Microsoft Flight Sim 2020

[Bremspropeller]

It it's got a long, pointy nose, then it's the turboprop. If it's got the radial engine, it's the piston.

 

Standard Otter

 

PT6 conversion and floats

 

This one's got a different turboprop in the nose (a TPE331)

Edited December 2, 2021 by Bremspropeller

[Gambit21]

1 hour ago, Bremspropeller said:

It it's got a long, pointy nose, then it's the turboprop. If it's got the radial engine, it's the piston.

 

Standard Otter

 

PT6 conversion and floats

 

This one's got a different turboprop in the nose (a TPE331)

 

Yeah the operate the turboprop one up here.

[Hoots]

10 hours ago, Bremspropeller said:

It it's got a long, pointy nose, then it's the turboprop. If it's got the radial engine, it's the piston.

 

Standard Otter

 

PT6 conversion and floats

 

This one's got a different turboprop in the nose (a TPE331)

That last one is an abomination and whoever designed it should be given a stern talking to. 

[AndyJWest]

4 minutes ago, Hoots said:

That last one is an abomination and whoever designed it should be given a stern talking to. 

 

It looks like the engine cowling was made from recycled parts from a grain silo hopper. And the paint scheme doesn't help. You don't make a tail look smaller by putting tiny lettering on it. ?

[dburne]

Just a heads up - latest Nvidia driver 497.09 seems to be causing some issues for many in MSFS 2020. CTD's and blue splotches.

I had one CTD on first flight after upgrading to these drivers but have flown four more successive flights with no issues so far. 

I think Nvidia is on it so probably be a hot fix soon.

[DD_Arthur]

 

[Feathered_IV]

That looks like a nice T6.  Which one is that?

[DD_Arthur]

Er...it’s the one that comes with the basic Reno package with a skin from flightsim.to.

 

Beautiful modelling but lacking some functionality....

[Stoopy]

On 12/2/2021 at 5:27 AM, Monostripezebra said:

Absolutely, the DCS Huey is still a work of art.. but the 47 is definately getting serious, it even has retreating blade stall and will roll correctly out of control on overspeed.

 

A friend made me aware of another quirk in the MSFS racing addon, that affect both timetrials as well as the MP Quickraces: If you use the "Set best mixture for powersetting" button in the option, that absolutely does not work in the normal sim (as it just pulls out mixture to the point of an engine stop in the T-6 on scenic flights) in the races... it makes you WAAAY faster. Like 10-15 sec per race. I was wondering about the top times in the T-6 class.. and thought that can´t be, then I was told about the mixture thing and tweaking prop setting to be closer to 2000rpm and suddently I am all up there, too, so be aware: lean unrealistically far and tweak RPM! (explanatory vid here)

 

I see you made it to #1 on the time trials for the T-6 - congrats!    I assigned a button to the "Set Best Mixture" command but don't really see it doing anything.  I wonder if automixture has to be on for that or something - I fly with it off.  Meanwhile, I also mapped a spare axis to the mixture control and did some time trials with different settings as well as prop, with small measurable effect.  Coupling that with refinements to flying technique through the course I did shave a few more seconds off and got up to #11 last night (without using the altitude start thing), and am probably knocked down again this morning... such is life!

 

Thankfully there's now a Discord channel that's been set up for Reno racing and seems to be taking off.  I flew with a couple of other pilots last night, one being the person that set it up, and the other person a RW pilot with what sounded like plenty of time in helicopters (Allouette) and T-6's who was having a good time with the Reno expansion.  Was fun comparing notes and racing each other (he beat me pretty solid too).  

 

Would be cool to help build a community around this, all are welcome, so here's a link!

https://discord.gg/rUYbxEdx

 

[Monostripezebra]

On 12/5/2021 at 3:56 PM, Stoopy said:

 

I see you made it to #1 on the time trials for the T-6 - congrats!  

 

 

Actually that is not true.. I made 3rd with 07:20:900 in Gotcha.. but because I keept on flying while the server had hickups somehow the wrong data got pushed up to the server showing a time in Barrons revenge, which is actually tooo slow for that placement, just another bug.

