Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

[Scarpozzi]

Do you set up flight plans using simbrief or just pick destinations from the sim's world map?

I've done both at times. Sim brief is a cool website that will plan routes for you. But then you need to enter them into the a320 computer.

I often want to do these short trips but have problems figuring out all the details so sim brief comes in handy. I guess not all routes may be picked up in MS 2020 but at least I have seen that the direct destination waypoints are in there.

I've been using the world map, but want to learn how to enter them in the a320 computer. I keep trying, but haven't figured it out yet. I'm going to see if I can find some instructions to figure it out. I haven't *actually piloted a plane since 2008 and those were all Cessnas I was flying....so it's a little different trying to figure out those more advanced interfaces and just learn where the controls are. I kind of wish the engine start procedures were more rustic than CTRL + E.

 

[sze5003]

I've been using the world map, but want to learn how to enter them in the a320 computer. I keep trying, but haven't figured it out yet. I'm going to see if I can find some instructions to figure it out. I haven't *actually piloted a plane since 2008 and those were all Cessnas I was flying....so it's a little different trying to figure out those more advanced interfaces and just learn where the controls are. I kind of wish the engine start procedures were more rustic than CTRL + E.

Here's a good tutorial for the a 320 MCDU. It will show you how to use a flight plan from sim brief to enter waypoints manually in the A320.

You definitely can start the airliner manually by clicking on the check list section and going through each item. Pressing the eye icon next to each check list item shows you the location of the switch.

Tutorial for manual cold and dark startup.

For a cold and dark state make sure you select to start on a parking spot in the airport on the map rather than on a runway.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Here's a good tutorial for the a 320 MCDU. It will show you how to use a flight plan from sim brief to enter waypoints manually in the A320.

You definitely can start the airliner manually by clicking on the check list section and going through each item. Pressing the eye icon next to each check list item shows you the location of the switch.

Tutorial for manual cold and dark startup.

For a cold and dark state make sure you select to start on a parking spot in the airport on the map rather than on a runway.

Thanks. I figured there'd be videos on it, I just hadn't had time to look at them yet.

I really need to get a new joystick. I have the rudder and aileron controls linked because the cheap Saitek joystick I'm using doesn't have twist capability. For whatever reason, it keeps getting this right feedback that sometimes makes landing seem like I'm in a severe crosswind. I can reset it sometimes by unplugging/replugging the USB, but sometimes it goes right back to having it. I see a lot of people complain about that on various logitec products too, so it doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary these days. I miss analog stuff sometimes. I feel like it's less likely to have these issues.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Here's a good tutorial for the a 320 MCDU. It will show you how to use a flight plan from sim brief to enter waypoints manually in the A320.

You definitely can start the airliner manually by clicking on the check list section and going through each item. Pressing the eye icon next to each check list item shows you the location of the switch.

Tutorial for manual cold and dark startup.

For a cold and dark state make sure you select to start on a parking spot in the airport on the map rather than on a runway.

I hadn't really played with autopilot much because I hadn't played with flight plans. I'd just done direct and VFR.

I went through the computer setup and practiced on a few flights. I ended up flying from Tampa to Savannah. (KTPA and KSAV)

That was a pretty neat flight because setting up the SID on the approach on autopilot had the plane do a 180 turn at 13000, then descend to 2000 for landing. Autopilot lined me up with the runway and it was pretty easy setting it down. I'm looking forward to more of those kinds of flights if I can find some closer hops. I need to change my liveries though. I still have it on the Southwest one.



On approach and descent in the low country:

 

[sze5003]

I hadn't really played with autopilot much because I hadn't played with flight plans. I'd just done direct and VFR.

