November 26, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
I’ve been flying computer flight simulators since the early to mid 1980’s. During this over 25 year period of time I’ve learned a lot and I would like to share what I’ve learned with my readers. If you’ve been flying for a while, then perhaps nothing I’ll tell you will be new information. However, I know our hobby continues to attract new blood and if I can help those through my knowledge, then it is worth the time I’ll spend blogging about these various subjects.
I’ll “Kick the Tires and Light the Fires” on this content in the coming days. I have a list of topics to discuss and knowledge to share. Please bookmark my site or subscribe via RSS to stay current on my content.
Thank you
JT
September 10, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
There have been events in history where individuals will always remember where they were, who they were with and what they were doing when the event happened. For the generation of my grandparents, that day was December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. For the generation of my parents, that day was November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. As I watched the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster unfold on January 28, 1986 I was certain this would be the day which I would clearly remember for the rest of my life and certainly hoped none other would ever prove to be greater. After all, I was only 19 years old, in my first year of college and grew up in small town Texas. By the way, I still do remember very much what I was doing, who I was with and where I was on that tragic day.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 began just like every other day for me. I woke up early (around 6 AM MT) I had showered, dressed and was downstairs drinking a cup of coffee and watching Fox News by 6:20 AM. This was pretty much a morning ritual for me. Because my commute was less than five minutes, I typically wouldn’t leave my apartment until around 6:45 or so. On this day, I wasn’t in that big of a hurry. I had been working long hours as I was planning to fly to London later that week. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day in the mile high city and from what I could see while watching Fox News, New York City was also looking beautiful.
My apartment was relatively small. From my kitchen I could hear the TV in the living room and heard the initial report of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. The time was 6:46 AM MT (8:46 AM ET). I stepped into the living room and watched/listened for updated news. Initial reports was it was a small airplane (perhaps a sightseeing plane) which hit the WTC. The Fox anchors talked about how clear the sky was overhead in NYC. Thoughts of perhaps the pilot suffered a heart attack or aircraft malfunction were more or less what most believed had happened.
As the time approached the top of the hour, I was really intrigued in what had happened. I remember at the top of the hour Fox and Friends passed it off to Jon Scott who happens to be a pilot. Again for several minutes the speculation into what had happened to the pilot or to the airplane was the topic of discussion. Fox had switched to an anchor outside the studios and I was just about ready to turn the TV off and drive to the office. Again, it looked like an accident and I would follow up with what happened once I got to the office.
As I was reaching for the remote, what I saw next on TV will forever be in my memory. It was 7:03 AM MT (9:03 AM ET) when the outside live shot showed a second plane flying into the second tower of the World Trade Center. It became clear to me and to the entire nation that we were under attack. Yes, one aircraft could accidentally hit the WTC, but two? Absolutely not. It was also very clear the second plane was not a small sightseeing plane, but a large airliner. For the next 15 minutes or so I sat on the edge of my sofa watching the events unfold in New York City. I (and certainly like many Americans) was in total dis-belief at what I had just watched happen.
Part of my job responsibilities (both then and now) was/is to manage our business continuity and disaster recovery processes for the customer support organization at my company. While we (at the time) didn’t have an office in the NYC area, I wanted to get into my office so that I could be prepared for what ever else might happen on this day. At this time, only the two WTC towers had been attacked. I was not aware there were two other planes.
I quickly drove to the office and of course most everyone had already heard about the attacks in NYC. I’m asked by a colleague if I had heard of the events and said yes, I had watched the information regarding New York. He said, but have you heard about Washington DC? It soon became very clear this was not just an attack on New York and the World Trade Center. This was much, much larger.
Internet access from the office became really slow with employees checking the various news sites, emailing friends and family. We had small TV’s in the lobby of the building connected to a DirecTV feed and I went down to try to get more information. I was not only concerned about what other attacks might be planned, but also on the WTC attack which I had watched earlier from my apartment. I wanted to see what progress had been made on extinguishing the fires and of course get updates on the rescue efforts.
I made it downstairs to one of the TV’s. Smoke was still pouring from the top of both towers, within seconds the south tower began to collapse. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was watching. It wasn’t long after the south tower collapsed that we heard word of United Flight 93 crashing near Shanksville, PA. I had already went back upstairs to make a few phone calls. I remember hearing some employees talking about the north tower collapse. Again…I just couldn’t believe it.
At some point in the day, an announcement was made or perhaps there was a company email. But what ever the delivery mechanism, the message was to let us all know that all employees had been accounted for. I doubt very seriously if much work got done that day. As I said, I was scheduled to fly to London in a few days. After hearing about all flights being grounded for possibly a few days, I spoke to my boss and determined I would not be traveling as scheduled.
I remember going home and making myself a fairly stiff drink. Sometime around 9 PM I went out to the hot tub. It was a cool evening and I remember looking up in the sky and seeing and hearing nothing. This was odd as I lived near the flight path for Centennial Airport (KAPA) and Denver International (KDEN) is only about 25-30 miles and at just about any time of the day and evening you can see the planes coming in for landings and departing. I do recall hearing a few jet fighters and seeing various types of military aircraft. I’m sure this was the case over most every major metropolitan city.
Like many Americans, I did a lot of praying and in doing so asked God a lot of questions. I have tried to pray for peace each and every day since the attacks and pray for the those who are making sacrifices and sometimes the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedoms both at home and abroad.
In 2005 through the course of two acquisitions, Oracle acquired Peoplesoft who had acquired JD Edwards in 2003. On the four year anniversary of 9/11 I learned something I didn’t know previous. While JD Edwards didn’t lose any employees in the attacks, Oracle had lost eight employees that day. Most will know the name of one employee in particular. This employee, along with many other brave individuals fought back in what possibly should be considered the first battle won over terrorism and that employee was Todd Beamer. Todd and many other brave individuals fought back on United Flight 93. While they gave their life, they did it so many others could live. Of course we now suspect that Flight 93 was headed for the US Capitol Building or the White House.
