Introduction

The aims of this page are to provide guidance and tips for flight sim pilots, and to make it easier to find help on aviation, flight sim and PC topics. There is a lot of good information out there, and this page will try to point you at it rather than unnecessarily duplicate stuff.

If you need help, go straight to the FAQs!

One of the main services provided by this page is the collection of TCA Hints & Tips Files. These are edited versions of information shared by TCA pilots, organised into various topics - more information here.

This page is now being updated for FS2004 - see here for more details.

While the focus is on FS2002/4, some of the information will apply equally to earlier versions of the MS Flight Sim or to non-MS flight sims, some of it is guidance on real-world flying where this is useful background, and some of it is just other stuff that flight simmers might find helpful.

The information on this page is NOT intended for real-world flying - see Author's Note below.

You will see that the cells in the above contents table have different coloured backgrounds, which indicate the following:

Yellow	These point directly to topics in this web page. You will find more yellow cells like this in the A-Z index (keep reading)...
Green	When you click on one of these links you will be taken first into the A-Z index - you will find several entries there relating to the same topic, including a link (in a green cell) to a TCA Hints & Tips file on this topic. The latter are simple text files that I maintain, and are now generally updated once or twice a month (except when I need a holiday!). Most of the information in these files comes from TCA pilots, some comes from people sharing information on public newsgroups. The files have .wri extensions and will normally open using Wordpad. New information is added to the front of these files.
Light green	Similar to the above, but the faded colour indicates that the TCA Hints & Tips file has not been updated in the latest update cycle. BTW: if you would like to subscribe to the TCA mailing list (which has much friendly banter and other good stuff that gets edited out of the hints & tips files) you'll find details here.
Blue	These sections summarise and provide links to other useful sites and pages. You will find many other links in the Pilot's Assistant Directory (PAD).
Dark blue	A direct link to an exceptionally useful related site, for which no additional information is needed on this page.

The easiest way to look up information will often be via the A-Z Index, which also uses a similar colour scheme, or via Flight Procedures & Notes, which is organized around the various phases of flight, or via the site's FAQs. You can also search the TCA Hints & Tips Files for specific words and phrases (including, for instance, "FS2004").

If you have any comments, suggestions or corrections I would be delighted to have them - please email me.
 

Where do I start?

If you haven't done so already, do take a little time to become familiar with the contents table and how it works, as explained here.

If you are new to FS2002/4 or to flight simming, here are a few suggestions for getting started:

• Do take time to become familiar with the huge amount of information available in the on-line help facilities of the MS Flight Sim.
• Don't forget to read the readme file that comes with the flight sim. It contains good basic trouble-shooting and setup info that is often overlooked.
• From the beginning, keep a careful paper log of everything you do when installing add-ons or making any changes to the settings of the flight sim. I use a little spiral-bound notebook. It may seem tedious, but trust me on this! I do this for everything on my PC, not just the flight sim, but for the flight sim you really will need it one day.... (You wouldn't wander into a complex cave system without a ball of string, would you?)
• If you are learning simulated flying, I suggest that you spend time learning the basic flying skills in just one aircraft (preferably a simple piston aircraft, to start with). Practice until things become automatic, and leave ATC and complex navigation until later. It's a bit like learning to drive a car - you don't want to get into fast traffic and complex junctions, or find you way through a bewildering road system, until you can forget what your hands and feet are doing and give your attention to more important things!
• If you'd like expert help in learning to fly, try this excellent introductory tutorial by Hal Stoen. You'll find other useful tutorials and textbooks described here in the Pilot's Assistant Directory (PAD). See also Hints on Real World Flying (including Rules of Thumb) on this page.
• The section Flight Procedures on this page will take you through the various phases of a flight, and will point you at more information when you want to know about it... at least, that's the general idea!
• But remember, there are lots of ways to enjoy the sim - a few of them are listed here.
• When you're comfortable with basic flying, consider joining a Virtual Airline. Virtual Airlines are an excellent resource for expert help, flying training, routes to fly, aircraft, scenery, add-ons, and much else besides. There are a wide variety to choose from, with many flavours - see here in the PAD for some suggestions. If you would like to visit the VA that I belong to (especially friendly to beginners), go straight to the top of this page and click on the TCA logo.
• And finally... As you go along, don't forget to occasionally check out those FAQs...

Author's Note

Although I am the author of this web page, much of the actual information comes from TCA pilots and from people sharing information on web sites and public newsgroups. These people are gratefully thanked, and are identified wherever they are known. If you are one of these people and are not properly identified and would like to be, or you would like to correct or withdraw your information, please let me know.

