photogrammetry says “non” once again although not quite as vehemently as it did in London. However, in the moody conditions, I rather like this shot….

 

 

Leaving Zombie Paris behind us, I apologise to Ralf and promise him I’ll get him something nice to eat. He mutters something about skimping on VRAM and internet providers and doesn’t give me eye contact. Secretly, Im getting increasingly nervous about this French speaking thing…

 

 

Touchdown at Voisins under lifting clouds.  Seems I flew over Disneyland or close to it. I didn’t notice anything. Could be there. Id sooner not find out. Awful place…Ryhll with mice.

 

 

As we are dismissively gestured to our parking slot, I see one of ground  crew clock the G of the reg and grunt………Im really not sure my “uooone fromage un jambon baguette see vooo plate” is gonna cut it…I cling onto to the hope that we are far just enough away from Paris for someone to take pity on an ignorant tourist..

Edited April 30, 2023 by BOO

[ZachariasX]

35 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

I dunno, it's weird. My father lives in northern Idaho, and the snow there has melted long ago.

When Doolittle was ferrying mail, he didn‘t even have radio beacons. But since we men generally know everything, we also always know where we are. (Even if that means one has to turn the radio down a bit to scan the location.)

 

But speaking of snow, MSFS indeed has a great way in applying snow textures, but often this is somewhat off. It appears it is mainly using temperature to whiten the respective locations. Dry areas like northern Idaho get way too much snow like that. I’ve been doing some skiing in Schweizer Mountain (where else?) and I find the snow distribution in MSFS a bit generous indeed.

 

But what is at least as bad, it makes roads being covered with snow and worse it makes lakes covered with ice. For most prominent lakes, the added cold days required to make a lake freeze is known. The lake of Zurich with 88 km2 for instance requires a Kältesumme of 300 degrees Centigrade.  E.g. ten days of an average of -3 degrees Centigrade equates for a „sum of cold“ of 30 degrees Centigrade.

 

We can see that in our current atmosphrere, the freezing of larger lakes in western Europe has become almost impossible. This was most likely the last time humans witnessed a frozen lake Zurich in 1962/63:

 

Small lakes have a Kältesumme of about 100 degrees, large ones, like lake Constance for instance, 370 days. (It also froze up back then.)

 

In western Europe, roads are „cleared black“ (Is there a name for that in English? In German you say „Schwarzräumung“.) in winter (if possible, and it usually is), meaning there is no snow left on the pavement. In Norway, „white clearing“ seems standard, where the snow seems to be just pressed on the road, which makes winter diving in Norway a nightmare for us southerners. (Iˋm sure @Lusekofte knows more about these more local habits.) But having roads stand out as black lines in winter makes for a very different picture.

[ST_Catchov]

On 4/29/2023 at 7:00 AM, BOO said:

 

 

 

London is…….a let down.

 

Nonetheless, I like it .... it's quite a striking image.

[Lusekofte]

30 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

which makes winter diving in Norway a nightmare for us southerners. (Iˋm sure @Lusekofte knows more about these more local habits.) But having roads stand out as black lines in winter makes for a very different picture.

Funny you say winter diving. We do dive during winter, very clear water. But I assume you mean driving. Best winter conditions is actually snow and below -4 c° black ice is the one to be careful about. And you need good winter tires with spikes.  

[LukeFF]

So, we made it back to McCall, notwithstanding my awful takeoff run (I really need to study the layout of this runway more). It doesn't help that the runway is (1) not level and (2) not a straight line. 

 

Alas, Microsoft's weatherman still thinks we have snow in 70-degree weather, so it's off once again into the icy wilderness:

 

 

The weather was like it was on the previous day - clear, but with enough turbulence to make things really interesting (read: being bounced around quite a bit). But, we picked up the VOR station to the south of McCall, climbed to 10,500 feet, and we and the duck were on our way:

 

 

We made it back to KMYL without incident, taxied the plane over to a parking stand, and paid our final rental fees. We were extra sure to remove all the pine needles and other debris from the landing gear before slinking away. ? 

