MS FS 2004 for Christmas...but the Kings are like some cruel lump of coal in the stocking :-)

Got a copy of MS flight simulator 2004 for Christmas. Thought it was very
cool, especially when I discovered Rod Machado is part of the
package...but...why, why Bill Gates do you torment people with the likes of
John and Martha King? Why? What did anyone do to deserve such punishment?
In an obvious (and commendable) effort to provide a ton of great flying
lesson type stuff and promote GA, why force the Kings upon innocent people
(and pilots who like the SW). Ahhhhhh!

Ok, I feel better. Sorry for the rant...well, not really :-) Obviously, I
can't stand the two of them. If you can strip away the corny not funny lame
forced "humor", what they have to say is great. Ah, but at least I can skip
any Video segments where the two of them are involved.

Ok, some serious questions for folks who use the softwa

What brand/model joystick have you used and how do you rate it? I have a
cheap one that somebody gave me and I want to upgrade to a nicer one, just
looking for any suggestions as to what has/hasn't worked for folks.

Any instrument students/pilots gone through the instrument lessons? I'm
planning to...as soon as I tire of flying the 747 out of my 6000 ft. local
airport, flying under bridges, etc. :-)

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

"Jack Allison" wrote in message


Got a copy of MS flight simulator 2004 for Christmas.

I got it a few months ago and like it, too. While I don't have the aversion
to the Kings that you do, I haven't bothered with any of their instructional
pieces in FS2004.

What brand/model joystick have you used and how do you rate it?

I use the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 and like it. While I'd
prefer to have a force feedback yoke, I haven't found one that I'd consider
in the price range of a home system.

Any instrument students/pilots gone through the instrument lessons?

I haven't taken any of the instructional segments in FS2004. However, I
have found it useful in keeping scanning techniques sharper than they'd
otherwise be during long winter groundings.

The new weather system in FS2004 makes IFR flying much more realistic.
However, I still think their planes (particularly the Skylane and the
Skyhawks I've found for it) do not respond quite the way they do in real
life. That may be a limitation of the software or the fact that I'm using a
right-handed joystick at home and a "left-handed" yoke in the plane.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________

I use the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 and like it. While I'd
prefer to have a force feedback yoke, I haven't found one that I'd
consider
in the price range of a home system.

I'll "second" this choice. It's a great joystick, with pretty realistic
feedback.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Anyone have a suggestion for pedals?

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Y93Ib.691356$Tr4.1722695@attbi_s03...
I use the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 and like it. While I'd
prefer to have a force feedback yoke, I haven't found one that I'd
consider
in the price range of a home system.

I'll "second" this choice. It's a great joystick, with pretty realistic
feedback.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Chris Hoffmann" wrote in message
...
Anyone have a suggestion for pedals?

I built my own. One of these days I may actually
finish all the drawings for the various parts and
instructions on how to build them.

My pedals are similar to some of the commercial
offerings but you'll never break mine. All solid wood
and steel construction from easy to get hardware.

I'm thinking about doing force feedback pedals
but I doubt anyone would support them.

I've been looking at making a muti-lever throttle
system but I've been unable to find adequate
electronics and software drivers to make them
work right. I know of several USB gameport adapter
schemes, but none actually work right.

Interesting project. Yes, please post when you get a chance. Thanks!

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

In article m,
CryptWolf wrote:
I've been looking at making a muti-lever throttle
system but I've been unable to find adequate
electronics and software drivers to make them
work right. I know of several USB gameport adapter
schemes, but none actually work right.

The easy thing to do would be to buy as many $10 USB joysticks as it
takes to get enough channels and cannibalize them (you don't even need
to use their pots as long as you use pots with the same characteristics).
Use an unpowered USB hub if you want to clean up the cabling. Then you've
got more work to configure it, but you only have to do that once.

Heck, come to think of it, there MUST be some A/D-converter-to-HID-on-USB
chips out there. http://www.lvr.com/hidpage.htm looks like a good lead.
No endorsements of Microchip's USB PIC offering, but there is actual
firmware even for a HID device based on the Cypress CY63000. Check out
cypress.com's developer kits under "USB low-speed peripherals".

http://www.cypress.com/cfuploads/sup...gn%20Notes.pdf

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

CH-products are ok. I have both pedals and flight sim yoke.

The pedals also work as toe brakes. I have to duct tape it to the floor as
they do not stay by itself.

http://www.chproducts.com/retail/usb_home.html

Pat Thronson



"Chris Hoffmann" wrote in message
...
Anyone have a suggestion for pedals?

I've got these too and use them with MSFS2004 and X-Plane. The yoke and
pedals work great.

Ryan

"Pat Thronson" wrote in message
. ..
CH-products are ok. I have both pedals and flight sim yoke.

The pedals also work as toe brakes. I have to duct tape it to the floor as
they do not stay by itself.

http://www.chproducts.com/retail/usb_home.html

Pat Thronson



"Chris Hoffmann" wrote in message
...
Anyone have a suggestion for pedals?

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:Y93Ib.691356$Tr4.1722695@attbi_s03...
I use the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 and like it. While I'd
prefer to have a force feedback yoke, I haven't found one that I'd
consider
in the price range of a home system.

I'll "second" this choice. It's a great joystick, with pretty realistic
feedback.

I have a question & comment. Recently I purchased a Logitech WingMan
joystick for this exact same use - FS2004, IFR procedures, etc... I've
found the that 'haptic' or feel definitely adds something to the game,
but there are serious problems so I'm going to get something
different.

My question - do you have the same problems with the MS force feedback
stick?

Here are the problems I have:
1. The feedback feels somewhat like a ratchet... you can feel discrete
jumps almost like the throttle lever on old RC plane sticks.

2. The delay / latency causes the stick to jump all over when you take
your hand off. Basically - the FSim force effects (from airflow)
activate well after you move the stick in one direction. This causes
the stick to get a 'force' moving it to the opposite side. By the time
it gets there, the new control airflow-forces act on the stick causing
it to jump to the other side...

3. Basically - the latency is soo bad, that if you move the
aileron/elevator at Vno in a cessna (or any other speed), there is a
large (approx 1sec) delay on force feedback that ruins the illusion of
a real control. The force should be 'centering' in proportion to
speed.

Back to the original poster, I *strongly* recommend getting some kind
of joystick that includes throttle, rudder if you don't have pedals,
and several buttons and a hat switch (for panning/changing view). This
has made Fsim much more fun / easy to grasp.

-Noah