Microsoft Flight Sim 2020

[AndyJWest]

The elevator is neutral, and I wasn't really using it for pitch control much - instead using power to climb/descend. The wing-warping lateral control is rather ineffective, whereas the rudder is oversensitive, making steep turns inadvisable. This was with the Gnome-powered version, which has the flight model toned down a bit - the second Anzani-powered version is supposed to be the most authentic, though I've not tried it yet.

[DD_Arthur]

Magnificent!

[ZachariasX]

Made me just browse again through the "Bible" on Blériot.

 

But I don't think they got the flight mechanics right at all then. You need to keep pushing the stick forward all the time, as the plane is very tail heavy. It produces considerable strain fling a longer time. Also, as the wings are always at a high AoA, you have no aileron controls to speak of, all you have is a device producing adverse yaw. You guide the aircraft by yaw control. The ailerons are just there to stabilize the aircraft in bank induced by the rudder.

 

The fatigue from holding the stick in the cold killed Geo Chavez by stalling out in landing after he crossed the Alps over the Simplon Pass. The ailerons not being ailerons made Bléroits grandson only go as far as a nearby Duckpond instead of over the Channel to England. Mikael Carlson did much better. "These planes last forever if you give them enough tender love and care." High maintenance I'd say. But of all, he's the guy for that.

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by ZachariasX

[AndyJWest]

If other people want to try to reproduce the control forces from a 1909 aircraft on a 2020 spring-balanced PC joystick, that's fine by me. I see no reason why I should be made uncomfortable in an entirely-unrealistic attempt to be 'authentic' though, since what I'm flying it with bears no resemblance to the control wheel in the Blériot. And that's all I'm interested in saying on the subject, since it's already been done to death in RoF.

[ZachariasX]

I was more curious about what the developpers see in that aircraft. But especially with such old crates, they better do what they are comfortable doing. Ultimately, It is about having fun with it. Looks nice and you just made me browse through a great book I haven't taken from the shelves in a while. And that is fun too.

 

Edit: You mentioned Anzani and the absence of climb rates. As it turns out, that is optional:

Spoiler

 

That is just the right ride to fight traffic downton.

Edited November 27, 2020 by ZachariasX

[DD_Arthur]

[ZachariasX]

That's mean.

 

But if it comes to that, never ever use helicopters to retrieve your crate. The air stream from the rotor broke the airplane in pieces. They then still had to fetch the boat that they should have waited for in the first place. Don't be hasty with old crates. "These planes last forever if you give them enough tender love and care."

[AndyJWest]

I've just tried the 'realistic flight model' Anzani-powered Blériot. ?

 

Taking off was um, interesting, since it accelerates worse than it climbs: i.e. almost imperceptibly. Once in the air, lots of adverse yaw with the wing-warping, and no directional stability at all. Not really sure about the pitch response, since I was mostly concentrating on going vaguely forwards, rather than sideways. The engine cuts if you throttle back too far. A true aviator's avion.

[Bremspropeller]

 

??

[DD_Arthur]

18 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

That's mean.

 

But if it comes to that, never ever use helicopters to retrieve your crate. The air stream from the rotor broke the airplane in pieces. They then still had to fetch the boat that they should have waited for in the first place. Don't be hasty with old crates. "These planes last forever if you give them enough tender love and care."

 

I'm pretty sure thats the rescue of the pilot rather than the plane? 

[ZachariasX]

30 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

I'm pretty sure thats the rescue of the pilot rather than the plane? 

I think this photo is from Gloria Pullens try to cross the channel on July 26th, 1989. That one ended two miles short of Dover. The engine just quit.

 

Yes, they did pick her up with that helicopter, but then they thought they could pick up the plane as well. That was not a god idea as it blew the light aircraft off the hook and it smashed back on the water. Ironically, it suffered little damage from the landing in the water. The the second drop did a lot of harm.

