************
*Instruments
The following screens list the basic flight instruments, a description, 
and a brief explanation of how they are used.  Please note that these 
are my own definitions and someone may take exception to them.  They are 
provided only to give you an idea of what each instrument does and how 
you can use them.

ARTIFICIAL HORIZON - A mechanical/electrical representation of the 
earth's horizon in respect to the aircraft's pitch and attitude.  This 
instrument is used to inform the pilot about whether he/she is aimed 
above the horizon (usually means climbing), below the horizon (usually 
means descending), and if you are level or turning.  If the Horizon is 
banked down and to the right, you are in left-hand turn.  If the Horizon 
is banked down and to the left, you are in right-hand turn.  The marks 
at the top of the dial represent what degree turn you are in.

SLIP/SKID INDICATOR - A tubelike device with a bubble/ball that measures 
coordinated flight.  If you are in a coordinated turn, then the ball 
will be centered in the tube.  If the ball is outside the tube, then you 
are in uncoordinated flight.  Note that in FS, the default is usually 
coordinated flight mode.  So, to be able to see how this instrument 
works, you need to switch to uncoordinated flight.

AIRSPEED GAUGE - Similar to the speedometer in a car, but measures the 
speed of the aircraft in the AIR.  Note that this is not GROUND speed.  
Wind for example, can cause you to have an Indicated Air Speed (IAS) of 
140 kts, but your ground speed is only 100 kts!  Airspeed is crucial to 
keeping your A/C in the air (regardless of ground speed).

ALTIMETER - Barometric pressure based indicator of Altitude above sea 
level.  Because this instrument is based on barometric pressure, you 
need to be sure and set the pressure (the A key on FS4 for IBM) 
periodically during your flights.  Note that the measured altitude is 
feet above sea level (MSL), NOT feet above the ground.  Thus if you are 
at 750 MSL, and the airport is at 500 MSL, then you are really only 250 
feet above the ground!  [By the way, MSL refers to Mean feet above Sea 
Level]
RATE OF CLIMB - Indicator of how fast you are descending or climbing.  
For the Cessna, the scale is in feet per minute with the major breaks at 
every 500 feet per minute.  If the needle points up, you are climbing.  
If the needle points down, you are descending.  When you reach cruise 
altitude, you want the needle to be level.

GYROSCOPIC HEADING - A compass based on a gyroscope rather than magnetic 
fields.  These are used since they react much more quickly to turns and 
don't suffer the 'settling' problem of magnetic compasses.  i.e. When 
you stop turning, the gyroscopic compass will stop changing immediately 
- where as a magnetic compass will take a few seconds to settle down on 
the new heading.  This gauge needs to be periodically set during flight 
to keep it accurate (with changes in the speed of the gyroscope, small 
calibration errors can occur).

OMNI BEARING INDICATOR - Also know as OBI.  This instrument is used to 
track VOR stations.  When a VOR station is tuned in on the corresponding 
NAV radio, the OBI will come 'alive'.  Turn the OBI (or sometimes 
referred to as OBS for Omni-Bearing-Selector) knob (the V key of FS4 for 
IBM) until the needle centers.  If the gauge says TO, then you can fly 
directly at the VOR by turning to the heading at the top of the display.  
If the gauge says FROM, then you can fly directly away from the VOR by 
turning to the heading at the top of the display.  The heading at the 
bottom of the display is the opposite direction of whatever heading is 
showing at the top.

Note: Even if you are not using the OBI to track VOR's, they can be 
helpful for pattern flying around an airport.  (Assuming left-hand 
pattern) Simply set the OBI to the runway heading and then glance at the 
(1) top heading to get the heading for your final leg, and (2) bottom 
heading for your downwind heading.  If you have two OBI's, you could set 
them to be 90 degrees different from your first OBI.  This would then 
give you your crosswind and base headings.

See the section on ILS approaches for more on using the OBI.
*********
*Takeoffs
This is really the easiest part of FS.  Set your flaps to 10 degrees 
(one notch) and center your elevators.  Apply full throttle (gradually).  
At rotate speed (about 80 kts on the Cessna) pull back on the stick 
slowly (about two - three notches up).  If you hear the stall horn, you 
pulled back too much.  At 50 feet above ground, retract your gear (if 
your A/C allows it).  At 250 feet above the ground, retract your flaps. 
Ease back on the stick back into a centered position.  Ease back on the 
throttle to get into a 500 feet per minute climb.
*********
*Landings
Landings are the most difficult (yet most exciting) aspect of FS!  Rick 
Lee has written an excellent step-by-step guide to landing.  The file 
with this script is available on Compuserve, in the Gamer's Forum, 
Section number 10.  I highly recommend securing a copy of it!

Briefly...

(A) SPEED - Slow down by reducing throttle and pulling back on the 
stick.  Continue doing this until you have slowed down to a good landing 
speed (80-100 kts on the Cessna).

(B) FLAPS - Apply one notch flaps at the beginning of the downwind leg 
and one more near the end of the downwind leg, one more notch of flaps 
on base, and one more (if needed) on final.