 

 

34 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

But speaking of snow, MSFS indeed has a great way in applying snow textures, but often this is somewhat off. It appears it is mainly using temperature to whiten the respective locations. Dry areas like northern Idaho get way too much snow like that. I’ve been doing some skiing in Schweizer Mountain (where else?) and I find the snow distribution in MSFS a bit generous indeed.

 

Ah yes, Schweizer Mountain - my father has skied there on numerous occasions. Great place, from what I hear.

 

Yeah, this whole snow texture issue is especially a problem as well in New Zealand, with Milford Sound being a sore point. It has a nice new handcrafted airport, but the whole surrounding area is encased in snow and ice. You'd be forgiven for thinking you were in the Canadian North. ? Apparently what exacerbates the problem is that New Zealand is not as forthcoming with making its weather data publicly available. 

[BOO]

Day 17. Voisins, France – Lausanne, Switzerland - Courchevel, France. 331 Nm, Real Time, Live Weather.

 

 

 

We awake to grim weather but an improving forecast for our destination. Courchevel. A short uphill “Altistrip” in the Alps with no option to go around they say. One thing I found in the Kodiak is that applying last minute power in buckets, at low speed, torque rolls you into the earth. So, for once I may need to be careful.  

 

 

Heading SE over rural French countryside, the weather and feel of the sim impresses. As does the addon packs of We love VFR and Powerlines and Solar Farms

 

 

Using airfields as waypoint we pick our way across the country and, in improving weather slowly start to increase our altitude as the terrain also does the same.

 

 

Approaching the Swiss border, I am grateful for a good forecast in comparison to the one some poor schmuck is getting to our North…

 

 

..and all is set fair as we turn towards Geneva…

 

 

….passing over nicely detailed powerlines crossing tree lines valleys. It doesn’t get better….

 

 

….it gets worse. Approaching Geneva it all goes pear shaped. The tiles suddenly begin to glitch and the game stutters…..

 

 

….by the time we pass an ugly looking Geneva the graphics are in full meltdown…..

 

 

…although long distance images still look good as they don’t show the slideshow.

 

 

We line up for an unscheduled stop at Lausanne.

 

 

Parking up, Im hoping restarting the game resolves the issues….

 

 

And it does!! Back up we go, zooming into stutter free air like the rock stars we are…..

 

 

Smoke on the waaa-ter Der Der Der, Doo doo De-Derrr…..Montreux…..no fires.

 

 

Leaving Lake Geneva/Lac Leman behind us, we climb steadily to 10,000ft. The land below turns white and I actually start to feel uneasy. Flying a sim. I know!

 

 

High in the mountains Im not sure what I think. On one hand its sort of impressive, but on the other, at my resolution and on my screen it looks kinda “drawn”. The lack of illusion isn’t helped by glitching scenery, something all sims seem to suffer with when rendering steep terrain. I note that the eastern facing slopes seem to suffer more than their western counterparts.

 

 

Now and again however the render works really well but more often, its more like the edges of the image. Further proof I need a faster internet and a bigger PC I guess.

 

 

By the grace of GPS we finally happen up on Courchevel. It really isn’t a very long runway at all! I also wish I remembered to activate the runway texture mod so I could see it!.  I go around the airstrip twice at altitude to get my bearings before committing to an approach.

 

 

And….for a first time uphill landing, I’m pretty pleased. Perhaps a little heavy on the nose gear and a little to the left as usual but bang on the threshold and true down the strip. The benign weather helps of course as does the slope which brings the Kodiak to a halt without the need for reverse thrust or even too much braking.

 

 

Parking up, feeling pretty smug, Ralf nudges me and points to the right……I tell him it was brought in by helicopter bit by bit and assembled there …..

[LukeFF]

@BOO, are you using any sort of replay too to take those screenshots? I'd love to take more external shots when I'm on takeoff and landing, but I'm reluctant to go to external view while I'm still hand-flying the plane.