The real time only appears in the post race screen:

 

On 12/5/2021 at 3:56 PM, Stoopy said:

I assigned a button to the "Set Best Mixture" command but don't really see it doing anything.  I wonder if automixture has to be on for that or something - I fly with it off.  Meanwhile, I also mapped a spare axis to the mixture control and did some time trials with different settings as well as prop, with small measurable effect.  Coupling that with refinements to flying technique through the course I did shave a few more seconds off and got up to #11 last night (without using the altitude start thing), and am probably knocked down again this morning... such is life!

 

 

It should not rely on automixture.. which would also be disabled/unavailable in the race settings.. what it does is basically pull back your mixture (if you have axis assigned) and in normal sim it starves your engine, in race physics mode it appears to make you faster.

 

Albeit I could not confirm that when I tried to objectify some data. So, I discovered that the active pause key works.. but still all configuration changes are displayed on affecting the speed (ie: G-pull, gear, RPM change etc..) So I thought I will try to gather data that way to compare the planes... and while it confirmed (for timetrial mode) that RPM changes make you faster and that different planes have minor different RPM ranges that make you faster (all between 2000 and 2100) the "Gotcha" Plane was definately the one I could make display the highest speeds in active pause, but I could not produce a measureable mixture effect that way. (Disclaimer: that may also be down to the peculiarties of active pause mode.. I could swear it makes you faster in VS as well as in timetrial mode).

 

NOW FOR THE KICKER:

While doing that, I discovered another gamebreaking bug: Using active pause before crossing the starting line will allow you to change configuration and accumulate speed before the timer start, as well as using up fuel. So, if you just let the speed tick up.. and unpause, you flying speed is that.. which makes a big difference in the Jet and unlimited classes.. so you can start the first round with fully developed speed and that essentially is -1sec on first lap.

 

I have not yet tested the "fuel depletion" effects of active pause yet.. but I highly suspect this is how the fastest Jet rounds where done (Jets beeing the class with a tigher leaderboard, I suspected it to be fairer then the T-6 class with drop-in start, mixture and RPM effects.. so i checked.. but was still with good rounds (tight pylon+low speedloss) only in the place 60 range. With just active pause on to let the speed run up for the first lap.. I instantly made place 9... quite the difference.

 

I still suspect the Jet class in MP Vs racing should be the most fair and open class with the least "hidden knowlegde" elements, though. Feel free to share this intel, I don´t know when I will have time to drop by in the discord or make a full bug report.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Monostripezebra

[Stoopy]

8 hours ago, Monostripezebra said:

Actually that is not true.. I made 3rd with 07:20:900 in Gotcha.. but because I keept on flying while the server had hickups somehow the wrong data got pushed up to the server showing a time in Barrons revenge, which is actually tooo slow for that placement, just another bug.

...

It should not rely on automixture.. I still suspect the Jet class in MP Vs racing should be the most fair and open class with the least "hidden knowlegde" elements, though. Feel free to share this intel, I don´t know when I will have time to drop by in the discord or make a full bug report.

 

Great job on sleuthing the active pause bug.  I'm not sure I want to share this all on the Discord and have it look like it's being condoned or that it's a source for questionable practices... of course it's probably public knowledge by now anyway and the best thing to do is make sure Asobo knows about it which they probably do as well, but apparently the guy who started the Discord has been in contact with them about other things like this so he can pass it on hopefully - I'll point this out to him.

 

If it's like anything else they'll have the kinks worked out 8 to 12 months from now ?

[CUJO_1970]

I'm loving the CGC in Alaska.

 

Morning fog in Mexico

 

[Monostripezebra]

21 hours ago, Stoopy said:

 

Great job on sleuthing the active pause bug.  I'm not sure I want to share this all on the Discord and have it look like it's being condoned or that it's a source for questionable practices... of course it's probably public knowledge by now anyway and the best thing to do is make sure Asobo knows about it which they probably do as well, but apparently the guy who started the Discord has been in contact with them about other things like this so he can pass it on hopefully - I'll point this out to him.

 

If it's like anything else they'll have the kinks worked out 8 to 12 months from now ?

