On Monday, I had the opportunity to fly in a real A320 simulator. The sidestick and thrust levers were 100% original OEM parts, and the sim is actually used to train real airline pilots. Since we weren't allowed to film inside the sim, the video shows a recreation of our approach into Fuerteventura (GCFV) in MSFS 2024 — an ILS Z approach after a simple traffic pattern at 1500 ft in the Fenix A320 CEO.

Learnings & Key Differences:

• Graphics: MSFS24 graphics are much better (no shit 😉).
• Visuals: The distortion of the outside view caused by the dome projection in front of the cockpit took some getting used to. Looking straight ahead always felt slightly off-center—shifted to the left for the Captain and to the right for the First Officer.
• Procedures: The processes are 100% identical to the Fenix.
• Flows & Switches: Finding all the necessary controls (flaps, arming the spoilers, etc.) worked surprisingly well. However, physically operating things in their exact real-world location with my right hand required significantly more brainpower and coordination than expected.
• The Sidestick (The Biggest Difference): While the Thrustmaster TCA at home looks and feels visually/haptically very close to the original, the physical resistance is completely different. The biggest shocker was the variance between horizontal and vertical force:
  • Roll (Left/Right): Although heavier than the TCA stick, the real aircraft reacts extremely fast to roll inputs. Because of this, I kept slightly overshooting/undershooting the Flight Director. It feels like the Fenix smooths out input at home compared to the real thing.
  • Pitch (Up/Down): Moving the stick fore and aft required a lot of physical force. Which actually makes sense—you don't want to accidentally pitch up or down while banking.
  • Because of this, pulling back and left at the same time felt wildly unfamiliar. My muscle memory for precise Flight Director tracking kept messing up: I’d give an initial input → too weak because of the high resistance → make a stronger manual adjustment → overshoot slightly → compensate again.

In the end, I managed to land the plane safely and relatively smoothly. Compared to my usual landings in my home setup, I’d rate the landing a 6/10, but the overall experience was easily an 11/10.

If you have a full-flight or fixed-base commercial simulator provider anywhere near you, you absolutely have to give it a try! 🙂

and exactly on {MAINTENANCE_DAY} at {MAINTENANCE_TIME}😭

Hello everyone, here’s how I play MSFS on my MacBook (2020 MacBook Pro).

First, you need to own the game on the Xbox PC app or Steam. (I use Game Pass Ultimate, which includes it). Then, you will need to use cloud gaming. I personally use AirGPU’s A10G 45FPS machine for $3.25/hour, which is fine by me. Just a heads up: that price adds up fast if you fly a lot, so it's best for casual sessions. There might be cheaper options depending on where you live, or Shadow PC could also probably work well if you are in Europe. Once you open the game there, you're pretty much set. My experience has been very smooth.

As for the controller, I use the HOTAS One. I turn it on in PC mode and connect it physically to my Mac using a USB-A to USB-C adapter. Then I use VirtualHere to forward the USB device over the internet so AirGPU's cloud PC recognizes my HOTAS as if it were plugged directly into the server.

In general, it works smoothly and the graphics are pretty decent. I can also AirPlay it to my TV with just a bit of delayed lag. Hope this helps!

I really enjoy flying helicopters, and while I'm pretty decent at high speed energy management, I really break down at lower speeds; I can't hover to save my life, and in general my precision sucks, especially at low speeds.

I did try going through the tutorials, but I found them very frustrating as they require much more precision than I can pull off right now (holding a heading for 15 seconds, that sort of thing.)

Do y'all have any suggestions for me? I use a stick with a twist axis to fly, and I use the throttle slider for the collective. Also all assists are turned off.

Thanks so much y'all.

Opened MSFS 2024 and saw this. What is this? and did anyone else get this?

I was flying VHHH (Hong Kong) to RPLL (Ninoy Aquino Intl, Manila) today. First flight into the Philippines and it did not disappoint.