saying howdy and introducing myself

[dakadaka]

Hello! I am an Il2 nut who has decided to get some flying lessons this year. I have just installed fs2004 , added the Duxford maps and some new planes, principally the cessna 152 and piper pa28, because these are the planes I will be expecting to have my lessons in, according to Tatenhill aviation website in England where I live. I have an ok pc rig including core i5 760 and radeon 5750 and 8 gig ram which seems to run fs2004 well. I have patched to version 9.1. I have downloaded a checklist guide to the cessna 152. I have ordered the global maps expansion pack. I have ch stick, throttle, rudder pedals and track ir 5, all working well. Adapting to the slowness of the cessna 152 after hawker tempest etc is interesting. The 152 seems quite insensitive to joystick inputs, more like flying a c47. Do I need to adjust sensitivity? Is " hard" realism setting the most realistic? Realism is most important to me as I want to be able to practice in between lessons, although I am not going to be able to afford many lessons yet. Anyway, just saying hello and any advice gratefully received. Have I done wrong by ordering the global expansion scenery discs? Are the other scenery improvements mods I have read a bit about here better?

[aeroart]

I would like to suggest that you wait until you have taken a lesson or two before you make any adjustments to FS' control sensitivity. After using FS first, you will see a real difference between how the real airplane and FS feel. You can then make better decisions what kind of control sensitivity adjustments to make in FS. Don't expect too much from FS when compared to real VFR flying.

However, I think FS is a pretty good instrument flying simulator, provided you are doing the right things. Even though the simulator's feel is still different than the real airplane's, in instrument flying what the gauges say is the most important consideration.

I'm sure others will disagree with me, but that's ok. I flew professionally, but always disliked simulators, except for learning normal and emergency procedures. Have fun in the air and sitting in front of your computer!

Art