I'm new in these parts...

1st Official Post

    On a whim, I bought the sim three or four days ago, after reading about how awesome it is for VR. Day before yesterday, I flew the EC135 around San Francisco, taking off from the Alcatraz helipad. My executive summary is that it was probably the best heli sim experience I've ever had. I know The City a bit, since I've lived just south of it (in San Jose) for decades, and was very impressed with much (but not all! Esp, as I moved north or south) of the detail. I come from years of MSFS, P3D, X-Plane (which I gave up on quite a while ago), and DCS. I've barely scratched the surface of the EC's systems but I am really looking forward to digging in more. The PFD and other instruments that I have used are just really well done.

    I have a question: what area in the default scenery gives the best terrain resolution? E.g. is that represented by downtown SF? Having spent some time in MSFS2020 I am really spoiled about terrain, but at least in SF, FS 2 is much better than I expected (given what seems to be a relatively small dev team).

    Another question -- does the Monterey, CA airport add-on include a detailed Carmel/Carmel Valley? I find the module to be pretty spendy at $30, but if it has at least Carmel-by-the-Sea modeled decently, I would be tempted.

    blue skies,

    Dave.

    i7 9700k / RTX2060 Super / 32GB / HP Reverb G2

    Dave, have you already downloaded the free DLC packs for Colorado, Utah, and the high-res texture pack for the Southwestern USA (includes CA) ?

    There is also community-developed free DLC at flight-sim.org . The Apollo50 Tribute DLC was released in 2019, Hawaii-Part1 was released last year and Hawaii-Part2 was just released last week - all 3 are amazing and were developed by a very talented and tireless group of 10-12 guys ( I was on the Apollo50 team) and all 3 are great for VR helicopter flying!

    Welcome to FS2!

    Welcome! AFS2 is great for helicopter simulation...

    Innsbruck is one of my favorites too, Orbx scenery are often on a discount directly from Orbx instead of Steam...

    And we have two great freeware helicopters too...

    https://flight-sim.org/filebase/index…p-making-files/

    https://flight-sim.org/filebase/index…a-version-1-00/

    Regards,

    Peter Splinter

    i5-7400@3,4 GHz, 16GB RAM, GTX 1660 Super, Pico 4, Quest 2 , 'Vintage' Pro Flight Trainer, X52 Pro, VKB pedals

    Hello Dave .. yes ...it is a great sim ... i wonder that in some "simulation bubbles" Aerofy FS2 is unknown ...

    To everyone :

    Tell the internet communities that there is (since years) one of the best

    Sim`s expecially for VR and FAST starting (and not 30 minutes configuring + booting before flying) ... ( thats what i hate in other sims )

    And also with great physics ... make videos for youtube and facebook :) Tell it everyone .. ( gooooo ...tell it to the mountains ... ;) :) )

    I think ... the more users buy Aerofly , the better the manufacturer can develop ( and thats good for everyone here )

    mfg, Jens ... Flight-Sim.org

    Mein Home-Cockpit ... My Simulator Hardware

    MSI PRO Z690-P DDR4 --- SI INTEL Core i7-13700F 2.1GHz LGA1700 Tray --- Palit RTX4070 JetStream 12GB DDR6 --- 16GB DDR4 PC4400 --- SSD Patriot 1TB M.2 Viper VP4300 --- Pimax Crystal

    Alles fliegt irgendwie,
    fragt sich nur wielange

    Edited once, last by higgy (January 16, 2021 at 3:44 PM).

    Thanks for the replies and links folks! I do know about the add-on stuff, and I tried to install the SW USA texture pack, but I'm not sure I did it right. I'm digging into that today.

    Regarding Hawaii -- I owned a home on the Big Island for about 12 years, and so am very familiar with it. I can't wait for that team to add it as well!