I would also particularly like to thank:

• Nick Dargahi for his excellent book ("The Ultimate Flight Simulator Pilot's Guidebook" 1998, ISBN 1-155828-574-1).
• The long line of people who have contributed to FS2004 and its predecessors - the simulators themselves, and all the freeware additions.
• The endlessly patient people who have helped out on newsgroup microsoft.public.simulators - Bill, Bob, Brett, Dennis, Jughead, Katy, RushMan, Trip, Walt, and many others.
• Last but definitely not least, the friendly and knowledgeable folks at Tradewind Caribbean Airlines, "probably the best Virtual Airline in the world" - with a special thanks to Rainer Labie, President of TCA, who encouraged me to "go public" with the Pilot's Assistant toolset.

Brian Tooby TCA Pilot #2658 To contact me, please visit my new flight sim home page - thanks!

A-Z Index

Green cells in the following table indicate TCA Hints & Tips Files (unlike the contents table, the green colours here don't fade with time). Other colour coding is as explained here.

Setting Up Your PC & Graphics Card, General PC Help

Highly recommended for everyone is Jimmy Richards' FS2004 and WinXP Optimization Guide V2.

When you are running the flight sim, you don't want any other unnecessary stuff using up machine resources. Two good sources of help here are:

• Games: How to Perform a Clean Boot to Prevent Background Programs from Interfering with Play 
  (Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 331796)
• Black Viper's Operating System Guides (for more info on Black Viper, see here in the PAD).

Setting up your graphics card is one of many topics in Flightsim's How To... Collection (Updated for FS2004).
 

Flight Procedures

In addition, information that is specific to the simulator itself (e.g. control keys, setting time and season) appears in this colour. Where key controls (e.g. Control+Shift+F4) are shown, it should be understood that the same effect can usually be achieved using the mouse with various knobs, levers, switches etc. on the aircraft panel. Information that relates to real-world flying but may not be modelled in the simulator (unless certain add-ons are used) appears in this colour. 

In the yellow row that starts each section, you will see a symbol ¥, if you click on this you will go to the next section in sequence.

Also check out the UK Direct Airways Flight School, which provides a nice step-by-step guide to the various phases of a commercial jet flight from taxiing before takeoff to landing, concentrating on speeds and climb/descent rates, pointing out some differences between flight sim and real flying. 

For more aircraft-specific information (including for the 737) see here in the PAD.

One of the best sources of real-world flying expertise I have found so far are the AVweb Columns at www.avweb.com, and in particular John Deakin's articles, which I can't recommend highly enough. 

Using FS2002/4 & FS9.1

A.I. Aircraft
Frame Rate Slider (FS2002)
GPS
Night Flying in FS2002
FS2002 Pushback
Where Has That Dratted Menu Bar Gone?
Where are the FS2002 Key Assignments defined?
How do I start a flight at the terminal, without getting repositioned at a runway when a flightplan is loaded?
Using FS2000 Aircraft in FS2002

This section currently relates to FS2002, although much of it may also apply to FS2004. 
For information about FS2004 on this page, including the FS2004 patch (designated here as FS9.1), see here.

A.I. Aircraft

Information on using these tools, and FS2002 A.I. Flight Plans and other utilities for use with TrafficTools, will be found here in the PAD.

See also How To...Create AI Traffic (one of Flightsim's How To... collection).

See also the A.I. Aircraft TCA Hints & Tips File, which among other things includes a tip on Increasing the taxi speed of A.I. aircraft in the June 2002 section.

More information and links on A.I. aircraft will be found here in the PAD.

Frame Rate Slider (FS2002)

Note that the behaviour is different in FS2004.
 

GPS (Global Positioning System)

Some other things that it's useful to know (which FS2002 Help doesn't tell you):

