Hello community! I’m bran new to MS flight sim. I do fly RC planes and C/P helis, so general concepts of flight is not my main issue. It is abdout GETTING STARTED!
Can someone please point me towards the “BEST” (subjective I know) getting started tutorial, PLEASE.
Using a PC.
Have taken all the (most) Tutorials…
As one example, I can not for the life of me seem to pass tutroial 1 at 100% becasue I can not seem to “hit the 2 key” to retuen to main view.
Bu that’s not my immediate concern. Immediatly, tonight, I’m taking a short voyage in a C172 from Hanscom Fiels to Norwood (Boston area, Massachusetts, USA) and decided I want to configure my joystick to look out the windows rather than use CTrl -arrows. It’s a (Yes I’m a nebbie- please don’t shoot me) HOTAS Warthog (buy once, cry once)…
1- Any “best intro” on YouTube is appreciated.
2- How do y’all look around outside? Am I “stupid” to want to use my joystick?
Just a side note, in the three years since MSFS2020 was released, some tutorials, bush trips, and challenges don’t always run correctly and can have an occasional bug, so if you see something odd and you think you’re doing everything correctly, it might not be you.
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Program the hat switch on the joy stick to choose views: left, right. You can even choose 45 degree angles if your hat switch has 45 degree stops. You can also program the views to remain until you let go of the switch or remain permanently until you choose another view. The commands are under found under CAMERA/COCKPIT CAMERA in the controls menus.
Thanks- I’m digging into all this the morning and noticed myHAT is mapped to trimming… So I guess I’ll ask this question in another way, realizing that every user may have their own preferences:
How do you all map your Warthog joystick buttons, and what do you find “most useful” for looking around outside (other than using the mouse, or do you just use the mouse / right click???)
My camera habits have changed along the way. Even today I still feel like it’s not perfect.
Early on, I tried to find a combo of digital HAT switch views, keyboard shortcuts, mouse free look, and an analog HAT controller as a different way to free look when I didn’t want to move my hands to the mouse. I love the accuracy and zoom in/out the mouse provides, but hate having to take my hand off the yoke or flight stick to use it.
Today I have added head tracking with Tobii, but only during takeoff and landing. During cruise it’s mostly mouse. The digital HAT switch views are rarely if ever used.
Leaning in doesn’t always get me close enough to an instrument, so sometimes I zoom with the mouse wheel.
Pressing smaller buttons can be a challenge if your view is even a little shaky with head tracking on. Often, interacting with the FMGC/MCDU is significantly easier with head tracking off, and zooming in with the mouse in free look like I mention above.
Haven’t found viewing the overhead panel to be that easy with head tracking. The angle can be off and I can’t get in a position to see everything I need.
True, the overhead is not easy. The other panels such as MFD, I pop out to a smaller touch monitor. I’m using a 24" and a 15" for that. I’ll be getting another 24" with my XMas loot.
This is what I get for not making a “getting started” video. haha. I used to fly RC airplanes and had a blast doing so. RC airplanes are so much more economical these days.
Here is a playlist I have created. There are many more videos to come over time but for now, these are a good start in the basics of aviation. Learn To Fly Here - YouTube
I am a professional pilot and former flight instructor.
An easy way to look around outside is with the drone view. An easy way to get to the drone view is the press the “INS/INSERT” key. A moves left, D right, W forward, S backwards, R up, F down, and the arrows on the number pad rotate the camera. The END key will go to the chase view and the HAT switch on the joystick can be used to view the aircraft from any side. Good luck. I know that is a lot of info.
