Stuff and How it works-MSFS-XP-FSX

Long Post Be aware
Glossary: PD = Premium Deluxe Edition
MSFS=MSFS-2020
FSX=Flight Simulator X
XP=X-Plane 11
HC-BTQ=Honeycomb Bravo Throttle Quadrant
HC-AFC=Honeycomb Alpha Flight Controls
VFX=Virpil VFX Joystick – T-50C Base

All - I have been Plank Owner on this sim, that means I was day one for pre purchase and got the PD edition. On release day, was in the queue to get it downloaded, and I fought that for about week, until I figured out my aftermarket Virus/Firewall was blocking the store from opening and doing the base file download. That alone should have been discovered in Alpha/Beta Testing, again Asobo Failed to follow through and with MS just as culpable. FWIW-This is an ongoing issue, supplier of the AV/Firewall Program was informed, they have no other complaints on their software and this game. It is still blocking the store, so I remove it, prior to any update, then put back on. It also could be MS way of preventing aftermarket suppliers of Antivirus software competing with them and the built-in product. No one else, or few reported this issue since game release. Then waited two days, over 48 hours to get it all downloaded. This was 13 months ago. For WU5, store messed up, tried fix, store messed up, fix still did not work. To get game working, complete OEM USB Drive, low level format of C, complete reinstall of Windows 10, three days to download all the updates, day to get store updated, 48 hours to get game downloaded with WU5, thank you MS and ASOBO, very good distribution model, should be throughout the whole tech industry, only problem, would paralyze what is left of the business community worldwide.

Getting the VFX working was sort of simple, as I knew mostly going in, what I wanted JS to do and how to do it, since had previously used Logitech 3D Pro, and had messed with it lots of times in this sim. Asobo/MS also had the most conflated settings in the game for devices, with very complicated configuration model, think in WU3 or 4, they fixed that, but folks were fighting their devices since release.

HC-BTQ on the other hand works about 98% of the things bound per HC’s software update and Asobo/MS integration of it. Part of that issue is, HC should have put lights in the Autopilot Selector Knob, because if dark those knob positions cannot be seen without flashlight. Bad design on that part. Upon release, the LEDs did not work, and a SU update needed to be released, that took about two weeks. The Throttle #02 bug could have been HC, or could have been game, but had it not been for a real-world pilot and MSFS user, who provided a solution via YouTube, it would still be haunting players. Got to release more FLUFF, we aint got time to fix core issues, keep the money train running. For HC-BTQ, each plane type requires a “profile”, so you might have 5-6 profiles for the various plane types you fly. If you open up game decide on one plane and do not have the correct profile loaded, the game does not figure this out, some reports of not being able to change profile, and if you do, game deletes all other profiles, or resets them all back to defaults, so then you get to rebuild those 5 or 6 all over again, like I keep saying down deep in the code are gremlins, which no one can find or no one wants to fix.

As test on my part, I put FSX w-acceleration pack back on system, and getting VFX and BC-BTQ working in that was much easier than MSFS, including Spoiler “ARM”, which works in FSX, no go in MSFS, still diagnosing that little bug. Keep in Mind, MSFS game on the street for 13 months. Yes, scenery is not nearly as good as MSFS, but, and big BUT, All the planes fly, ATC works, Low/Hi Level Flight Planning work, GPS Flight Plans Work, IFR and ILS Approaches work, yes game is 19 years old, keep in mind, MS sold rights to Steam at a point, and steam kept it up. MS Called back that license agreement, before MSFS was released, and Steam can no longer distribute it I think (keeping the money train in house).

Tonight, I downloaded the trial for XP, now this is a very truncated sim trial (suspect the whole retail version is downloaded, but need key to unlock for complete game). Out of the gate, almost the very first screen, it saw VFX and “demanded” I configure it, took not over 5 minutes. Never found Parking Brake in one plane, so could not take off. So stopped, restarted game, and low and behold, it found the HC-BTQ, and 5 minutes and it’s configured. Plus, a big PLUS, there is a complete user’s manual for the purchased version which can be downloaded and kept on PC. Included in the price, so where is our manual, of which hundreds have asked about, 13 months, still no manual.