• The FS2002 GPS works from a flight plan that you create using the Flights/Flight Planner menu. You can also create a flight plan from FSNavigator and export it to FS2002.
• You can bring up the GPS window by clicking the little satellite dish symbol on some panels, or by a key combination such as Shift+2 or Shift+3.
• If you want to use GPS, your panel should have a small switch that toggles between Nav and GPS. Set this to GPS. Your Nav1 gauge is now linked to GPS rather than a VOR. In fact, the VOR has effectively been replaced by a "virtual VOR" which is positioned at your next waypoint, with the selected "radial" corresponding to the GPS course to the next waypoint as established in the flight plan. If you are to the left of your planned track, the needle will deflect to the right (telling you that you need to turn right), and vice versa. As usual, the small dots represent 2º divisions, so full scale deflection represents 10º. Being 2º off track (say) means that the "radial" from the current airplane position to the next waypoint (where the "virtual VOR" is located) is at an angle of 2ºto the intended track to the next waypoint. Note that adjusting the OBS on the Nav1 instrument has no effect when GPS is selected, since the current course is established by the flight plan.
• If you want GPS to steer your airplane, the final step is to engage the autopilot, if it isn't already, and select Nav mode. This will now detect differences from your planned track and steer the airplane accordingly.
• For other info on using GPS see the Help information.
• As an alternative to having GPS fly your airplane, you can use FSNavigator to do the same thing. In FSNavigator, the Shift+F9 key gives FSNavigator control of various aspects of your flight - the simplest form of which is to let it control the Heading bug. In this case, you need also to engage the HDG mode of the autopilot in order to let FSNavigator steer the plane. There is much more that FSNavigator can do, though!

Night Flying In FS2002

First tip: you need to fly in a darkened room, or a room with a dim red light! Otherwise you will be missing out on a great experience.

When you do this, you may find that the panel is much too bright compared to the view outside - ruins night vision. First, look up the tip in the Lighting section of FSVC FS2002 Tips on How to change the panel / gauge night lighting.

At the bottom of panel.cfg you get something like this for the King Air:

[Color]
Day=255,255,255
Night=225,117,89                -- panel "wash" with Nav lights on
Luminous=233,109,72             -- instrument glow with Nav lights on

What works for me is to change the Night settings, dividing each of the three Night figures by the same number (reducing illumination but not colour). Didn't change the Day or Luminous settings at all (although you might want to reduce the Luminous settings also if you find the instrument glow is now too bright).

For the default 737-400, after experimenting I ended up with half the original figures, i.e. ended up with:

Night=100,50,50

For the default King Air 350 I ended up with a third of the original figures, i.e. ended up with:

Night=75,39,30

These figures probably depend on the panel and personal preferences, but I thought I would pass on the main tip, which is to divide each of the original figures by the same amount.

You might want to pick a nice moonlit night to fly (great reflections off the water). Check on phases of the moon for particular days and times here, and times of moonrise and moonset here. 

For improved stars, water reflections, night textures on the ground, runway lights and moon textures, see several entries in the scenery add-ons section of the PAD.

If you have a FF joystick with an all-black plastic shell, you might also find it useful to fill in the little circles around the throttle with something white (I used Tippex correction fluid), and also mark the throttle position with white. It's quite useful anyway, but really needed in a dark room!

Thanks to Joe Watson and Bob Brown, the State of Florida is now a great place to fly at night, as well as in the daytime. See this review, and also the November 2002 section of the TCA Scenery Hints & Tips File.

Finally, try searching the TCA Hints & Tips files (particularly Scenery and Aircraft) for "Night Flying" here.

Brian
 
 

FS2002 Pushback - how it really works...

• In order to use the standard FS2002 Pushback, first make sure that the Num Lock key is off.
• At airports that require it, obtain authorisation from Ground Control to push back (not an FS2002 ATC option at present).
• Release the parking brake.
• Choose a view, e.g. spot view, and stick to it throughout the procedure. If you mess with some controls during the actual pushback then the pushback software can get confused.
• Press Shift+P to initiate the pushback. The plane will start reversing in a straight line. After this point do not press any other key or control other than 1, 2 or Shift+P, otherwise the pushback software can get confused.
• To initiate a 90 degree clockwise turn (tail moves left), press 1, for the other direction press 2 (use the normal number keys, not the keypad keys). The plane will continue to move in a straight line for approximately its own length, and THEN start to turn. After it has turned 90º it will continue moving backwards in a straight line. You can repeat this step again by pressing 1 or 2.
• To stop the turn early, press either 1 or 2 while the aircraft is still turning. The plane will stop turning and continue moving backwards in a straight line. If you want it to KEEP moving backwards in that straight line then you need to keep pressing 1 or 2 occasionally, often enough so that the aircraft doesn't have time to reverse for its full length. Otherwise after the aircraft has reversed its full length in a straight line then it will initiate another 90 degree turn in the direction of the key.
• To stop the pushback completely, press Shift+P again.
• Set parking brake.
• Wait for ground crew to indicate that it is safe to start engines (not an FS2002 option at present).

Where Has That Dratted Menu Bar Gone?

If you are in full screen mode, you won't normally see the menu bar at the top. In order to see it, hit the Alt key.