In 2007 I realized a childhood dream to get my amateur radio license. I remembered the speech which President George W. Bush made in January 2002 when he announced the creation of the USA Freedom Corps. During that State of the Union address, President Bush asked Americans to serve a cause greater than themselves. I answered that call by joining the Denver Police Depts. Volunteers in Policing Unit and DAREC, Denver Amateur Radio Emergency Communications. In the course of just 3 years I had volunteered over 250 hours in that program.
Yes it is easy to say “I’ll never forget”. Through illness or old age there may come a time when I just don’t remember. But for now, I will remember and each year on September 11th (as I have done for the past 9 years), I’ll wake up early and I’ll go downstairs, make a cup of coffee, turn on the TV (yes Fox News Channel) and I’ll say a little prayer and prepare myself to watch, to remember and even cry a little. I hope all American’s will remember, I hope all American’s will pray and I hope all American’s will cry a little.
Thank you for reading and for allowing me to cross post this across my different blogs.
God Bless the United States of America.
Jerry
September 1, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
Yes, I suppose it truly does go around. I’ve blogged over the past 9-10 months about my full circle experiences of getting back involved with a virtual airline, flying on VATSIM and even managing my old DFW hub. Sadly, it all came to an end tonight when I had to make the difficult decision to resign.
I just don’t have the time these days. I haven’t flown or blogged much (as you can tell) and I want to change that. But I’m afraid I just don’t have the time to spend flying 30-40 hours a month along with investing 10-20 hours with the management duties in the VA.
I do enjoy the flight sim hobby very much. I will return to it very soon as well as blogging about my adventures. I think I’ll park the heavy iron and dust off the Carenado Mooney and my Carenado float plane and head up to the PNW soon.
Look for fresh blog content about this adventure very soon. Thanks for stopping by.
Jerry
July 21, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
As a flight simulator blogger, I use this blog to provide reports to you the reader about my flight simulation adventures, news about the hobby of flight simulation, product reviews and from time to time share my personal opinions about the hobby. If I’ve mentioned the new flight sim software from Microsoft simply called Flight, it was only briefly. I do not recall providing any in-depth opinions. This is mostly due to the fact that the flight simulator community really doesn’t fully understand what MS Flight will be or won’t be.
Having been active in the hobby for over 25 years, I’ve seen a lot of changes with regards to Microsoft Flight Simulator. I remember the hype leading up to FS9 and certainly FSX. I also remember purchasing FSX and really not using it for many months afterwards. I also believe that a lot can be said of the fact that FS9 still has a very strong following amongst fellow flight sim enthusiasts. I do see some software developers beginning to phase FS9 out and solely going in the direction of FSX. This is of course bitter sweet for those who are still running FS9. The bitter part comes from the fact that they will no longer be able to purchase some add-ons for FS9, but if they have purchased or built a new computer in the past couple of years then it more than likely will run FSX without issue. But of course there is the cost of re-purchasing add-ons for FSX if they want to exclusively use it. I fully am aware of the cost it takes to re-purchase add-on software. Before I took my almost five year sabbatical from the hobby, I was using FS9 for most of my flying. My PC at that time would run FSX, but there wasn’t a lot available yet in the add-on department. When I return last Fall, I decided I would build my flight sim PC to run FSX and fully adopted that as my flight sim platform.
But what about Flight? I started hearing the rumors of the rumors of the rumors about Microsoft Flight very soon after returning to the hobby. I read forum threads speculating what Flight was and what Flight wasn’t. I believe I read more “what it wasn’t gonna be” thoughts than the opposite. To this day, I’m still not certain we really know much more about it. Sure Microsoft has a website up dedicated to Flight, but it really doesn’t say much.
The rumors I mentioned before state (and I quote from several forums) “Microsoft Flight will not be what we have grown to know and love with the long running line of Microsoft Flight Simulator products”. Another reads, “MS Flight will be more like an arcade game versus a simulator” On the more positive side, I read this statement “MS Flight will be what FSX should have been with regards to performance”. I think what this person was trying to say is MS Flight is being developed for today’s technology and not like FSX where most users didn’t own a machine at the time FSX debuted that would run it to its full potential.
But these quotes are just (in my opinion) just rumors, guesses and assumptions (do you know what happens when you assume)? On the MS Flight website there is an FAQ page and in my opinion it tells me nothing. Addtionally, PC Pilot and Computer Pilot Magazines have provided some Q&A type details in their magazines over the past 6-8 months. My opinion about these Q&A sessions is the writer from the magazines isn’t asking the right questions. Of course you can’t sell future extremely pricey magazines if you divulge everything in one edition.
However, I must give credit to PC Pilot Magazine as in the May – June edition, they do ask Microsoft if Flight will have an opportunity for third-party developers to produce products. MS answers by saying they fully know they can’t do the work alone and they are creating the tools for others to develop add-on software.
At this time I believe “the jury is still out” on just what MS Flight will mean to the flight simulator community. While I’m just as much in the dark as the rest of you, I can tell you that regardless what MS Flight is or isn’t, worse case scenario it doesn’t mean our hobby is dead or dying.
As for what I plan to do when MS Flight is made available, well….I’ll probably purchase it just as I did FSX but it’ll more than likely sit on the shelf until (and this is if it works with VATSIM etc.) until enough quality add-on products have been developed.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
July 15, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
Please note: I wrote this blog post approx. 6 months ago and for whatever reason it failed to publish. I just realized it was stuck in draft mode and while I’ve changed my mind about some aircraft developers and also own a couple of excellent payware models that work flawlessly with my GoFlight hardware, some of the ideas expressed are still very much valid in the grand scheme of things.