MSFS has not got a manual, and if you want one, you get to PURCHASE an aftermarket one at about 20 - 30 Dollars us. Like I said, this is a money train, and the money seems to be leaving my pocket and going into MS/Asobo pocket assumed, some back fed money for all those developers and kick back to MS/Asobo since not provided for in game.

As a caveat, XP has been on street for several years. However, the BC-BTQ is a relativity new flight device (mine delivered Dec 2020), and in MSFS, the integration is still causing issues, in XP excellent setup, and config, remember, exact same amount of time on the street for the device. If you check issues for HC-BTQ and HC-AFC, several posts on devices not working, or problems being generated due to profile issues of which game seems to be causing. Keep in mind, Honeycomb announced AFC and BTQ, while MSFS was in development, and they announced working with MS-Asobo on the drivers and integration for the sim over 13 months ago, and in MSFS, folks still having problems. Down deep, where the little gremlins live, there is code, baddddd code, and it still aint fixed after 13 months.

I have not, since release of MSFS successfully completed any ATC Directed Instrument Landing Approach or flight plans, every single time, the games ATC or NAV messes up my plan and I usually crash, or violate the instructions and land anyway. I have repeatedly tested 787 and 747 at PMDY, to figure out what I am doing wrong, and nothing is apparently repeatable. The flight dynamics are not anywhere close to what FSX’s 747 flies like. I cannot compare the C-17, because there is not plane at any level which can be compared to it, in MSFS. But in reading the threads on flight characteristics for all the planes, none, not one, is even 50% close to study level, and were not advertised as such, but they should really work and none of them do, LNAV/VNAV, Auto Throttle, FMC’s, all are not properly coded. Combine with broken ATC/Navigation processes and the game is seriously busted. YES, VFR is working in all, but I quit playing in any flight sim, after my neighbor, qualified MD-11 Delta Airlines Captain, provided approach/navigation documents and sat down with me and showed me the correct and proper way to fly planes. So no going back to kids’ stuff, want the real world now.

In FSX, (please note FS user since FS-98 and thousands of hours in 737-747-C-17, flew all over western USA, doing STAR and ILS approaches by thousands). In MSFS, after 13 months, I can count on my fingers the number of successful ATC/ILS/NAV flight I have completed in this sim. This is after 13 months. Recently in FSX, Spawned C-17 at Kabul, Afghanistan, and flew it all way to USA and landed in Squadrons Assigned Base, Jackson, MS. Not one time, did ATC mis direct, cancel, change, give me spurious call, not once. Did run into B-52 at PMDY (downloaded new scenery-new plane there), but that is a lot of flying to get home.

To MS/Asobo’s defense, the video processes the internet connection process and the audio process are different from FSX and XP. Routinely, azure goes down, routinely the Latest Charts/Approach Data is implemented into the sim, and yet, it doesn’t work. People are bugging it, to no avail.

As a plus for MSFS, it’s a NEW sim on the block, bugs are expected, and in the course of “normal time”, and normal development process, those bugs should have been addressed, investigated, and solved. (We should figure out what normal time is, sure is less than 13 months) Nope, many if not 95% of all the bugs reported since release are still acting up, “some alpha testers say, hey this was bugged in testing, it still is not fixed?”. Yet, MS is telling Asobo put out world updates, and fluff releases, so more people will want to buy this so the money train don’t stop. People, at the rate of “fixes being done” it will take the 10 years MS/Asobo have said is the life of the game before the game is flyable, and the money train is still chugging along.

This development update cycle “is possibly excluding, every single long term Flight Simulator pilot”, of which I am one, from enjoying this sim, not talking about you people who fly a GA plane through the mountains for fun, nope. I am talking about those people who want to REALLY fly, serious flight planning, serious Flight Navigation, serious IFR/ILS approaches, we are well past playing. “Maybe” the state of art processes being used are at the root cause and why bugs just sit there with no resolution.

