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Tim_Capps

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About Tim_Capps

  • Rank
    Classic Jets for Jurassic Gents
  • Birthday 08/12/1957

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Southern Illinois
  • Interests
    Golden Age of Hollywood, Ginger Rogers, Cultural Criticism, Writing, Grumpiness

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About Me

  • About Me
    Ret. Criminal Defense Lawyer, U.S. Navy JAG, Country Squire, Writer of dubious fiction.

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  1. The one in the 747 is more detailed, but the basics are the same, and the CIVA addon gets the job done in period fashion. As for ATC crashes, pffft... in my brief time with X-plane I have learned to use ATC at risk of CTD sometimes. I just skip it. This seems to be a longstanding problem. But the X-ATC plug in that comes with the FlyJSim stuff just needs to go. Yeah, not holding my breath, which is why I picked up X-Plane 11 despite owning X-Plane 12. It's actually pretty decent for my purposes, and like CoastalDriver pointed out, it's currently a must for some classics. They have said they are working on it, but they've been saying that for a long time. If it brings the 737 & 727 classics into 12 with improvements, I'd buy at least the 737-200. But I'm fanatical about those two airplanes. But at the moment I'm finishing a Baltimore to Salt Lake City flight in the 727-100 using radio navigation. (I do have the CIVA installed in the 200 but like to keep things different.) I love the 737-300 too, but... Coastal Driver, you know better in your heart of hearts. 😄 Yeah, I've noticed a distinct lack of big piston pounders in X-plane. I do have the DC-3 by VSKYLABS which is an absolute psycho on the ground, not to mention bursting into flames if you look at it the wrong way. Anyway, still couldn't be happier with the rest in both versions.
  2. I was getting CTDs on both the 737 and 727 until I removed the X-TCAS folder from all of them. Just finished a New York to Denver flight in the 727-200ADV and can't remember a more enjoyable flight. It really keeps you busy the whole time. The 737 is great, too (plus has the advantage of a cabin). If you don't have X-Camera, I highly recommend it to juggle all the views. My eyesight isn't the greatest and the "momentarily" zoom on different instrument groups makes things a lot easier. The CIVA is a nice add-on for ten bucks, too. Now I understand why it is taking so long to bring these up to a version 4 standard. But in the meantime, I'm enjoying flight simulation more than I have in years.
  3. Guess they read that. Optimistically, the sale could mean they are wringing the last bit of money from impatient people before releasing v4. If so, you are welcome 🙂
  4. Thanks, have looked at those mods... never tried anything like that but might get brave enough. I think a lot of those 737-200s were probably really bare-bones, and doubt many had the Delco Carousel INS installed. N9009U was donated by United to our local avtech program. 1969 vintage but in service well into the 80s. It's got nothing but the Sperry and what appears to be an early ACARS system bolted onto the panel (screen with print capability). I imagine it was never flown anyway but Slant Alpha. Sadly, N9009U will never be allowed to fly again (except in my post-apocalyptic fantasies) but the JSim at least helps me understand the basic procedures and interplay of systems. A working PDCS would be an amazing addon, though. I'm surprised no one has done it, since I wouldn't think it would be that difficult. But I don't know. And I guess United figured they paid pilots to look at table and do math 🙂
  5. For the price of one decent addon, I got both. I was tired of waiting and really, really needed a good 737-200. Now. If they ever come through with the v4 then it will be half price. If the 727 goes on sale, I'll pick that up, too. Just made my first flight and had a blast. Neither version of X-plane knows the other is installed, so that was drama free. In 12 the Felis 747-200 continues to amaze. But for the Coolsky DC-9, A2A Connie and Aerosoft DC-8, I would probably go ahead and uninstall P3D. As it is, I have flown it maybe twice in three months. Have never felt the love for MSFS (not that it's bad, just not my cup of tea).
  6. Well, having tried XP before, that's what I thought, too, but within a couple of weeks I had gotten use to the ecosystem (and I'm 66). In some ways it's simpler and less fiddly. But I won't get rid of P3D-- just too much investment in it... too many airplanes I doubt I'll ever find for anything else. I will definitely keep an eye on compatibility reports for P3D as it evolves.
  7. New to X-Plane, but I've ticked the boxes for what I'm interested in: Zibo 737-800 for a glass Boeing; IEXG 737-300 for a Classic; Rotate MD-80 for a Douglas; and Toliss A320neo for a bus. I've found all of these to be enjoyable and relatively hassle-free. The JARDesign A340-500 isn't awful for the price, but if I were a hardcore bus fan I probably wouldn't like it. It does fill the long-haul slot. I also REQUIRE a DC-3 🙂 and the VSLabs one is pretty good. The SGS 747-800 looks nice and is on sale. so I'll probably be picking that up for a nicer long-haul airplane. I have actually found JARDesign's copilot to be sort of useful and entertaining, but only have it for the Zibo & the A340-500. Other than that. I was pleased to find my Stick and Rudder ATC Chatter ported over from P3D, and PassengerFX isn't too bad (although not as nice as Simsounds in P3D). I'll be checking out some of the other things mentioned here. But the scenery is pretty plausible no matter where I fly, so I haven't felt like adding anything there.