 

I have now gone through the pain to enter the findings as bug report.. In the quest to see if weight really makes a difference (in the simplified race physics.. i was not entirely sure)  I actually made 1st place with the jets at a 30% remaining fuel load. I am fairly positive, that this active pause method is well known and used among other top leaderboard positions, too.

 

 

 

 

Other then that.. I still love the Bell.. Man, that is a quality chopper, so far for MSFS standards...

 

 

 

[Stoopy]

On 12/7/2021 at 5:35 PM, Monostripezebra said:

I have now gone through the pain to enter the findings as bug report.. In the quest to see if weight really makes a difference (in the simplified race physics.. i was not entirely sure)  I actually made 1st place with the jets at a 30% remaining fuel load. I am fairly positive, that this active pause method is well known and used among other top leaderboard positions, too.

 

Other then that.. I still love the Bell.. Man, that is a quality chopper, so far for MSFS standards...

 

THANK YOU for filing the bug report. The feeling over on the Discord channel (not the general populace but the person I shared this with for escalation) was that since this exploit was related to time trials, it wasn't as big a concern as any exploit for multiplayer.  I don't agree with that, as both types of racing have a ranking system with "Top Ten" highlights etc. and thus each are a competitive endeavor in their own right.  One is for people who like to fly alone and not get bumped, the other is for people who don't mind mixing it up in what sometimes becomes a bare-knuckled brawl.

 

To date I still haven't seen anything as immediately fun and engaging in MSFS as the Bell 47 and absolutely agree with you (outside of MSFS, that DCS Huey feels amazing in terms of flight model) and lately I find myself daydreaming about what the FlyInside folks might be working on next.  In my perfect fantasy it would be an OH-6 Cayuse but it might also be another Bell product like a 206, who knows....

 

There's also a freeware Airbus H125 aka Aerospatiale AS350 "Squirrel" that's supposed to be released into Beta before Christmas by the same people who are doing the Robinson R44, and that ought to be an absolute hoot if the AirlandFS flight model is halfway decent. 

[Monostripezebra]

On 12/9/2021 at 1:20 AM, Stoopy said:

 

THANK YOU for filing the bug report. The feeling over on the Discord channel (not the general populace but the person I shared this with for escalation) was that since this exploit was related to time trials, it wasn't as big a concern as any exploit for multiplayer.  I don't agree with that, as both types of racing have a ranking system with "Top Ten" highlights etc. and thus each are a competitive endeavor in their own right.  One is for people who like to fly alone and not get bumped, the other is for people who don't mind mixing it up in what sometimes becomes a bare-knuckled brawl.

 

Well, in the end it was more kind of a science-curiosity sidething that I felt I needed to experiment with the timetrials while listening to podcasts.. and see why people were sooo fast. But I think I got it figured out now: more negative trim and counterinuitively fully open radiator flaps (another bug?) on the Voodoo and in the T6 class are aditional variables that affect speed.  I now hold first place in Jets and Biplanes and 2nd place in T6 and unlimited class.. So I kind of hope that was all in-game things until something new is discovered. And I think it shows that other people have been using this, too, as the times are well inside range of the top times...

 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Monostripezebra

[Bremspropeller]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flying with a firend in the Mont Blanc and Mt. Everest regions.

Lots of fun!

[DD_Arthur]

10 hours ago, Bremspropeller said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flying with a firend in the Mont Blanc and Mt. Everest regions.

Lots of fun!

 

Just beautiful Brems!

 

Meanwhile......

 

 

 

[MiGCap]

Nice TF! Can't judge any of the flying characteristics as I haven't (and probably never will have) the MSFS 2020, but this Starfighter model looks so much better than the F-104 DCS hobby mod and I like what I see from the outside. Great details as the fluttering of the tip tanks or the cold air venting into the cockpit at the panel's side. 

[DD_fruitbat]

The model looks fantastic, truly it does 

 

If only they put the flight in to flight simulator....

 

PS, anyone know if there's an F16 in or coming yet?

Edited December 11, 2021 by DD_fruitbat

[Bremspropeller]

 

[DD_fruitbat]

Hmmmm, mixed feelings on that one, again, the 3d model is great. Was thinking it might be a nice module to go sight seeing in (speed and cockpit view), but I think the cockpit would bug me now after so many hours in the DCS F16!!! Particularly  the mfd displays lol.

