XBradTC

So, Microsoft’s FSX was getting pretty long in the tooth (it’s about 11 years old now) and Microsoft wasn’t interested in supporting the product anymore, nor delivering a replacement. They’re out of the flight sim business.

But there was and is still a strong demand for at home flight sim development. So two things happened. First, Microsoft licensed rights to Lockheed Martin to develop their own simulator using essentially the same engine. That product, Prepar3d, was intended for a much wider array of simulations than simple flight sims, and has numerous academic and business applications. But it also can still make a pretty nighty flight simulator, so LMT sells a somewhat slimmed down model.

Microsoft also licensed Dove Tail Games (DTG) to sell a downloadable version of FSX via the Steam gaming store. No real changes to the game were made, other than a few small tweaks, but it is easy to download, and runs well.

One of the great strengths of FSX (and its predecessors) is that it is open architecture, and third party add ons are easy to produce and install, allowing the tabletop flier to absolutely customize his flying experience.  Custom scenery, custom aircraft, utilities, sound, you name it.

There are literally tens of thousands of add on files for FSX. Want to fly some obscure airplane? I’m sure it’s out there. And so many of the files are freeware. Many people just enjoy developing software, and don’t care to be paid for their efforts.

And then there’s the payware. Over the years, I’ve used a lot of freeware planes and scenery, but lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that a certain level of realism calls for using some payware.

First, let’s face it, the stock 737 in FSX isn’t terribly realistic. And the stock scenery isn’t all that great.

So, let’s talk about my set up.

I’ve got the basic FSX: SE installed, of course.

For scenery, I’ve gone with the ORBX Global Base (if you’re going to use any ORBX scenery, you have to buy and install this first). Then I’ve added the Southern California Region, and finally the Palm Springs (KPSP) Airport Scenery. That’s pretty expensive, but it really does improve the scenery, and increases the immersion of the experience.

Next up, I bought the PMDG 737NG Base Package. The PMDG 737 really set the bar on realistic aircraft simulations, with the incredibly detailed cockpit and realistic procedures, including the fully functioning Flight Management Computer.

Now, if you’re going to use a Flight Management Computer (and pretty much every airliner in the world does), you need some serious flight planning support. And for that, I use two products, one completely free, and the other one payware.

First, SimBrief.com-  Tell SimBrief where you’re starting, and where you want to go, and what you’ll be flying, and it will produce an incredibly detailed flight plan for you, with fuel loads required. It will produce this in a .pdf format that you can sideload to a tablet, and will also save it into your FSX flight planning, your PMDG flight planning, and any number of other 3rd party systems that require or support a flight plan.

Then there’s Aivlasoft’s Electronic Flight Bag. It also has powerful flight planning support, but more importantly, has all the information a real pilot would have in terms of charts and other aeronautical publications a pilot would take with him in the real world.

For instance, if you need the airport diagram of Palm Springs, when you start your flight, the EFB will show it, and indeed, show where your aircraft is on the ground. When Air Traffic Control tells you to taxi to Runway 31 Left via Whiskey, Alpha, you can simply look at the chart and see where you are supposed to go.

Need the Standard Instrument Departure plate for the Cathedral 6 departure? That comes up. Calculate Top of Climb and Top of Descent? Done.  Need the ILS localizer frequency for San Jose? It’s got it.

The EFB can be used with the PMDG 737, of course, but it’s also very handy for any other aircraft in FSX. You can run it on the same computer as your FSX, or you can network it and run it on a second computer or monitor.

There are a few other products I have used with FSX, but don’t currently have installed.  For instance, Traffic 360 from Just Flight populates the sim with real world airline and general aviation traffic, so you see many other planes at the airport, just like you would in real life.

Another product, FS2Crew gives you a virtual copilot, to more realistically split the workload.

How is your system set up? What are your favorite add on files? Any questions?

And no, I don’t quite have the setup that this guy has.