u/Gamble2005

I play xplane 12 on vatsim, and as many of you know know you require to stay above 20 fps. However my laptop is really really bad.

For reference I get around 40 fps taxing the default 737 and 25-30 on takeoff and landing

I’m looking for a widebody that will still run above 20 frames even if I have to push settings to minimal as possible

Requirements
- good frame rate
- trans Atlantic capable (Midwest or west coast to Europe)
- working FMC and LNAV (or whatever Airbus Lnav is called)
- working radios and transponder
- able to be started up manually (all buttons required for startup)
- and lastly, under 90 dollars US

I do also have a few preferences though (not requirements)
- Boeing (already familiar)
- trans pacific
- cargo

I don’t care too much about looks I just want more range on ops I can do.

Do you need to have your IFR approved by the ground controller if you’re at an uncontrolled parking position, I’m figuring yes because that’s what I remember, but I’m curious because I’m pretty sure I’ve seen people who have done nothing up to taxi with the controller

I plan to do this trip in the SF 50 and try to visit as many interesting places as I can because one I want to try to fly in some remote places, and two I want to step outside of the United States and talk to other controllers

I still don’t know what dates I’m doing, but I plan to go from my home airport and all the way back hopefully fairly
safely

My route

DAY 1 – NORTH AMERICA
KMCI (Kansas City) → KBZN (Bozeman) → CYPR (Prince Rupert) → PANC (Anchorage) → PAOM (Nome)

DAY 2 – SIBERIA & CHINA
PAOM (Nome) → UESO (Chersky) → UEEE (Yakutsk) → ZYHB (Harbin) → ZSPD (Shanghai) → ZUCK (Chongqing) → VGSY (Sylhet)

DAY 3 – HIMALAYAS, MIDDLE EAST & EUROPE
VGSY (Sylhet) → VNLK (Lukla) → VIDP (New Delhi) → OPTU (Turbat) → OKBK (Kuwait) → HECA (Cairo) → LGAV (Athens) → LSZH (Zurich) → EGEP (Papa Westray) → BIHN (Hofn) → BIKF (Keflavik)

DAY 4 – GREENLAND & HOMECOMING
BIKF (Keflavik) → BGGH (Nuuk) → CYRG (Rigolet) → CYQB (Quebec City) → KDTW (Detroit) → KOSH (Oshkosh) → KMCI (Kansas City)

FULL ROUTE
KMCI → KBZN → CYPR → PANC → PAOM → UESO → UEEE → ZYHB → ZSPD → ZUCK → VGSY → VNLK → VIDP → OPTU → OKBK → HECA → LGAV → LSZH → EGEP → BIHN → BIKF → BGGH → CYRG → CYQB → KDTW → KOSH → KMCI

If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know and I hope to see you around in the skys!

By the way, if you want to do any of these legs with me feel free or if you’re a controller at any of these fields, just feel free to hit me up

Lots of love

I’m currently using a 7–8 year-old laptop and an 11-year-old MacBook, mainly for flight simulators. The laptop is starting to fail, but a new PC isn’t a priority right now since I don’t have a lot of money and I’ve got college and housing coming up in the next few years.

I’ve put together a PC build that I think is fairly reasonable in price compared to high-end $4000 builds, which I’d rather avoid for now. I care about both performance and aesthetics, but performance is probably the bigger priority. I also prefer a minimal, slightly old-tech look.

The RAM and SSD in the build aren’t final. They’re just temporary choices because prices are really inflated right now, and I’m planning to change them later if prices drop or better options come back in stock.

I mainly use my system at 1080p for X-Plane 12 (VATSIM), BeamNG.drive, GTA V (and eventually GTA VI), Cities: Skylines, plus general stuff like YouTube, Netflix, schoolwork, and lighter games. My goal is smoother, more stable performance around 30–40 FPS instead of very low settings. Because of this my primary concern is VRAM and also cores (I know 10 isn’t a lot but seems fair for a 1200 dollar build)

I’m also going with a small form factor build because I like the look, I don’t have much space for extra setup stuff, and I may move for college in a couple years, so portability matters.

Thank you here is the list of parts and also the link for anyone who wants to go on the PC part picker website

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($169.99 @ B&H)

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Assassin X SE 32.77 CFM CPU Cooler ($16.89 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: Gigabyte B760M GAMING PLUS WIFI DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)

These next 2 things suck, honestly the prices are so bad that im probaly just going to have to wait around for a little bit and see if I can find somthing better in stock

Memory: Silicon Power SP016GBLFU320B22 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL22 Memory ($99.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Patriot P400 Lite 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: ASRock Challenger OC Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Video Card ($448.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Lian Li A3-mATX MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($64.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: ASRock Steel Legend SL-650G 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Newegg)

Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 Pro 77 CFM 120 mm Fan ($8.49 @ Amazon) x4

Thank you so very much

I stay up pretty late because I have to do a ton of work stuff the the early morning and usually once I’m done, I like to hop on the simulator

I’m very confused though on why there’s so many more West Coast controllers than East Coast controllers in the morning

Especially since I would assume a large chance of controllers control at somewhere near where they live

For example at 6 centreal which is seven eastern and four Pacific there’s usually more controllers on in California and the west

This just doesn’t make sense to me. Is it just a fact that people are staying up late? Because I feel like controllers waking up at seven to control isn’t even that crazy

Or is this a matter of people prefer to choose the West Coast or that the people on the West Coast usually control for longer

Honestly, it’s crazy to me that there’s basically never East Coast controllers during sunrise

When I’m doing a VFR should I first be asking for taxi clearance for whatever I’m intending

“n123ab, requesting taxi to the runway for VFR to Los Angeles”

Or should I request a VFR departure and direction?

“n123ab, requesting VFR departure to the west”

Honestly, I’m kind of confused because I see both but then I see neither and I just see a bunch of other stuff and frankly, I don’t know what to call

I really enjoy VFR as a player with under 5 hours or so, but I’m still confused on how to go about this.

Sorry

I have a really really old KC-135 addon

One issue, it has no transponder.

I’m not sure if this was a modeling issue or if it’s just so old that it doesn’t have one but from what I can see from reading through the user manual, this wasn’t really built for Vatsim anyways so it doesn’t necessarily have a transponder

It does have operational radios though

Am I allowed to fly this? Assuming the controller is OK with it?