I don’t know about you, but I think we need a better “try before you buy” system for flight simulator software add-ons. Yes I get the whole issue around software piracy. In the “real-world” I work for a large enterprise software company. We take software piracy very seriously and so should the creators of flight sim software and add-ons. But in most cases the “trial or evaluation” method in flight simulator add-ons is extremely limiting.
As many of you who follow my blog know, I’m an avid GoFlight Customer. I love this hardware and I love that for the most part I can conduct the majority of my flights with limited use of the keyboard and mouse. I have over a thousand dollars invested in GoFlight gear with the very idea of not needing to click with a mouse during flight. However, with this comes some restrictions that I’ve only learned about since coming back to the hobby.
During the 2001 – 2005 timeframe, most of the aircraft I operated were either the FS default variety or those based on the default variety and shareware type aircraft available from sites likeFlightSim and AVSIM. Today most of what I have flown have been the same type of aircraft. However, I did purchase a few Carenado models which I dearly love.
Part of my on-going frustration with software add-ons and the lack of a decent trial system stems from a PMDG purchase I made a few months ago. The product in question is the PMDG 747-400X. I had heard about and seen images of this beautiful aircraft and decided to purchase it. Once I downloaded and installed the aircraft I discovered it would not work with my GoFlight GF-MCP Advanced auto pilot module. While I researched and found forums from years ago talking about a software fix available from PMDG to correct the issues, the fix is no longer available. I essentially spent $54.99 on an aircraft that will sit in my hangar and never be flown.
Initially I didn’t understand why the PMDG 747-400X wouldn’t work. I had a lot of experience with the default aircraft and the shareware type from Flightsim and AVSIM. I’ve never run into any issues with the compatibility of my GoFlight equipment and these models. I even had purchased from Flight1 an MD-80 model and experienced no issues using that aircraft and my GoFlight hardware. So why is this PMDG model not working?
From what I now understand, the GoFlight GF-MCP Advanced is compatible with all MSFS default aircraft and any freeware/payware aircraft that model their MCP/autopilot functions the way the default aircraft are modeled. After spending $54.99, I realized PMDG DO NOT model their aircraft autopilot functions the way that MSFS modeled the default aircraft. This means if I want to fly the PMDG 747-400X that I own, I would need to fly it with my mouse and keyboard to control the autopilot/MCP functions. Not cool.
To explain the above paragraph differently. The GoFlight GF-MCP Advanced uses the standard Microsoft FSX keyboard commands to control the aircraft. When I turn the heading knob on my GF-MCP, it sends the corresponding keyboard commands of Ctrl-Shift-H followed by = or – depending on which direction I’m turning the knob. The PMDG aircraft uses a completely different keyboard mapping per function setup. It’s this difference which prevents the PMDG aircraft from working correctly with the GF-MCP.
Many will argue the PMDG aircraft is far superior to any default and shareware aircraft available today. I do admit the flight dynamics, the look, the feel of the PMDG models are truly amazing compared to the default and shareware models I own. My reservation to flying it is simply the lack of support for my GoFlight GF-MCP Advanced.
Now before I forget, yes I have talked to tech support for both PMDG and GoFlight. Both sort of point their fingers back to each other as being the responsible party. However, I will take the side of GoFlight in this argument. GoFlight creates their hardware to work with the default and shareware models. GoFlight also makes their SDK available to any aircraft developers free of charge.
What I’ll admit to not fully understanding is why PMDG (and others) code some of the aircraft functionality different from the default aircraft. I’m not a software developer….but I would think it would be possible to create an aircraft model just as wonderful as the PMDG 747-400X, yet stay with the basic functional requirements as what the default aircraft uses.
Now I certainly do not hold PMDG responsible for me spending $54.99 on something that I may never fly. As a matter of fact, the aircraft isn’t installed any longer. I should have conducted better research. However, back to the original subject of this topic, PMDG does not offer any sort of trial process. But even if they did, I would imagine it would be lacking in the functionality available.
As an example to the lack of functionality available in a demo model. I looked into the Captain Sim Boeing 757. I downloaded and installed it. But the demo model is so locked down in functionality, I couldn’t make a conscious decision to buy. Here is what the Captain Sim website states about their demo model “We hope this Free Demo will help our customers to make more informed purchase decisions and thereby enhance their satisfaction with the 757 Captain product.” Further down the page, this is how it reads to inform you of what doesn’t work in the demo:
Please note, the following features are not included in the Free Demo:
• Extensive Systems Programming (ADI, HSI, EICAS displays inop)
• Flight Management System (CDU inop)
• Realistic Flight Model (flight controls locked in the Demo)
• Custom system sounds and crew voice messages
• Authentic Sound Set – PW and RR engines (alias to default 737 sounds in the Demo)
• Collins WXR-2100 Weather Radar
• Aeronautical Data including Terminal Procedures
• Repaint Kit
I don’t know about you….but how do you make an “informed purchase” with the above mentioned restrictions? I couldn’t even find a way to contact the Captain Sim folks to ask if their aircraft would work with my GoFlight hardware as the only way it appears to reach their forum is with an order number. Sorry….you’re not going to get my money before I can find a way to review your support forum.
Now I realize I’ve picked on two aircraft manufactures. Here’s my thoughts on how some scenery developers handle their trial periods. I own several FSDreamTeam sceneries. They offer a try-before-you-buy method. But the scenery demo only works for the first 5 minutes. Yes, you can restart the timer, but only if you exit and restart FSX. 5 minutes? One can’t explore the complex scenery of KDFW in 5 minutes.
