September 5, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments
In my IT career, hardware has always been my strong point. I learned most of what I know about hardware by taking old PC’s, taking them apart and putting them back together again. I’ve always subscribed to the philosphy that software is only as good as the hardware it is running on. This philosphy is especially true with regards to the flight simulator hobby. While I’ve been working in the IT field for almost 20 years, it doesn’t mean I’ve always had powerful machines to run the simulator software on. Much like an auto mechanic that may do quality work for customers, but drive a beat up truck….I pride myself in the work I do in the IT field, but with every release of Microsoft Flight Simulator I always found myself in the backseat and I haven’t always quickly moved up into the drivers seat until now.
As I mentioned here, I’ve been flying computer simulation games for over 25 years. I’ve watched a computer game grow from being a basic, no thrills (especially in comparison with today’s versions) to an almost true to life gaming experience. An entire industry has been born to support this very fast growing hobby and from all accounts, everything is very healthy.
When I began looking at getting back into the hobby, I first had to research what version of Flight Simulator was the latest and greatest. Flight Simulator X was released around the time I dropped out of the hobby. I had purchased it, installed it and played around with it. But at that time (late 2006) FSX was pretty much standalone. The hardware I owned at the time just barely would run it and I still had that PC in operation when I began looking into the hobby again. Since FSX was still the latest and greatest version I would build a system to fit that need.
I’ve always wanted a machine dedicated to my flight sim hobby. Flight simming is pretty much the only “game” I play on a computer and just wanted something I could dedicate to this software without cluttering it up with email and such. I spent a little time researching through forums to find out what other simmers were building. I knew I would build the machine myself with off the shelf components versus buying a brand name machine. I needed a machine based on my specs and only wanted what I wanted. I also wanted to stick to a budget, but I didn’t want the budget to 100% dictate all my design decisions.
I knew I wanted to build the machine around a couple of key points. In my mind these were requirements. First I wanted the hardware to take advantage of a 64 bit operating system. I’ve been testing Windows 7 at my day job and knew it was a solid OS. The second key element was the Intel i7 processor. I’ve heard very good things about this chip and I’ve always used Intel in my homebrew machines. I knew the rest would fall into place. So I made a shopping list and off to Micro Center.
My Parts List
Intel i7-930 Processor
EVGA X58 FTW3 Motherboard
GeForce GTX 460 1024MB Graphics Card
OCZ DDR3-1600 RAM (6 GB worth)
Corsair TX750W 750 watt power supply
Microsoft Windows 7 64bit OS
Antec Twelve Hundred ATX case
Once home with all the parts, I began the fun job of putting it all together. This Antec Twelve Hundred case is much more than I need at the present time. But I’ve never owned a case with this much ventilation and the lights are neat too. I had the Windows 7 64 bit OS running in no time and just applying a few tweaks here and there to just get the most out of Windows 7. After a few more hours I had Microsoft Flight Simulator X installing on the new machine.
I’ll admit I’ve spent the better part of this past weekend and many hours this week tuning and tweaking FSX. I had a bear of a time getting my GoFlight hardware working the way it should with this setup. The issues??? Equal parts of hardware, software and my own lack of knowledge has contributed to most of the issues. I still am experiencing a few issues and am working directly with the awesome guys at GoFlight. I am confident all will be resolved soon. Anyway, I was surprised at home much I had forgotten in the almost 5 years I’ve been away from the hobby. Of course, the information I forgot is only a small drop in the bucket compared to all the new information available now. While what I’m going to say next is not scientific in any way…..but I personally believe that all aspects of the hobby has grown by 2x, 3x or more in these past 5 years. I regret not being a long for the ride.
All-in-all I’m glad I chose to allow my background in hardware to make the right decisions on building this new machine. The machine and software (Windows 7 64bit) is working great together. I’m getting the performance from all aspects of the configuration that I expected and believe I have room to grow. Of course, none of us know exactly what will be needed for the new Microsoft Flight. But I’m confident my current setup running Flight Simulator X will perform just fine for the next few years. After all, I have learned that FS9 is actually still used heavily in the community and we all know it takes the industry a little while to catch up to the latest and greatest Microsoft releases.
So for now I’ll continue to tweak this new machine to get the best from it while using FSX. I do plan to install FS9 and all my add-ons from the old machine just to do some comparison studies. I’ll probably blog about this experience in the future. Stay tuned…..
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my flight sim blog. Please tell a friend.
Until next time,
J
September 3, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments
I decided today would be a good day to head out of Martha’s Vineyard. Hurricane Earl (currently a CAT 2 storm) was churning his way up the East Coast of the US through North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The leading cloud cover ahead of the eye had already made its way up into New England. The latest update from the National Weather Service was that Hurricane Earl would reach Cape Cod and the Islands on Saturday. It was time to leave the peaceful island of Martha’s Vineyard. I do hope to return again soon.
Approaching position and hold for runway 6 at KMVY
I checked out a Learjet 45 (FSX default aircraft) for the trip and plotted a course direct for Hurricane Earl (crossing safely above of course) for the warm beaches of Ft. Lauderdale and KFLL. I wanted to check out the FSDT scenery I just purchased for that airport anyway. Like I said, the leading wrap-around clouds had already made their way up into New England. I was given clearance to depart runway 6 by the KMVY tower. The take-off and climb-out were uneventful. Active Sky X does a very nice job depicting accurate wx conditions. We made a turn to the east and began our flight down the coast.
Turning to the east. Leaving Martha’s Vineyard
There were certainly periods where the cloud cover (forward reaching bands from the hurricane) would completely disappear along the route. As we passed along the New Jersey Coastline the cloud cover was open enough to make out the coastline areas. But within minutes we had caught up with more bands. We were getting closer and closer each and every minute.
Heavy clouds already starting to move up the New England Coastline Clearing just along the New Jersey Coastline. But for how long?
My flight path took us directly over the eye of Hurricane Earl. The lightning below put on a nice show and while I’ve never been directly over the eye of a hurricane, Active Sky X depicts it from what I’ve seen on radar and even specifically what I saw on radar for this particular storm. Of course the storm is not as defined since the satellite images are taken from much, much higher. But you get the point.
The leading edge of Hurricane Earl
Crossing the eye of Hurricane Earl
Broken cloud layers just south of Earl’s position
Directly south of the eye was solid cloud cover. As we traveled south from the eye the ride became a little bumpy for a few minutes and then everything was calm again. Once we reached the coastline area of South Carolina all visible traces of Earl were gone. The skies remained mostly clear the rest of the flight down to Ft. Lauderdale. However, on approach things did begin to cloud up again and yes it was raining in what I thought would be a sunny and warm Ft. Lauderdale.
Turning on final approach to runway 9L KFLL
Must keep my pace up as I’m being followed
Nice flow of vehicle traffic on the highway below.
I love the rain effect being kicked off the rear tires. We have arrived at KFLL
The fine print. I certainly do not mean to take the impact of Hurricane Earl lightly. My thoughts and prayers are with all those living along his path. While I’m sure all commercial aviation steers clear (way clear) of these types of storms, the purpose of this flight and my blogging about it was to really test the accuracy of Active Sky X. By all accounts I can testify that this software add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator X is worth the cost.
Like all the flights I’ve flown, this one was a lot of fun. I look forward to the next time I can get back in the cockpit and take to the skies.
Until next time,
J
September 2, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments
I had flown into KFJK a few days ago. Since I like to keep my flight simulator adventures in somewhat of an orderly fashion (meaning I tend to fly from airport to airport and don’t jump around alot) I decided I wanted to practice my VFR techniques. Since I only had a short amount of time I decided to park the “Big Iron” and jump into something smaller. I haven’t spent much time looking for add-on aircraft so I picked the Beechcraft King Air 350 which is part of the Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) default aircraft. I departed runway 22R for my adventure.