  8. We routinely use polls with far less of a percentage, and I doubt this is wildly off the mark. This, however, is definitely not a scientific poll, but the sim usage doesn't seem widely off the mark. I wonder what % of Navigraph's own flight sim users are P3D, though. I would guess far more.
  9. Navigraph 2023 Survey Results P3D is less than 5%; barely above Infinite Flight (never heard of it TBH) and half that of X-Plane. Still using P3D for "legacy" 3d Party (nearly everything for P3D now), but spend more time in X-Plane myself, with MSFS for occasional fun. Each has its purpose for me.
  10. L1011 is still my favorite CS airplane, if you are interested in something different. Otherwise, when I'm in P3D I use their 737-300.
  11. All I got to say is that with both P3Dv5.4 and MSFS having serious issues with me (or vice versa) I couldn't have picked a better time to get curious about X-plane. It looks fantastic out of the box and I'm having a blast with the Rotate MD-80. A steal for $59. P3Dv5.4 might end up being second choice for old stuff we're just not going to see anywhere else.
  12. Sorry, but I don't have v6. Usually, if it will load, it will fly. I never had any trouble like you've described in v5.2. If you've worked through the tutorial flight and it's nothing procedural, I don't know--might be specific to v6. Yeah, it's a fun airplane with a fascinating, if relatively less-than-successful, history.
  13. This is 5.2 and these are all P3D airplanes. The Aerosoft DC-8 required a registry trick to work. The VC10 Pro (weirdly) did actually work, except as noted. I prefer the non-Pro version, though, in P3D 5.2. The rest work just fine without any bother, although the mods help a lot.
  14. I've been flying the very nice Aerosoft DC-8-50 and finally got tired of the anemic night lighting. (Worse than I remember; but I had not updated my drivers in a year or more--not been doing this much lately.) I used FSLSpotlights to start fixing each individual dial, etc. and was pleased. But when I started messing with a dome light, I discovered that it brought all the dials to life at night without even having to make the cockpit very bright. So, the easy fix is to use one FSLSpotlilght cockpit light and the dials somehow pop without a glary look. FSLSpotlights is not really hard to configure; it just requires some patience. (If I can do it, it can't be hard.) So, that's one pretty easy fix if you're still flying this classic jet and displeased with the night lighting. I went ahead and made a fairly elaborate complete setup to include separate source lighting for panel, overhead and engineer's station, plus landing and taxi lights. I also kept the captain's side individual dials and added some variations to a few gauges to give a bit of "older" ambience (at least at night) that the textures unfortunately lack. I don't know who else is still using this airplane, but thought I'd mention it. While in a different category, the JustFlight DC-8 series is still fun, and I have a different mod that improves the night lighting (an actual texture mod, not FSLSpotlights) and some other problems with the original. It's not mine, and I don't know if it ever got made generally available. It's still a decent airplane and looks better, in my opinion, plus you get more models. The over-complicated DC-8 fuel system does work btw, even without the mod--just not like the real thing (or the way the JF manual explains it). One of the reason's I'm still with P3D is the access to a nice selection of classic jets. Besides the DC-8s, there are Coolsky's great DC-9 series (complete with an ONS version!) and Captain Sim's L1011 (JF has a decent 500) and 737-200 (with an extensive mod available). Also JF's VC10. That last seems to pose a dilemma: the later version gives you a working INS, but the startup sequence is unworkable; the earlier one, if you can find it, starts according to the manual but lacks a working INS. Oh, and David Maltby's BAC-111 series is wonderful--better than JF's version, which is plagued by the usual JF eccentricities. Finally, while not a jet, thought I'd mention Hauke Keitel's crazy-good freeware Fw 200 Condor. I had given it a pass due to its complexity and German documentation, but got things translated well enough to get it into the air. Worth a look if you haven't checked it out.
  15. Last weekend I was playing in SIU Aviation's 737-200 that we're restoring to at least taxi around KMDH in. Dry motoring was in May and more volunteer engine work next week. (Do I know anything about engines? Of course! I can reliably tell one end from the other!) Unfortunately, this 1968 beauty (donated to the program by United) will never fly again, but you couldn't tell by looking. If the other picture doesn't look like a 737, it's because that's from the beautifully restored American Flagship Detroit DC-3. Snuck in the evening before and spent a lot of time with the crew, then had a super ride the next afternoon. Just wow. Sitting in the last row but one it was quite a noisy and lively ride! It was down at Madisonville, KY at a very tiny airport hosting its first show. If you have never been in a DC-3, I can say they look much smaller on the inside than from the outside! Two of my favorite airplanes in as many weekends close to home. Weird trivia: before Air Illinois collapsed after the 1983 crash of a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 it was operating BAC One-Elevens out of KMDH. Yup, classic Britjets right out of southern Illinois. Another simming favorite of mine.
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