The only plane in this sim which works at 100% reliability is the DC Designs F-14-A/B model. Every single programed button, switch, now (which is supposed to work) really works. But to date, 13 Months, the check lists in the game for almost every plane I have flown leave out things which really should be activated or turned on. Now, NONE of the planes are “study level”, yet, the simulators hot advertisement is “AS REAL AS IT GETS”, question to you, if the systems are not on or activated, how can it be real?

Since the only plane I can reliability fly is the F-14, and some little bit the 747, mostly I am going to leave this sim. A plane developer, of whom I respect, has completely abandoned MSFS, and has told me, you will enjoy XP and FSX with scenery updates way more and way less problems. He is correct. After I finish working on a few projects with others in this sim for the most part it will lie dormant, still on PC, but not used much, because it is broken, down deep broken, and the developers cannot or will not, stop development of “FLUFF STUFF” and get the core unit working like it should. I urge all who still are experiencing this mess, not working to stop playing it. Leave it on your machine, just don’t use it, keep it updated, occasionally fly something in it, but my suspicion once the number of active users’ tank, they will get this thing on track and fixed, when that happens, I will be the first to come home.

My absolute, LARGEST COMPLAINT and many others share my view, is the way this software is distributed, the arcane process we have to go through for a simple update. It took me 3 hours to figure out what steps I had to take last week to get the little fix. Absolutely the stupidest distribution method possible with that process as broken if not worse than this game. That alone is reason enough to throw in the towel. People just today, still trying to get WU5 to update. Ridiculous, way past that.

I have not mentioned the fact, the logbook is seriously not correct, it drops flights, does not record flights unless you close that little window correctly, i.e., exit to desktop, not “continue” if you continue, it starts a new flight. The inability to delete actions which were for testing a switch/knob and plane never left ground, started engines, or pushed back from ramp. I have logged about 50 hours according to log, I know for a fact it’s at least triple that number. Or the fiasco with the VFR map causing CTD for weeks if not months. Or the fact I still to this day cannot get rid of the spurious tail number calls from ATC. I put in MS71 and the game adds 1123 or some such thing. I have searched and searched to get rid of that, no joy.

All – lots of folks are using this game and successfully, and for sure we only see the ones who post in this forum. We do not know how many have just given up, quit this and either quit flying all together or went back to whatever they were using before. Every day, I check this forum, why, first to see if I can help anyone, second to see if something has happened and one of my devices is going to choke, or to see if developments have occurred which may have a solution I can use. I actually spend more time in forum than using sim, or turn it on to check a setting or change a setting per someone’s recommendation who says it fixes this or that.

Now, my hardware is not suspect – it’s listed below.
ASUS Scar Strix III – Intel I-7-9750 – 6 Cores-12 logical cores - Device Manager listing
Nvidia RTX-2070 w-8GB Video Ram
32GB System Memory
1TB SSD Primary Drive @ with 1/3rd used
1TB Secondary HDD – NO MSFS files here period
8TB USB Backup HDD – No MSFS files here.
ASUS Claymore II Wireless/wired keyboard – 2 months old
Logitech M570 Wireless Trackball- year old or so
USB-C port 10GB Transfer which feeds TOTU 13-Ports HUB, 3 HDMI, 4USB 3.0 Ports
Keyboard, 8TB Drive, Virpil VFX-T-50 Base, HC-BTQ plugged into hub

I experience NO stutters, NO Video card dropouts, and for life of game maybe 4 CTD total, two of those from trying to load .PLN file which game will not load, regardless what developers say. When I start game, it takes 3-5 minutes to get to main screen. MS/Asobo could take out all the “fluff advertisements and pulling their own chain screen shots to shorten that. XP trial, less than 30 seconds or so tops. FSX maybe minute or so, yeah, lots different code, different delivery process, and code handles, but if windows 10 or 11 takes 5 minutes to get to desktop, well Apple will the be the winner. Clean up the start process so game is loading faster.