 

They might as well have just waited for the boat.

[DD_Arthur]

Yes, it’s Gloria Pullen. This one was rebuilt so Bleriot Jnr. could fly it into the duck pond ten years later.     Now it’s Andy’s turn....?

[Hoots]

2 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

I've just tried the 'realistic flight model' Anzani-powered Blériot. ?

 

Taking off was um, interesting, since it accelerates worse than it climbs: i.e. almost imperceptibly. Once in the air, lots of adverse yaw with the wing-warping, and no directional stability at all. Not really sure about the pitch response, since I was mostly concentrating on going vaguely forwards, rather than sideways. The engine cuts if you throttle back too far. A true aviator's avion.

Liking the fact that adverse yaw is accurately modelled. Speaks well of the flight modelling. 

 

[Dutch2]

End of december the VR update will be released, by that time I do hope finally get an 6800XT or RTX3080. 

 

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/76464/microsoft-flight-sim-getting-full-vr-support-in-december-update/index.html

 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Dutch2
link

[Lusekofte]

2 hours ago, Dutch2 said:

End of december the VR update will be released, by that time I do hope finally get an 6800XT or RTX3080. 

 

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/76464/microsoft-flight-sim-getting-full-vr-support-in-december-update/index.html

 

 

I rather stop flying than invest in such hardware next two years. It is simply not worth my ten minutes of flying each week

[DD_Arthur]

Davis Monthan, the Captain and I

 

 

[ZachariasX]

Did another leg on my a-bit-farther-than-around-the-world-trip, this time from the Aéroport de Santiago de Cuba to Saba. This via Haiti, the Dominican Rep. and the V.I.'s. This time, I didn't ajdust time and took off corresponding my local time. Not a good idea, as South eastern Cuba is a one dark place, Port-au-Prince the first light to speak off after a good hour of flight.

 

 

Finally dawn, over Baranoha, Dom.Rep.. They really mnaged to get scene lightning superb in this sim.

 

 

Passing the Dominican Republic, I arrive over Isla Mona. As bland as it gets. I generally have mixed feelings about the Carribiean. Most Islands are really basic once you leave your resort. Very much unlike Italy for instance.

 

 

Arriving over Puerto Rico, the city of Boqueron just behind me.

 

 

San Juan. It does have a very nice old town with the fortifications (just above the aircraft). In the sim, it doesn't exist as such, but is bland and procedural. The beaches are nice as well, but the same as everywhere in the Carribean with the downside that you're facing the open open ocean, meaning when weather is moving in, you get a ton of swell and the hotel pool is usually preferable if you need to soak.

 

 

The San Juan airport is made rather nice in the current default scenery.

 

 

Charlotte, American V. I. As posh and pretty as it is, a remote place.

 

 

Ideal scenery for a pirate galley sim. St. John and B.V.I ahead.

 

 

last waypoint, TNCS on Carribean Netherlands. Lots of airport for that Island. But If you need to go to Schiphol nonstop, then you need lotsa runway. Still, it is a place in the sim scenery that could be improved by payware.

 

 

Saba. A mountain in the sea.

 

 

This friggin' runway is mighty short for the Baron and I needed every meter of it. I had a bit of tailwind as well, but try runway 12.

 

Next flight will be down the Windward Islands to Isla Margerita. For sentimental reasons. I have been there a couple of times when it was not a bad idea to do so.

[Bremspropeller]

Has anybody seen Andy lately?

 

Some say, he's on his way to Scotland...

[DD_fruitbat]

So I succumbed to buying the MB-339 today to get a slightly faster fix in this, and whist its not a grey jet, it goes someway to scratching that itch....

 

The clouds in this game are just something else, it doesn't really matter to me at the moment where I'm flying, just give me broken clouds!!!!! I love them!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AndyJWest]

27 minutes ago, Bremspropeller said:

Has anybody seen Andy lately?

 

Some say, he's on his way to Scotland...