I went through the computer setup and practiced on a few flights. I ended up flying from Tampa to Savannah. (KTPA and KSAV)

That was a pretty neat flight because setting up the SID on the approach on autopilot had the plane do a 180 turn at 13000, then descend to 2000 for landing. Autopilot lined me up with the runway and it was pretty easy setting it down. I'm looking forward to more of those kinds of flights if I can find some closer hops. I need to change my liveries though. I still have it on the Southwest one.
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On approach and descent in the low country:
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That's interesting because some of the SID's from simbrief, when I would use them, the autopilot would go crazy when it got close to the approach. I wonder if the latest patch fixed anything there. I haven't flown in a while since I last tried the bush trip I was trying to finish, but the patch broke any in progress bush trips unless you started them over.

I did notice that putting stuff into the computer after the second patch, behaved differently with the waypoints compared to release.

I also stated looking into flight sim economy which kind of gives you a purpose for flying sort of like a career mode, but it's a bit complex.

 

[Scarpozzi]

That's interesting because some of the SID's from simbrief, when I would use them, the autopilot would go crazy when it got close to the approach. I wonder if the latest patch fixed anything there. I haven't flown in a while since I last tried the bush trip I was trying to finish, but the patch broke any in progress bush trips unless you started them over.

I did notice that putting stuff into the computer after the second patch, behaved differently with the waypoints compared to release.

I also stated looking into flight sim economy which kind of gives you a purpose for flying sort of like a career mode, but it's a bit complex.

I used SIDs that were in the flight computer already. I didn't use simbrief. There were a few to choose from.

I keep uploading pictures because we haven't had a lot of those. That last picture is probably my favorite because it's a solid representation of KSAV landscape with photo-realistic AI trees overlaying the aerial runway in the distance. Flying in parts of the world with less aerial imagery or older imagery just doesn't look as cool, but this game is only going to get better as the spy satellites capture more overhead.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I just purchased the game, can't wait to play it when I get back home.

It took me a while to download the first time. I'm not sure how they're handling source code + updates. Be patient and hit mute during the install....you'll get sick of that music after it repeats the 3rd time. (which you'll hear every time the sim starts) If your system isn't super-fast and paired with super-fast internet, be prepared to drop the settings some for better performance.



My old saitek joystick still gives right rudder feedback that needs resetting for some reason. It requires an unplug/replug. Additionally, it can be super-sensitive when flying on the big jets. I have control issues in a 747, where if I bank to the left...a slight move will send the jet almost into a barrel-roll. The only way to recover is to go the other direction....which is sluggish, so you have to give it more banking the other way that then turns into a roll the other direction. I'm still waiting to get reviews on a good joystick/throttle combo with separate rudder. My Wingman Force 3d isn't precise enough anymore and I think the motor may be stripped or not supported properly in Windows 10?

I just don't want to go full yoke because it's too much work to clamp it to the desk. (I went that route long ago on a racing/flight simulator setup when things were still analog and it got old dealing with it)

 

[Scarpozzi]

I was flying an approach to Chicago and descending when I saw this guy right in front of me... That AI jet was acting about as crazy as the traffic on the ground that doesn't stay on the roads. =P Occasionally, I'll see traffic shoot across the VFR map like shooting stars, but having seen anything wacky in the air like that yet.

He was moving fast enough that I thought he was a MiG 28 doing a 4G negative dive . I was going to follow him into it inverted and give him the finger.

 

[sswingle]

I was flying an approach to Chicago and descending when I saw this guy right in front of me... That AI jet was acting about as crazy as the traffic on the ground that doesn't stay on the roads. =P Occasionally, I'll see traffic shoot across the VFR map like shooting stars, but having seen anything wacky in the air like that yet.

He was moving fast enough that I thought he was a MiG 28 doing a 4G negative dive . I was going to follow him into it inverted and give him the finger.

ATC told him to expedite his climb.

 

[Scarpozzi]

When flying in real life, I always flew VFR and usually in a Cessna 152 because it was $20/hr plus better gas mileage cheaper to fly. I flew a 172 on a few flights when the 152 was checked out. I never flew IFR because I was just learning take off/landing procedures, level flight, and general maneuvers. I remember seeing the IFR dials and NAV radios and wondering how they worked....I just never got there.