Another small beef I have with some vendors is what appears to be the number of times I can activate a particular product. I believe if I purchase a software product, I should be able to install this particular software product over and over and over (as long as I’m not running it on multiple systems). In other words, if I feel the need to rebuild my FSX computer every 6 months, I shouldn’t have to worry in a year or two running out of the number of install/reinstalls I’ve performed. This appears to be an issue in our hobby.
As I stated near the beginning, I fully understand the issues software vendors (all software vendors) face with software license piracy. I understand (and appreciate) that a lot of hard work goes into the development of quality software. While I don’t have the answers, I believe in the examples I’ve provided that a better solution must exist. There must be equal parts of trust built into the license protection so that honest customers like myself can determine if the product is right for them and the software developers can protect their IP or intellectual property.
In closing, I want to make it clear that I do not hold any bad feelings toward PMDG or any developer of Flight Simulator add-ons. Yes I called out my experiences with PMDG, but I only hold myself responsible for purchasing something that I may never use. I may never fully understand why PMDG and others develop aircraft add-ons that differ in the primary functional aspects from the default aircraft. Yes I get the need for better flight dynamics etc. But why change the autopilot keystroke combinations which is basically why the PMDG doesn’t work with GoFlight? To me and my flight simming experience, it is more accurate to turn a knob on my GF-MCP to control autopilot functionality than to use my mouse.
Until next time…Happy and Safe Simming…
Jerry
July 8, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
This was the question asked of me after I landed my iFly B737NG (FSX version) on 16L at KDEN the other night.
It was a dark and stormy night….no really, it was both dark and somewhat stormy with lightning flashes to the west of KDEN. I had departed KDFW for a 2 hour flight on the VATSIM network. I’ve probably logged over 60 hours in the iFly 737, but that isn’t the subject of this blog posting.
I truly love flying on the VATSIM network. I know there are those who don’t like it because of the sparse ATC controllers typically online. Of course, with the various traffic programs available like MyTrafficX and Ultimate Traffic 2, you can turn an international airport into a hustling and bustling airport with just a few mouse clicks. However, you won’t hear and get the awesome “atta boy” comments that I received the other night from the FSX default ATC. More about this in a minute.
True, I’ve been known to nail some real greasers on landing. This is especially true when I’m in a bit of a hurry and not doing everything by the book. This happens more in the default aircraft since you don’t have the dynamic flight systems of the payware models like the iFly or the LVLD. But it can also happen in these payware models I just mentioned when you cut corners. But I digress and for that I’m sorry.
I had departed KDFW with no ATC online, but really wanted to enjoy this flight up to my now home town of Denver, Colorado. This is one of my favorite flights for many reasons and only second to flying down to St. Maarten and TNCM out of KMIA. I just love the approach over the beach and hope to visit St. Maarten in real life someday. The flight to Denver was as uneventful as it can get. While Ft. Worth Center was not online, I did pickup Kansas City Center and Denver Center. Denver center was the only ATC on and he controlled me all the way down.
I typically do things just about the same way each and every flight I make. I check the weather conditions either via FSInn or direct from the NOAA METAR database. And in the case of Denver Center, he had an updated published ATIS which I pulled down well before entering his airspace and I acknowledged I had information Bravo when I initially checked in with him.
I don’t think a lot of pilots really bother picking up or at least confirming they have the current information even though that is depicted well within the default FSX ATC. Even if you don’t bother tuning into the ATIS frequency for the airport you are going to land, there are other ways of getting the info and it certainly helps the ATC guys for you to be that much more prepared. Anyway….Information Bravo was telling me that KDEN was landing and departing to the East. Landing runway 7 and departing runway 8. So I pulled my charts for runway 7 and just quickly familiarized myself with the approach.
As I was inbound on the Quail Six Arrival and roughly 50nm from KDEN, Denver Center updated the ATIS with updated information. I quickly listened to the update and realized KDEN was now going to be in South Ops and made the adjustments necessary to plan for a runway 16L approach.
Approaching KDEN from the South, the Quail Six arrival brings you just south of the airfield and makes for an easy transition when KDEN is under North Ops with easy access to runway 35L. However, KDEN was not in North Ops and this would mean flying downwind to the east of the field for vectors to 16L.
Now back to the dark and stormy night comment. Weather conditions in the area was a typical summer evening in the mile high city with storm cells erupting out on the eastern plains. A few of these cells had moved in closer to the city and both myself and my virtual PAX were treated to a nice light show of cloud to cloud and cloud to ground lightning strikes. The combination of ActiveSky X and Real Environment Extreme make for some truly impressive eye candy at times and this particular night was no different.
As I completed the roll-out from the vectors given by Denver Center, KDEN airport and runway 16L was in clear visibility so a visual landing was certainly in order for the evening. Along with FS2Crew (the iFly version) my FO and I readied the beautiful Boeing 737-800 for her landing and had a smooth landing with no complaints from the virtual PAX. As I turned the B738 onto the high-speed taxiway and gave the “OK to Clean-up” order to the FO I received a private message from the VATSIM ATC Controller simply asking me “Are you a real pilot”?
Now if you’ve read my recent blog post where I state I’m not a real pilot, you would know (or will know if you kindly read it) that I’m not a real pilot. But of course the gentleman working VATSIM ATC doesn’t know I routinely blog about my flight sim hobby. But I answered him by saying Negative….why do you ask? His response simply was “you do a very good job”.
I have no VATSIM ATC experience. I also have no desire to gain any other than from a pilots perspective. So I’m not 100% certain what the VATSIM controllers really can see and what they really can’t see. I’ve been told by several VATSIM controllers that I know very well, that what they can see is very limited. They of course can tell if you turn the wrong direction and they can also tell if you land on the wrong runway. But they can’t really tell how hard or how soft of a landing a virtual pilot makes.
