[Dansors]

FS for beginners.


To begin, I did this while FSX was installing so I needed to kill time. This topic is about some FS basics for the beginners that just bought a Flight Simulator game. I hope it is helpfull to those beginners and have loads of fun time flying with it. Good luck and happy reading!

Getting started.
After you installed your Flight Simulator game, start it up by clicking on the icon Yes, that's very good! Now it will start up, it depends on your computer how long the loading will take.
After FS started, select an aircraft that's rather small: The Cessna 172 for example. Then choose a nice flying spot, like the nearest airport from your home. I choose EHDR. Oh and don't forget to set time to day, because it's easier to fly your first flight in daylight then in darkness
When finished click: Fly now!


Let's fly away!
Now, that's a good job You're finally in a virtual airplane! Now let's learn how to fly it.
First let's learn about the panel:
For basic flying: we aim for the 6 instruments above the flight yoke(Steering device).


Left above: Speed indicator: indicates your speed. Keep it in green whilst flying.
Left under: Turn indicator: indicates the sharpness of your turn. Don't turn too sharp!
Mid above: Attitude indicator: Indicates the position your nose points to. Bleu is above and brown is under the horizon.
Mid under: Heading indicator: Indicates the direction your nose points.
Right above: Altitude indicator: Indicates your height.
Right under: Vertical speed indicator: Indicates the rate of climb/descend. Keep it at approximatly 500+ or 500-

Okay, that's the panel for some standard flying. Now to get up in the air, let's press some keyboard controls first: Ctrl+L (Landing lights on), B(Altimeter), F7(Flaps down for take-off) and .(Parking brake off). Okay, now you're ready to take-off. Press F4 or push the throttle off your joystick forward(If you have one) and now keep the plane center lined with the rudder (numpad 0 for left rudder and numpad enter for right rudder) And I know some laptops don't have numpad keys so then just use the arrows. FSX has an advantage too: Press CTRL + Y and then you can use your mouse to steer. Also for joystick users: just use the stick to steer

Okay, wait for the speedneedle in your speed indicator to point int he green zone. Then: Arrow down, mouse down or pull the stick backwards. Do this gently! If you do this to quick you might stall (fall out the air) or have a tail strike, and that's not planned in your first flight

Great job! You just took off by yourself! Press F5 to raise the flaps. Keep your climb at a nice +500 feet per minute (Vertical speed indicator) and if the speed needle moves out the green area, move the nose of your plane gently to the horizon to gain speed

Turns 'n climbs


Now you took off, you have the power to fly everywhere you want (I recommend you don't enter no-fly zones and controlled airspace tough).
But, to navigate through the air, you need to learn how to turn, climb and descend. Very easy, after you took off you need to climb to a nice altitude like 5000 feet, level off (Keep the nose at a certain position so that you stay at the altitude) and reduce throttle power to 70% by pressing and holding F2 for 1 second approximatly. Practise to turn a bit left and then a bit to the right, then practise climbing a bit and then descending a bit.

Note: if you climb be sure to increase throttle and if you descend reduce power so you wont go too slow or too fast.

Having fun in the air? Well, the most fun(And hardest) part is about to come. Press shift+3 to bring up your GPS and check where the nearest airfield is. Or just turn back to your take off airfield. Turn to it and let's go to the next step, that is:

Landings!

To land, it seems very hard(And maybe your first touchdown is going to be hard ) but when you mastered it it becomes very easy.
Think by yourself: Airline pilots land 2 times a day, maybe even 4 times!. And relax, it's just a flight sim and not real life.

Right, arm yourself with these thoughts and line yourself up with the runway by turning to it using your eye, your GPS and your mind. Once lined up, plan your descend: Press F1 to minimize throttle and descend towards the runway. Aim for the numbers 'cuz you don't want to land before the runway, it messes up your gears When going to slow increase power by pressing F3. When almost above the runway press F8 to lower the flaps, real pilots don't lower the flaps at such a late position but this is just your first flight When above the number raise the nose a bit and keep the plane centerlined! Reduce throttle to idle by pressing F1, wait for the back gears to touch the ground. If the landing is hard, never mind it's your first landing If the landing is soft, very good job pilot! Now when on the ground press . to brake and try to keep the plane centerlined. When you stopped press CTRL + . and think about what you did in this flight: You flew an airplane!