Soon after departure from KFJK
My route took me up the coast of Long Island through Block Island Sound, Rhode Island Sound and then across Buzzards Bay. Once reaching my crusing altitude it was all smooth sailing. The FS Kneeboard iPad application provided all the charts I needed for the route. I have 3-4 notebooks of charts and maps printed from 5+ years ago I once used. This little iPad applications gets me access to all the US region. I certainly hope they continue to develop the app to include more regions.
Crusing up Rhode Island Sound
The descent started over Buzzards Bay and then a turn across Cape Cod. Running Active Sky X, the ride down was a little bumpy for a few minutes. The Beechcraft King Air handled the bumps nicely.
A bumpy descent over Cape Cod
We’re almost there. Lining up on runway 24 at KMVY. Traffic was light today heading into the island. Certainly a good change of pace from the congestion around KJFK earlier.
Lining up to runway 24 at KMVY
Once parked with engines off and brake set it is time to head into Martha’s Vineyard for a relaxing short vacation. I’ll need to keep a close eye on Hurricane Earl incase he decides to travel up this direction. I may decide to leave Martha’s Vineyard and fly up to KBOS to meet up with some “Big Iron” from there the sky is truly the limit. Of course, I could also fly down and meet up with Earl to see how well Active Sky X models a hurricane. 
Engines off, parking brake set and ready for some R&R
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my Flight Sim Adventure as much as I enjoyed flying and blogging about it. If you blog about the flight simulator hobby please let me know and I’ll link to your blog site.
Until next time,
J
September 2, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments
OK…where to start? Oh I know…let me tell you about myself. My name is Jerry, I live in Denver, Colorado. I’m less than 5 miles from KAPA and about 20 miles from KDEN. I’m married to a wonderful woman who supports all my various hobbies. Before moving to Denver in 1998, I lived in Dallas, Texas. I lived very close to KADS and about 15 miles from the awesome KDFW airport. As a child we would visit the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and one of my two highlights would be visiting Six Flags over Texas and KDFW to watch the planes.
I’ve always been fascinated with airplanes and flight. Now the weird thing is I’ve never had any desire to learn to fly and/or pursue my private pilots license. I know….this may sound weird…but it is what it is. My Uncle has his PPL and he took me flying for the first time in a small Cessna when I was a small child. While I wouldn’t fly again for 10+ years (and my first commercial flight was around the age of 16) I always loved watching airplanes. Even as a “Big” kid, I love all aspects of travel (well perhaps not the waiting in security lines). I love getting to the airport early and watching the planes and the people.
I’ve been flying computer simulator games for over 25 years. Yes….they’ve been around that long. It all started for me with the Commodore 64 computer. The Commodore 64 computer launched my flight sim hobby, but more importanly it helped launch the career I’ve enjoyed for almost 20 years in IT. This IT career has helped to further my enjoyment of the hobby with a better understanding of how computer hardware and software functions together and has provided the opportunity for me to fly around the world.
In the early days of computer flight simulation it was all very basic compared to what we have today withMicrosoft Flight Simulator X. While a friend of mine had a TRS-80 around 1982-83, I didn’t personally own a flight simulator program until 1984 when a company called SubLOGIC created Flight Simulator II. This was the second generation flight simulator and was amazing.
While I was interested in a few other “computer games”, flight simulator was the one that I spent the most time playing. Now I already mentioned that these early versions were basic. While I haven’t played Flight Simulator II in over 20 years, I do remember you would start off at Meig’s Field in Chicago. I honestly believe that was about it. I believe (but not 100% certain) that KORD was represented in the software as well as several other smaller airports. However, that was about it. I also remember a few updates to the Commodore 64 version. Towards the end of my Commodore experience I had obtained some sectional maps and such of the areas where airports were represented. I still only flew with a joystick but my skills were improving with every hour of flying time.