So what is so special about his comments and why blog about them? This is a very good question and the reason why I chose to blog about it was to one, share the experience and two to turn it into a learning experience for all. As I stated in the opening paragraphs of this blog post, I’ve truly experienced some real greaser landings. I call those controlled crashes. While I’ve never mistaken a taxi-way for an active runway, I’ve certainly had my share of off center touchdowns and some of those where you hit just before the touchdown zone and some where you hit well past it. This flight and this landing was textbook and the comments from the VATSIM ATC Controller sort of showed me that it is worth doing everything somewhat by the book. Of course, having over 25 years of computer sim experience doesn’t hurt.
In closing, You’ll never hear me make claims that I could fly a real plane….but I think my virtual PAX can rest easily knowing I at least know how to operate my iFly 737NG to get positive feedback from VATSIM ATC. I hope you too will take your virtual flight simulation to the next level and work harder to improve your skills. One day a VATSIM ATC controller might ask you, “Are you a Real Pilot”?
Until next time….
Jerry
July 1, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
I recently read a blog article which I can easily relate titled “Banging my Head Against the Desk” by fellow blogger and flight sim developer, Bill Womack. Bill describes some of his frustrations with getting his brand new 737 off the hard ground and into the beautiful skies. Bill fully recognizes the differences between complex airliners and GA aircraft and his blog post asks some questions which I believe are questions I too have wanted to be answered. Now before I continue…I’ll add there is a big difference between Bill Womack and Jerry Taylor with regards to flight. Bill has accumulated over 50 hours in a Cessna 172 and is working his way towards his private pilots license.
Within the flight sim community (at least over the last decade) there’s been dialog on the various forums (and there’s a lot of them) regarding virtual pilots who fly the more complex and realistic aircraft models such as 
PMDG and the default or freeware models such as POSKY. I’ve experienced it myself even over a VATSIM personal message once. I was holding short of an active runway and number two for take off. I had another pilot behind me. I believe I was in a 767 and he asked me if it was the LevelD. I said no, it was a POSKY. He went on to add that he felt the POSKY was inferior to the LevelD and stated a few reasons why. It was interesting that his reasons were never around the flight dynamics or the differences and difficulties of getting the LevelD 767 ready for flight, but more around how much more realistic the panel was. It is interesting to note that this individual is about 15-16 years old. Heck I have a pair of tennis shoes older than that. I felt like telling him “look kid, I remember when all we had to flight simulator was flat graphics and aircraft choices was only one and I still had to walk to school up hill both directions (I grew up in Texas so there wasn’t a lot of snow)”.
Anyway, this dialog while not often spelled out can sometimes certainly read between the lines that if you don’t fly the PMDG whatever you are not a real pilot. HELLO??? For most of us we are not real pilots. Some may be in the process of obtaining their private pilots license and some may already hold one. Some are retired or ex-military who flew missions in Korea, Vietnam or Desert Storm. While each of those examples may know the aircraft they have flown (or fly) in real life, most couldn’t get a real modern jetliner off the ground if their life depended on it, let alone land one.
I suppose in recent years I could have referred to myself as a purist. Until just a few weeks ago I only flew freeware aircraft which for the most part are modeled along the lines of the default aircraft that comes part of MSFS. Fire up FSX and pull down a flight plan into FSCommander and Ctrl-E and off you go. I truly supported these freeware developers for their efforts in giving something back to the hobby. A POSKY (or now called FreeSky Project) may not have the same flight dynamics as the PMDG, but they look great for what they cost (zero cost freeware) and handle equally well. But yes, to the dark side I went a few weeks ago after learning about the iFly 737NGX and it’s out of the box compatibility with GoFlight hardware. I couldn’t resist the true beauty of this aircraft from the outside in. I got her downloaded and took a brief test flight around DFW. I was hooked. A few days later this led to the purchase of the LevelD 767 which again is fully compatible with my GoFlight hardware.
Now back to Bill’s blog post. Bill discusses how he likes to learn something. He states “My favorite way to learn something complex is to first learn the bare-bones essentials. Once I’ve mastered them to the point of feeling semi-proficient, I like to add on layers of depth, exploring each new concept until I’ve drilled it permanently into my brain.” I fully agree with what he says here and will admit that I’m the same way. For the most part I’m a self-taught IT Professional. I studied at the school of hard knocks. But I very much learned the basics and progressively built onto that. After all, what makes a giant skyscraper capable of standing? It’s not the spire on top, it’s the solid foundation often not even visible. I believe this is the point Bill was trying to make.
There is another point Bill makes in his blog post which gave me a good laugh, “Give me a stack of manuals and I’ll be stuck inside them for days. Show me a video of what I’m supposed to do, and I’m doing it like a pro in an hour. It seems that most airliners developers are just the opposite type.They spin out reams of paper about this or that system, when all I really want in the beginning is to get in, familiarize myself with the plane, and get it in the air.” It was the “They spin out reams of paper” comment that gave me the chuckle. The iFly 737NGX manual is over 500 pages and while LevelD is only 175 pages I still find that a bit much…especially when talking about first experiences with the aircraft.
Now before you get all excited and want to post those comments about realism and tell me I’m not a real pilot (I already know I’m not a real pilot), let me say this. I’m enjoying (I’ll say it again), I’m enjoying learning more about how both the iFly and the LVLD aircraft operate. I’ve completely changed my flying style, meaning I don’t just run down to my basement and fire up FSX and take off. I enjoy running through the pre-flight checklists, programming the FMC (even purchased the VRInsight external CDU for added realism). I enjoy the 20-30 minutes I spend before I ever start to taxi.
Each of us have our own reasons for participating in this hobby. My reasons might be the same as your reasons and they might not be. Over the past decade I’ve learned a lot about flight. Prior to getting started flying on line, I didn’t know what a STAR or SID was, nor did I understand how to read and follow them. Now I do. Until just a few weeks ago I didn’t really understand how VNAV and LNAV functioned, nor did I use the functionality. Now I do.
