PSX introductory tutorial released

[brian747]

Hi folks!

And many thanks for your comments.


@Horst!

Phew, that's a relief — you had me really puzzled! I'm delighted you fixed it.    


@jcomm

No problem from my point of view — but Hardy is the man who is kindly hosting the file, so it has to be up to him.    


@Everyone

As a celebration at having finally finished the tutorial, this afternoon I hooked up PSX with AdaptPSX (for my Aerosoft Australia MCP) and VisualPSX (to see some FSX visuals), all running on my three-screen single computer. As you can see, I simple-mindedly dumped an FSX window over my PSX outside view for the test.

Heartiest congratulations and thanks to both John and Garry, since both add-ons worked beautifully first time. Here's a very small (500 px wide, to conform to forum rules) picture of the Gatwick take-off from the situ file in "Getting to know PSX" —



If you'd like to see it full size (3800x1160 px), please download it from the following link (I'll leave the link live for a few weeks at least — click the Download button top right, or else right-click the picture and "Download original"):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ob2v3rwwflosu0h/Gatwick%20takeoff%20%283800x1160%20px%29.jpg?dl=0

Now I'm about to try Martin's PSX Earth.... This is fun!    :mrgreen:

Cheers,

Brian

[brian747]

Hello again!

Just to complete a great afternoon, I have just tried Martin's PSX_Earth, which uses the Google Earth plugin in a browser to show you the scenery.

Once again, it ran perfectly first time: the only difference is the absence of the waits for FSX, the heavy CPU usage of FSX, and so on. Different tools for different occasions, obviously, but this one is superb, too.

For completeness, here once again is a small pic, this time as I'm approaching the localizer for Heathrow rwy 28R:



And here is a download link for a larger version of it (2850x111 px):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9emezwrmx203twn/PSX_earth%20%282850x1111%20px%29.jpg?dl=0

I have to say that it was great to be able to recognise the area I was flying over!

So my sincere congratulations and thanks to Martin, too.     :mrgreen:

Come on, guys — you're spoiling us! (But don't stop...).

Cheers,

Brian

[Will]

Brian, thanks for your tutorial! I joined the Aerowinx community back around the day that PS1.3 was released, and your Big Tutorial back then was very helpful and fun to read.

And the current one is great. The illustrations are excellent.

Two suggestions: First, it looks like there was some kind of global search-and-replace error leading to vly/vlying, instead of fly/flying, in version 1.01?

Second, you strongly encourage (p. 6) people to get a numeric keypad, including a pluggable USB keyboard if their main keyboard doesn't have one included. However, another solution which some people may find even better is to use a hat switch on a controller plus one extra button. After setting that up, I wouldn't dream of going back to the keypad. So for users who don't have a numeric keypad, but do have a hat switch and a button to spare on the controller, they might want to try a 9pack with that philosophy before they go to the store.

I've posted this elsewhere in greater detail, but in sum:

Hat switch up: moves up, like you're tilting your head upwards (overhead, P7)
Hat switch down: moves down (center console, communications and CDU's)
Hat switch left: big slice of the cockpit viewed from captain's seat
Hat switch right: ditto, for the F/O
The additional button: "home" panel, suitable for most routine flying tasks

Then just "above" the home screen is one that is optimized for landing and hand-flying.
Just "below" the home screen is one that is optimized for long-range cruise on autopilot.

So the hat switch is intuitive and is like looking around the cockpit, but if you ever get lost, one tap on the "home" button and you're back to the default screen for normal flying.

It takes a lot of words to explain but is very intuitive to actually use, and if your controller has the buttons, can save someone from buying a new keyboard. Just a thought. :-) And sorry for the long post.

[Jeroen D]

Brian,
Many thanks for the tutorial. You did it again, much appreciated.
I haven't had the chance to read through in all its details but it looks impressive and very useful


Jeroen

[Horst]

@Horst!

Phew, that's a relief — you had me really puzzled! I'm delighted you fixed it.    

Hi Brian,
after using your manuel: Thank you very much. I had the same (old one) tested with  PS 1.3.
cheers  :mrgreen:
Horst

[pcpilot]

Hi Brian,

Great tutorial.

Excellent tip re "JoyToKey" utility, exactly what I was after.

Many thanks.

Graham.

[brian747]

Hi, Will!

And thank you for your kind comment.    

> "... it looks like there was some kind of global search-and-replace error leading to vly/vlying, instead of fly/flying..."

Not so, in fact - merely different terminology (which is explained in the text, at each first occurrence). I tend to differentiate between flying and virtual flying (vlying).    

Thank you also for your renewed explanation of the virtues of using a hat switch for switching layouts, which I have followed with interest in your previous posts. However, a numeric keypad or full keyboard has other uses apart from switching layouts, and is also more familiar to most beginners, hence my recommendation.

Now that the tutorial is complete and I at last have some time for some serious vlying, I will definitely give your hat switch approach a try.    


@Graham

Thank you: I like simple solutions.    :mrgreen:


Cheers,

Brian

[Will]

Whoops, I missed the part about "vlying" being intentional. Sorry about that!

I'm going to make one (final) explanation of the hat switch idea, with an updated downloadable 9pack file, and a screen shot (500 pixels max) of each one of the layouts in order. Just FYI. Look for it tonight or tomorrow.

[brian747]

Sorry, Will.

Most of my friends put my strange sense of humour down to the fact that I was born in Liverpool, but who knows...?     :roll:

I look forward to seeing the latest incarnation of your 9pack system, too.    