Flying tips:
Take the Tutorials
on the main menu, click missions, and then go through the short tutorials to learn the basics of flying.

Use a joystick or controller
For many, it's easier to fly with a joystick or controller.

Get your bearings
Look around and get your bearings by using the hat switch on your joystick or the right stick on the controller, or by pressing NUM LOCK and using the numeric keypad on the keyboard.

Retract and extend the landing gear
If your plane has retractable landing gear, raise your landing gear (press G) once airborne. The plane will fly much better. And don't forget to extend the gear before you land.

Can't see what's in front of you?
If you are using the 2-D cockpit view, press W to improve your view by reducing or eliminating the gauges and controls. THis does not work if you are in the virtual cockpit view.

Take a break
Press P at any time to pause your flight.


Happy flying ya'all!





PS: If you guys see something thats wrong, please update me

[Baldwyn]

Nice work there Dennis! Fox ought to put give that a sticky

[Dredd]

A note on landings:

Throttle controls rate of decent
Yoke controls speed

Be very aware of this! If you're going to fast, pull back slighty to slow down, take off some throttle, if neccessary, to desend more rapidly.
If you're going to slow, push the yoke forward to speed up (NOT THROTTLE!!!) then if neccessary, apply more throttle to slow the rate of decent, or take off more throttle to increase your rate of desent. Keep the runway nubers in the bottom "inch" of the cockpit window!

[Dansors]

Thanks dredd, I might learn something from that
Yay, sticky!

[Baldwyn]

Dredd, on Jul 22 2007, 05:12 PM, said:

A note on landings:

Throttle controls rate of decent
Yoke controls speed

Be very aware of this! If you're going to fast, pull back slighty to slow down, take off some throttle, if neccessary, to desend more rapidly.
If you're going to slow, push the yoke forward to speed up (NOT THROTTLE!!!) then if neccessary, apply more throttle to slow the rate of decent, or take off more throttle to increase your rate of desent. Keep the runway nubers in the bottom "inch" of the cockpit window!

I found that yesterday. Another thing I have learnt from my lessons

[Eric]

Baldwyn, on Jul 22 2007, 11:48 AM, said:

Nice work there Dennis! Fox ought to put give that a sticky

Done, great resource!!

[Dansors]

Thanks Fox

[kyle]

Amazes me what bordem does to people. Looks like you really put thought in this one, good job!

[Sir.Murder]

hey guys... i landed my plane.. and taxied to the gate.. any idea how i can get the ground crew to upload my plane and havfe stairs and stuff?

[tezzybaby]

so i have been playing on fsx for about a week now and i wanted to see if i was able to get anymore planes i dotn kno if i have to buy an attachment or something or if i need to download more planes or if i keep playing do they unlock? all i want is more planes and i see vids of ppl with a whole bunch of diff. planes and i want to kno how to get them if anyone can help me i would appreciate it thank u

Dansors, on Jul 22 2007, 09:17 AM, said:

FS for beginners.


To begin, I did this while FSX was installing so I needed to kill time. This topic is about some FS basics for the beginners that just bought a Flight Simulator game. I hope it is helpfull to those beginners and have loads of fun time flying with it. Good luck and happy reading!

Getting started.
After you installed your Flight Simulator game, start it up by clicking on the icon Yes, that's very good! Now it will start up, it depends on your computer how long the loading will take.
After FS started, select an aircraft that's rather small: The Cessna 172 for example. Then choose a nice flying spot, like the nearest airport from your home. I choose EHDR. Oh and don't forget to set time to day, because it's easier to fly your first flight in daylight then in darkness
When finished click: Fly now!


Let's fly away!
Now, that's a good job You're finally in a virtual airplane! Now let's learn how to fly it.
First let's learn about the panel:
For basic flying: we aim for the 6 instruments above the flight yoke(Steering device).