If you are windowed mode, you may or may not see the menu bar at the top, depending on the option you set. If you don't see it, right click the main window area and uncheck the Hide Menu Bar option at the bottom of the pop up menu. If you do see it, and want to hide it, right click the main window area and check the Hide Menu Bar option at the bottom of the pop up menu.

To switch between these two modes, use ALT+ENTER.

See the next hint also. 

Where are the FS2002 Key Assignments defined?

• The default key assignments are defined in the first section of the Kneeboard (F10 key).(Btw: pressing F10 several times selects different sections of the kneeboard.)
• The current assignments are defined in file FS2002.cfg in the main FS2002 folder, although you don't normally need to know that. If you want to make sense of this information, look for FS2002 Controls amongst Pete Dowson's excellent stuff at www.schiratti.com/dowson.html.
• The best way to see and change the current assignments is to visit the Options/Controls/Assignments menu in FS2002. If you want to see what a particular key is currently set to, the easiest way is to pretend you are going to change an assignment. Select any current setting and click Change Assignment. Now you can press any key or joystick button and it will tell you what it's currently set to. Click Try Again and try another key, and so on. Of course, click Cancel when you have finished, unless you want to change anything!

How do I start a flight at the terminal, without getting repositioned at a runway when a flightplan is loaded?

In order to avoid this particular problem, first install FSUIPC as described in its documentation, then start the Flight Sim, go to the Menu Bar and select Modules, select FSUIPC, select the Technical tab in the FSUIPC Options & Settings Window, and check the box No reposition on GPS plan load.

Using FS2000 Aircraft in FS2002

• There are some good tips from Rainer in the July 2002 section of the TCA Aircraft Hints & Tips File, e.g. his article Updating an aircraft to FS2002 and having fun at the same time. There's other good stuff in this file too.
• My FS2002 Select Aircraft menus are all chock full of FS2000 aircraft. How do I categorize them? (by Aman Kumar, one of Flightsim's How To... collection).
• Error messages and missing gauges. See the first item above, and also this page from "Grumpy's Lair".

Neat Things To Try

Fly Floatplanes
Bush Flying
Aircraft Carrier Landings
Dangerous Airports
Easter Eggs
Helicopters
Ballooning
Soaring
Sightseeing Trips
Navigate Long Distances Over Water Without GPS
Use FS2004 Textures To Improve FS2002 ("FS2002 on Steroids")
Fly "Jump Seat" In An A.I. Aircraft, And Other Tricks For Viewing A.I. Aircraft
Increase Taxi Speed of A.I. Aircraft
TCA "Neat Things To Try" Hints & Tips File
TCA "Miscellaneous Goodies" Hints & Tips File

Fly Float Planes

• ...And to have real fun doing it, why not join the Seabirds, a.k.a. the Tradewind Domestic Seaplane Service (TDS), a new division of Tradewind Caribbean Airlines? New scenery and web links especially for seaplane users, a new TCA Seabirds Hangar for seaplanes to fly, and great company along the way. Check it out!
• And don't forget Ed Truthan's great new water textures and water effects (which have a zero frame rate hit) - details here in the PAD.
• You can download a selection of FS2002 float planes (as well as a few that claim not to float - just skip 'em!) from here and a selection of float plane scenery from here in the AVSIM library.
• You can download a selection of FS2004 float planes from here and a selection of float plane scenery from here in the AVSIM library.
• See also this real-world article: Learning to Fly Floats, by Rick Durden (from one of the AVweb Columns).

Bush Flying

• A great place to start is "Bush Flying FS2002" by AVSIM's Steve "Bearracing" Cartwright - details here in the PAD. Scenery, techniques, forums, books, VAs and much more! Check out some of the other links listed in that part of the PAD, too.
• For more bush flying techniques, try searching for Bush Flying in the TCA Flying Hints & Tips File.
• If you're looking for a VA, check out Tradewind Alaska, a division of Tradewind Caribbean Airlines.
• Float planes - see above!

Aircraft Carrier Landings

• ArrestorCables trap, cat, inflight refueling/fuel dump, and battle damage utility
• Scenery Add-ons  (high-quality aircraft carriers, landable helipads on frigates, aircraft-centered radar, etc.)

Dangerous Airports

• See Organised Flight Information in the PAD.

