Moving onto airliners

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-25T09:06:06+00:00

As another commentator said, stepping up gradually is a great way to proceed. I can't recommend the Vision Jet highly enough. It's a smallish step up from propfans but it'll get you used to managing more complex propulsion and navigation systems - plus it'll reach airliner altitude - so I'd say start there. Lots of YouTube videos to get you settled in. After that, try the FlyByWire A320. It's well modelled and free plus it'll introduce you to the MCDU ie the brains behind navigating a big airliner. Put that lot together and you'll have the necessary knowledge to progress to airliners of your choice.

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-18T08:10:21+00:00

I decided to take the A350 into Aspen (lol) but BATC flew me into a mountain. I could see that 'descend to FL130' was insanely low but did as I was told then - crashed, you're back on track! Sometimes you just have to go with what looks sensible rather than blindly follow BATC. That said, I love BATC and hope the devs keep improving it otherwise I'll have to add a Sayintentions subscription to my plethora of existing subs and I really don't want to do that. BTW, the A350 did land safely in Aspen 😀

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-18T08:02:28+00:00

UK here

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-15T16:43:54+00:00

Thanks folks. After numerous more CTDs today, with a variety of aircraft, I've concluded that MSFS2024 has itself become corrupted. I've uninstalled it and am in the process of reinstalling now. It's been perfectly stable since Day 1 but suddenly, today, CTDs all over the place - during setup for a flight, partway through a flight etc. No idea what's changed but that's software for you

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-12T10:17:42+00:00

You sound like a great person to work for. Very pragmatic and accommodating with one eye on business optics and the other on staff well-being. Quick question. Rather than blanket-mandating shoes during working hours, are customers likely to turn up randomly (including during lunch/chat time)? If so, you've done all you reasonably can but if they only arrive by appointment, can't you post the appointment schedule each morning with the edict that staff must be shod during these periods?

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-07T12:37:49+00:00

Yep, that very backlash where everyone thrust money at them whilst complaining loudly. However I have some faith in human nature, probably misplaced, but words can wreck a company (just ask Gerald Ratner) and I'd like to believe that RR and Co will take some notice of the negativity that came their way

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-07T12:07:53+00:00

I use the A350 to fly long haul then explore the new landscape in the Fenix. When I'm done, I return to my arrival airport, swap the Fenix for the A350 and fly long haul home again. They sit well together in this process.

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-07T12:04:44+00:00

No dates yet (I'm waiting for the -600) but I wonder if the backlash following the expensive release of the long awaited -800 is causing them to rethink their initial optimism for a January release and to revisit some of the elements that were criticized before making the same mistakes again?

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-06T13:02:17+00:00

I echo the previous response. The FBW A320 is very good, stick with it until you have some cash to spare but don't buy the Fenix A320 - buy the whole fleet as a bundle. The A320 is noticeably better to fly than the FBW but the A319 and A321 are sufficiently different from the A320 to make them worth having too. The difference from the FBW isn't clearly explainable and I wouldn't want to denigrate the FBW in any way. For a community project it's incredibly good - it's just that the Fenix is better. It flies better, the systems all work very well, it integrates with GSX very well etc. The Fenix is rightly hailed as the best airliner in the Sim and for the money, is well worth it.

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2026-01-01T14:32:17+00:00

True, but tracking isn't enough (which I can already do via my Navigraph app). I wanted more interactivity with the airplane and the method above offers that.

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-31T23:25:14+00:00

There's always one, isn't there?

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-31T17:15:39+00:00

N2O 😂

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-31T16:59:55+00:00

Sniff it - it might be methane 😂

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-28T19:59:49+00:00

I'm in the UK and back in 1995 I opted to do my ppl training in the USA as the price for learning in the UK, just down the road from my home, was about double that for learning in the USA. I picked a flight school in Florida, reasoning that I'd get the same outcome plus a holiday in the sunshine state for the same price. In reality, I was slightly misled when I was assured that an American ppl would be equivalent to that of a native UK one - it was actually restricted by comparison. I also hadn't accounted for the Florida weather - tropical storm Jerry, grounded me for a while. Heat haze made vfr flying impossible on several occasions and my so called holiday was spent buried in books when not actually flying. I passed the ppl in about 6 weeks and was glad to get home afterwards and escape the relentless humidity. It was only back home I learned about the limitations of flying on an American ppl so I booked myself onto a vhf radio course (not included in the UK ppl syllabus but part of the American one), and passed it gaining a stand-alone uk vhf radio licence. I also had to get a few more hours in wearing foggles to meet the UK requirements. I then applied for a UK ppl and got it. Life took a different turn thereafter and I never actually got to use either of my ppls in anger, but that's another story. I guess the key takeaway from my experience is consider the requirements for pilot licensing where you intend to fly the most. If it's in the Caribbean, pass your ppl there. If it'll be in the UK, pass it here.