Cheers,

Brian

[Hessel Oosten]

Brian,

Your avatar here, just symbolises what we all think about your new:  "Small.. Tut";

Thumbs UP !!![size=14][/size]

Thanks !


Hessel

[Phil Bunch]

Whoops, I missed the part about "vlying" being intentional. Sorry about that!

I'm going to make one (final) explanation of the hat switch idea, with an updated downloadable 9pack file, and a screen shot (500 pixels max) of each one of the layouts in order. Just FYI. Look for it tonight or tomorrow.

Will,

Thanks for posting your layouts - I'm finding them to be very useful.  I also very much appreciate the upgrades and refinements provided by the most recent versions.

I believe I will also settle on the joystick hat+switch mechanism instead of the keypad method.  In the meantime I'm getting closer to buying the Cougar Hotas joystick, also based in significant part on your recommendation.

[Phil Bunch]

Brian,

Your avatar here, just symbolises what we all think about your new:  "Small.. Tut";

Thumbs UP !!![size=14][/size]

Thanks !


Hessel

Heck, I'd welcome a 10,000 page "introductory tutorial"!   It would take at least that much to begin to cover the 747 FMS!
-------------------

Brian's writing style is delightful and most enjoyable by my American mind and senses.  

I've observed for many years that most Americans practically worship certain British accents as well as the best British writing styles.   "Real" English has little in common with the American language,and it is much more refined and subtle.

Interestingly enough, I've usually had greater difficulty being understood by spoken language in the UK vs other European countries.  Something about my Southern USA accent (I grew up in Atlanta, but have lived in the North all of my adult life) really clashes with the "King's English"!

[brian747]

Hello, Phil!

(Or perhaps "hello again", since we last exchanged comments in the days of PS1).  

Thank you for your gracious comments, my friend. During my life I have lived and worked in the U.S. for only a few short months at a time, but was invariably overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of the charming people I met.

I think the trouble with accents is that Over Here we have so many of them, and still take them far too seriously. Alan Jay Lerner observed us only too well in his superb lyrics for 'My Fair Lady':

'An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him,
The moment he talks he makes some other Englishman despise him'.

So an accent from Somewhere Else is pretty much bound to confuse many of my fellow-countrymem, I'm afraid. Please forgive us, we're still struggling with change, as ever.    :roll:

Anyway, I thought a "BBC" English accent was strictly for villains (according to Hollywood)?    

All the best,

Brian

[brian747]

Hi Hessel!

(Hmm, something odd going on, I thought I had posted to you before, so if a duplicate should also arrive then please accept my apologies).

Thumbs up indeed! Hardy is indeed amazing man, and we all benefit from his amazing knowledge and talent.

So I will be extremely happy if my small contribution helps anyone to enjoy PSX even more.    

Cheers and thanks,

Brian

[John Golin]

@John

My Aerosoft Australia MCP lacks the EFIS and Comms additions, unfortunately. I think perhaps you may have overlooked my sneaky way of wondering whether you were going to extend AdaptPSX to talk to the VRinsight MCP combo kit (those models incorporate EFIS and Comms in a single unit), at some point. Unless ( <*gasp*> ) you already have?    

ahh... cunning...

I won't have a lot of time in the foreseable future - we've got a lot of stuff to get done with the SimStack prior to and after Worldflight... hopefully someone else can step up...

[brian747]

Hi John!

 I tried to sneak it past you but you were too good for me.    :?

Ah well, I'll try and keep hoping.

All the best for an even better (PSX-powered?) Worldflight!

Cheers,

Brian

[Mundyas]

Hi Brian
Thanks so much for this. I used Big Tutorial for PS1 too!
Very helpful with the 9pack and routes.
 
I am going slowly with my learning of PSX and today bought PFPX.

 I am getting there - but make haste slowly
Thanks so much. Thumbs up. Andrew

[brian747]

Hi Andrew!

Thank you for that!    

Hmm, EGKB? So if you can master the art of vertical takeoff, you can omit the first third of the tutorial flight, then!    

You certainly have your work cut out if you're learning PFPX *and* PSX at the same time.   :shock:   If it's any help, I wrote a review of PFPX which people have been kind enough to say was useful in helping them to learn about it — and the review also included several links to other written tutorials and videos about PFPX, too. I won't be so impolite as to link directly to another forum from here, but here's a fairly strong hint — if you were to go to Mutley's Hangar and find the Reviews Home page, you can use the Quick Review Finder to search for "Professional Flight Planner X" (in full). Or just search on my name.    

Good luck, and have fun!

Cheers,

Brian

[Mundyas]

Hi Brian
Thanks for that very very slight hint that will help a lot. Smile. First route done, Wow, and copied to the !-! flying machine.

Was thinking of flying  EGKK with a very difficult  touch and go at EGKB before landing the ferried 747-400 at Heathrow, slightly tired.

 Perhaps a sit file(slightpilotoverload)  in yr next update.

Seriously this forum has such knowledgeable people on it, who are happy to share their knowledge and experience with rank amateurs like me.

When i first got PS1 I took ages to figure out anything at all. PSX learning curve high but its enjoyable learning a little every day.

A

[brian747]

Learning has never been such fun, though.    

Thank you for your kindness. But please bear in mind also that when I wrote that PFPX review it was in the shadow of the release of a certain 777, so ETOPS was at that point very much the name of the game. 'Nuff said.

A 744 touch and go at EGKB? That might get some of the local NIMBYs in a tizz.   :mrgreen:   As a veteran of PS1, though, you may perhaps remember some documents about a touch and go at Sondre Stromfjord (BGSF), written by someone whose initials were (and are) HH, which might help you in that respect.    

Cheers,

Brian