Always end on a positive, the graphics and scenery are the best around, nothing compares to it, at least the clarity is 90%+ in all the world. Sure, some artifacts, some shadows, some weird stuff here and there, but, for the most part, the scenery is perfect. Nothing out now compares to it period. From a pretty standpoint, nothing comes close period. The clarity at airports, on the ramps, so clear you can see the airport service vehicle coming right down the runway you are taking off on and have to avoid while taking off. Clear as a bell, when I splatter him and myself all over the field.

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With regards the input peripheral config.

I’ve not played other civil aviation sims but coming from a long time with various combat and space sims I found the input config in MSFS2020 counter intuitive.

Why does each device need its own separate binding list?
Rather than a process of
Find function - map to any connected device and then also see if any other connected has that function as a bind I actually have to scroll around to find the device I want to map?

Are all civil aviation sims this janky?
What is the perceived benefit of doing it this way?

I find the entire menu system in MSFS is a clunky slow-responding affair. They really need to streamline it. It seems designed for a big screen couch-view. I have to click on a menu 5 or 6 times to get the drop down menu to appear - and even then it takes its time. It does not recognize the first initial click.

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This is something that is quite easy to programmatically fix.
Many have reported it as a bug, which is a fair summing up of the issue.
Why can’t the Mouse be programmed to be aware of what screen it is on, so it does not need an initial Mouse button press, to give focus to the screen the cursor is on ??

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All - I have now timed the startup of MSFS, it really is close to 4 minutes from mouse click. If windows took this long, Apple would win in the OS race, MS Are you listening.

XP, the devices setup is a little bit more complicated than first though. There are no master brake lever so left/right brakes can both be used at same time, at least have not found it in trial version. Programing VFX stick is also more in depth than first thought, as in MSFS also in XP you have to sometimes check the reverse box for them to work properly, programing outside camera needs to be assigned, in MSFS works out of the gate, most of the rest of the movements are done correctly, nose wheel steering is still wrong, but it steers the plane properly, getting it to act right is still WIP. However, unlike MSFS, which takes three or four steps to confirm, you test it, and move on to next item to be programed, and save all changes at once, faster.

Scenery, like said in OP, scenery in MSFS is stellar, XP not as good, but, and this I got to explain, XP been on street for several years, all the “gotchas” most discovered and fixed, not so with MSFS, they are working on it, progress is slow, no idea on number of employees working on all bugs, and have no clue on how many assigned to team for this or that. Surely, priority is being given to NAV/IFR/ILS/ATC over some of the little glitches in scenery.

Big concern is distribution method, if you Download XP, and my slow connection, about 7 hours for all scenery files, oh, there is a DVD option, same price - half of what MSFS (Premium Deluxe Edition-base sim the same maybe) costs for about same level of quality of sim, a smaller number of provided plans, but lots and lots of freeware ones on website, which they sponsor. Various sites retail aftermarket pay-ware planes. Their may be “Market Place in Sim, have not looked. Believe they should take MP off/out of sim, and put that information and those files on the MSFS website. First make game smaller for download, make getting those items easier, and faster. You would just uncompress into the community folder, and done.

And they won my heart with the free manual you can keep link too or if creative copy into word for reading enjoyment. I have not finished looking through it. FSX, in fact, FS-1920 (meaning the very first FS produced), had manual, why did this one not have manual. Outlining the downloading process, the changes to the downloading process, and the possible resolutions to those issues in a manual, or downloadable update manual, even a "readme text file online would have helped and would cure much of the discontent herein. MS-Asobo are you listening?

Asobo/MS-This sim is on cusp of technology, realize that, file types, structures, code, decompress engines, whatever, state of the art and further into future, some aspects of it are absolutely 25th century. But for every great thing, at least 2 bad things, and that people still today having downloading issues is just horrible. That alone should have been, the FIRST PRIORITY for resolution, how many, yes, how many have abandoned this platform because of that, is anyone even tracking those losses? If you search the forum for “I quit-It’s just not worth it” etc., those reports are increasing.

