I still think the Shadow is a worthy contender. Of the many hundreds built and flown there have been little if any serious accidents. It was even sold to a number of airforces.
There is a payware version available for x-plane
This superb design came from renowned aviator and designer, David Cook. His book is worth a read and tells of the titanic struggles involved in successfully designing and producing a certified aircraft.
I totally agree. I would really like to see a three axis machine such as the CFM Shadow.
The Shadow is a very successful two seat design with an exemplary safety record. The illustrious aviator, David Cook designed and produced the Shadow and many are still flying today, around the world.
In the FS (1) there was that once - just like the winch and a motor glider.🤔
I don’t remember it being good for thermals specifically but it certainly showed rising and sinking air. It would be great if it was brought back as it was better in some ways than the equivalent offering in the other later sims. It was known as the wind field simulation.
That’s quite a jump in cost for the Quest Pro. I have just seen it on sale for £1,500. Hopefully the higher specs will start to appear for a more modest cost, otherwise I am going to be waiting for a long time!
One crucial issue is to ensure that you set your OpenXR runtime correctly. For example if using a steam VR it needs to be set to Steam VR rather than Oculus or Meta. I had a lot of issues with this initially.
I use a paid add-on to the Quest 2 called Virtual Desktop. This installs both on the Quest and the PC. It works well with SteamVR and it seems to perform better for me than the Oculus Link or Air Link. It has many in-Quest tweeks and settings available within the settings menus but it worked pretty well for me out of the box. It has other benefits such as a built in “sharpening” tool for example. It is also regularly updated and improved. My rig is fairly lowly with an I5 multi thread processor and an RTX 1070 however I get very smooth running with Aerofly FS. I occasionally try the Oculus Link and Air Link route to see if things have improved re my setup and they don’t seem to have.
My PC is some distance from my router so I have effectively got a wired connection through my home electrics using a TP-Link TL-PA7017P KIT 1-Port Gigabit Passthrough Powerline Starter Kit.
This worked great for me but I understand it might not be effective in some homes. I also use a Milano Tech Wi-Fi booster roughly half way between the router and wherever I am using the Quest. Without these two items the performance of any PC software in VR mode is somewhat degraded to the point where it is unusable.
For those that do not know, the very first version of Aerofly (Aerofly FS1) had a very acceptable “moving” water system. I have asked the question as to why this could not be incorporated in to AFS2 a number of times on this forum and have never received an answer. For me it was the one major negative aspect of AFS2 when it was released as a replacement for the first version. Assuming that the old system could be incorporated in to the later products then the only extra work required would be to digitise the water masks for all the additional scenery. I would be happy to volunteer to do this.
I am disappointed that the blog teasers for the PC version have stopped. Does this mean that we should lower our expectations?
I completely agree that this is a superb piece of work. I have cleared some space on my hard drive and can now download some more of the superb sceneries that this community has developed. Thoroughly recommend this one.
These kind of wind systems are not yet simulated. As a glider pilot I've flown in some areas of the Alps and totally understand what you mean.
I may be wrong but I got the distinct impression that this had been implemented in version 1 of Aerofly?
I agree with you re the PC version and the Quest 2. Absolutely brilliant especially when set up for wireless use. If it was available for direct use on the Quest I would certainly buy it.
Hi Paul, more than happy to post the theory my brother and I have been working on for 12 months or so, still working on Part 2. It's a mere 20 MB and a 20 mins read, Ok, that's a lie, it's more than 20 mins but lots of pictures
Drop me a mail with your email and I'll send it to you. More people that read it the better, if you think it's rubbish then feel free to say so, can't be any worse than the gang are doing at present. Part 2 is proving our locations which I am working on, managed to find 20 plus thanks to Jerrs Ariel Photography, well worth a watch.
Steve
Thanks Steve. I have sent a mail and I am even more intrigued!
Hello Steve
All the best to you- I hope you feel better soon. I am intrigued by your Oak Island comment as I am an avid follower of the show- much to my wife’s disgust!
Cheers
Paul
Thanks KalEl,
This answers my question I just posted as to whether or not to try FS2 again; resoundingly "no" is the answer.
He didn’t mention VR though which in Aerofly is very well implemented and compares very favourably when set against some of the newest sims. This together with all the community development that has taken place, still in my my view makes Aerofly FS2 an attractive destination.( BTW I have got and tried just about every other flight sim)
Thanks for the tip re Vitual Desktop. I read somewhere that It was necessary to side load the app on to the Quest. This looked quite complicated-is this still the case from your experience? Did you need to physically cable up via Ethernet between the PC and the router? Many thanks
Having used the Quest 2 via oculus link to my PC based AFS2 for the last few days I have to say I am very impressed with the VR experience. I am particularly struck by the clarity and the immediacy of the cockpit models and the feeling of being there. I have tried a number of other titles in VR and as always AFS2 is my go to sim. With the popularity of the Quest 2 I wonder if the Dev’s would consider a conversion of the new mobile version for a true standalone experience?
Another masterpiece from the heli master. 
This is excellent and I am really enjoying the Lynx. I did persevere with the start up sequence but never quite got there. I am going VR soon so maybe that will help. In the meantime I just love this bird. Thanks again,
