I’m a complete newbie to flight sims (played a lot of Elite, probably the nearest comparison), and I’m really enjoying it so far. I’ve gone through the first 4 training ‘missions’ for want of a better word, and have gotten pretty comfortable in this particular aircraft. However, I’m keen to fly something quicker, but having tried various ones I’m often not as clued up on where the same information is on the instruments, and what guidelines I should be flying to. For example, I’ve tried to fly the jet (not sure of the name off the top of my head) and couldn’t figure out how to disable to landing gear warning, and I was hopeless at landing it as I couldn’t slow down enough. I’m probably just trying to run before I can walk. I may need to go back and make the options more forgiving - I felt I was doing the right thing by making it more realistic and punishing so I can learn the fly properly, but perhaps that was a mistake.
So my unnecessarily long-winded question is - are there any guides for newbies like me or key information somewhere in the sim that I can use to adapt to different aircraft?
Seconded. I’m in a similar position and after around five hours of play time, this is one of my two biggest requests: guides for flight controls, characteristics and checklists for each aircraft. It doesn’t have to be a full tutorial, but a pop up manual or similar would be very appreciated.
I agree. An in-game instruction manual which is available in the in-flight toolbar would be very helpful for aircraft speeds (takeoff, landing, cruise speed, climb speed, etc.), flap settings for each, etc.
Hey guys, YouTube is going to be your best bet for stuff like that. There are already lots of videos on how to fly the planes. Just do a search for the plane you want to fly.
Unlike the OP, I’m a fairly experienced simmer but could do with some more info on what equipment and capabilities come with these different aircraft. I imagine newbies are probably, for example, hunting round for an autopilot that doesn’t exist on some models. Real pilots have familiarisation sessions to fly unfamiliar aircraft and have to qualify on type, so we could do with some help too! Personally, some help with autopilots, as well as the G100 would be handy! Please!
Relying on Youtube ias all well and good, but MS should be the ones providing help here, not relying on the ‘generosity of strangers’. Two points about Youtube videos: 1: the quality of videos and advice varies enormously. For instance, apparently even the journalist writing for PCGamer doesn’t know the difference between an autopilot and the AI co-pilot! And he’s not the only one! 2: Videos aren’t always the best format for learning while flying either. Watching a video while flying doesn’t really mix, and finding the exact piece of advice you want in an hour-long video can be frustrating.
If you’re really new to this incredible hobby and you’re serious about really learning to fly, may I suggest you take a look at this?
It’s a complete soup-to.nuts course on flying a C172.
At this point I’d be more comfortable if the dev team focused on fixing stuff for folks in trouble.
Leave the teaching to people who do it really well, either for the love of the community or to earn a living.
This guy is a full time professional YouTube flight sim video developer with over 75,000 followers. He’s already done a ton of really helpful stuff on MSFS.
I’m in no way a noob when it comes to flight simulators. I have probably 400 hours + in the zibo 737, but the airbus is very different. It seems to want to kill me when I’m trying to fly without the autopilot. I will need to watch those youtube videos on how to operate the aircraft.
The other day I just wanted to fly some circuits without programming the autopilot, but it seems to not want me to do that. The auto-throttle just stayed engaged despite it being switched off as far as i could tell and the trim kept doing its own thing. I felt like i was flying a 737 max.
Just a quick message to say thank you for all the replies, they’re extremely helpful.
I suspected I would end up turning to YouTube and making notes (really appreciate the suggestions for good channels); I think I will need to do that anyway for something more complex like an airliner, but I agree with those who feel the basic info such as that which Grand7059 outlined above would be a great starting point to get you going and would be nice to have easy access to within the sim.
Hello. At the moment I limit myself to Cessna 152. Why? The model is fine, the aircraft is slow. Example: the touch down speed of Cessna is 60 knots. The touch down speed of an airliner ist 120 knots. These are real world numbers. You can try to fly a 747, but do you think it is fun, or do you think it is work? Ask yourself!
And he’s not the only one! 2: Videos aren’t always the best format for learning while flying either. Watching a video while flying doesn’t really mix, and finding the exact piece of advice you want in an hour-long video can be frustrating.