Poll: How realistic is your flying ?

[dswanson]

Hi,

Having just read PC Pilot's Real V Sim special, I thought a poll was in order - strictly for fun of course, although the responses would be interesting ....

Myself ? I work with the realism I want at the time !!

[Tarasdad]

Cold and dark, absolutely; real-world flight plans whenever possible - AND appropriate for the flight (digging up retro flight plans is a hobby in itself); on, or rather as near to the centerline as I am capable, something that can vary wildly from flight to flight.

There is a philosophy among some flight simmers that "as real as it gets" is the only way to fly. For me it's more "as real as is consistent with my enjoyment of the hobby" - which means that there will be times when I diverge from the "reality" path, such as flying with failures disabled. It's tough enough for me to do the flights at times without adding random broken bits to the mix. Starting from cold and dark, especially with a panel that mimics the real startup procedure as closely as possible, is half the fun of the flight to me. If all FS aircraft were as complex as the Project Tupolev TU-154M I'd be a happy, happy camper.

[mgchristy]

I agree wholehearedly with Barry. It is a game, after all, right? Whatever strikes my fancy at the moment. :flying:

That being said, I always start cold & dark. Configuring, loading, and starting up the complex sims (PMDG, Level-D, etc) is more than half the fun, IMHO. If I'm flying airliner types, I enjoy tracking down accurate flight plans (Flightaware.com is a great tool, at least on this side of the pond). Military plans are a little harder to come by...but I try to pick routings & altitudes that are as close to legitimate as I can ascertain. Oh...and I abhor the default GPS! Either I use the supplied FMS, the wonderful CIVA INS, or radio navaids...whichever is most applicable for the craft I'm using.

I never got into using the default ATC...mainly due to the clumsy interface.

[jonesey2k]

Would have been good to have an option: "you tune your own navaids instead of using GPS

Myself, if you're going to do something, do it proper.

[Paul K]

I never use GPS. The rest of it varies according to whether its a quick buzz around, or a serious pre-planned trip.

[Nigel H-J]

80% of the time I will do my own flight plan, use all the VORs' DMEs' and ADFs'.....manually tuning onto the next frequency, timing my descents so that I will arrive at a VOR/ADF at near enough the right altitude prior to arrival at destination airport and also intercepting the ILS manually.....a much more satisfying way to fly, even only use ATC for take off and landing permissions (no flight following) .....The remaining 20% is done through the Auto-Pilot and Flight Director when I can't be bothered to spend the time planning.

Nigel.

[johnsmithe15]

I love the whole smorgasbord. Recently bothered to learn how to fly the RFP 742 (have you seen the manual for that thing!!!). I have installed CIVA INS (have you seen the manual for THIS thing!) into many of the retro models I like such as DMs VC10, Trident etc,. I use Flynet for the CBFS flights but also log into VATSIM and fly with live ATC wherever possible. I have Active Sky6 set to maximum realism, which was fun climbing out of Miami tonight as the wings nearly came off in the turbulence.

Used to use FSPax but it became a bit repetitive, besides with complex panels and an INS system to run it can be just 'too much'

Started using FSInn instead of SB3 as the model placement is much more accurate and realistic for other online flyers, you get the right model and livery if you have them installed.

Got me a solder iron today and have a few potentiometers on order from Maplins as Im going to have a crack at making a set of rudder pedals with toe brakes this weekend as Im told they improve the experience and Im a cheap bugger. LOL.

Nearly gave me a stroke when I had to fork out £32 for Duxford.....but it was worth it.

This is certainly a hobby that evolves, I love learning new things, trying them out and rewarding you by actually working.

Johnny

[T6flyer]

In all my years of flight simming, I have never ever used a flightplan. May use the GPS, but not that often. Most times its either dead reckoning (if a local flight) or just by sitting a map on my knee!

Martin

[markw]

I suppose I'm a sort of halfway house - ever since I read and downloaded Mr Maltby's Idiots Guide to flying and landing on Autopilot I do little else unless the aircraft hasn't actually got an autopilot, and I let the sim plot the route, usually VOR to VOR and never GPS, but I do enjoy following the route set by the computer, following ATC instructions and trying to set the aircraft up for an ILS landing without stalling it or sticking it into the ground too fast. However, if I was to try and fly the aircraft completely accurately, having to do my own navigation, starting up from cold and with a lot of hand-flying, I'd rapidly lose interest through frustration.

For me the greatest part of the fun of the sim is actually flying outside the plane admiring the work put into the model, and although I like to try and do more than just "play a game", trying to fly realistic routes or scenarios with the correct kit, I'm not too worried about following all the accurate proceedures, just those which to me make it more than just a point and fly job, but not so much I feel I should be being paid to do a job.

Each to their own, of course.

[dswanson]

Certainly a good mix of votes on the poll, suggesting we all choose how "realistic" we want to be.

I never start "cold & dark" - I have erks to do that

Flying with ATC is a bit difficult at 500ft AGL & 300kt through the valleys of N Wales and Cumbria but the buzz is more important to me than having someone's permission. I certainly agree that tuning ADF s & VORs and hand flying is more interesting than using the FMC and autopilot but hey, for each of us it's MY sim and we love it !! :flying: