Posts by Redtail

Thanks!

Quote from Jet-Pack

Actually I can't quite remember, I've started this mod at least a year ago. The airfoils are changed so it should stall differently, too.

Ok thanks, I'll test it when I get time.

Quote from Zed

Ok, I’ll play...

The love:

1. The VR is hands down the best. When I fly DCS or X-Plane there is now a realization that there are stutters and gaps that used to be OK. The bar has definitely been raised.

2. The planes and cockpits are beautiful. The Bücker is just a joy to fly and when I look at the wings I can see the rib stitching, the sheen of the finish, and the shadows as they distort over the taut fabric. I run a motion rig and hate to admit it but sitting in the Corsair and folding/unfolding the wings is so trick to see in VR while feeling the bumps and thumps and the slight rock as they reach the ends of travel.

3. The enhanced scenery areas are stunning. Flying around Monument Valley and Grand Canyon is just sublime joy. I tried out ORBX's Chicago Meigs scenery and have Meigs for FSX-SE. It's never looked like what it looks like in FS2. Again with the Bücker but flying low in the Park by the bean and throwing it up on a wing right at the north buildings to turn just before hitting them feels like real aerobatics but with visuals that nobody will ever see in real life.

The hope:

1. Multiplayer support. Hopefully a compatibility layer where JoinFS can work since it can record and playback flights where you can build formations to do formation aerobatics, but I’ll settle for even just a direct IP connect with other pilots.

2. AI traffic. The one thing that does stand out with FS2 is there is no life. I was kind of startled to see the couple standing and gesturing in front of the 172 at Monument Valley airport. I think Multiplayer support and AI traffic would dovetail nicely and probably use a lot of the same code.

3. Weather, updated sounds, ATC, more planes, etc. Not so important for me but would be nice.

All in all, FS2 is just a joy to fly and is now how I demo VR flight. It’s great now and has great potential for the future!

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what he said.

And a good helo like a Dreamfoil Bell 407

Gorgeous!

I'm about to go to work, so I'll wait until tomorrow to bite the bullet.

Looking forward to getting my third Orbx DLC for fs2 and exploring the west coast much more.

Nice video

I'll have to try the mod. So far, I've only flown the default C172. One thing I noticed is that I couldn't get a crisp break at the stall (power off) like I do IRL. In the sim, I have to add a bit of power to get a pronounced break/nose drop.

Has that been addressed in the mod?

Thanks

Quote from HiFlyer

The real life pictures also point out something though: I really wish the AF orthos of the area had fewer jet-black shadow areas baked in.......

I'll have to take a look at what you're referencing next time I run the sim, but there are quite a few shadow areas IRL. A few can be seen in my other photos.

I was busy snapping pictures and operating my camcorder at the same time, lol.

This was around 3pm or so local time, if I remember correctly.

Indeed! The Grand Canyon is stunning in VR. It was the first thing I did when I bought AFS2 a few weeks ago. I wanted to see how close it was to the real thing and I was blown away. Last year, my wife, son and I took a vacation to Arizona and I told her that we couldn't go back home without a trip to the Canyon. I said, an aerial view would be a once in a lifetime experience. One that we would never forget.

Hesitantly, she agreed to a helicopter flight. So we took a 40 minute tour from Grand Canyon Airport (KGCN), in an EcoStar EC130 (Eurocopter/Airbus).

From the south rim over to the north rim, with spectacular views all around! We were absolutely in awe of the beauty and magnificence of this natural wonder.

I would love to do it all over again, but until then I'll just continue to enjoy AFS2.

Side note:

Looking from the outside, I had no idea how roomy the EC130 was. There are three passenger seats up front and four in the back! I was sitting behind our pilot. She was great BTW.

Speaking of airports, I just flew into my home airport for the first time in FS2, Republic (KFRG) on Long Island, NY.

I was pleasently surprised to find dozens of GA planes parked on the Echo ramp, near the control tower. Just like the real thing!

Another smile on my face from this sim.

Edit: ALL of the GA ramps.

It would be cool if the American Airpower Museum hangar was modelled in greater detail, but at least it's there.

My wife ventured upstairs into my cave today to find out what all the hype was about with this VR stuff. I put the headset on her in the cockpit of the Skyhawk, sitting on the runway at Innsbruck. This was her first time wearing a VR HMD.

All I heard was "wow", "ohh", "ouu", "this is cool". LOL

She didn't attempt flying (yet), but she was clearly mesmerized.

She has briefly taken the controls in FSX years ago (and from the right seat IRL), so maybe she will try VR at some point when she's ready.

Quote from santiagoluib3

I considered myself lucky to have witnessed the birth and evolution of PC Flight Simulators.

Back then in the mid 80's I had my hands on the first ever Flight Simulator by Bruce Artwick on a TRS 80, then Sublogic on the first PC (DOS, 4.77MHz, 256K RAM).

You needed creative imagination back then to augment what you saw and perceived on the screen as "cockpit" - basically all lines in white (or 3 colors CGA) with frame rate of only 3-4fps!

Suffice to say, I have ALL versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator since ver1 thru FSX.... and needless to say I had spent thousands of $$$ on PC hardware upgrades, software addons etc. anything you can do (if I had to break the bank) to make sims run smooth.... all through the years and more often than not, It was always disappointing seeing at performance issues - there were lots of wishlists, something computer hardware had to always catch up with the software like flight sim demands. But It was "fun". I had all the flight sims that came out, including military ones.