 

Still might happen though!

[DD_Arthur]

6 hours ago, DD_fruitbat said:

Hmmmm, mixed feelings on that one, again, the 3d model is great. Was thinking it might be a nice module to go sight seeing in (speed and cockpit view), but I think the cockpit would bug me now after so many hours in the DCS F16!!! Particularly  the mfd displays lol.

 

Still might happen though!

 

I’ve generally resisted buying stuff that’s available in other sims so far - with the exception of a Spitfire? - as from what I’ve seen and read, fidelity of flight model, cockpit texturing and systems doesn’t quite match up to what is available in more dedicated sims.

 

However, if you want to treat yourself to something fast, unique and right up there when it comes to textures and modelling; I believe this is being lined up for a Christmas release?

 

 

 

[unlikely_spider]

1 hour ago, DD_Arthur said:

I’ve generally resisted buying stuff that’s available in other sims so far - with the exception of a Spitfire? - as from what I’ve seen and read, fidelity of flight model, cockpit texturing and systems doesn’t quite match up to what is available in more dedicated sims.

Yeah, even though I already have different versions of the Spit in like three other sims, I still couldn't resist getting this earlier variant that was released for MSFS:

[SYN_Vander]

How are you guys flying MSF2020 without TrackIR? It's still broken right?

[ZachariasX]

30 minutes ago, SYN_Vander said:

How are you guys flying MSF2020 without TrackIR? It's still broken right?

You can use it. It just deactivates and recenters the viewpoint if you either pause TrackIR or move your head out of the camera zone. You should map in MSFS the function to enable head tracker on your HOTAS. It‘s a PITA.

[SYN_Vander]

3 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

You can use it. It just deactivates and recenters the viewpoint if you either pause TrackIR or move your head out of the camera zone. You should map in MSFS the function to enable head tracker on your HOTAS. It‘s a PITA.

 

Ah, didn't know you can map a button.. I'll try to find that, thanks.

[DD_Arthur]

 @ZachariasX

 

Tried the DC6 in dev mode last night with Nano VC for xml gauges enabled.

 

Makes a real difference!

 

[Ace_Pilto]

I hardly need to use use TrackIR in MSFS, in fact it's often advantageous to have it disabled, but how Abozo can break something that was working perferctly all along, right when they release the Reno stuff where TrackIR will be critical, says a lot about the value of hiring people who have enough basic intelligence to leave a working system alone. Someone always has to re-invent the wheel.

 

Also, sure is cloudy over Europe right now, I bet the B-17/B-24 boys would all be at the local pub on a day like today.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Ace_Pilto

[Monostripezebra]

Did some racing on voicecomms with the guys from the discord..

It really makes the whole thing better and less colidy

 

[DD_Arthur]

1 hour ago, Ace_Pilto said:

 but how Abozo can break something that was working perferctly all along, right when they release the Reno stuff where TrackIR will be critical, says a lot about the value of hiring people who have enough basic intelligence to leave a working system alone. Someone always has to re-invent the wheel.

 

Mmmm.....in all fairness to Asobo;  Microsoft call the shots when it comes to the timetable of update releases and lately it seems to be a case of publish and be damned. 

This leaves Asobo between a rock and a hard place.

[ZachariasX]

2 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

Tried the DC6 in dev mode last night with Nano VC for xml gauges enabled.

 

Makes a real difference!

Can you elaborate? I don't see anything unusual in your vid...

[Ace_Pilto]

1 hour ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

Mmmm.....in all fairness to Asobo;  Microsoft call the shots when it comes to the timetable of update releases and lately it seems to be a case of publish and be damned. 

This leaves Asobo between a rock and a hard place.

I don't see how Microsoft put a gun to their heads and told them to fiddle with trackIR when there was nothing wrong with it. The whole issue is their attempt at re-inventing what Naturalpoint's client software already does.

[Tektolnes]

You can get a mod on flightsim.to that'll automatically turn Track IR back on if it gets switched off. They've fixed the issue in the hotfix that's in beta testing. But yeah not sure why they touched it at all in the first place. 

