So Far....So good....

Happy Friday all!! Well as I stated in my previous post I just had to re install FSX for the 100 billionth time. My new method has worked in my favor so far as I have been able to fly for almost 8 hours with the guys at VFR Prop Hops without any hiccups * * *KNOCK ON  WOOD* * * Im even getting a little better frame rate as well. Shoot Im even running with clouds on and its at a pretty steady 19.9-20 FPS! This is big for my little system. More to come......

After about a week of dealing with Microsoft Flight Simulator X giving me fatal error messages I figure I would remove it from my hard drive.... once again... and try another route. I've been reading and doing my homework. I have found that Windows 7 64bit and FSX just don't get along, causing things to become unstable and crash for some as in my case here. But others have no issues with it what so ever. Some say to install Flight Sim on a completely separate hard drive altogether. Well for me this isn't going to work because I'm a broke s.o.b. and simply don't have the funding to add another hard drive to my computer so I took a different approach today. Instead of installing FSX to its typical default destination within the confines of my hard drive I made a new folder directly into my C: drive directory and promptly named it Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Some people have had great success installing it this way, for the computer doesn't have to dig so deep to find the software buying my processors a little more time to do other duties such as rendering autogen, textures, ect. ect. I also know from past experience that a little .dll file called uiautomationcore.dll could also be the culprit to my mysterious fatal error crashes. I believe that this isn't the case for me though as I have tried in the past with all the tips and tricks of fixing the uiautomationcore.dll  and has never worked for me so it must be something else.I have had all my drivers updated and so forth. It could possibly be the actual hardware itself or lack  there of. Im on a Acer Aspire desktop which has a 256mb integrated video card. Good thing is it has 4 gigs of DDR3 ram and a 3.2 quad core processor. Bad news is finding a video card that will fit into the tiny little computer casing plus not to mention finding a strong enough power supply that is also compact enough to fit into the little rig to power the video card. Then again the lack of funding comes into play so I gotta work with what I got. Honestly though with the proper application of tweaks to the fsx.cfg and some modifications to the textures and resizing the autogen I can run FSX at a decent 20-24fps locked. With most of my sliders cranked. Not to shabby I suppose considering the hardware Im working with. Hopefully moving the default destination of fsx to a subfolder just inside the C: drive, i.e. C\ Microsoft Flight Simulator X will prove to be effective for me. As I have learned over the almost 18 years  of working with flight simulator, the hard way I might add, is to never hold your breath when it comes to things like this. You can hope for the best but expect the worse. This especially holds true when it comes with dealing with FSX.... there is no miracle cure or quick/easy fix. If it aint one thing its another.
So Ive spent just about my entire day uninstalling FSX and then reinstalling it then added all my tweaks and such finally finished my last round of defragging with O&O defrag. I have had no time today to see if any of these thing has improved performance and rid me of that bloody freakin "fatal error". Only time and alot of patience will tell.
My apologies go out to the guys over at VFR Prop Hops I was looking forward to joining you guys today as you trekked across Cuba but as you can see I've been a little busy lol. Maybe Ill be able to join you guys this weekend, who knows?! Im hopefull!

Prop Hoppin

I spent a couple hours today hoppin around Australia with the guys over at VFR PROP HOPS I started out in the AA-5B Tiger I was harping about a few days ago but it was kinda hard for me to keep up with all the Cessna Caravans so I ended switching aircraft in the middle of the hops and jumped into the Cessna 310. I didn't get very many pics because I was too busy flyin but here are a few I did get. Enjoy!

               
                     *click on pictures to enlarge

orbx Lilydale AU freeware scenery

A little preview of  a freeware scenery I found on fullterrain.com of Lilydale AU. Its pretty good for the most part the ground textures are a little blurry for me but other then that its pretty good! It is really good on frames considering all the ai aircraft on the ground. Enjoy!

                                 *Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Tim "Piglet" Conrads AA-5B Tiger

was messing around tonight after a long day and took some pictures of Piglets AA-5B Tiger, enjoy! You can download this aircraft directly HERE from Simviation. Btw I still havent made my trek to VA and NC yet, Ive been waiting for the weather to clear so it will be VFR. Heres the flight plan!

*Click on pictures to enlarge.

Well I finally got Flight Simulator X re installed and did some flying yesterday with the guys over at EasternHops for their Cessna Sundays and boy was it some turn out. at least 40+ people showed up. It was a blast! Thanks for the good time guys I look forward to seeing you all again next Sunday! This week I have planned a little trip to my old stomping grounds from when I was in the Navy, NAS Oceana. Of course I'll be starting out at my home airport KPBK and working my way east. Then after visting Oceana Im going to take a trip down to Kill Devil Hills, the birthplace of aviation were the Wright Brothers took flight back in 1903 in the Wright Flyer I. My Flight Plan I will be doing this flight possibly this weekend. I will probably host my own session so look for me on GameSpy : Stumpys Free Flight

After about a week of continuous fatal error crashes within FSX I have made up my mind and totally uninstalled Flight Simulator and I am going to be re-install it being careful what add-ons I install. Wish me luck on my venture lol !

The past few weeks I've been kinda busy. During my spare time though I have spent flying on vfrprophops server on FSX gamespy. There I don't have to worry about some little 10 year old buzzing me with his Acceleration F/A-18 Hornet. Its a strictly propeller driven aircraft only server, so when I feel the need to fly props with other like minded people that's where I go. They are a pretty friendly bunch and best of all they don't just fly around the same airport aimlessly they actually do hops! To find out more information on VFR Prop Hops look HERE. Look for me in the session, StumpyUSN. Blue Skies!

Guess Whos Back.......

...This guy thats who!!!! Well it has been a long time my friends but I finally got a computer that will "run" Flight Sim X. You guys will be seeing some more post from me in the near future. Its been so long since Ive been able to play FSX and Ive been out of the loop when it comes to new downloads and updates for Flight Simulator, needless to say Ive got alot of catching up to do. I would like to say thanks to all my friends Ive met along the way in the flight sim community that have kept me in there prayers, thanks guys you are the best! More to come soon...... now to get caught up....... =)

Its been too long...

...since I have last blogged. I first and foremost want to apologize to all my friends out there in the flight sim community, sorry I haven't been around or been in contact much. To make a very long story short my world got flipped upside down last August when my ex-wife and I separated and I had no other choice but to leave my home in Oklahoma and move back to where my family is located in West Virginia. My flight simulator computer is now property of my ex so I will be out of commission until I can some how come up with the funds to buy another computer or find someone generous enough to donate a computer that will run FSX. The flight sim community is full of good people willing to help so hopefully I will be back soon.

I have been out of the loop when it comes to news in the
flight sim world but I did just find that my good buddy Vance from Flight Sim Nation and Sonic Solutions has been pretty busy since he quit his job and is now working for himself and has teamed up with some pretty big names in the flight sim world to bring you some kick ass sound packages. Here is some behind the scene footage. Congratulations Vance on the new websites and new job.... looks awesome my friend!