I fully support what Bill Womack is talking about in his blog post. If someone…anyone…wants to shell out $30, $40, $50 or more on a pay-ware aircraft and spend hours and hours and hours reading the manual that is fine. Likewise, if the same individual wants to spend the same amount of money and gradually ease into the more complex procedures that is also fine.
Now…having said all that. I applaud iFly for at the very least incorporating various panel states that one can start out with. I’ll admit that there are times I begin “cold and dark” and there are other times I begin “before engine start”. iFly and other developers could take this one step further and create a “fully automatic” or “basic flight” mode. This will allow those of us to get the aircraft off the ground and then build on the knowledge as we go along. Again….it’s my $$ and how I want to spend it is my business.
In closing, while I’ve found a payware 737 and 767 for my virtual hangar and currently looking to expand into a 757 and 777 payware models, I hope people like the folks at FreeSky Project(formerly POSKY) will continue to develop awesome freeware models. The hobby still needs quality freeware add-ons and individuals willing to develop them.
Please leave your comments. If you agree or disagree, this is fine.
Until next time,
Jerry
June 24, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
Since starting this blog last September, I haven’t written many product review blog postings. This has been for several reasons. First, I’m not really setup as an official reviewer with any flight sim product developers. Any reviews I do are because I purchased the product, own the product and shared my feedback with whom ever stops here long enough to read the blog. Second, this blog is multipurpose in the sense I use this communication vehicle to discuss my own flight simulation experiences again with whomever stops by to read them. Since returning to the hobby I’ve acquired a lot of new toys both in the form of hardware and software. I will mix in the occasional product review from time to time to share the good, the bad and the ugly with you the reader.
Before I start this product review. Please allow me to get the fine print out of the way.
The product I am reviewing was purchased by me and for my own personal use. I receive absolutely no compensation of any form (cash, credit, discounts, promises) for reviewing this product. I have not contacted, nor have I been contacted by the vendor to provide this product review. The opinions expressed (good or bad) are my own, your mileage may vary.
Product Review – VRInsight CDU II
It all started when I purchased and began flying the iFly 737NGX. Before flying this aircraft I had never programed or used a CDU. If you are unfamiliar with the term CDU, CDU stands for Control Display Unit. It is the device depicted in many panels with a small LCD screen and keypad. I suppose I never used the CDU before since in most freeware and default aircraft, the CDU is non-functioning. As far as I know, most payware aircraft and certainly of the standard of the iFly or LevelD do come equipped with a functional CDU which can be programmed by the virtual pilot.
The more hours I spent in the iFly 737, the more I became to appreciate all that the CDU provides to the pilot. I began thinking about how wonderful it would be to have an external CDU unit in my home simulator setup. I started searching through a few forums and using the best friend a virtual pilot has and that is Google. The iFly forums have a dedicated hardware builders section and I found many who had success in getting the VRInsight CDU II setup with the iFly 737. The decision had been made based on the research I conducted, I placed an order through FlightSim Pilot Shopand the unit arrived just in time for the long US Memorial Day (3 day weekend).
My new VRInsight CDU II arrived via Fedex on Friday morning. I would be misleading you if I only said “some assembly required”. While the CDU module itself is fully assembled, it is up to the user to place the labels and button covers onto the buttons of the CDU. There are 70 labels and button covers required. The button labels come in a sheet which normally are easy to detach and are in an order that makes them easy to locate. Mine were so easy to detach that when I opened the box and pulled out the plastic bag which covers and protects the labels that the majority had already detached themselves and were loose in the package. This created somewhat of a nightmare as they became harder to find. Please Note: The CDU II can also be used to control other cockpit functions such as auto-pilot etc. So you’ll have a lot of button labels you won’t need if you only configure the CDU to be used as a CDU.
Assembling the button and labels is not difficult, it is just tedious work that took me about an hour to complete. If the button labels had not detached themselves this could have been done much, much faster. Once the labels and buttons were setup correctly came the connection to the PC. The CDU II requires a USB connection, a VGA connection and a power connection and comes with all the appropriate connectors including a VGA to DVI adapter if your video card has DVI outputs.
A note regarding power. I was a little disappointed with the power requirements for the CDU. Obviously because of the LCD screen in the CDU, the CDU II requires external power and will not operate on the standard 5 volts from the USB connection. The power requirement for the CDU II is 12 volts and it does come with a 12 volt AC wall wart type adapter. However, the plug configuration for the wall wart is not the standard US 110 electrical outlet. It is a two pin European style plug. While I don’t mean to sound like a typical “American”, I have never purchased any piece of electronic gear which didn’t come configured and setup for the country it is intended to be used in.
Now….I had prepared myself and purchased an adapter to convert the two pin European style plug to a standard US 110 outlet as I had read forum postings from others who were caught by surprise by this setup. However, I’m happy to report the VRInsight people had included an adapter with the CDU II. I’m not sure when this change was made so I suppose if you purchase this product you may receive a package that doesn’t include the adapter. But most stores like Radio Shack, Micro Center or travel specialty shops will have these adapters. The cost was about $8 USD.
Back on track. The CDU II also arrives with a CD containing the drivers and other supporting software required to make it all work with Flight Simulator. By the way, while I’ve only tested this on FSX, it does appear to also work with FS9. But I don’t find any discussion about it working with X-Plane. Sorry X-Plane users.
The setup documentation was fairly easy to follow. The CDU II can’t (at least at this time) be operated from a remote networked computer. It must be connected to your main FS machine and also can’t be operated through a Matrox Triplehead2Go type adapter. Luckily my video card came with two DVI outputs on the back. One I’ve been feeding into the TripleHead2Go adapter providing video to three LCD panels. The second DVI output was un-used. If you do not have two VGA or DVI outputs on your computer, you will need to think about either upgrading your video card or adding a second adapter.
