landing on runway

[oldboy]

How can I tell where the runway is when I get above 7 or 8 meters high? I can never land because I can't find the runway. When flying a real model, one always has the ground as a reference for altitude and location. If I can't solve this problem then I am going to throw this simulator into never never land.

[ggunners]

This is a problem with all sims that do not have a "keep the ground in view" mode. You can try turning auto zoom off and then clicking on fixed camera mode. It works for me. You can also zoom out a bit using the numeric keypad. Up/down moves in and out, PgUp/PgDn moves the pilot position up and down, left/right changes which direction the pilot is facing. If that doesn't work for you, I recommend ClearView and using the "keep the ground in view" viewing mode.

Another trick to flying in sims is to use a standard pattern with reference points within the scenery file. I put two trees out near the end of the runway line in my version of the world.scn to help with runway alignment. You need to do this at any flying field so you know where the airplane is on final approach.

-- ggunners

[lowglow]

I think it is also important to position yourself in relation to the strip just as you would when flying a real R/C model.
For instance when I fly from the world scn, I allow the model to roll forward slowly and I press the 4 key on the number pad on my keyboard and as the model approaches the shed in the center of the strip I keep pushing the 4 button till I am standing in the center of the shed, This gives you an even view of both ends of the strip, seems to help with seeing the end of the strip as you are approaching it for a landing, Works for me

[hbaird]

The Vacavalley field is surrounded with features that help me stay connected with the runway.

[bacibear]

Where do I get the Vacavalley?

[ggunners]

VacaValley is a ClearView sim scenery file. -- ggunners

[Andy2No]

This bothers me too. I hadn't used FMS in a while, and when I came back to it recently I realised it had much more of a problem with keeping the ground in view than other sims I've tried.

The main problem is that the plane is at a fixed point on the screen, quite low down. It would be more natural if it climbed towards the top of the screen as it got higher, allowing the ground to stay in view more of the time. Is there a setting to make it do that, which I haven't noticed?

I never lose sight of the ground when flying a real model. In FMS, I lose sight of it even when flying low. As the OP said, finding the runway to land on it is a big problem in FMS. By the time I've seen it, I have no chance of lining up my approach.

[ggunners]

There is no "ground in view" mode for FMS. Clearview has it. So does the BMI (RC Desk Pilot) version.

What I did in FMS was modify the runway center line and added a tree to the distance so that the center line
is obvious and sitting between two trees. So on your final, you line up between the trees and follow the
extended center-line in. I also turn zoom off which makes the model very small but more realistic.

-- ggunners

[Andy2No]

Thanks, ggunners.

How do you add trees to FMS scenery?

I tried to install Clearview a couple of years ago, but the demo was so limited I didn't really have a chance to try it properly to see if it worked on my PCs before it expired, so I gave up on it. I was very suspicious of a demo that didn't at least let me try it fully, for a couple of weeks - some of it was disabled and the demo time was measured in minutes, as I recall.

I understand plenty of people are happy with it, but I've got no way of knowing that I will be, or my PCs will be, unless I can try it properly. I don't pay for software lightly I'd want it to work on both my PCs too (bedroom and living room), and I get the impression I'd have to pay for two licences to do that.

I hadn't heard of RC Desk Pilot (http://rcdeskpilot.com/). I'll have to try it.

[Andy2No]

Both versions of RC Desk Pilot work well on my Windows 2000 PC with a Radeon 9250. I'm glad to see there's a 1280x720 mode for my 16:9 LCD TV. I got "procedure entry point" errors when installing them, which usually means I need at least XP, but it didn't seem to matter.

Is it possible to install the extra planes for RC Desk Pilot into the BMI version? Sorry for wandering off topic.

EDIT:

Okay, ignore that question. I just tried installing your Parkzone SE5a to My Documents\BMI Flight Simulator\Aircraft and it works fine.