Please do not get me wrong, I WANT THIS SIM TO SUCCEED, to be the best, stunning, fellows, they got a very long difficult path to get there. Yet, with all its bugs, I am pulling for you.

To the forum users’ credit, we have as group, volunteered, in-mass to help debug, test in Real World hardware environment, fixes you want to implement, and yet you Spurned that assistance, but what better way to “test things” if not in real world PC environment. I’ll sign the NDA tomorrow. I bugged syntax in ATC (which to credit due was fixed) months before it was. It’s not the azure sound, but the base sound files, which needed repair. NOTE: USA’s weather service had same issue for over 13 years, before fixing. Computers and teaching them to talk is hard, but you did it.

I think, although many will disagree, we would have a better feeling toward the resolutions of bugs, if a little description of the steps you are taking to fix might help us understand the complexities of the project. And that in and of itself might detract from the actual fixing, so a win and a failure in the same breath.

There is not one person who posts on this forum who does not want this Simulator to be the best there is, if we did not why, would we have stuck around this long, please help us to help you.

As an aside, possible fix, at least for me and mouse not working on some buttons. I am wondering, if the HC-BTQ, takes over the priority on that particular item, since on unit is a switch, labled for that item. I will unplug BTQ (hopefully will not lose all my profiles) and see if mouse works those items which have not worked with mouse in very long time. I know 747 taxi/landing lights are mouse activitated, but mine will not work them. I will let all know, if that is case, I will bug on zendesk with solution, so code can be changed to allow both actions.

Exactly, even the cursor movement speed feels like its moving through wet sand. It will be years before this title reaches maturity. Years.

For your mouse setting in game

designed for Xbox! thats true, its not a sim after all its an xbox optimized Game/PC Port.

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You hit the nail on the head. Xbox interface, designed for use by a minimally capable Xbox controller. Hence the controller issues people have. Even a mouse is too “advanced”. Note that dragging stopped working for many tasks after they went fully Xbox.

The biggest issue is that with SU5, Asobo rewrote and renamed many of the UI templates without telling anyone, or providing a list of what was changed and renamed. Also, the interface to the UI functionality is still in its infancy, so, many developers used their own methods for interacting with the cockpit, which, with the major changes of SU5, broke many functions when functionality and features were dropped by Asobo for the sake of Xbox. Some long time FSX methods of programming were changed in major ways, and functionality those methods had was not replaced. Hopefully that functionality will be brought back over time.

It’s going to take a while for developers to catch up and figure out how to move forward since some of the functionality they were using was dropped.

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Ouch. The truth just hurt me. Not nice, truth!

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Your words meet my thoughts. Not playing the game for weeks anymore. Just waiting till they fix CTDs, ATC and AI Traffic. Waiting then for AIG to release their stuff. Maybe game is then “as real as it gets”…

13 months and its so broken.

Forums it is for now.

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They removed this slogan for a reason. Ironically, I actually believe that this slogan was the reasons the FS went under after FSX. MS didn’t want “as real as it gets” but wanted “as approachable to all audiences as possible”, which then culminated in MS Flight.

“As real as it gets” is too much of a niche market. “As beautiful as it gets”, “as entertaining as it gets” are probably more import in today’s video game market.

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Gentlemen,

Superb lead-in and responses. I too am disappointed in the ‘it is all about the money’ attitude that seems to prevail.

Been involved with flight simming since Apple had the first I believe before Mr. Artwick hit the seen. Have a competent system (I9 9700K@5.0, RAM @ 3500. dedicated M2 for MSFS) and my experience is that, at a resolution of 3456x1944 it is smooth but that is it - too many bugs to sort out. Have 8000+ in B-52, 707, AA1A, 172, etc which indicates my old age and tried X-Plane (full version, add-ons very expensive) and the original FSX, then the steam version which I can still install, and P3D.

If I could figure out how to change the font size in FSX I would be enjoying that old soldier.

Thanks for the great topic.