[Lusekofte]

7 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

@BOO, are you using any sort of replay too to take those screenshots? I'd love to take more external shots when I'm on takeoff and landing, but I'm reluctant to go to external view while I'm still hand-flying the plane.

Why not active pause it and use nvidia overlay 

[BOO]

5 hours ago, LukeFF said:

@BOO, are you using any sort of replay too to take those screenshots? I'd love to take more external shots when I'm on takeoff and landing, but I'm reluctant to go to external view while I'm still hand-flying the plane.

The landings are a mix of active pause if Im im nice n high or pretty much on the deck or  trim and flying external for brief periods if Im in between. I need to activate Flow as waiting for that damn bar to disappear is a pain. . Early doors I nealy wrecked the cub using active pause so I try to do it "live" using trim or bounce it for the shot then pause where it goes well, Take offs I dial in the heading and FLT and hit the ap on wheels up. 

 

EDIT - @LukeFF  -- cursed me! - dropped it landing at Castell de Castells. Uphill slope fooled me into thinking i was lower so i paused it. I call that Strike one. ?

Edited April 30, 2023 by BOO

[LukeFF]

6 hours ago, BOO said:

The landings are a mix of active pause if Im im nice n high or pretty much on the deck or  trim and flying external for brief periods if Im in between. I need to activate Flow as waiting for that damn bar to disappear is a pain. . Early doors I nealy wrecked the cub using active pause so I try to do it "live" using trim or bounce it for the shot then pause where it goes well, Take offs I dial in the heading and FLT and hit the ap on wheels up. 

 

Got it. ?? The only reason I don't use Active Pause most of the time is that the author of Little Navmap says/said it causes issues with recording flight times and other things. That said, I see that the problem is now fixed. So now, I don't have a reason to not use it. ? 

https://albar965.github.io/release/2023/03/06/littlenavmap-stable-289-released.html

 

Quote

Active pause in MSFS breaks the connection and does not allow to reconnect even when restarting Little Navmap. This is a MSFS issue. Use the key Esc for normal pause or click the toolbar button for pause to avoid problems. Note that you can also start active pause the usual way (keyboard or joystick) but end it with the MSFS toolbar button. This keeps the connection intact.

 

The active pause problem was fixed with the MSFS SU12 Beta version.

So, it looks like I need to try it out!

[BOO]

5 hours ago, LukeFF said:

 

Got it. ?? The only reason I don't use Active Pause most of the time is that the author of Little Navmap says/said it causes issues with recording flight times and other things. That said, I see that the problem is now fixed. So now, I don't have a reason to not use it. ? 

https://albar965.github.io/release/2023/03/06/littlenavmap-stable-289-released.html

 

So, it looks like I need to try it out!

minimising stick imput with triim is the key. 

[BOO]

Day 18.  Courchevel, France – LFSQ Altisurface d’Aleu, France (intended). 430 Nm. Real Tme, Live Weather.

 

 

This region is not MSFS at its best. Most of this leg was flown twice. On the first occasion, the performance of the game was so awful I gave up. Not wholly the game’s fault but it has a leading role The region has a distinct feeling that Asobo gave up on it. Here, I find you fly to the shortcomings, not the strengths, of the sim. Once you accept that, it’s a lot better.

 

Pt1

 

 

Ralf nudges me and points out the twin engined airliner has gone. “Any idiot can fly out of here” I tell him. “That’s a relief” he mutters, under his breath.

 

 

Truth ne told any idiot can and whilst the drop off looks daunting……..

 

 

 

….The Kodiak eases in to the cold air gracefully.

 

 

Passing between the mountains we climb to 14,000 ft before engaging the AP. This altitude is no arbitrary figure, but one forced on me by the game mechanics. I previously attempted this leg at 12,000ft and was, resultantly too low to the terrain for the game to produce a smooth transition of tiles.