Within a few minutes after installing the appropriate drivers I had the CDU II connected and the display was working showing a Windows background. But it’s not ready to fly just yet.
Included is a software application called SerialFP2. This very lightweight software application is what essentially bridges the connectivity of the external CDU II device to the internal CDU in FSX. This takes a little time to setup so the display from FSX is aligned correctly on the external CDU. I estimate I’ve spend several hours tweaking this to get it just right. The good news is once you get it set, the settings are saved in an .ini file and switching from aircraft to aircraft (pending you’ve setup each) is not difficult. Currently I’m only running the external CDU II with the iFly 737 and the LevelD 767. This SerialFP2 software does include panel config settings for the LevelD and several other aircraft varieties. It did not include auto panel setup for the iFly. But this is where the iFly Cockpit Builder Forum came in handy.
Are there alternatives to the VRInsight CDU II? Yes, in doing my research I also found theFlyEngravity CDU and FlightDeck Solutions CDU. I did look and research both, but at about twice the price of the VRInsight model, I decided to save my $$. A final solution for an external CDU just to give you the information is if you own an iPad check out the iDisplay App. It will allow you to extend your Windows desktop to the iPad across a wi-fi network. I did experiment with this solution but since I also use my iPad as a kneeboard with the iPad app FSKneeboard, I opted to go with the external CDU module.
VRInsight CDU II is available from many Flight Sim Stores and retails for around $450.00 USD. You can find more information by visiting the VRInsight website located here.
In Closing, I’ve flown approx. 20+ flights in the iFly 737 and the LevelD 767 using the external VRInsight CDU II and I’m very pleased with the product. I would recommend this to anyone who is building their own flight simulator cockpit and/or wants to add the extra level of realism this hardware module can deliver. The price is fair based on what you get (especially compared to other alternatives)
June 21, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
I saw this question mentioned on the VATSIM Forums the other day and it got me thinking. Is the VA model still alive? Being someone who has been involved with virtual airlines off and on for a decade now, I sort of began pondering why I joined a VA in the first place and why I re-joined my old VA when coming back into the hobby last year and why I spend many hours a month running the Dallas/Ft. Worth Hub for American virtual Airlines. By the way, American virtual Airlines just recently celebrated its 10th birthday. I think this very point is the answer to the overall question. But we’ll dig a little deeper and see what we find.
First of all….what is a VA? A VA or Virtual Airline (according to Wikipedia) is a dedicated hobby organization that uses flight simulation to model the operations of an airline. VA’s date back to time before the “big bang” of the Internet. VA’s are reported to have been found on services such as Prodigy, CompuServe and AOL. But I think they could have easily existed before that time…before the time of the Internet age and those previously mentioned online services. VA’s could have (and probably did) existed between neighborhood friends who manually tracked their time with a Big Chief tablet and a #2 pencil. I will admit that when flight simulator expanded into the ability to fly to a few more places than just around Meig’s Field, I was tracking my flights and counting up the hours I spent doing so. Was I in a VA? I suppose I could have been with MMI Airlines (Me, Myself & I).
I learned about the virtual airline concept one of two ways (I can’t remember for certain, it’s what happens as you get older). Either I saw something on one of the older versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator or I read about it in one of the Flight Sim Magazines. This was in the early 2001 timeframe. At that time the apartment where I lived didn’t live close enough to the Telco central office to receive DSL and I was still on dialup. Anyway, the concept interested me and I joined several which either were inactive or closed their doors. In the late summer of 2001 I found AvA.
Back in this 2001 timeframe, I don’t remember all the various communities to support the hobby. Sure there were forums, but today there exists various online communities where members come together to share knowledge, swap lies, post screenshots and learn about the hobby. One of the finest that I know of and proud to call myself a member is The Flight Simulator Network. This website was founded by a fellow flight sim enthusiast, Mark Avey and in my opinion is one of the best on the internet. These communities provide an alternative to the traditional based VA. Some of these communities have a built-in VA component and some do not. I understand that The Flight Simulator Network now offers a virtual airline within their website.
Back to the specific topic of Virtual Airlines and if they matter today. The general problems with most VA’s today can be lumped into a couple of categories. The first being lack of experience, the second being lack of funds and possibly a third is lack of maturity. Take out these key ingredients and a VA will fail to get off the ground. Please allow me to drill into each of these issues.
I want to start with lack of maturity first. This doesn’t automatically mean the individual starting the VA is a young person. It simply means the individual wants to be the CEO of his/her own VA and generally this has been decided because they find fault with an already existing VA or its members.
Lack of experience is also a HUGE issue with the success or failure of a VA. Individuals will form a VA without any prior knowledge of how a VA should run.
The third element is lack of funds. Any VA website created on a free web service will more than likely fail. This may not have been the case a decade ago, but today….it will fail…..guaranteed. Virtual Pilots demand certain functionality which can be difficult to provide on free web services. Second, most free web services have various pop-up ads that again just aren’t tolerated in this modern Internet age we live in. One could expect to pay anywhere from $100 up on an annual basis to run a successful virtual airline and in most cases you can’t count on members to donate anything towards the cost.
There is a final element or issue that does plague VA’s today and that is legal issues. Most VA’s that portray the operations of a real world counterpart (such as American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Fedex etc. etc.) are doing so somewhat under the radar. While I won’t say that the real American Airlines doesn’t know about AvA, it is just possible they have not bothered with trying to shut it down. Many upstart VA’s could expect to receive a “cease and desist” letter from the real world airline they are trying to portray. Some airlines are more diligent than others. I think a lot of the reasons why VA’s get shut down by their real world counterparts can fall into the other three elements I previously mentioned. Some VA’s have been extremely successful at reaching out to their real-world counterpart and not only gaining approval for using copy write material, but also gaining the full support (non-financial) and endorsement. One of the most successful stories that I know of is British Airways Virtual. These guys presented their ideas for BAV to the real BA legal and marketing teams and won their full support. That is incredible.
