It’s a great UI, if you already have things bound and just want to change the bindings. Not so much for doing things from scratch. On this specific one, though, I wonder if you had something other than the throttle quadrant selected in the menu. I wouldn’t be surprised if throttle axis is under Essential for throttle quadrant but not for keyboard, which is what it usually defaults to for me.
Skipper
1805
Good catch. I have trim (pitch) set on a wheel axis. It is used quite a bit.
I keep meaning to rebind mine, it defaults to a hat on the X-52. I don’t think I’m using the thumb wheel on my throttle for anything, but I’m not sure what it’s currently bound to.
Matt_W
1807
I have three buttons on my joystick I never use (including the trigger button, which defaults to viewing whatever point of interest the sim things I should look at), and am trying to decide what to bind them too. I may bind them to AP ALT+/- and Set AP Heading to Current Heading. And I think I’ll reset my hat left/right buttons to pan left/right rather than snap view to left/right wings.
Matt_W
1808
I found this and am trying to decide if it’s worth paying for. You’re right that it’s really difficult to find approach plates outside the U.S. even though they’re usually published by governments.
http://www.dauntless-soft.com/products/simplates/
Thrag
1809
Thanks for the mapping suggestions. I’ve got more button setting to do but with the basics set I’ve already buzzed my neighborhood. Came in for a slow run to get the requisite “I can see my house from here” screenshot. Wasn’t watching my airspeed and almost crashed into the hillside as I went to pull away.
The buildings are all close but not quite right. Still totally impressive. While not represented 3D, I did note that the images did accurately show the significant number of broken down cars one of my neighbors keeps in their yard. An impressive level of detail.
Skipper
1810
Yeah the views impress more from about 500 feet. You can land somewhere then use drone view to look around but it’s a bit of a letdown depending on where you’re at. But that being said, a flight over New York City should be a must try. Seattle looks nice as well.
Thrag
1811
I’m first going to run through the tutorials a bit to learn how to fly properly, but I’m planning a sightseeing flight around SF and then out to buzz the Farallon Islands.
Spock
1812
Ooh, nice find! I just downloaded the demo. Have you tried that yet? I won’t have time to try it til tonight, so if you have tried it, please let me know what you think.
The Japan trailer is impressive! I didn’t see Kyoto or Nara, and I’ll be curious to see how they’re treated. My Thunder corporation in OnAir is based in Hong Kong, so this will give me more incentive to take jobs to Japan.
According to Reddit, the cities are:
- Sendai
- Utsunomiya
- Yokohama
- Tokyo
- Takamatsu
- Tokushima
Kyoto may get some landmark love. If it’s anything like London, though, not much.
Matt_W
1814
This worked great, BTW. AI pilots are the way to go here. I think I have to fly the missions with my player pilot, but it’s really handy to be able to transport the plane (and pilot) around and take on other contracts while I’m away from the sim. I drove Mary (AI pilot) out to Abbotsford where Alanna (player pilot) and my rented Cessna were chilling after flying mission 1 out there. The drive took 45 (real time) minutes. Then I grabbed a cargo contract with a couple of stops on the way back to Vancouver, loaded the cargo and Alanna (as passenger) onto the Cessna and am now letting Mary hop her way back to Vancouver, dropping off cargo as she goes. All just from the OnAir UI, with the flights taking real-time times. (Currently in the middle of a 30 minute flight.)
Skipper
1815
How do I get my rental from a place to another place to then take the mission I have? In FSE I just loaded up my flight and turned on FSE tracking. Does it work the same in OnAir and how do I do that non-cargo or passenger flight?
Also, my quick reputation summary:
Engine already running at start: -0.02%
Landing lights not on below 1000 feet: -0.01%
Picking booger in front of ground crew: -0.01%
Not flicking booger out side window, assumed in cabin or mouth: -0.04%
Above 45% bank angle: -0.05%
Landing lights not on again, you big dummy: -0.01%
Do you even know how to turn this thing on and off: -0.02%
Matt_W
1816
You have to fly it. I don’t think there’s a way to transport aircraft (yet) except by flying them. (Exception: if you abandon a rental at a location other than its home, the game will transport it back home and charge you for the transport.) If your pilot is not where your rental is, you can transport your pilot via public transit, which takes time. You can also hire an AI pilot to transport the rental (which is effectively what I did.)
They just released an update that lets you relocate your home base instantaneously, which is nice. After relocating you can regenerate your missions and they’ll appear at your new base. But you still have to transport your pilot there, which is not instantaneous.
Lol. Looks like mine :) “Chiroptera Aloft - We Sortof Give a Shit”
Spock
1817
Yep, AI pilots are really fun. You can use them to create multi-leg “work orders” (from the aircraft’s “more” menu). But with a multi-leg journey, I can easily get mixed up about what cargo to load and unload at each leg. If you guys try this, START SIMPLE, lol! I ended up having to make a spreadsheet in one case.
LoL. Well, you can pick 45 boogers and still take less of a rep hit than if you get a single stall warning. I stalled on two takeoffs yesterday and I was grumpy about it all day, lol. As annoying as these little scold messages can be, they do incentivize me to fly more carefully.
Note, though, that you can still start cold and dark at a ramp near the end of the runway, and you can end your flight just as you do in FSE – stop on the runway if you want, set parking break, turn off all lights EXCEPT THE BEACON lol, and then cut the engine. OnAir doesn’t care if you taxi after landing.
I agree, that’s a very welcome change. I’m hoping that the next update they’ll give us some promised improvements to the jobs interface, in particular showing job destinations more clearly. (You can still see them by clicking a little unmarked checkbox at the top/left of the job menu – not a piece of UI brilliance right now.)
Spock
1818
This morning I flew west out of Oahu (Dillingham Field):
Destination: Kauai, Barking Sands, at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. This is hardly the most elaborate airport in MSFS, but I still couldn’t stop admiring it. This airfield is far from the best-known airport in Hawaii, and I can’t imagine it received special attention from the developers; indeed, it’s not done yet. And yet it already looks terrific. I agree with @Skipper – this is an awesome game.
Speaking of which, ObsidianAnt’s video on the Japan update mentioned 6 planned updates - 2 world, 2 sim, and 2 paid - over the next 6 months. Not sure if that was announced along with Japan or already out there.
Matt_W
1820
Doing my twin engine checkride
I passed!
I host a show called “Dog Is My Co-Pilot” where my Shiba Inu and I do relatively short sightseeing tours of destinations suggested by viewers in Twitch chat.
We’re live now at https://twitch.tv/SeedyL. Come check us out! :)
Spock
1822
Hey, grats! I was SO nervous during my Single Engine Turboprop checkride. Protip: autopilot is permitted. Wish I’d used it!
That’s a gorgeous photo, too! Did you use Photoshop to filter it to grayscale, or was the sim looking like that?
Matt_W
1823
Nope, sim looked like that. The sun had just ducked behind a cloud.
So I’m based in Vancouver, and there’s some dude, presumably another player, who has parked themselves on one of the runways. I get endless hold requests and eventually just take off without permission.