Easter Eggs

• Las Vegas fireworks, time set to 22:00 (Trip)

Helicopters

• Much better in FS2002! See new Helicopters category in the PAD (new additions 9 June 02).
• How To Fly Helicopters (one of Flightsim's How To... collection).
• See also Helicopter recommendations (April 2002) in this TCA Hints & Tips File

Ballooning

• See Andrew Herd's review of the Wind Riders Hot Air Balloon Simulation Kit for FS2002 and other classics by Bill Lyons, Terry Dutton and the Golden Eagles Squadron

Soaring

"Thousands of pilots all over the world seek the challenge of navigating through the air in the silence and serenity of a sailplane. No engine or headsets to distract them, only the hope of finding that fantastic thermal that will carry them aloft.

"In Flight Simulator, you can fly the Schweizer 2-32 sailplane. Although it is not a high-performance sailplane judged by today's standards, the Schweizer is still widely flown for fun and for instruction.

"This Flight will challenge your soaring skills as you work your way across the Columbia River and the flatlands of eastern Washington State, followed by a short hop over the mountains near Wenatchee, Washington. You can try several soaring techniques to reach your goal. If you go for speed, you'll need plenty of altitude before leaving a thermal. The faster you go, the faster you will also spend altitude. You can also try to make each goal by flying more efficiently. Although you won't set speed records between thermals, you won't need to spend as much time climbing in thermals, either."

You'll find more info and the soaring challenge zip file here.

Also try this interesting Google search: Thermals in FS2002/FS2004/FS9.

 

Sightseeing Trips

• See here in the PAD.
• Are you going somewhere on holiday? Do you want to know what the weather's doing there? Why not crank up the flight sim, load real weather, and go check the place out?
• In order to see how realistic VFR can be in the sim, check this out! 

Navigate Long Distances Over Water Without GPS

• You can actually have a lot of fun doing this. See July 2002 section of the Charts & Navigation TCA Hints & Tips file.

Fly "Jump Seat" In An A.I. Aircraft, And Other Tricks For Viewing A.I. Aircraft

He does this using Rodolfo Arata's AIMap Utility. Rainer has written a detailed account of how he does it, which you'll find (along with a lot of other stuff on A.I. Aircraft) in the TCA A.I. Aircraft Hints & Tips File. Look in the Feb 2002 section there under USING THE AI MAP GAUGE, and see also the August 2002 section under AI AIRCRAFT VIEWER.

Increase Taxi Speed of A.I. Aircraft

What's new in FS2004?

• The new features of FS2004 are summarised here on the official Microsoft FS2004 site. See also the Microsoft Flight Sim Insider.
• The FS2004 Patch (also referred to as FS9.1) is available from Microsoft here. You will also find hints and tips on the patch from TCA people in this TCA Hints & Tips file. You can also find the latest patch information on this site by searching here for "FS9.1" or "Patch".
• For FS2004 questions, see simflight.com's FS2004 FAQ and flightsim.com's FS2004 FAQ, also avsim.com's discussion group thread called Read me first! (another FS2004 FAQ in disguise!).
• There's a batch of new articles relating to FS2004 in Flightsim's excellent "How To..." series
• Differences from FS2002 and some reactions to the new flight sim are described in this new TCA Hints & Tips File.
• The other TCA Hints & Tips Files now contain information on FS2004 as well as FS2002. To get to these files, follow the green cells in the contents table, as explained here.
• In addition, you'll find plenty of discussion about FS2004 (a.k.a. FS9 or FSCOF) in the various discussion forums. 
• If you are looking for general Microsoft Flight Sim information (including how to give your inputs to Microsoft), you'll find a number of links here in the PAD.

Where is "The FS2004 Pilot's Assistant"?

One day, when I get time to do some sim flying again, I hope to convert this page to "The FS2004 Pilot's Assistant" - or maybe "The MSFS Pilot's Assistant". Watch this space!

Meanwhile, much of the information for FS2002 still applies to FS2004, and I hope that FS2004 pilots will find this page useful.

Hints on Real-World Flying

Rules Of Thumb (Quick Calculations For Speeds, Turns & Descents/Climbs)
Adjusting throttle, props and mixture
What rules should I follow for taxi speeds?
What are High Idle / Low Idle Condition settings for turboprops?
When do I use the strobe lights, beacon lights and navigation lights?
FREDA Checks (Mnemonic)
BUMPFFGHH Checks for Piston Aircraft (Mnemonic)
How To Do Crosswind Landings In A Small Aircraft

Hints on Approximating Real-World Flying Using FS2002:

Getting A Smooth Response When Engaging Autopilot, And Other Autopilot Tips During Taxi & Takeoff
Using the FS2002 Autopilot and TO/GA

See also:

"Flying" Entries in A-Z Index

Rules Of Thumb (Quick Calculations For Speeds, Turns & Descents/Climbs)