Jack

USAF rtd

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All - More testing on XP, trying 737 stock from KMGE, RW 11. Have turned Parking brake off, after several tries, finally got the HC-BTQ programed correctly for 2 engines, not as easy as first reported. Still the plane refuses to move at Full THrust. Worked in yard today, and tired, will mess with more, but might go to bed anyway. But, the “discovery process” for devices is supurb in comparison to MSFS.
So its not roses and bells either, but a discovery process and learning curve. The seup of devices is more streight forward, but do not see mouse or keyboard Profiles, they are built into base game and set. Only thing need to configure is Virpil and HC-BTQ. Menu disappers unless you hover with mouse. Loading of game from mouse click is under 2 minutes, loading a flight is close to same time in both. Good luck to all, and have not shutdown PC and unpluged HC-BTQ and tested mouse, I will do that tonight regardless of anything else. Broke lawn mower today, so now got to figure out how to fix that. Later.

And here I thought, after reading the title, that I would be reading at least a semi-technical description of “How it works”. But sadly, no. Just another diatribe about why someone was abandoning MSFS. It would have been a better use of my time to read a Washington Post editorial.

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Mike-You do not have to be nasty - I am reporting on how this game works with different things attached, and pointing out things and promises of which us PAID FOR THS GAME folks want better results for.
You may not read my post in the future, you will be happer for it.

ALERT - ALERT- As promised, I have tested “mouse operated switch-buttons-etc” with the HC-BTQ unplugged. As I suspected, the mouse works perfect for everything in the planes. When you plug in “for sure” the HC-BTQ and possibly other devices the Honeycomb Alpha, or other aftermarket Throttles/switch panels, they may do as this describes.
When plugged in, the software in HC-BTQ and how its intergrated into game, takes over those items where a programed switch on the device is supposed to work that function, I.E., landing and taxi lights in 747, unplugged, mouse works fine, plugged in, Switch Panel works them.
In F-14, plugged in Avioncis switch is worked by HC-BTQ, unplugged, mouse operates.
So some aftermarket devices take over for mouse operations, this may also be true for any keyboard commands, which there is a HC-BTQ switch for. That evidently is not a bug, but designed and coded that way.
Suggest the code is changed to allow dual actions, either switch on device or mouse action. As example, in setting up Auto Pilot Panel in almost any of the planes, doing it with mouse is much faster, and then in flight, making adjustments on HC device might be more real world. Some actions although performed on HC device can also be done using mouse, the Auto Pilot being one area where both work. So, if mouse does not operate something you are sure it used to work, the peripheral thing has taken over for it possibly. Checking I turned of PC, disconnect power to be safe, pulled USB plug from my hub, restarted PC, game and tested.
FWIW-From Mouse Click on my ASUS Scar Strix III Laptop - Game took the following times to reach this point:
0.45 Seconds for the window (blank for seconds) to display
1.45 - Check for updates.
3.45 - Main Interface showing World Map, et-al.
Your PC may be different, am running Windows 11 Beta, it loads way faster than Windows 10 did. Your times may be different.
Please MS-Asobo, get rid of the advertisements showing all the things we can do, and world updates, assuming, that feature, takes away speed of the game loading. It may also make no difference.
Long time ago, one report said exclude MSFS from Windows Defender scanning it as it loads. Not sure it does that any longer. Changing the priority of MSFS to high, resets back to normal each game start, so the priority of the game has been set in the code to be what it is. I detected no appreciable performance increase, or speed of loading trying to get it higher. Almost 4 minutes to load is a stretch to me. But, lots of things going on in background to setup game to run.
XP as comparison, (North America Scenery Only) To first window blank 3.5 seconds, to complete main window to start game 13. 51 seconds. Wayyyy faster in Xp versus MSFS, believe, coding process are different, so the handles in code to get game running doing lots more in MSFS than XP.
Temps: Xp about 74-77C, MSFS 84-87C but sure settings different, so not ture test.