But aside from all that, is the VA model still alive today? I say YES, it is. I’m not just saying this because of my involvement with a VA, I’m saying this from what I experience reading in the various online forums and communities and what I witness each and every time I fly on the VATSIM network. I see this is the dedication of the virtual pilots who fly for me in the DFW hub.
If you are reading this and you currently are not involved with a virtual airline, I say join one. Don’t create a new one just because you want to be the CEO. Trust me, you’ll regret that decision down the road. But join an existing VA and experience it from the pilots viewpoint. If you haven’t experienced a virtual airline from a pilots perspective, how on earth can you be a successful CEO?
But what virtual airline should you join? Well…this is not as hard as it may seem. Most of us that are truly addicted to the flight simulation hobby will have a favorite airline they enjoy flying in the real life. It may be American, it may be United or Southwest or it might even be Era Alaska as portrayed on the Discovery Channel TV program, seek out and find these VA’s and join up. You’ll easily be able to tell from their website if they are active or defunct. Look for VA’s which have an online policy manual and read this before joining. Look for VA’s which provide automated PIREP systems.
I would welcome anyone reading this blog post to join me at American virtual Airlines. If you like the real world AA, AvA is the best VA out there simulating AA operations. We’ve been around for 10 years and have an active and very experienced management team running every aspect of the VA.
Again, the VA model is very much alive and kicking. Consider joining one to take your flight sim hobby to the next level. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Until next time,
Jerry
June 18, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
Before I get started detailing part two, I just wanted to mention the Heathrow scenery is UK2000 Scenery. They develop add-on scenery for both FSX and FS9. It runs fairly well on my machine and since I enjoy flying to Heathrow, I wanted to update it from the way it looks in FSX default (which doesn’t include the new T5).
Part two of our journey takes place a few hours after we landed at Heathrow. You can read about the Denver to London Heathrow flight in Part 1. As also mentioned in part 1, this is a real world trip my wife and I are taking to visit her family in Belgium.
We made the 90 minute journey across London from Heathrow to London City Airport (EGLC). London City Airport is a small airport practically in the center of London and right on the banks of the Thames River. The airport services mostly other European destinations, but British Airways does operate a daily flight from EGLC to KJFK via a stop in Ireland. It is a fun airport to fly into both in real life and in FS Life. Please join me in this adventure as we depart EGLC for Antwerp, Belgium EBAW.
Our flight today will be in the CityJet, Fokker 50. I don’t get the chance to fly a lot of turboprop aircraft, nor do I get the opportunity to fly in them in real life. One of my favorite commercial turboprops used to be the Saab 340B which American Eagle once operated. I would take one of those when I flew from Dallas/Ft. Worth down to Killeen, Texas. Now American Eagle uses the ERJ’s for that route and has retired all the Saab 340B’s from their fleet. Anyway….the Fokker 50 is a sweet aircraft for FSX. I do need to upgrade the panel for it and that’s why you won’t see any short final shots from the cockpit window in this adventure.
Rubens 100, holding short runway 28 (as depicted in FSX) waiting for the Air France to depart. Runway 28 is (actually runway 27 in real life) is a short 4,984 feet and again right in the heart of London’s Financial District (the Wall Street of London) and buildings all around. We’ll need to let the props wind up prior to releasing the brake just for good measure.
Airborne, now let the bumpy ride begin. While this Fokker 50 needs to have a new panel installed, the ride characteristics are very good. She rocks and rolls just as the real Fokker 50 does. The rain in London has stopped, but the clouds are still hanging around and we have a light chop. I expect the chop to get worse before it gets better.
Bye-Bye London. See you in a few weeks.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologize for the rough flight. We just cross Dover and are headed across the English Channel. That is France just off the starboard side.
Approaching the city of Antwerp, Belgium. Antwerp is depicted surprisingly well in FSX. The river Scheldt is visible winding through the city. Antwerp is a very beautiful city and I enjoy visiting there every chance I can. The Antwerp Airport (EBAW) is just ahead, turning for the downwind leg approach.
A short final shot (runway 29) from outside (sorry Al), just in the general direction off the right wing (less than 1 mile) is where my Mother and Father-in-law live. I can sit in their garden and hear the aircraft wind up their engines and props. We’re almost there. By the way, EBAW has a slightly shorter runway (by 30 feet) than EGLC. Landing and departing is less daunting with the lack of buildings and the obvious close proximity to the River Thames. It’s still a fun runway to land and depart from.
Parked at EBAW. Again, surprisingly EBAW is depicted very well. I’ve yet to find an add-on scenery for this airport. But I think FSX does a good job.
Well…I’ve simulated half of our real-world journey my wife and I will take in the next few weeks. It is time to head over to my Mother and Father-in-Laws house, get a shower and then walk to the Frituur Shop for some incredible Belgian Fries called frites (like french fries, but without the french). I don’t know the history of the friend potato, but the French have nothing on the Belgians and US? Ha….nothing compares. Also, Belgians don’t eat their fries with ketchup…it is mayonnaise all the way. I will also enjoy a few curry worst sausages called frikandel in Dutch. Ain’t nothing healthy about this dinner…it’s all about the reward after having been awake for over 30+ hours.
I don’t think I’ll document the return trip and will let this part 2 be the final chapter. I will of course simulate the return flight from EBAW to EGLC and then EGLL back to KDEN. But I’ll leave it up to your imagination how that trip goes. Right now my mind and my stomach is thinking Belgium and that’s where I’ll leave it.
Until next time, Happy Flying!
Jerry