 

Nope. Back in something a little faster, currently flying across Pakistan. That's the Indus river. Nice to see some greenery on my world trip after nothing but sand, rocks and sea since I left Africa. 

 

Fun as the  Blériot is, I wouldn't recommend it for a tour of anything larger than the Isle of Wight.

 

[ZachariasX]

2 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

Fun as the  Blériot is, I wouldn't recommend it for a tour of anything larger than the Isle of Wight.

That coming from someone touring the world in a Cub, I guess that tells us something...

[DD_fruitbat]

6 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

That coming from someone touring the world in a Cub, I guess that tells us something...

 

That masochism only goes so far.......

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

When combat sims have clouds like MS FS2020...

[Feathered_IV]

When CFS4  is announced. 

[Monostripezebra]

 

[Bremspropeller]

Where did you get that Long-EZ?

[firdimigdi]

On 11/8/2020 at 11:03 AM, ZachariasX said:

I'm starting to experience frametime slowdowns due to 'CoherentGTDraw' suddenly suddnly chocking the whole system. From what I could gather, it is a plugin that draws the Garmin screens or the NAV window. There in no setting in the GFX options to alleviate the issue once you have it. It starts about one hour into the flight, dropping my FPS from 30+ to 10+.

 

CoherentGTDraw is from Coherent Lab's GT which is part of "Gameface", s a middleware for making GUIs. So it could be any element of the UI, HUD or airplane displays causing it.

[ZachariasX]

I saw that error mentioned often with the glass cockpit displays and activating the VFR map.

 

At least in the least, the issue didn't manifest anymore on my end, even before the next updates came. Something triggered it and I had it, some restarts later it was (luckily) not reproducibla anymore. Fingers crossed. It is aways an issue when you inherit complexity in your design.

[Monostripezebra]

11 hours ago, Bremspropeller said:

Where did you get that Long-EZ?

 

It is in the this "marketplace" thing.. I thought I just waste some money and try it out, but I actually like it. It is not overly sophisticated, but it flies nice and fast with good visibility and feels good, so it is nice to explore cities or places

[DBFlyguy]

 

[Dutch2]

22 hours ago, LLv34_Flanker said:

S!

 

When combat sims have clouds like MS FS2020...

Its not only the clouds in BoX that have the 2010 retro looks

 

21 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

When CFS4  is announced. 

 

That would be great if being possible, but who knows 1C is already being knocking on MS door for using this engine for the PTO. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by Dutch2

[Feathered_IV]

1 hour ago, Dutch2 said:

That would be great if being possible, but who knows 1C is already being knocking on MS door for using this engine for the PTO. 

 

A couple of weeks ago the FS2020 devs said they have had upwards of 600 offers of partnership already.  I have no doubt that there are multiple teams out there, all wanting to pitch a new CFS. 

[CanadaOne]

1 hour ago, Feathered_IV said:

 

A couple of weeks ago the FS2020 devs said they have had upwards of 600 offers of partnership already.  I have no doubt that there are multiple teams out there, all wanting to pitch a new CFS. 

 

It's definitely going to happen, it's just a question of when. I was going treetop in the MB-339 last night and if it was on a run to down a bridge with a couple of Snake Eyes, it would have been the best run ever. The terrain is near perfect at times. Might take an 5900X and a 3080 to get good FPS while doing it, but it's one more technical hurdle that's bound to get jumped.

 

I'll bet some military types who use DCS as a training tool are already asking how to port the A-10C into FS20. Would that be the cat's ass!

[Monostripezebra]

On 11/27/2020 at 4:58 PM, AndyJWest said:

My new toy. ?

 

 

The Blériot XI comes in three versions - one with a 50 HP Gnome, which I was flying (which boasts such advanced features as a rate of climb ?), and two with 25 HP Anzani engines, which differ in the flight model. Louis Blériot made his crossing in an Anzani-powered one, in poor visibility. A brave man.
 

https://wing42.com/en/msfs-addons/29-bleriot-xi-for-msfs.html

€19.99 (£17.84/$23.70 at current exchange rates) so not cheap, but worth it for anyone into flying something different.