I left the sims for more than a decade now (Life gets in the way). I have said I had given up on "chasing" flight sims UNTIL that day comes when I don't have to break a bank to get a PC fast enough to satisfy to make a sim fluid enough like IRL.

And then Aerofly FS2 came along. I just came across it in youtube. I was skeptical at first, but seeing those I had to try it and see for myself. And what a game changer it is!!!! I can't f*****g believe the experience. I really must say this is a milestone. My PC is getting really outdated - i7 3770k @3.5GHz, 650Ti Boost 2Gig, 8G RAM - something that is already considered low-mid setup by today's standards.... but boy oh boyll.... at 2560x1440 res AFS2 runs like butter!! I had always wished the Extra 300 in FSX would at least give me smoothness that came closer to how it manuevers in real life.. but seeing it in action in AFS2 with my mid-low PC setup is beyond awesome!!! Now I am back, spending late nights with it, and I am looking forward to Aerofly FS2 bright future! I will support it all the way.

Sorry for the long post.. I got carried away LOL!!!

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Absolutely! I share your sentiments 100%. I was right back there with you in the mid 80's as a teen who purchased his first PC (Commodore-64 & Amiga) and discovered the world of flight simulator. As the Commodore line faded, I moved on to the PC compatibles. Bruce Artwick and those guys were my heroes. Having been born with a passion for aviation, I too bought every flightsim/game I could get my hands on. Remember "Solo Flight"? I think it came with four or five airports, haha. Vail, Aspen, Wichita Kansas and a few more I can't remember. You had to have quite an imagination, but it was fun. We've come a long way for sure!

Probably a good thing we didn't have VR back then, I probably wouldn't have graduated LOL.

Today I invited my father-in-law over for his intro to the world of VR. First I flew a couple of patterns at Meigs in the Baron, while he observed on the monitor. Using the awesome Voice Attack program to operate lights, flaps, gear, etc. is a huge asset!

Now after a short demo to show him the beauty of Orbx Meigs, I wanted his first flight to take place at Innsbruck so he could see the incredible beauty and detailed mountains and landscape. First I made a short flight in the P-38.

Then, I suggested he start in the air in a glider, because I knew he'd struggle with my HOTAS at first. Also knew he'd struggle with the rudder pedals, but he wanted to try the Cessna from the runway.

So after setting things up, I prepared him not to expect the clarity that he was used to seeing on the monitor. That said, when he put on the Rift, he was blown away. Now he was sitting "inside" the cockpit like he has with me on several occasions IRL.

After a few unsuccessful attempts at taking off, I suggested he let me place him a few thousand feet above the airport.

He flew around in awe for several minutes, then I asked if he'd like to see Manhattan. Placed him north of Central Park. He flew around and immediately noticed how real it looks! This is the flight I took him on a couple of years ago, with his lady friend in the back seat taking plenty of pictures.

This time, he was doing the flying (in VR).

No ATC, traffic or airspace regulations to worry about, lol. He had a ball. Stayed longer than I expected him to and was really impressed with the current state of flightsims and PC technology. He has FSX and a joystick at home and uses it occasionally.

Glad I was able to show him this combination for his intro to VR. Thanks IPACS and ORBX!

I concur. Core functionality should be the main focus.

As a new user of Afs2 and someone who has flown just about every flight sim produced since 1983 (started with a Commodore-64), this one has impressed me the most!

I've only flown a few planes so far and the flight models seem spot-on. Hand flying feels like the real deal to me. The performance in VR is incredible!

ILS approaches in IMC in the Rift is "believable".

The P-38 is a thing of beauty! Although I've never flown one IRL, somehow this feels like how I'd expect it the handle.

Crosswind landings in the Lightning (in VR) are a blast!

Even with the current limitations, Afs2 will get the bulk of my limited flightsim time, I'm sure.

Anyone figure out how to get goflight radios/MCP, etc working?

They just went on sale (end of year sale), everything at 45% off!

I picked up Meigs and Innsbruck. I bought Meigs for P3d last year, so that qualified me for 40% off already. Unfortunately, the two discounts couldn't be combined. Anyhow, well worth it. They make the absolute best scenery ever!

Ok, thanks Jeff.

"other survivors".

That made me lol,........ now we must repopulate the planet and get some more folks in the air.

Speaking of Orbx Meigs, it looks incredible!

I'm so glad they brought KCGX back to life! My first virtual flights took place at that airport (the default starting location) back when I got into MSFS. Spent many hours learning how to fly a standard traffic pattern.

Just curious, does Vsync have any affect in VR? What is the recommended setting when using an HMD, on or off?

Thanks

Hey BelGeode, I'm having the same issue and I just installed the sim last night for the first time. I thought perhaps I was doing something wrong.

By the way, thanks again for showcasing this incredible sim. If I had not stumbled upon your YouTube videos, I probably wouldn't have looked at this, because I honestly wasn't looking for another flight sim. However, after buying my Rift this summer I was looking for a great VR experience and this is it!

I was just checking out the Extra 300, doing aerobatics and then came in for a landing. Abeam the numbers, I did a left slipping turn to a landing and upon touchdown, found myself grinning from ear to ear. This thing is leaving BIG smiles on my face. WOW!