New in the Flight simulation world, need help !

[avianess]

Hi everyone,
I just got the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 as a gift and I wanted to know if anyone could give me some tips on how I can learn to fly. It's all pretty new for me but I really like it, however It's a bit hard to understand how things function when I read the Flying Lessons with Rod Machado part !
If there are any interesting DVD's or websites anyone knows about please tell me about it.

Thanks all, have a wonderful day !  ;)

[BFMF]

Welcome to SimV, and the wonderful world of Aviation!

My advice is to keep going through the lessons on FS9, and read all of the help articles also. There is too much to learn for any one of us to explain it all, unless you need help with specific things.

As for websites and DVDs, I can't think of any at the moment. I'm sure someone here can point you in the right direction

Also, fly a lot

[cloud9]

Yah if you have specific things we'll help you out but the best way would be lessons and the learning center (it has little videos that help)

Cheers

[wealthysoup]

The official fs2004 site might be some use but it seems like its got very limited help for flying. http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsi ... efault.asp
If you put the settings in fs all thew way down at first then every so often start to increase them you should be able to fly pretty quickly.There are also some things like books that can be downloaded for free (I thought there were some on the fs site but I cant find anything at the minute.)
Reading over Navs crosswind landing tutorial should help your landings http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb/ ... 1129643666 (and altough I wouldnt reccommend doing crosswind landings yet it includes some usefull points for landings in FS

[Brett_Henderson]

Stay with the 172 and practice.. practice.. practice..

If you learn the fundamentals before scrambling your hand-eye coordination by jumping into a 747.. the whole learning process is fun and rewarding. And if you ever do take real lessons.. don't be surprised how ahead of the learning curve you'll be (unless you spend all your time flying big jets into the ground)..

Be advised... you have now cashed in all your future free time

[Saitek]

Welcome to Simviation and the wonderful world of flying.

First things first: Use what you have. The lessons are essential to a newbie and are very good. Work your way through them and once you think you have mastered them repeat the same flight without the instructor and see how well you do. Once you can control the Cessna and keep it manually without loosing more than 100ft even when turning you are ready to progress. Don't be tempted to jump into the 747's and then get discouraged and quit. I spent more than 250 hours at the computer manual flying before I attempted (with any real proper attempt) the biggies. It really is very important to stress this.

Also, if you are new you may be using the keyboard. This is nearly an impossibility (I know as I spent a while using the keyboard) and it can't be done. Sticks start at around

[phantomflyer81]

Welcome to aviation!! The only thing you won't feel flying in FS is the bumps (unless you have a force feedback in your seat!), but I agree with everyone here. Go through the lessons in a Cessna 172. If you try jumping into a fast bird it will get ahead of you. The last thing you want is frustration - which may lead to you wanting to give up. One little tip, though: Set your

[BFMF]

I haven't yet had any "simmer" reply in a condescending or arrogant way - besides, the moderators here are great and wouldn't tolerate such behavior anyway.

The threat of marmalade weapons is high around here

[cspyro21]

The threat of marmalade weapons is high around here

I'm still searching for the mods' secret stash of ICBMM (Inter Continental Ballistic Marmalade Missiles), a hint please?



Hi avianess and welcome to the wionderful world of aviation. There is a WHOLE lot to learn about it, so don't "jump in at the deep end". Slowly increase your knowledge of how things work, what these things  do and how to master flight etc etc.  My advice would be - if you are unsure, please ask us, we will be happy to answer, keep practising, and keep a good outlook to flight.
Don't worry - you'll get the basics quickly
Cheers

[phantomflyer81]

I'm still searching for the mods' secret stash of ICBMM (Inter Continental Ballistic Marmalade Missiles), a hint please?

I believe they're hidden in the Microsoft Blimp over Meigs Field - hang on - that was back in 2000. Oh well, SOMETHING orange just went "splat" on my windscreen.

[elite marksman]

Stick to the 172. I made the mistake of jumping straight into the big boys. I guess the only reason I'm still here is that I'm one stubborn son of a b****, I never give up on anything.
And remember 2 things.
1. "'If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to.'"
and
2. "Basic Flying Rules: 'Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there.'"

[avianess]

I haven't been around during the week-end and I'm amazed by the number of replies ! Thank you very much everyone this place is great !  ;D
What most of you say, is that I should take it slow and take the time to really learn how it works and how to manoeuvre the cessna 172 before taking on the biggies. It obviously requires a lot of reading the articles in the learning center and the lessons. There's one little thing bothering me, when I read the lessons, it's a lot of visualising work and it's not easy when you're new because you don't really know what you're supposed to visualise. So my question is, is there like some kind of interactive instructor program that talks you through the lesson as you fly and explains things as you go ? The Rod Machado flying lessons don't really guide you, basically what it does is warn you when you're too high or too low, too fast or too slow. By surfing around I found this Videoflyrec video, they say it's made with fs2004 exclusively and that it teaches you to fly a certain type of aircraft by talking you through...Anyone heard of that ? is it any good ? is it interesting and is there anything similar anyone knows about ? that definitely would be a more fun way of learning I think !

Thank you all for your kindness.
cheers  ;)
Houda

[eno]

There's some lessons built into the sim ........ they're difficult to pass as the instructor is a bit inflexable but they will be a good start.

The best thing about it being a sim ....... you dont have to worry about doing any real damage ...... Just have fun!!

[garymbuska]

Hello and welecome to the forums. As others have stated. I also suggest you start out with the verry first lesson I think there is even a ground school to hlep you with the treminalogy used while flying. If you have questions are problems understanding something any any lessons than come back here and ask every one here will be more than glad to help out.
But do not get discouraged if you have problems at first
it is expected after all you never flown a plane it does take some getting used to. Stick with the defaul cessna with fixed gear unitll you are quite comfortable with it. Then and only then would I start adding extra challanges like real world weather and cross wind landings and flying IFR.
Than start thinking about upgrading to the next level. I would stick with propeller aircraft and go to the default Baron or default King Air.

[BFMF]

There's nothing wrong with flying small aircrafts. 87% of all my flying in FS9 has been in single and twin engine aircrafts

In fact, I have only logged 14.5 hours in heavies since FS9 was released