Left above: Speed indicator: indicates your speed. Keep it in green whilst flying.
Left under: Turn indicator: indicates the sharpness of your turn. Don't turn too sharp!
Mid above: Attitude indicator: Indicates the position your nose points to. Bleu is above and brown is under the horizon.
Mid under: Heading indicator: Indicates the direction your nose points.
Right above: Altitude indicator: Indicates your height.
Right under: Vertical speed indicator: Indicates the rate of climb/descend. Keep it at approximatly 500+ or 500-

Okay, that's the panel for some standard flying. Now to get up in the air, let's press some keyboard controls first: Ctrl+L (Landing lights on), B(Altimeter), F7(Flaps down for take-off) and .(Parking brake off). Okay, now you're ready to take-off. Press F4 or push the throttle off your joystick forward(If you have one) and now keep the plane center lined with the rudder (numpad 0 for left rudder and numpad enter for right rudder) And I know some laptops don't have numpad keys so then just use the arrows. FSX has an advantage too: Press CTRL + Y and then you can use your mouse to steer. Also for joystick users: just use the stick to steer

Okay, wait for the speedneedle in your speed indicator to point int he green zone. Then: Arrow down, mouse down or pull the stick backwards. Do this gently! If you do this to quick you might stall (fall out the air) or have a tail strike, and that's not planned in your first flight

Great job! You just took off by yourself! Press F5 to raise the flaps. Keep your climb at a nice +500 feet per minute (Vertical speed indicator) and if the speed needle moves out the green area, move the nose of your plane gently to the horizon to gain speed

Turns 'n climbs


Now you took off, you have the power to fly everywhere you want (I recommend you don't enter no-fly zones and controlled airspace tough).
But, to navigate through the air, you need to learn how to turn, climb and descend. Very easy, after you took off you need to climb to a nice altitude like 5000 feet, level off (Keep the nose at a certain position so that you stay at the altitude) and reduce throttle power to 70% by pressing and holding F2 for 1 second approximatly. Practise to turn a bit left and then a bit to the right, then practise climbing a bit and then descending a bit.

Note: if you climb be sure to increase throttle and if you descend reduce power so you wont go too slow or too fast.

Having fun in the air? Well, the most fun(And hardest) part is about to come. Press shift+3 to bring up your GPS and check where the nearest airfield is. Or just turn back to your take off airfield. Turn to it and let's go to the next step, that is:

Landings!

To land, it seems very hard(And maybe your first touchdown is going to be hard ) but when you mastered it it becomes very easy.
Think by yourself: Airline pilots land 2 times a day, maybe even 4 times!. And relax, it's just a flight sim and not real life.

Right, arm yourself with these thoughts and line yourself up with the runway by turning to it using your eye, your GPS and your mind. Once lined up, plan your descend: Press F1 to minimize throttle and descend towards the runway. Aim for the numbers 'cuz you don't want to land before the runway, it messes up your gears When going to slow increase power by pressing F3. When almost above the runway press F8 to lower the flaps, real pilots don't lower the flaps at such a late position but this is just your first flight When above the number raise the nose a bit and keep the plane centerlined! Reduce throttle to idle by pressing F1, wait for the back gears to touch the ground. If the landing is hard, never mind it's your first landing If the landing is soft, very good job pilot! Now when on the ground press . to brake and try to keep the plane centerlined. When you stopped press CTRL + . and think about what you did in this flight: You flew an airplane!


Flying tips:
Take the Tutorials
on the main menu, click missions, and then go through the short tutorials to learn the basics of flying.

Use a joystick or controller
For many, it's easier to fly with a joystick or controller.

Get your bearings
Look around and get your bearings by using the hat switch on your joystick or the right stick on the controller, or by pressing NUM LOCK and using the numeric keypad on the keyboard.

Retract and extend the landing gear
If your plane has retractable landing gear, raise your landing gear (press G) once airborne. The plane will fly much better. And don't forget to extend the gear before you land.

Can't see what's in front of you?
If you are using the 2-D cockpit view, press W to improve your view by reducing or eliminating the gauges and controls. THis does not work if you are in the virtual cockpit view.

Take a break
Press P at any time to pause your flight.


Happy flying ya'all!





PS: If you guys see something thats wrong, please update me

[dvapilot5998]

First off, Welcome to FsZone. Second, if you want freeware, avsim has plenty of it: www.avsim.com
Payware, well, there's plenty of stuff out there, such as PMDG, Wilco, Captain Sim, Just Flight, and more.

If you don't know how to install it, just tell us, we'll let you know.