There is, of course, the one stuck on a pole at Casle Motors (Castle Air) on the A38 between Plymouth & Bodmin. I’ve driven past it 4 times in the last two days – next time I drive past, I’ll get some snaps of her.

See it (or rather you don’t) all the time down here – affects all the aircraft at whole airshows sometimes!!!

have other things to do with my life and am quite happy with the overall performance from the thing out of the box.

Ditto – couldn’t agree more.

I understand what you mean about graphics. However, a better graphics card & CPU may allow more, or more complicated, objects & effects to become visible, which may be hidden on lesser models. As to accuracy, I’ve already agreed on that.

You can adjust the sound level differences between various effects – engine noise, for instance, can be raised or lowered as you require. Also, by default, my sound settings were at “low” quality – changing it to “high” has made a significant difference. So maybe a little tweaking is okay? 😉

(Alt (if in full screen mode)/options/settings/sound)

Clearly reinstalling/reformating is not something to be taken lightly & I would not even advocate it as a last resort under XP, if FS2004 doesn’t run there is a hardware problem that needs addressing and reinstalling the OS once an item has been changed is not necessary. I found replacing my graphics card (which wasn’t supported) and CDRW/DVD combi (which needed changing anyway) worked for me.

Not really much I can add Damien. Different video cards have different effects systems, and what works on one make, might not work on another. It might be worth investigating what switches can be turned on, and which should be turned off for your particular card.

Of course, we have to realise that cgi from a desktop PC is not going to compete with real life for a long time yet. I went to Silicon Graphics a few years ago and they had a marvelous wide screen system. But imv it still couldn’t compete with the RAF’s Jaguar simulator up at Lossie for accuracy of detail (even though it was only visible through a tiny monitor in front of the hud). The Jag sim used a camera flying over a massive model. That was in the mid ’70’s. Its a matter of you pays your money and takes your choice, I’m afraid.

Instead of the DTT3500, try using the digital out on the Live! to a more accurate & powerful digital audio amplifier & speaker system. You’ll be sure to notice differences then, I’m sure. Digital sound can sound more subdued than analogue, because of it’s wider dynamic range, and its a matter of adding greater amplification to compensate (just be careful of those peaks, which could be much louder than analogue). Again, it’s a matter of what you can afford really. After all, the Soundblaster kit isn’t really all that sonically accurate.

UK scenery is as crap

Agreed – No Drakes Island in Plymouth Sound, for instance – no breakwater, either – and no lighthouse!

I cannot comment on the flight model, not having a real world frame of reference.

However, what graphics card are you using? Also, what sound card & speaker set?

For sound I use a SoundBlaster Live! & DTT3500 Dolby Digital speaker set – which can generate high volumes if required.

I didn’t get a new version since FS98, so I do see a few differences. The Robinson (while not exactly of interest to this forum, I know) rocks! I love the way dust and dirt is thrown up by the rotors, for instance.

However, a bit of tolerance all round goes a long way.

Absolutely.

And thanks for the pic, Merlin – does it (the model, of course) ever get to fly down here in the South West?

You can’t really blame them for commenting on your spelling

I’m sorry, but I have a brother who’s dyslexic. I don’t expect him to broadcast this information to all & sundry!

Just ignore it, and try to look at the quality of the information the person is trying to impart, or the question they are asking – rather than make unnecessary, uninformed, comments.

On the whole, spelling & grammer or even software that translates writing into speech can only hope to help a few of those that truly suffer from the more serious forms of dyslexia.