All - More testing, I have had MSFS on my pc for 12.75 months. I have had XP on pc for 2 days. In all my time flying in MSFS, setting up real world flight plans, executing the flight plan, hitting my waypoints, lining up on selected ILS runway, and landing successfully, as well as interacting with ATC along the way. I have only had about 5–10 successful ones. I have VFR the Cessna 152/172 and TBM-930 and been successful with planed flights, VOR and VFR landings at destination. So the little guys fly actually better than the large CA aircraft.
Tonight, I launched XP, tookoff from KMGE, no flight plan, setup AP to RW heading, 3000’ alt, and 250 KIAS airspeed, and flew around, went outside and landing gear had not gone up, paused game, went into settings for HTQ, and programed the lever properly, that took less than minute, unpaused game, followed track back to airport, dialed in the ILS frequency, put in the course (runway heading) got the glide slope, and was aligned up on RW. At three miles out, cancelled all AP settings with exception of the Flight Director, and I flew the plane in and landed successfully, reverse thrust the whole bit.
Comparision - I have tried over 100 times in MSFS to do just what I described successfully accmplishing in XP, and have tried to do so over the 12.75 months MSFS has been on PC. I did not have ATC activitated so I do not know if gotchas would have occurred. As mentioned, I have thousands of hours in 737/747 and C-17 flying all over world and USA in FSX but in MSFS cannot be successful with the two Boeing AC’s provided. Using a sim I have had only two days, and be successful, tells me something is rotten in denmark, to coin phrase. I cannot speak to A320, as I don’t fly AB planes.
FWIW-The DC Designs F-14 is more than likely the plane I will fly in MSFS 90+% of the time, why, first it’s flight model is steller, every single system built into the plane works just like it should. They say it’s not “study level” well to me it sure flys like it is. I have no desire to load ordance and shoot at people, I want to fly through the mountains, clime to 50,000’ and coast down to a safe landing, slowely turning on my decent to see the excellent scenery built into MSFS. I want to plan a flight, exceute that flight like the plan, as close to possible to Real World Procedures and know I did it to a “T”.
All the large planes in MSFS are flawed, seriously flawed. The GA/Business Planes are mostly good, but the DC Designs plane puts every single one of them to shame.
See this link on how to setup navigations system, and load in FP while in route, and successfull IFR and ILS your landing. Good Flying to you.

(1) FS2020 - DC Designs F-14 Autopilot & ILS Approach tutorial - YouTube

Pretty interesting comparisons and lines up with what other youtubers have shown as well between the two.

I actually bought XP11 this morning and is installing now. Not going away from MSFS just wanted to try something else beside it.

MSFS- When opening game, opening Store and running an Update there, the cooling fans on PC spin up to almost max, the GPU (although not doing anything) heat signature rises to 76-80, minimizing game process makes no change on that, but video is not being displayed to screen, hmmm, why? In game, 84-86, fans screaming. I can get the temps down if I change fan from “performance to turbo” but that puts them all the way up to max. Yes, realize this s a very “visual” game so GPU is used heavily. But for me, 95% of time game is rock steady. Yes, bugs in areas already mentoned, but hopefully being worked on - see thread on Beta Testers for further information on that.

XP-11 - Further updates, I did not want to be at the mercy of the Internet Gods, so I bought the XP-11 DVD set. I received it today, and now I am updating all the scenery files which will take today at any rate. There are 8 discs for the complete install. My pc is running very cool, does not even hardly spin up the fans for cooling doing this install. The game when running, also gets fans running, but 76-77 is tops for GPU in flight mode. So visually this does not tax GPU as much, and scenery is not nearly as nice visually. BUT, this SIM works, read posts above on ILS success. Now a learning curve, and it will take a while to understand all the things in it, but lo and behold, there is a manual on how stuff works, will wonders never cease.

Saw “Simhangers” preview on XP-12 last evening, MSFS will still win in the Scenery Department, but, not in other areas. This might be more “real world professional” from a learning/pilots perspective. That some aftermarket scenery/planes need to be purchased installed and then tweaked is a given. Both sims have aftermarket things to peak you interest.