[DD_Arthur]

On 12/12/2021 at 4:17 PM, ZachariasX said:

Can you elaborate? I don't see anything unusual in your vid...

 

Since SU6 was released the DC6 has been a bit of a stutter-fest for me and my ten year old cpu.

To shoe horn MSFS into the world of Xbox Asobo had to switch off a couple of the rendering channels PDMG were using for the DC6 cockpit.

For me the work around involving Dev mode has made the DC6 useable again. This thing is a joy to fly. Take off from Oslo on an evening flight to London.

Unfortunately my landing wasn’t quite my best as I forgot  to throttle back over the North Sea in order to slow down enough for touch down at Heathrow!

 

On 12/12/2021 at 5:36 PM, Ace_Pilto said:

I don't see how Microsoft put a gun to their heads and told them to fiddle with trackIR when there was nothing wrong with it. The whole issue is their attempt at re-inventing what Naturalpoint's client software already does.

 

I don’t think they were trying to fiddle with TrackIr but whatever they were doing certainly broke the pause function. Unfortunately they have no leeway to halt their update schedule and the result is broken updates.

The hotfix for this update is still being tested but seems to have restored the missing functionality. 

My point was that Asobo are being forced to release updates that are not ready due to Microsoft’s commercial priorities.

[Ace_Pilto]

1 hour ago, DD_Arthur said:

I don’t think they were trying to fiddle with TrackIr

 

Ah, so it just broke itself... And then they released a hotfix for something that they didn't fiddle with. I guess I just imagined the whole thing.

 

Point being, the implementation they had was perfect, you didn't even have to have the TrackIR client running beforehand, you could just hot launch it and it would hook into the MSFS instance. I don't know, maybe they were trying to figure out a way to charge people $100 to turn it on again or something. 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Ace_Pilto

[ZachariasX]

1 hour ago, DD_Arthur said:

I don’t think they were trying to fiddle with TrackIr but whatever they were doing certainly broke the pause function. Unfortunately they have no leeway to halt their update schedule and the result is broken updates.

Yes, that might be it. The pause funtion is weird in general, as even "Esc" triggers active pause and not pause.

 

I have not seen any effects on the DC-6 dials on my rig, but it is only 4 years oldsystem.

[Ace_Pilto]

37 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

Yes, that might be it. The pause funtion is weird in general, as even "Esc" triggers active pause and not pause.

 

I have not seen any effects on the DC-6 dials on my rig, but it is only 4 years oldsystem.

How do you like the DC-6? 

[ZachariasX]

Sooo... After getting through the worst of the SU7 patch, I could finally do some more DC-6 flying with the intent of crossing the south pacific.

 

As a first leg, I went up from Usuaïa to Santiago (SCEL).  Just to get another good impression of the Andes.

 

 

To keep on track in case of "weather" I chose the VOR of Puerto Aguirre (PAR) as a waypoint. A small town with a nice airport surrounded by fjords. From then on to Concepción (CAR), one of the larger coastal cities. On this route, I should see a lot of what Chile has to offer in terms of landscape.

 

 

Taking off from Usuaïa, also the weather was playing along. Which is a nice thing, as the moutains in the area are rather impressive.

 

 

Going north over this hump soon made for a strange contrast to low lands without the impression of utter desolation.

 

 

But on the horizon, the white line seen from afar in the clear weather announced of what was to come.

 

 

Crossing these glacier plateaus made FL200 not a very high choice. With a loaded aircraft and the right weather the Southern Patagonian Ice Field "just" past the Torres del Paine National Park (those mountains pose a serious challenge to the terrain mesh), this might be uttlerly dangerous in anything other than a modern tubeliner. And even then it might be problematic.

 

At least, in this kind of weather, it was again impressive how vast and literally monumental an area (that is often distorted narrow and small on most maps) can be. But the ride was nice and soon I arrived near Concepción.

 

 

By now, I realized that I had been a bit cheap on fuel and I tried my best getting the most milage from my engines. The automatic flight engineer is not the bset choice then.

