jmig
SOH-CM-2024
During the early days of flight simulation through FSX/PD3 I wished for greater accuracy with the models and avionics. Now, maybe, I am in a “Beware of what you wish for” situation.
Perhaps, it is my advanced age and resulting loss of mental acuity? Perhaps, it is the complexity of my homemade cockpit with almost one hundred knobs and switches, along with three Wingwin and both Honeycomb Alpha and Bravo controllers? Perhaps, it is the greater and greater compulsion by developers to make every detail, down to the paint chip number, fonts and systems operation perfect? More likely it is a combination of all the above.
Regardless of the cause. I find myself spending more time setting control bindings than flying. And after setting up the controls to match the airplane, I have difficulty in remembering what does what from one airplane to the next.
It used to be I had one switch that would auto start the engine. Now, I have to go through a complex routine of flipping a dozen switches, watching gauges for when to introduce fuel in hopes the engine will start.
Autopilots used to be simple. You turned it on and set altitude and heading, or nav. When arriving, you lined up with the runway and hit approach. Now, I have three advanced airplanes all using the KAS297B to adjust altitude. I have to assign different bindings to do the same thing with each airplane AND the darn Lvars don’t always work.
Or I can fly one of the “Glass” cockpits with features that can’t be set to outside controllers. This results in trying to use a mouse to turn a knob that is impossible to turn and trying to fly the airplane at the same time. Very unrealistic.
All of this has me turning back to the simpler aircraft, hello Carenado, DCDesigns, and GAS. I have quit buying new aircraft. Why should I spend money on something I won’t be flying anyway. I am trying to find maybe three or four airplanes in different categories that I can settle on and just fly them.
Currently, I am considering the GAS Stearman 75, The Just Flight T1 Hawk or Dion’s Goshawk, a light twin, and Carenado’s PC12. I love SWS and their products. However, I have had issues with getting their PC12 to work. So, even though they have a more realistic aircraft, I can fly the Carenado.
Maybe 2024 will simplify the controller settings? Four or five different throttle settings is just too much for me. Developing standard controller functions to replace the growing number of Lvars and Hvars will go a long way to making it simpler to set up and fly and airplane. It might also allow me to setup controllers without having to use three different third party apps.
Maybe developers should have simple and realistic flight models. One could be the DCDesign and Carenado style flight models and the other the SWS and Black Square flight models. That way someone could just fly and enjoy the airplane. Then if they want to get more realistic, they switch to the advanced flight model.
These are just musing from and old man. I am interested in your thoughts.
Perhaps, it is my advanced age and resulting loss of mental acuity? Perhaps, it is the complexity of my homemade cockpit with almost one hundred knobs and switches, along with three Wingwin and both Honeycomb Alpha and Bravo controllers? Perhaps, it is the greater and greater compulsion by developers to make every detail, down to the paint chip number, fonts and systems operation perfect? More likely it is a combination of all the above.
Regardless of the cause. I find myself spending more time setting control bindings than flying. And after setting up the controls to match the airplane, I have difficulty in remembering what does what from one airplane to the next.
It used to be I had one switch that would auto start the engine. Now, I have to go through a complex routine of flipping a dozen switches, watching gauges for when to introduce fuel in hopes the engine will start.
Autopilots used to be simple. You turned it on and set altitude and heading, or nav. When arriving, you lined up with the runway and hit approach. Now, I have three advanced airplanes all using the KAS297B to adjust altitude. I have to assign different bindings to do the same thing with each airplane AND the darn Lvars don’t always work.
Or I can fly one of the “Glass” cockpits with features that can’t be set to outside controllers. This results in trying to use a mouse to turn a knob that is impossible to turn and trying to fly the airplane at the same time. Very unrealistic.
All of this has me turning back to the simpler aircraft, hello Carenado, DCDesigns, and GAS. I have quit buying new aircraft. Why should I spend money on something I won’t be flying anyway. I am trying to find maybe three or four airplanes in different categories that I can settle on and just fly them.
Currently, I am considering the GAS Stearman 75, The Just Flight T1 Hawk or Dion’s Goshawk, a light twin, and Carenado’s PC12. I love SWS and their products. However, I have had issues with getting their PC12 to work. So, even though they have a more realistic aircraft, I can fly the Carenado.
Maybe 2024 will simplify the controller settings? Four or five different throttle settings is just too much for me. Developing standard controller functions to replace the growing number of Lvars and Hvars will go a long way to making it simpler to set up and fly and airplane. It might also allow me to setup controllers without having to use three different third party apps.
Maybe developers should have simple and realistic flight models. One could be the DCDesign and Carenado style flight models and the other the SWS and Black Square flight models. That way someone could just fly and enjoy the airplane. Then if they want to get more realistic, they switch to the advanced flight model.
These are just musing from and old man. I am interested in your thoughts.