 

 

 

That looks really really nice.. I feel tempted.

I was just watching this, dam you algorythms..

 

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by Monostripezebra

[Monostripezebra]

A little weird, those dams..

 

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Monostripezebra

[ZachariasX]

Dam!

[unlikely_spider]

On 12/1/2020 at 6:20 AM, CanadaOne said:

 

It's definitely going to happen, it's just a question of when. I was going treetop in the MB-339 last night and if it was on a run to down a bridge with a couple of Snake Eyes, it would have been the best run ever. The terrain is near perfect at times. Might take an 5900X and a 3080 to get good FPS while doing it, but it's one more technical hurdle that's bound to get jumped.

 

I'll bet some military types who use DCS as a training tool are already asking how to port the A-10C into FS20. Would that be the cat's ass!

But no damage model on the ground objects or buildings!

[CanadaOne]

2 hours ago, unlikely_spider said:

But no damage model on the ground objects or buildings!

 

In time.

[Lusekofte]

The hope, the unbearable hope for yet another CFS we all can be very disappointed over and giv dev’s hell

[ZachariasX]

Did another leg in the Carribiean, this time from Saba down the Windward Islands to Isla Margarita, Venezuela. I'll be passing a lot of places I have been to.

 

 

Weather was rather good. But the Baron, filled to the gills with half a ton of fuel is heavy for this runway. I have just my suitcase with me, no other passengers. Landing the Baron here was rather unsafe. Let's see how taking off will go. Full power, then release parking brakes.

 

 

Crappers. That was a close shave. Full flaps were required and it still didn't really reach minimum flight speed going over the cliff. At least the drop was high enough to keep me from a swim.

 

 

First Island on the way, Sint Eustatius. If you need fuel, it's your place to be. It also features a remarkably big airport. But not much else.

 

 

Arriving at St. Kitts and Nevis (the far island on the horizon) next, I'm just over the Capital Basseterre. Have been here a couple of times. Do never try to swim on the North West (left) side of that island. The Atlantic currents and the swell are utterly unhealthy. It is also the side hit heaviest by Hurricanes. If you ever think of buying property somewhat safe from the IRS, the Caribbean side of the island is your choice. Funny enough, I know a guy who bought an entire Golf resort, just after I was there and witnessed what a Hurricane does to that Island. Most of the narrow part of the island (just ahead of the plane) was flooded. Precisely where the resort is located. What an idiot.

 

 

Looking down at the supposedly famous turtle beach at the far end of St.Kitts, Nevis just beyond. The one time I went as far as that beach, the Hurricane did not leave much of that. I guess they put some sand back there. But arriving there, all we saw were some American dudes and chicas playing beach volley on an otherwise demolished beach. Students of the local "veterinary university" they said. As the university was trashed, they basically had half a year off until their term was over. It comprehensively re-adjusted my sense for alarmism in my further graduate studies. (Funny enough also at a campus of a veterinary institute.)

I am rather fond of the locals though. Although most seemed to have only one aim, leaving this island. Other than that, they were always very friendly and practical. Should you find yourself a nice beach (better near Basseterre and on the Caribbean side) and you see that there is no beach club for drinks, this is not an issue, trust me.

 

 

After Nevis, I'm passing Redonda on the way. Another rock in the water.

 

 

If you care for Volcanoes, the island of Montserrat, where about 2/3rd of the island (the left side) is an exlusion zone due to volcanic activity.

 

 

Guadeloupe! Finally some civilization, Pointe-à-Pitre. With a nice airport. It also features some nice scenery in the otherwise rather bland Caribbean. I think this part of the world should deserve a facelift as other parts of the sim world have gotten.

