Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 In Sixgun Sheridan's "1980's Fads" thread, I mentioned spending countless hours playing Microsoft Flight Simulator on my old IBM PC Jr. Like everyone else, I've gone through a LOT of computers since then (1984). And I also upgraded the program a couple of times, keeping up with operating system progressions up through Windows XP. Last version I bought was Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Which, oddly enough, is not compatible with Windows 10. *Grump!* Might anyone know of any decent PC (Not X-Box) version that will work with Windows 10...? I know... 'way off topic. But we can't talk about guns and cookie recipes ALL the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 I can't quite place this in time - late 70's ? - Mrs. L came home from work at a software firm with what looked like a portable sewing machine. Set it up in the kitchen, and it turned out to be a "portable" computer - maybe a Compaq? Orange screen. Had a game on it similar to Clue. Bunch of characters in a mansion, trying to solve a murder. No video or images, all text. But the cool part was that you could interrogate witnesses. Ask a direct question, and they would answer in text. But they were allowed to LIE - and they did. Frustration often led to ribald suggestions - which were readily repulsed by the witness. Stayed up until 3 AM playing that thing - foreshadowing of video game addiction to come. LL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 8 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said: In Sixgun Sheridan's "1980's Fads" thread, I mentioned spending countless hours playing Microsoft Flight Simulator on my old IBM PC Jr. Like everyone else, I've gone through a LOT of computers since then (1984). And I also upgraded the program a couple of times, keeping up with operating system progressions up through Windows XP. Last version I bought was Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Which, oddly enough, is not compatible with Windows 10. *Grump!* Might anyone know of any decent PC (Not X-Box) version that will work with Windows 10...? I know... 'way off topic. But we can't talk about guns and cookie recipes ALL the time! Found this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Sheridan Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 FWIW Microsoft is working on a new flight sim that's a huge update over FSX. I have no idea when it will be released though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrel Cody Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 7 minutes ago, Sixgun Sheridan said: FWIW Microsoft is working on a new flight sim that's a huge update over FSX. I have no idea when it will be released though. According to the site https://www.flightsimulator.com/ the Alpha version is going out now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 Huh... that's encouraging! Graphics look like a vast improvement from thirty five years ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry T Harrison Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 I was lucky enough to live and work in the community that housed the USAIR training center with it’s flight simulators. A fellow scout leader was one of the trainers. Sometimes after training was done for the night I was able to use one of the obsolete flight simulators. I learned flying a jet liner was easy until he let the crap hit the fan then you discovered very quickly how skilled a pilot had to be. Those days sure were fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Sheridan Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 What I learned is that nearly anyone can be shown how to take off, even in a jetliner. It's landing that's the problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finagler 6853 Life Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I think they still refer to landing as a controlled crash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry T Harrison Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 23 hours ago, Sixgun Sheridan said: What I learned is that nearly anyone can be shown how to take off, even in a jetliner. It's landing that's the problem! Landing was just a matter of following the ball and keeping it between the lines as long as nothing went wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Sheridan Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 17 hours ago, Henry T Harrison said: Landing was just a matter of following the ball and keeping it between the lines as long as nothing went wrong That's the trick... when landing slight movements of the yoke or rudders have an adverse effect and it's easy to suddenly find yourself drifting off the glide path with little time to correct it. I'll confess I've never had a chance to fly a real airplane, but I've been playing flight sims since the days of DOS/Win 3.1 and landing is the one thing I had a real hell of a time getting the hang of. I think in the real world if I was in a Cessna and the pilot suddenly keeled over I could land it pretty easily, but it's a 747-400 and both pilots suddenly croak I'm afraid we're all gonna die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 18 hours ago, Henry T Harrison said: Landing was just a matter of following the ball and keeping it between the lines as long as nothing went wrong You assume that you have a functioning ILS system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 On 2/18/2020 at 6:07 PM, Henry T Harrison said:I learned flying a jet liner was easy until he let the crap hit the fan then you discovered very quickly how skilled a pilot had to be. Those days sure were fun. Practicing the crap fan contact in a simulator is what keeps crews alive in the real world. I was never a fan of UH-1 instrument simulators. They were full-motion and could induce bad vertigo if the instructor were feeling particularly challenging that session, but fighting vertigo was part of the training. On a long NVG mission one night I had a real case of vertigo set in. Even though it was a VFR flight, I was able to go to instruments and keep everything level and safe until it passed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry T Harrison Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 4 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said: You assume that you have a functioning ILS system. No the only thing that I assumed was that my buddy was going to screw with me. He was also the one who told me that you only needed two things to fly a plane a pilot and a dog. The pilots job was to feed the dog the dogs job was to bite the pilot if he tried to touch anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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