I played around with it and had a pretty successful flight today by using a few VORs and an ILS approach. I'm not talking about letting the simulator set up anything...I'm talking about entering the radio frequencies and knowing the headings/estimated flight times and using them to guide myself into the IFR glideslope. This is going to be my new obsession is picking out some flight plans in the Cessnas with no DME/GPS and flying old-school.


I'm still struggling to make buttery smooth landings due to my controller.

My Saitek joystick is too sensitive at times and jerks left or right or up or down....I'll give it just a nudge and the plane will do wild things... It's so bad that I couldn't understand why autopilot wouldn't engage....it was pulling to the left so much (and I was compensating) that when I took my hands off the controls autopilot wouldn't engage. I'm hoping we'll see some logitech or saitek inventory show up again soon. $149 hotas sets are priced at $330 with shipping from China right now.....inventory must be zero everywhere.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I put together a flight plan, but just wrote it down, had my NAV radios dialed in and did about an 80nm flight IFR that was VFR in the sim....just so I could pick my waypoints without loading the plan. You can see me 'on course' with the nav radio 2. I added weather and precipitation before the end of the flight to blind myself and honestly got turned around because my headings were off by the time I got to the waypoints. I was really close though and used my radio to ask the tower for a full stop landing...of course, they selected the runway going the other direction, which doesn't have ILS approach.

I ignored that and could see ILS approach was reading glideslope...I just couldn't feel out the approach because it was further West than I imagined. Had I used GPS, I would have seen it much quicker. Eventually, I saw runway lights and the glideslope helped me nail my altitude on the approach with minimal visibility.

I need more practice, but that's challenging stuff flying blind. Looking forward to more adventures after I get the hang of it.

 

[N2gaming]

just got the yoke and played with it in FSX - holy cow this is such a great way to fly my cessna

tempted to get a throttle and pedals now

Hey! I have a CH Pro Throttle and CH Fighterstick and I cant find where to make the game recognize them. When I am in the game they are there but it lists all at one time - mouse, keyboard,CH Pro Throttle, CH Fighterstick and I cant make the sim just recognize my HOTAS. Also, is there a read me file so I can get info and keyboard settings? I had DL'd the game so I didnt get any extras...Thanks

 

[Scarpozzi]

Hey! I have a CH Pro Throttle and CH Fighterstick and I cant find where to make the game recognize them. When I am in the game they are there but it lists all at one time - mouse, keyboard,CH Pro Throttle, CH Fighterstick and I cant make the sim just recognize my HOTAS. Also, is there a read me file so I can get info and keyboard settings? I had DL'd the game so I didnt get any extras...Thanks

I had to bind specific axis to the Saitek I use. It took some time to customize X/Y/Z (for me, Z is throttle)...I don't have a rudder on my joystick so, I had to bind it to the X axis along with the ailerons.

I would bind buttons for flaps and I have buttons for quick view changes, but use the mouse for cockpit controls everywhere else.

I suggest flying, then tweaking sensitivity. Most people tend to change sensitivity to -25% and increase the dead zone to 6%. I just did that today and flying was much better.

Today, I flew two legs in the a320....from DFW to MCO and then MCO to IAD...

 

[Scarpozzi]

I've not complained much about the graphics because this is leaps and bounds above FSX. My meager build from September is an AMD 3600 + a Gigabyte nVidia 1660 Super (6GB)....I went with that combo because it was most bang for the buck and I figured that the hardware would likely deliver 80+% for over half the cost of what I could have spent. I bought some cheap Acer monitors a few years back and used those as my dual monitors on this build.

Tonight, I started adjusting the settings. I've had issues with clouds being pixelated and some other things. I messed with antialiasing and some of the 3d settings and it appears to have gotten better, but I still see a lot of distortion when the clouds are rendered. I read enough threads that it may be a limitation of the game.