 

 

With a little extra height, and a little extra light than previously, whilst not always perfect, the mountain tops look a damn sight better and glitch far less.

 

 

But glitch they still do on occasion as can be seen with the random unloaded tiles here.

 

 

And here, where the stark tonal difference is apparent.

 

 

But its not too awful and, as we make our way towards the coast, some pleasant views can be had.

 

 

Day 18.  Courchevel, France – LFSQ Altisurface d’Aleu, France (intended). 430 Nm. Real Tme, Live Weather.

 

Pt 2

 

 

We hit the coast at Monaco. In an earlier flight, I went lower but, TBH, it’s not all that. In fact, its bloody awful. Instead, we take a lazy turn and begin a slow decent.

 

 

Passing over Nice…

 

 

The combination of Auto Gen and PG works well at altitude.

 

 

At about 5000 down to 3500 ft, things settle down nicely again with no popping tiles as we make our way for a fuel stop at LFTZ La Mole. The colours are not great though. Everything seems a little off. A bit Polaroid.

 

 

La Mole, is, or rather should be, a lovely little strip. Sadly, below 1500ft the hi rez tiles pop in right in front of you as you approach, ruining the vibe. Such a shame.

 

 

We refuel for the next leg. Ill say it again, lovely little airfield.

 

 

Back in the air, we make our way along the coast at between 1500 and 2000ft. The flatter terrain stops the glitching issues for the most part but its still not perfect by any means. I can perhaps now see why Asobo insist you sit on the floor in these aircraft…

 

 

I should perhaps have made more of the journey given the places being passed but I was more than a little non plussed by the experience. Perhaps a little unfair as, for the most part, its acceptable.  We pass some interesting things such as the Paul Ricard Racing Circuit but again, late loading tiles ruin the immersion. This image was taken the moment all the tiles loaded in high res. And Im doing 120 kts at this point.

 

As we passed behind Marseille a couple of small jitters and the sight of some black structures in the distance, reminded me I had PG switched on. Ah well, in for a penny. Here I learn something. PG works very well at alts above say, 1500ft especially if you don’t give yourself bionic zoom vision. Keeping the default view creates the illusion. And it’s a nice illusion. I kinda get PG finally.

 

 

Moving on we overfly the BMW test track at Miramas. Once again the low quality of the finish in the tiling is apparent with an otherwise great representation encroached upon by out of place “stuff”. Despite all this – the sim still pulls of some very photo realistic images at times. Most often I find these in the most out of the way and seemingly uninteresting places and Im rapidly learning that landmarks tend to be rather disappointing whereas the land itself, absorbingly detailed.

 

 

After Montpellier, the weather begins to close. The end of the leg is a story in its own right and one flown in far better scenery so here is good place to end this whiny entry.

Edited May 1, 2023 by BOO

[IckyATLAS]

It becomes difficult to sort between real and CGI pictures. Some can be easily identified as CGI but others not at first look. Ingame pictures become better than those used for marketing games in the past.

[BOO]

Day 18.  Courchevel, France – LFSQ Altisurface d’Aleu, France (intended). 430 Nm. Real Tme, Live Weather.

Pt3 –(Nearly) Unhappy Endings.

 

 

Passing Montpellier and approaching the Andorra region, there’s a subtle change in the tone of the scenery and colours, once again, begin to ring true.

 

 

All of the problems of the previous section are gone and smooth runnings lie ahead. Well, perhaps not so smooth. The weather now takes centre stage. Ive said it before and will, no doubt say it, a thousand times more, but this sim does weather to perfection (Dickensian-eqque snow coverage apart)

 

 

That said, right now, weather is not what I need! I switch on the Nexrad. That’s a lot of red exactly where a lot of red doesn’t need to be.

 

 

Initially, as we climb into the hills and mountains, it seems we’ve beaten it.

 

 

Visibility is reasonable and the cloud base is…..…well I can see the peaks. What I don’t see, and don’t realise, is that there are other peaks, higher peaks, peaks with Altistrips on. And so begins a tense 90 minutes.

