FS 2020.

[lee-wave]

As my main Dell Inspiron PC was 13 years old, I decided, before lockdown II, to bite the bullet; get a high end gaming PC from a store that built up the PC specifically to run the FS2020 software.  Figured that if things did not run smoothly then the store would fix it.  Also purchased the Jabiru 160/170 add on.  If anyone is interested the best platform to receive your games is Steam.. check it out.. you can purchase and download virtually any gaming software.  Total cost in UK money was £1,700

My download broadband fibre speed is typically 35mbits/s.  Total time for download was 8.5 hour including several complete 'stops' when the software download freezed even though the internet connection remained at max speed....on those freeze occasions there was no alternative but to restart the download which, thankfully, started from where you left off. So if you start the download before bedtime you might be disappointed in the morning.

Once the software packages are downloaded and the game is up and running you quickly forget the glitches. I was blown away by the graphics and scenery.  The software is constantly evolving and updating and I believe more and more features and airfields will be added on.  

Just to add that I can now practice flying in the right seat of Jab ie stick left hand and throttle between the legs.

Would love to hear of other peoples experiences of FS2020....looks like like this is all the flying I am going to get for the next 2 or 3 month. 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Glad to hear things are going well with FS2020... Any chance of a vid/screen shots?

 

I think I would have to upgrade my graphics card and possibly RAM to make it work well.. But my PC is an I7=9700K, which I would have thought would be good enough to run FS2020. But it was £500, so unless the yoke is expensive, I fear I would have to get something better... and I would rather spend that sort of money on 10 hours in a Warrior rented from the local school. Maybe...

[flyingbaz]

I too have recently downloaded FS2020. I commissioned my son to build me a suitable PC and put in a suitable graphics card. It is quite resource intensive, and does need a well spec'd PC and Graphics card. I have ordered the Thrustmaster T16000 Flight pack which includes the Joy stick, throttle and pedals. Looking forward to it coming next week and practicing flying again.

[lee-wave]

I would be interested in learning from other users the finer points of the simulator that you might learn from trial and error.... here's one.. only on airfields as marked can you begin a flight. If you choose your unmarked home strip and press go fly you will be at 6.5k ft. and will have to descend and land before you can begin circuits for example.   if you crash and restart you are back at 6.5k ft.  Not a big deal but if anyone can find a work around for this and I am sure other things that are going to crop up please share.

I plug via the Graphics card HDMI on the PC into a 50'" Samsung smart TV.  Recommendations by the store was to run at 1080P at most but when set up the resolution default was 4K 2K which I left it at and it seems that the graphics card can handle the rendering when flying normally.. however when flying the Pitts (120hrs in my real log book) and doing snap rolls for ex., there is pixelation and a lag in, say the clouds or the hills.  I raised the frame refresh rate from 30 to 60 which makes for smoother and very realistic scenery but at the price of a CPU running very hard and the extra cooling fans coming on....

anyway more to come....as I learn...

Edited November 8, 2020 by lee-wave
grammar errors..

[lee-wave]

Managed to hook up Skydemon to FS2020... now there is the capability to practice navigation with SD and also brushing up on flight planning using the paper charts with the E6B all in the comfort of your living room.   It is important to maintain the old skills of flight planning in the event the GPS signals are lost.  

Some pictures of the Jab in FS2020. The 170 is very realistic...all controls work via mouse or on assigned buttons.  Currently I am practicing flying in the right seat ie left hand on stick right hand on throttle.

Also arrived yesterday is the Skyecho 2 ADSB in/out. Only legal to carry in the UK and Oz.  The aircraft hex number is added during set up so ATC  can see and Id without a squawk. When wirelessly connected to SD all ADSB out and Flarm aircraft nearby show up on the screen.   CAA are offering a 50% rebate on purchases so it is a bargain. Also can bluetooth connect to headset for an audible warning such as aircraft in potential conflict.   

[RFguy]

lee-wave, what is the low air speed simulation like  ?  IE does it get close to the real thing in the way it flys at 50 knots ?

[Jerry_Atrick]

Those graphics are stunning... Are you flying around Blackbushe? Be careful not to bust Farnborough's new dog breakfast airspace! It looks so real, the CAA will come and get you 😉

 

Just saw the Jackrells Farm reference.. .so no.. not near Blackbushe..Those light coloured fields in the background and the town off to the left had me thinking Eversly's Quarry...

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Jerry_Atrick

[lee-wave]

RFguy .. a good question.... my son is currently exploring that area of low speed flight in the 170.  Having flown for a couple of hours recently in the real thing I think he is in a good position to tell the difference.  We think the control input and effect in the sim is very real but the aircraft seems to lose energy far quicker then the real thing below 55 knots....more to come...

 

Jerry the visuals are out of this world...Jackrells is where I fly down to for the annual permit. The inspector has a 270m one way strip that you can just about see to the left of the Jackrell farm label...but we both agree his strip is a bit too short for the Jab.

 

[RFguy]

lee-wave

yeah I just wonder if it is accurately aerodynamically modelling the behaviour of the high aspect wing.

 

See what it is like near the ground versus up in the air....

 

I have always felt MSFS was good for XC practice and nothing like the real thing near the ground.

 

 

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

I downloaded FS2020 and got caught out by the gigabytes exceeding the lot allowed for me on my plan! It took over 24 hours to load 160 gbytes.

I could easily have waited and used an unlimited download place but I  was too slow to think of it.

First impressions are that rf is right and that it is more use cross-country than near the ground. I found that you can land it just about anywhere and this is obviously not true in the real world.

The main test will be when I get a virtual reality headset. Previous flight simulators all failed with me because the realism was not there with the small computer screen.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Pilot magazine here are doing weekly articles of emergency and unusal flight "refreshers/training" using FS2020... Last month they had an evelator control failure - although when I was a member of RVAC, hands off flying (in the circuit) was one of the comps... Let's just say, I almost survived 😉 but I was amazed at how accurate the plane could be flown without use of the control column.