Now...while I was mucking with my graphics card settings on a very cloudy flight between Isla Mujeres and Grand Cayman in the Cessna Citation, I decided to try spanning both monitors for more of a sim feel. That's a cool concept, but not sure how best to avoid the black bar in the middle where my screens meet. I think you almost need a 3rd monitor so you can have forward and peripheral view. This shot is after landing in Grand Cayman and turning around on the runway...spanned across 2 monitors, so it's 3840X1080 resolution.



I had my autopilot engaged and was messing with the monitors. I disengaged autopilot and couldn't get my trim adjusted properly. While trying to land, I had to go around because the plane kept pitching down and wasn't responsive (which is when I realized the trim was wacky). Once I adjusted the trim and had control of the aircraft, I took this screenshot flying the downwind leg and patiently waiting to turn. I am really thinking now about setting these screens up on a table and getting the full affect. With only 2 screens, the break in the monitors will land dead center on the pilot's side window...where the runway lines up. You can offset this slightly, but then your viewpoint is skewed a little. I wish there was a better solution for this. Having a wide enough view for peripheral vision is pretty awesome and makes it feel so much more real.

 

[Scarpozzi]

2 new free aircraft from msaddons.com are out. CRJ-700 and Airbus 330. Both have liveries packs. The CRJ-700 is mostly drag and drop. The 330 requires overwriting a few files or the plane preview won't show up correctly. Watch the youtube view for details. Requires an unrar program. I use 7zip.

The CRJ-700 feels kind of like the Citation. The 330 feels like a bigger 320, but all the controls are the same in the cockpit. Decent liveries available.



https://msfsaddons.com/category/freeware/

A freeware CRJ-700 for MSFS - MSFS Addons

Everyone is waiting for Aerosoft's CRJ, but here's a free alternative based on the same external model from FSX.

msfsaddons.com

Airbus A330-300 for MSFS, by Aircraft Mega Pack - MSFS Addons

This freeware Airbus A330 for Flight Simulator (MSFS) has a great external 3D model and a cockpit based on the A32NX.

msfsaddons.com

 

[brianmanahan]

the UK update is finally out and it looks so good!

i'm probably going to be flying around london for a while

 

[Scarpozzi]

the UK update is finally out and it looks so good!

i'm probably going to be flying around london for a while

I'll have to check it out tomorrow.

 

[Scarpozzi]

My latest flight.....they've finally gotten some of the control, fuel issues and autopilot issues fixed on the 747. I started from outside of Venice, Italy at Venice Marco Polo Airport and filed a flight plan for Logan International. I adjusted my IFR altitude to 39,000 and fell asleep after flying over Ireland. I woke up a little while ago and found myself 11 miles past Boston (I could have timed that entirely wrong, but just happened to wake up).....I had plenty of fuel because I went fully loaded. I just didn't want to have to turn around at LAX and not have enough fuel to land at BOS.

I was still at 39,000 and that's the toughest thing about a 747 for me....descending. I was going to land VFR and then gave up on that because I really wasn't sure where I was and don't like the VFR map. I ended up refiling my IFR plan and of course fought with the controllers FL29, FL26, FL29, until they finally allowed me down to 3,000. I flew back east of Logan and had to disable autopilot to bring it in because NAV wasn't picking up. I tend to botch landing is the 747 more often than not, but somehow got it down at the right speed and didn't have it bouncing or overshooting the runway from that last minute ground effect/drift. So that's my longest flight even though I was asleep for most of it. I know some people have done a lot of intercontinental flights, but previously, my longest was to Hawaii from either LAX or SFO.

Anyhow....it turned out to be like an 9+ hour flight after overshooting and having to make the huge circle for landing. It's making me wish I had sprung for the deluxe or premium to have more long range plane options and I found out the deluxe version has a Cessna 172 panel without the Garmin 1000 panel.

 

[Hans Gruber]

My latest flight.....they've finally gotten some of the control, fuel issues and autopilot issues fixed on the 747. I started from outside of Venice, Italy at Venice Marco Polo Airport and filed a flight plan for Logan International. I adjusted my IFR altitude to 39,000 and fell asleep after flying over Ireland. I woke up a little while ago and found myself 11 miles past Boston (I could have timed that entirely wrong, but just happened to wake up).....I had plenty of fuel because I went fully loaded. I just didn't want to have to turn around at LAX and not have enough fuel to land at BOS.