 

 

On reaching the strip, the mountain is blanketed in thick cloud and heavy rain. I set up a circuit at 6000ft so as to be clear of any hazard, more often circuiting in 10/10 cloud with only the heavy rain streaking on the windows to be seen as we are thrown about violently in the turbulence. I occasionally get a glimpse of the mountains, but these are fleeting.

 

 

In the dying light, the strip reveals itself once. Its monetary, but I foolishly grab at the opportunity, arriving too steep and too fast, slowing too late to stop in time. Applying power, the Kodiak corkscews to the left. I drop the power and hammer the stick and rudders hard right Only the grace of a steep, treeless drop off saves me from the ground as the Kodiak recovers itself and gathers sufficient speed to allow me to take it back to a safe altitude.

 

 

Enough is enough. The light is fading fast and, even if the clouds and rain did clear, it would be an almost impossible spot. I admit defeat and divert to Antichan, a nearby strip in the foothills.

 

 

As before, the weather is not kind. Descending lower, I hear the 500ft warning as I desperately search in the red gloom for the field. I ignore it. A tree flashes by, off to my right and I pull back on the stick and add power, climbing to the right. This is idiocy. Even in a sim.

 

 

By now, the light is also almost gone. I should retreat to a lit runway. I have more than enough fuel to do so. But I don’t. I’m tired. Not thinking straight. I should add here that this is actually how I am in RL at present, but it does translate rather well into the simulated circumstance! Here the sim plays its strongest suite with absolutely stunning visuals.

 

 

Despite the presence of three lit airfields nearby, two with ILS lighting and one with a full blind approach system, I elect to alight on a short unlit farmer’s strip in the village of Palaminy. It makes no sense but its were I’m at. We circle several times to get eyes on it, all the time losing what little light remains.

 

 

Eventually, we line up.

 

 

The landing is awful, but one we walk away from.

 

Parking up in the darkness, I tell Ralf to go find the Farmer and apologise for the unannounced use of his facility. I can see his face contorting as the seeds of protest begin to form in his dull mind. I cut him off “Because I’m the pilot and I have important things to do with switches and charts and  things…see?...switches.”

A nice touch at this out of the way strip is the blue flickering light emanating from a nearby homestead replicating a TV. Little things.

 

I hear a dog bark, Ralf yelp and a Frenchman cursing…I suspect bottle of XO is about to be humbly gifted by me.

Edited May 1, 2023 by BOO

[DD_Arthur]

On 4/29/2023 at 3:05 PM, BOO said:

@ZachariasX This is true. Is there a fix for the whole of the south of France? ?  Im really struggling to enjoy this leg of my tour due to the awful terrain popping. At first I figured it was me but going back over other areas Ive flown all those are great. Just done a leg from the Alps to Marseille past Monaco and it almost turned me to murder...awful. And it looks crap in comparison to where ive already flown. 

 

Have you considered this?

 

https://flightsim.to/file/19345/msfs-2020-google-map-replacement

 

I never fly without it.  The Bing data used by the game is not the most up to date available and as you've found out it's coverage can be patchy. This mod gives the option to stream much more recent data or Google data.

Quality varies depending on where you're flying. If it's the USA I always use Google. If it's the UK I always use up to date Bing.

[BOO]

3 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

Have you considered this?

 

https://flightsim.to/file/19345/msfs-2020-google-map-replacement

 

I never fly without it.  The Bing data used by the game is not the most up to date available and as you've found out it's coverage can be patchy. This mod gives the option to stream much more recent data or Google data.

Quality varies depending on where you're flying. If it's the USA I always use Google. If it's the UK I always use up to date Bing.

It has quite a mix of more recent reviews so I skiped it. Ill give it another look. What you say "up to date bing" is this different from the stock in game version?

 

EDIT. ah it has several options. I see the bing thing now 

Edited May 1, 2023 by BOO