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Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 19:20:58 -0400
From: m w grossmann <hosting@select-ware.com>
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Subject: Re: Need Advice on Simulators / Joysticks
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Bhavesh R. Patel wrote:
> 
> i am considering buying FS98.  the MS site says that the force feedback
> joystick is the most realistic way to use FS98.  i am going to start lessons

Of course they do! They SELL both of them! (:

> in a REAL plane w/instructor soon.  i thought i'd practice some navigation
> stuff on FS98.  what is the best joystick to use?  i saw some posts saying
> pedals were available, from which company?  the FS98 & joystick combo goes
> for $200, a little pricey for me, but if it saves minimizes my learning
> curve, i might buy it.

I got into flying when I went to a municipal airport for a sectional so
I could use FSim better and learn more. Ended up buying all the books
and doing a couple flights. 

The pedals are available from CH Products (http://www.chproducts.com/).
Excellent, and there's a switch on the pedal unit so that they can also
be used for driving games. They cost about US$50. CH also makes a couple
yokes, but the only force-feedback stick you'll find is the Micro$oft
one. It's not *necessary*, but I found it gives a better sense of
things. When I "ffy" with a normal joystick, I end up going W-A-Y to far
in any particular direction, losing control of the A/C.

 
> any and all advice much appreciated.  please give me any info you have on
> pricing/packages for sims/joysticks.  thx.

There are a couple other excellent simulators: Sierra ProPilot, Flight
Unlimited 2 and X-Plane. The latter is available through the Web and the
author is a regular on rec.aviation.simulators, a group to which you may
want to subscribe.

Sims got me into flying, and there are both good and bad points. They
are great as an introduction to the flight systems, actions and
reactions. They are also great for learning navigation (especially VOR
and ADF), and are therefore also good for IFR practice (set clouds to
overcast/total). The negative aspects are that the view is limited and
you will be watching the instruments almost exclusively. My CFIs started
covering all my instruments early in training as a result of this,
although it made hood work a breeze!

You may also want to consider a 3D add-on graphics card, like the
Diamond 3D Voodoo2 or the Guillemot Maxi-Gamer Pro (www.guillemot.com).

Cheers- 

m w grossmann