 

 

One thing about "just taking off and flying places" is that only when you arrive you actually get to see the local situation. I must be close to Santiago now, but I cannot receive any beacon nor can I tune in on the airport to tell me what approach i am supposed to opt for. Also the mountains are a good 8000 ft on average and by now I am above where I should be to make for a good approach. At least, with the added speed from the descent I made good ground and I should be ok with fuel. Barely, but ok.

 

 

Gawd... crossing that last ridge lets me tune in to Santiago tower. And they want me to approach from the side where the mountains are and (of course) no ILS is present. I then take the suitable radial from the VOR to help me line up with the airport there somewhere on the left, add another full circle to reach a suitable transition altitude and tiptoe my way in, checking the distance from the VOR and trying to maintain respective altitudes above ground. But it works out, mostly thanks to a good view.

 

 

You really have to watch out for these mountains and I would not have made the approach from this side if there was poor visibility.

 

 

Coming in at excessive but safe altitude allowed me to make a full 360° turn once I passed the radial of the runway axis. Knowing my distance from the airport gave me the sink rate required to end up at a suitable transition altitude. I am sure the air traffic controller vomited once they saw me doing that circle.

 

From then on, it was the flight over the south pacific. SU7 came and put a temorary halt to my flying, but somehow I worrked it out. At least the worst of it, the CTD's.

 

But Easter Island it is. That part of the ocean has very few islands to choose from, but passing San Juan Bautista (Robinson Crusoe island) as a reference and emegency alternate offered a good option.

 

 

I was again lucky with the weather.

 

 

Morning flight from Santiago in a very heavy aircraft. It takes some circling to actually reach enough altitude to cross the mountains to head for the Pacific.

 

 

Just blue. And some clouds. Maybe it's just me, but having no place to land for the next 650 kilometers (if I happen to stay on course) gives a bad feeling. I just fly het by the compass.

 

 

That turned actually better than I thought. Despite 5/8 cumulus layer, I could see the island less than two hours later. The airport is too small for the DC-6, located ton the right side of the island, just about below the nose of the aircraft on the pic.

 

 

After some more hours, I received the beacon of Easter Island. Windy told me that an apprach from the west is advisable so I opted for that. What I found rather nasty is that the cloud base was so friggin low as soon as there was land underneath. Still, I opted for an overhead at some 5000 ft to ten fly a base and then catch the ILS of Mataveri International (SCIP).

 

 

Mataveri International (SCIP). At least I could have a short glance at it before turning into base. I just extended the VOR radial in runway direction until I reached a transition altitude of 5000 ft. and then turned 90°left befroe making a righthand turn to align me again on the ILS. That worked well.

 

 

Bloody low cloud base, but at least I can see where I am going.

 

 

Now, they do have trees again on the island!

 

In all, it was surprisingly hassle free flying. Next leg will be to Tahiti, then American Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia and Wellington, New Zealand.

 

 

EDIT *bloody merge*

1 hour ago, Ace_Pilto said:

How do you like the DC-6? 

Love it. I find it the most entertaining way to explore the whole earth MSFS has to offer and you have a package that can deal with most circumstances, while actually posing a challenge when you are doing it wrong. The way it is implemanted makes it rather hassle free to learn and use. With the AFE, you can alomst take it like a Cessna. If you do everything yourself, then you have a lot to do and you know why it requires two for safe operation. Supercharger logic is porked though. That is a significant downer for me, but there is otherwise absolutely nothing like it available. Almost all of the systems are modelled and if you like steam gauges, you get the entire organ of switches, dials and gauges. You can flick all of the circuit brakers and see what it does to your flight deck.

Edited December 14, 2021 by ZachariasX

[Ace_Pilto]

Looks like a cool way to explore the world, I might put this one on my wishlist.

Edited December 14, 2021 by Ace_Pilto

[Retnek]

25 minutes ago, Ace_Pilto said:

Looks like a cool way to explore the world, I might put this one on my wishlist.

Go for it, best MSFS-2020 module, gives you freedom from dirt-strip-operations to VIP-hauling, local hopper to long-range. And it somewhat cures the itch for a real bomber. (Why no-one is interested in my money? Lot's of money, for a heavy bommer, anyone? )