 

 

Dominica is next. Hilly and green. Perfect to hide as your 18th century pirate.

 

 

Fort-de-France, Martinique. Nice scenery, nice airport. Finally a real place again, instead of "out there".

 

 

St.Lucia. It is also a nice place. Especially in the northern bays on the Carribean side. If you are fond of sandy beaches, that's a place for you.

 

 

St.Vincent, featuring prominent Volcano on the north side, about 3500 ft. high.

 

 

Kingstown on the south side of St.Vincent. Also a decent place. In all, it is also a nice scenery for the sim. It has some nice airports.

 

 

Bequia Airport, Grenadines. (St. Vincent just in the back.)

 

 

Next is Canouan airport (TVSC) is the airport located on the island of Canouan in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

 

 

St.Georges, Grenada. The days I was there, it was raining most of the time. You can buy many spices there. For food. Other than that... it took them 14 years to rebuild their parliament after Hurricane Ivan leveled that one in 2004. Either they all studied veterinary sciences in St.Kitts or it tells you about priorities. Then again, what is 14 years? The Germans build airports in that timeframe. (What is a world without BER jokes?)

 

 

The weather got heavier towards Isla Margarita. After arriving, I am now turning south (towards the capital of Porlamar to the left) over the highest peak of the island, just where the road ends. 20 years ago, there were huge antennas where that single house (representing a hotel) just above the aircrafts nose is. Those antennas were operated both the Venezuelan authorities and the DEA to monitor things and were for good reason on the best overlooking spot. From what I see now, they seem to be removed. For obvious cause I guess.

The first day I ever sat on a motor bike, (there was little wind at El Yaque beach) I was driving up to this spot with a friend of mine, also spending his first day on a bike. You didn't really need a license for such, also heavier dirt bikes. Money trumped a license. Problem was, this whole rainforest area on the hills are part of a national park. And to get in there, the park had to be open. And for sure when we got there, it wasn't. But when asking that sleepy guard next to the gate, it would only open "dentro de una hora". Coming back an hour later, it would again be open "…dentro..." you know. Flashing two Coca-Colas worth of Bolivars set a lot in motion. After we explained that we wanted to go up to the antennas to take pictures, a guy with a moustache and officers hat showed up and inferred what we wanted to do. The sleepy one promptly informed him. Then we were led into his office, a house with high fences around, featuring two rooms and nothing but what could be a small kitchen table with a drawer and a wooden chair. The sleepy one sat down and (obviously) his boss stood in perfect posture beside him, telling him to fetch a piece of paper. Sleepy one opened the drawer that seemed about empty from where we stood across the table, taking out a blank piece of paper the size of a Post-It and a pen. Boss dictating: "Por favor dejan los señores subir a los antenas." Then he took a stamp and rubberstamped that phrase. Contenance, I tell you. After handing the "refresco",  we were biking up the hill, we were laughing, as this was really the oddest way we ever entered a national park.

Now, the story could end here, but as we arrived at the top here, we ran into armed guards looking after these large antennas. Looking from Prolamar, we could not see that Leavenworth-grade fences and barbed wire surrounded this installation. We showed out passing form. Only at this time, it dawned on us what the two down there actually had issued; we could enter the restricted area! The guard was puzzled looking at that piece of paper, but stepped back and let us pass inside the compound. This was really the moment to feel uncomfortable and did not spend much time, but left soon after. You do not want to take panorama photos from behind high American fences. However, it was getting evening and after a whole day of motor biking without any protective gear whatsoever, our kidneys suggested we return to El Yaque beach, next to the airport.

 

The grand thing about MSFS is really, you can go places were you were and did things.

 

 

After three hours of flight, arriving at Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport. The beach to the right with the few buildings (there should be more) is the formerly famous El Yaque beach. A grad place if you do Windsurfing.

 

Next stop is Bogotá.

 

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by ZachariasX