My Commodore 64 computer was finally replaced in the late 80’s with an IBM PC. My flight sim hobby took off from there with the Microsoft
Flight Simulator version 3.0. This was a HUGE jump from the version I had been flying on the old Commodore. In the complete history of Microsoft Flight Simulator software, I did miss out on versions 1.0 and 2.0. Microsoft Flight Simulator 3.0 (the first MS product I used with a PC) 3 aircraft including the Cessna we had all known to love along with a learjet and a Sopwith Camel. The graphics were much improved over the Commodore 64 version and for the first time you could actually look outside of the aircraft. From MSFS 3.0, I’ve owned every version released and each release was better and better and I couldn’t wait until the next one would come out.
Over the years as the graphics improved so did the options. Microsoft began adding more scenery and a lot more choices for aircraft to fly. With the birth of the Internet, an entire industry was born to cater to this exciting hobby. No more were you just limited to the features Microsoft provided….you had access to hundreds…probably thousands of different add-on products to enhance your experience. You could fly around the world and land just about anywhere. “Real World” airports and the accurate scenery around them was all being developed into the software or available through a third party add-on.
Again, while I’m fairly confident I’ve owned every version of Microsoft Flight Simulator since version 3.0 (circa 1988), for me personally it was Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 (aka version 7.0) that really pushed the game experience into a true hobby. I picked up a flight yoke and peddles and joined a virtual airline or VA for short. I have flown for several VA’s over the years. The first was a VA setup as American Airlines. It soon went bust. I then joined a VA operating as Air Canada and then found another American Airlines VA which looked awesome. I joined and within a short period of time had worked my way up in the management ranks to VP of Operations and also managed the DFW Hub.
In this timeframe I began flying online and experiencing operating with other online pilots and online ATC (Air Traffic Control) through a network called VATSIM. During this same timeframe I was traveling more and more both through work and for personal reasons. I would fly from KDEN to KDFW, then down to KILE (now KGRK) to visit family a few times a year. One of my favorite things to do would be to re-create the flight before and after a trip. I would fly the same aircraft at the same time of the day etc. It almost became a pre-trip ritual. My first real international (over the pond) flight was in the Spring of 2001. I was headed to our London office for 3 weeks. My real-life trip would take me from KDEN to KDFW then to London’s Gatwick airport EGKK. I simulated this trip in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 (version 7.0) before and after my real-world flight.
Microsoft has used the phrase “As Real As It Gets” since at least the days of Flight Simulator 95 (version 6.0). It all became too “As Real As It Gets” with the release of Flight Simulator 2002 (version 8.0). Microsoft had planned to release FS 2002 in mid-September 2001. When the terrorist attacks of 9/11 happened, Microsoft delayed the release of 2002 so developers could remove the WTC twin towers from all copies of the software. As a way of paying respect to those who perished that day, all online flights taking place on VATSIM were suspended for the same duration that real-life air traffic operations were shut down. I was scheduled to fly to London on 14 September for business. Needless to say this trip was cancelled. I wouldn’t fly again until just before Christmas of that same year.
I continued participating with VA’s until sometime in late 2006 when life just really got busy for me. Like with any hobby, my flight simulation hobby had to be set aside. My wife and I bought a house and my job has changed dramatically over the years. Just before I put the cockpit and software in storage I had purchased the latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator X (version 10.0). At the time of FSX release, my computer was a weakling and there wasn’t a lot of add-ons available. I’m also not even sure FSX at the time would work on the VATSIM network. But I had to have it and purchased it soon after it came out.
Now it is late Summer 2010. I was flipping through the TV channels and came across a History Channel program about to start called Extreme Airports and I was reminded of how much I loved flying the flight simulator software. The PC I used back in the 2005/06 timeframe still had FS9 and FSX installed. I connected my GoFlight gear, my yoke and peddles and flew from KDEN to KDFW in FS9. My old PC just wasn’t powerful enough to run FSX. But this was soon resolved.
I’ll blog about my new “Beast” of a PC on the next post and bring you all up to speed on what I’ve been doing to get started in this awesome hobby again.
Until next time,
J