    While I'm here -- I can't find mention of the "UL" flag that's shown in the center of the PFD sometimes, as shown here https://www.aerofly.com/dokuwiki/lib/e…c135_helicopter. What does that signify?

    cheers,

    Dave

    Google said :

    UL flag: this symbol associated to an audio alarm warns the pilot when theradio-height is higher than the upper limit. It blinks ten seconds and thenremains steadily. lt disappears as soon as the radio-height is lower than theupper limit value

    http://www.finckaviation.com/files/EC-155B1…and_Systems.pdf

    mfg, Jens ... Flight-Sim.org

    Mein Home-Cockpit ... My Simulator Hardware

    MSI PRO Z690-P DDR4 --- SI INTEL Core i7-13700F 2.1GHz LGA1700 Tray --- Palit RTX4070 JetStream 12GB DDR6 --- 16GB DDR4 PC4400 --- SSD Patriot 1TB M.2 Viper VP4300 --- Pimax Crystal

    Alles fliegt irgendwie,
    fragt sich nur wielange

    Thanks guys!

    I just texted a friend who's into flight simming: "I just spent probably two hours in FS2. I am just blown away. I flew a bunch of the other stock airplanes (F/A-18, F-15E Strike Eagle, MB-339 jet trainer, Learjet, a stunt plane, a biplane, and P-38, almost all for the first time) around the Kennedy Space Center area, and it's just a magnificent sim. The smoothness (other than occasional hiccup, which I suspect is texture loading) is really something, and the "look" at any kind of altitude looks very commercial simulator-quality (at least in the CK area; most of the rest of the US does not have anywhere close to that resolution). At the moment I think I like it better for "my purposes" (boring holes in the sky) than DCS. I had the F-15 at 63,000 feet!!! That's a first. (According to WP the service ceiling is 60K feet, and it was slowing down at 63K, so it feels well-modeled). At the moment I would actually recommend it over MSFS, due to the stock aircrafts' fidelity).."

    Quote from blave549

    I had the F-15 at 63,000 feet!!!

    While exploring KSC, did you find 3, 5, and 6?

    You'll need the F-15 for 3).

    There's also a Space Shuttle in orbit high over the KSC add-on. It's easier to find at night (same for 3 & 5).

    Orbx had a sale just last week so I treated myself to Innsbruck and the Netherlands. Rook a couple of flight around Innsbruck, it looks amazing. Saving the Netherlands until I've completed the South West as I can see that taking quite a bit of time. What I try and explain to other flight simmers is that take X Plane for instance of which I use as well. Some only fly in the UK now if you were to get the UK Scenery Orbx True Earth, that would cost more than double the price of Aerofly FS2. California alone is twice the size of the UK. Loving Aerofly myself, just incredible in VR.

    Quote from blave549

    Thanks guys!

    I just texted a friend who's into flight simming: "I just spent probably two hours in FS2. I am just blown away. I flew a bunch of the other stock airplanes (F/A-18, F-15E Strike Eagle, MB-339 jet trainer, Learjet, a stunt plane, a biplane, and P-38, almost all for the first time) around the Kennedy Space Center area, and it's just a magnificent sim. The smoothness (other than occasional hiccup, which I suspect is texture loading) is really something, and the "look" at any kind of altitude looks very commercial simulator-quality (at least in the CK area; most of the rest of the US does not have anywhere close to that resolution). At the moment I think I like it better for "my purposes" (boring holes in the sky) than DCS. I had the F-15 at 63,000 feet!!! That's a first. (According to WP the service ceiling is 60K feet, and it was slowing down at 63K, so it feels well-modeled). At the moment I would actually recommend it over MSFS, due to the stock aircrafts' fidelity).."

    I just tried KSC in the Strike Eagle and - thank you - yes that is very smooth. I'm seeing 80 FPS with the Reverb G2 maxed out every possible setting. The feel is really real. I also have the F-15 real world (or at least delimited wish it was real world) for MSFS and absolutely right, it's pretty looking out the canopy at low altitude but just not the hyper fidelity & super velvet smooth VR frame rate.

    i9-10900KF RTX 3090 64Gb Reverb G2 Saitek X-65F

    It's ironic how not only high-power GPU's mimic the smoothness of lack of thermal turbulence at low altitude over the ocean.

    I have a friend who is active duty Strike Eagle and it is apparently unequivocally the second most awesome aircraft to drive.

    i9-10900KF RTX 3090 64Gb Reverb G2 Saitek X-65F