u/qsrise

I learn new aircraft by doing pattern work and getting that down to get a few of the airplane. I am switching from the cub crafter cub to DA40. I found a new pattern to speed things up. Rather than touch and goes, which take time, I like to land and then quickly take the offramp and takeoff in the opposite direction on the taxi way. I can get in a lot more landings quicker doing that. If the FAA finds out I’m doing this on flight simulator, could they take my license away? And yes, it was after a few drinks. But please don’t tell the FAA.

The best part about Microsoft flight simulator is that you can fly and drink, and even get a little drunk while flying. I am 70 years old. This does not applied to young people.

Getting into MSFS has been a journey for me.
For months I was thinking it might be fun. 
Then, I finally decided to jump in.
The first step was picking out a computer system that would work.  That took me about 2 weeks of figuring out just how good I wanted it to be, then finding the right components, then finding the right system, then shopping to find it at the best price.  This whole process took me about a month.  The best resources I had were this forum on Reddit and AI.  AI answered a lot of questions about system configuration.  The shopping was the hardest for me.  I hate shopping.  But my wife and daughter pushed me to shop around.  This took about a week, but ended up saving me about $600.  I guess it was worth it.
So, setting up the system was pretty easy.  Ran into a panic when I bought the game through steam.  When I first tried it, it kept asking me to connect the x-box.  I was quite flustered and tried everything for 10-20 minutes.  Then I decided to just restart the computer and see what happens.  After that it worked well.
Then setup the controller…..ugh!  It was way more difficult than I imagined.  But after a couple hours of trial and error I have it set up for the Cessna 152 and 172 and the Mustang.  I am happy with it.
Then, after a day of flying I decided to try Sedona AZ at sunset.  It was beautiful.  But a few times it stuttered.  That was the last thing I wanted to see.  Did I not buy the right system???  So I asked AI and Reddit what I should do.  AI said that Sedona can be one of the most challenging graphics locations.  Even top systems can stutter there.  It gave a few recommendations.  Reddit was the most helpful.  It recommended I change from DLAA to DLSS and adjust some of the settings from Ultra to High.  It worked beautifully and is smooth with awesome graphics everywhere now.  Thank you reddit users that helped me.
Last night, I came home.  At first I was flying cities and a few remote spots but was still looking for the high I wanted.  Figuring out what type of flying would be best for me. I learned to fly in a tiny airport in Santa Cruz called skypark when I was 16.  It was in a hilly area and had a pretty tight base and final.  Last night I flew at KEB Nanwalek in Alaska.  It was the high I was looking for.  Tiny strip with very tight base and final.  I flew the 152 and had a blast.  The graphics were amazing.  Trucks and cars were moving.  And I am pretty sure another MSFS pilot was there because they were crashing occasionally on landing.  I flew next to them a few times and wagged my wings. I think for now bush flying in nature will satisfy me most.
Anyway, in my first post here I said I wanted to be amazed.  I finally am, and this was my journey.  Thank you everyone!  Glen

I used to play Microsoft flight simulator over 20 years ago. At that time, I also had hellcats over to Pacific and enjoyed it every once in a while, shooting things down 😀. I looked around and the one most popular right now is. IL-2 Sturmovik:. Do any of you also play that and is it fun and is the physics of the flying fairly good?