Sim restoration...."Flight of the Phoenix"

[sagrada737]

Hello Folks,

It's been about three weeks since my Sim had a major system crash in FSX.  Fortunately, the Sim-Avionics 737-800 flight model was not affected.  Those that have had such a system crash with FSX know how heart-sinking the experience can be.  Just the thought of re-installing everything is daunting to say the least.  As I mentioned in a previous forum post, the crash occurred after installing an Add-on Manager update from FSDreamTeam.  For whatever reason, it brought FSX to its knees. 

Long story short...   I totally re-installed FSX and all scenery and went through all the re-configuring.  On the positive side...  This was a blessing in disguise, as it brought to my attention for preparing for such an event and the recovery process that is involved.  The next time this happens (and it will at some point), I will be better prepared to go through the process of reviving my Sim.

Many thanks to those on the forum that provided helpful comments to guide me toward getting things back up and running.  A big thanks to Scott and Sam for their detailed comments, and a special thanks to the folks at FDS that provided excellent support.  Also, I can't leave out my new friend George (FSX PMDG guy) that helped me on several levels.  We are now partners in crime sorting out issues with ActiveSky Next.  Lot's of fun "fine-tuning" the Sim 

Anyway, I am back up from the ashes brought about by the system crash, and my Sim is running better than before.  I especially enjoy the new depth that ActiveSky Next has brought to my live weather.  In addition, I'm very pleased with my new sound system and audio shaker (ButtKicker Advance) that "in-balance" offer a greater sense of realism and immersion to my Sim experience with the 737-800.

Over the last year, I have been diligently working on building up and checking out the major systems for my full-scale 737-800 Sim Project.  I have purposefully held off trying to package all the systems prematurely, as I know how difficult it is to sort out problems when systems/components are buried within the Sim hardware setup.  However, I am fairly confident to proceed with building up my Flight Deck and setup the FDS Nose Section/Interior Liners, etc.  I hope to finish up the completed Sim mid-2014.  In the meantime, I will continue to build/fly my Sim and continue to enjoy the wonders of drilling "virtual" holes in the sky 

As a way to share with you the restoration of my Sim back to life, here is a video of a flight from KSAN to KLAX using PilotEdge for ATC.  I guess you could say, this is my "Flight of the Phoenix".  Enjoy the flight.

"Flight of the Phoenix"

Best Regards, and a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Mike

[XOrionFE]

Excellent video Mike.  I really enjoyed it.

Glad to see you have things back in order and your sim is looking great.

Best regards,
Scott

[Maurice]

Very nice Mike. Looks like you are still having too much fun despite the earlier setbacks

Too bad that the shell will eventually hide a big part of the display. It looks so nice now when you can have a wide view without the shell getting in the way.

By the way, was it snowing in L.A. or was it just ground fog on the sides of the runways and taxiways? 

Maurice

[sagrada737]

Hey Scott, Maurice...  Thanks for the comments.  I'm still new to the flight deck, and I definitely have my hands full with cockpit management, but you're right Maurice - I'm having a lot of fun flying my Sim. 

The "snow" you commented on is actually just a setting in REX for airport environment textures that I selected.  Unfortunately the video doesn't do the display justice as it tends to increase the image contrast - making the runway/taxiways seem overly bright.   Now that the Sim is stable once again, I might try experimenting with other textures in REX.

One thing I understand better than before, is that with a single computer running three LCD monitors on three separate Views, there is only so much you can get out of FSX before it starts having issues - which in turn definitely causes major problems with the flight model.  Finding that "sweet spot" in FSX (maybe the same for XPlane) seems to be the Holy Grail that everyone is trying to find.  The fact seems to be that there is no one single solution - it's all a compromise that rests just below the point where FSX gets sick and dies   

Such is the world we live in with our Sims.  Seems to me that the trick with FSX is being content with "what works" and not trying to constantly get it to do what it never could do, which of course is different for each and every setup.

All this is making me hungry...  I think I'll go for another flight 

Mike

[dc8flightdeck]

Very cool! What are you using for your pushback?

[sagrada737]

Hi Justin,

Glad you enjoyed the video.  I'm still working my way up the 737 learning curve, but it's great fun to fly my Sim and it was nice to have it working again after the FSX crash.

Regarding your question...   I am using the internal Sim-Avionics functions for Push-Back, which can be done either via the CDU or Sim-A's Dispatch GUI module - I typically use the CDU.

Mike