I was still at 39,000 and that's the toughest thing about a 747 for me....descending. I was going to land VFR and then gave up on that because I really wasn't sure where I was and don't like the VFR map. I ended up refiling my IFR plan and of course fought with the controllers FL29, FL26, FL29, until they finally allowed me down to 3,000. I flew back east of Logan and had to disable autopilot to bring it in because NAV wasn't picking up. I tend to botch landing is the 747 more often than not, but somehow got it down at the right speed and didn't have it bouncing or overshooting the runway from that last minute ground effect/drift. So that's my longest flight even though I was asleep for most of it. I know some people have done a lot of intercontinental flights, but previously, my longest was to Hawaii from either LAX or SFO.

Anyhow....it turned out to be like an 9+ hour flight after overshooting and having to make the huge circle for landing. It's making me wish I had sprung for the deluxe or premium to have more long range plane options and I found out the deluxe version has a Cessna 172 panel without the Garmin 1000 panel.

You should shoot for 147-148kts that is your approach flare speed on a 747. It makes landings much easier.

 

[Scarpozzi]

You should shoot for 147-148kts that is your approach flare speed on a 747. It makes landings much easier.

I think that's around where I was, but lined up for a relatively short approach because, as I said, the NAV mode wasn't picking up right. If I was in another plane that I knew better, I'd just use the localizer and approach mode, but I was still a few thousand feet higher than I should have been when I lined up on final, so I was trying to manage flaps and spoilers to get my airspeed to match my descent.

I need to just pick an airport with a long enough runway and do some touch and gos with the 747 for practice. I've not had good luck with flying it though because I don't have a proper rudder control setup and am still flying with rudder/ailerons linked....It makes landing difficult....not much room for correction, crabbing in cross-winds, etc...

 

[KMFJD]

Just got this, playing on a wide screen with everything cranked up to max and this game is very pretty, just casually flying at a couple of hundred feet watching the car traffic come and go can be mesmerizing

 

[Scarpozzi]

Just got this, playing on a wide screen with everything cranked up to max and this game is very pretty, just casually flying at a couple of hundred feet watching the car traffic come and go can be mesmerizing

What video card/processor are you running? I still have my AMD 3600/nVidia 1660 Super is a decent combo for the money (since I bought it last August or so), but it definitely has a hiccup or two on occasion. I've changed up my settings a little bit to help maximize things and I'm sure Microsoft has been working hard to help get the frame rates more consistent for Xbox.

Eventually, I may pull this combo out and build my kids a gaming box with them and upgrade my setup to a current gen AMD and 3060 or whatever when stock catches up. Might be a good 2022 plan. Flight Simulator goes from 30-80fps on my current setup and is likely going to be the heaviest resource hog I run for years. I'm getting 150-200 fps on everything else.

 

[KMFJD]

What video card/processor are you running? I still have my AMD 3600/nVidia 1660 Super is a decent combo for the money (since I bought it last August or so), but it definitely has a hiccup or two on occasion. I've changed up my settings a little bit to help maximize things and I'm sure Microsoft has been working hard to help get the frame rates more consistent for Xbox.

Eventually, I may pull this combo out and build my kids a gaming box with them and upgrade my setup to a current gen AMD and 3060 or whatever when stock catches up. Might be a good 2022 plan. Flight Simulator goes from 30-80fps on my current setup and is likely going to be the heaviest resource hog I run for years. I'm getting 150-200 fps on everything else.

i7 8600k/ 3090 and boy does the fan get loud at times

 

[gk1951]

The France, Belgium and Netherlands update is beautiful!

Running a 5900x/RX6800 combo with a BenQ3501R 35" widescreen at 3440x1440 and it is fun.

Can only imagine what the 49" widescreens look like.