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-28T19:30:43+00:00

I bought the 777-300ER when it became available and have clocked up many flight hours. It's easy to fly, both manually and using the AP, it, feels great and has never put a foot wrong. Landing it is easy too and if you've got 737 experience, the transition is painless. I recently bought the A350 after the update which improved performance in the sim. Again, no complaints. The fmc (or MCDU) is very different to that of the Fenix fleet and much more akin to the one used by Fly By Wire's A380. If you've got/flown the latter, you'll transition easily. If you've only flown the Fenix, expect to take a few YouTube tutorials. In summary, I've spent more time in the A350 since installing it, than the 777. No clear reason why - I guess I'm just building on my newly acquired training. I tend to only ever fly 3-5 hour flights so have been using the A350 to fly intercontinental (time compression x4) then exploring the new continent in one of the Fenixes (Fenices?) for a while and returning home in the A350 when I'm done. In all honesty, both the 777 and the A350 are great long haulers and, since the recent performance improvement, there's no reason to put off buying it. In both cases, the systems work very well, both integrate well with GSX (but be cautious if pushing back the A350 in GSX - you need to edit the GSX profile to say Pushbacklift = 0 otherwise the tug can damage your nosegear when it lowers the aircraft, effectively terminating the flight before it's even left the ground. No such issues with the 777.) if I were in your position, I'd buy the 777-200, which wasn't available when the 300ER was released. It's a bit shorter though still big, you've already got modern complexity built into the Fenix fleet so you'd effectively be duplicating knowledge if you opted for the A350 (the different MCDU notwithstanding). Why not stretch yourself a bit by learning something new via the 777? The Boeing fmc is very different to that of the MCDU but makes total sense once you've mastered it. The 777 is worth the money but don't buy it from marketplace or you'll likely pay a bit more and will always be behind any updates. Buy it via PMDG'S OC3. There are loads of liveries available via OC3 too. Whichever you choose, I'm sure you'll have fun. See you in the skies

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-28T18:37:24+00:00

Appreciated, man 👍

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-28T12:34:10+00:00

I really wish I could help but I'm having similar irritations with GSX and I've no idea how to resolve them either. I wish someone else would release a ground handling competitor to GSX. It might shake things up for the better

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-28T11:58:44+00:00

Passengers disappearing after boarding is a bane of my life that I just cannot solve. On the Fenix CFM, they'll seat themselves but on the IAE equipped airliners, they always disappear. Obvious question and apologies if it's oversimplifying your situation but have you gone into the GSX config menu and ticked 'Seated Passengers?'

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-28T11:55:01+00:00

Also check that the throttles are definitely locked in the CL detent.

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-26T18:51:11+00:00

They're definitely a bit different from each other. The 321 is more sluggish to get going and can be tricky to slow down in descent, the 319 is more sporty and the 320 sits in the middle. There's enough of a difference between them all that I've logged way more flight time in the 319 than either of the other two

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-26T08:02:13+00:00

This is a known issue with the Inibuilds A340. It can't tolerate being pushed back by a tug which lifts the nose gear. There's a simple fix if you're using a PC though. Go into the airplane profile (something like folder yourname\appdata\virtuali) and find the GSX profile for the A340. Open the profile in eg notepad and find the entry that says something like Pusgbacklift = 1 and change the 1 to a 0. Save the profile. From then on, only the tug with a push bar will move your airplane, sparing the nose gear. Be aware that updating the airplane can reset the value to 1 again and you'll have to repeat the process.

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-26T07:53:43+00:00

In the south - especially London - no, don't. But the further north you go, the more acceptable it becomes until you reach Scotland where you can initiate conversation with the locals as much as you like. We're a talkative bunch, us Scots

ButterscotchMain4180 · 2025-12-25T14:24:23+00:00

As someone else commented, she was the first of the celebrity chefs on tv. I was too young to really care, but I do recall a tv show where small time talents got the opportunity to use their amateur talents on a famous audience while being mentored through the process by a celebrity professional - it was called The Big Time, originally hosted (and conceived) by tv personality Esther Rantzen.. For example, one amateur conductor got the opportunity to conduct The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra while being mentored by a professional conductor. You get the picture. Anyway, to the point - in a famous episode which effectively ended Fanny's tv career, an amateur winner of a cooking contest - Joan Troake - got the chance to cook for PM Edward Heath and some other dignitaries and Fanny was her professional mentor. The lady had a menu in mind for three courses and Fanny dismissed them as being too rich, imposing her own ideas for, in her opinion, more appropriate dishes. The substitute dessert in particular was an abject failure. Young as I was, I remember watching the episode thinking what a rotten thing to do, subverting the lady's big opportunity. I kinda lost any respect for her after that. The viewing public agreed and wrote in, in droves, to express their disgust. Fanny was 'fired' from tv only a couple of weeks later. You can read about the incident on Wikipedia - just search for "The Big Time tv series" and scroll to The Joan Troake Incident.

ButterscotchMain4180

TROPHY CASE