(C) OTHER - Put your gear down as you turn onto the base leg.  Use only 
your throttle to adjust you rate of descent!  Practice at a runway where 
Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) is available.  This way you can judge 
your distance and know if you are too high or too low.  At 100 kts, and 
a standard 500 feet per minute descent, you should be at 3.3 miles out 
when your alt shows 1000 feet above GROUND level (AGL).  You should be 
6.7 miles when your alt shows 2000 feet AGL.  Other distances/altitudes: 
1.7 @ 500 feet AGL and 5.0 @ 1500 feet AGL.

(D) LANDING - On Final, reduce throttle to bring you in at a 500 feet 
per minute descent rate.  You may want to practice landing in a open 
field first, to get the hang of descending only (rather than 
complicating things by also 1) trying to align with the center of the 
runway, and 2) trying to aim for the threshold).  At 20-50 feet above 
the runway/ground, start your flare (pull back on the stick *easy*) 
while at the same time slowly cutting back on your throttle.  At 
touchdown, 1) push your stick back forward, 2) raise flaps,  and 3) 
reduce throttle to idle.  Apply brakes to slow down to taxi speed and 
turn off at the next runway exit.  All this taxing stuff is near 
impossible if you don't have version b of FS4.
***********
*Navigation
Once you have mastered basic flying, the next step is to see if you can 
do it late at night or in solid clouds, i.e. when you can't see a thing!  
This is Instrument Flight Rules (IFR).  Your bread and butter instrument 
is the OBI and NAV radio.  When you tune in a VOR station (see section 
on OBI in the INSTRUMENTS tips), you will have a reference point to fly 
to, and in conjunction with the Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) - the 
distance from the VOR.

With two OBI's, you can do triangulation to track where you are without 
having to fly directly at a VOR.  To do this, set both OBI's to 
different VOR's.  Then tune them in to your A/C, until they both have 
needles centered.  Then as you fly, the needles will move.  To know 
where you are, center the needles and make note of the headings the 
OBI's show.  Then on a map, extend those headings' radials until they 
touch.  That point of intersection is where you're at.



Another navigation aide is the Automatic Direction Finder (ADF).  I've 
found that this form of aide seems to be used mostly for approaching 
airports for landings.  For further info on ADF consult your manual.
***************
*ILS Approaches
As part of IFR flying mentioned in the NAVIGATION tips, Instrument 
Landing System (ILS) allows you to bring your plane down in poor 
visibility (in fact, if the ILS is accurate enough, you can set it down 
with NO visibility - I've done it at SFO with clouds set to 0 AGL!).  To 
use, tune your NAV radio to the ILS frequency for the runway you are 
landing at.  Now your OBI will have two needles.  

The vertical needle tells you if you are left or right of the runway.  
As long as the OBI says TO, then 'follow' the needle.  If it is left of 
center, then turn left a few degrees and then give your new heading a 
chance to catch up to the ILS radial.  Once centered again, turn back to 
the correct runway heading.  Repeat the process for the opposite 
direction, if the needle is right of center.

The horizontal needle tells you if you are on glideslope (usually a 3 
degree angle up from the end of the runway).  This needle works the same 
as the vertical one - you have to 'follow' the needle.  If the needle is 
above center, then you are too low - Add throttle.  If the needle is 
below center, then you are too high - Reduce throttle.  If you keep the 
needles centered, then you should touch down right at the threshold of 
the runway.  (If you try the clouds set to 0 AGL, I recommend using SFO.  
You can check your landing by switching to MAP view and see if you are 
on the runway)
*********************
*Scenery worth Noting
An excellent source of scenery disk information is available in a file 
called SDREVU.TXT, available on the Compuserve Gamer's Forum, Section 
number 10.  As a highlight, the following scenery disks have exceptional 
scenery worth noting:

SD-7
----
Government buildings and monuments in Washington D.C.  Note that the 
buildings are only visible below 2,500 feet.

St. John's river and downtown Jacksonville, especially at twilight.

NASA facilities at Cape Canaveral (Kennedy Space Center) including the 
shuttle, launch towers, vehicle assembly building, and shuttle landing 
strip.

Downtown Miami. Florida Keys.  Bahamas.

SD-9
----
Landmark buildings in Chicago.  U. of Illinois.  Custom Flyin scenery 
from the two Flyins that have been held on Compuserve.  The Flyin 
scenery is available only to those who have participated in the flyins.  
Non participants may purchase the scenery by leaving a message 
requesting such, in Section 10 of the Compuserve Gamer's forum.

St. Louis Gateway Arch, Busch stadium, downtown, several parks, and 
Indianapolis 500 speedway.

Cincinnati Riverfront stadium, downtown, and Bluff on west edge of city.

SD-11
-----
Detroit Ambassador bridge, Renaissance Center, and Tiger stadium.

Downtown Pittsburgh and associated bridges.
Niagara Falls, including the ability to fly down into the canyon up to 
the falls!

3-D mountains in Johnstown, PA.

Sailplanes (1) between Toronto, Ontario, and Georgian Bay at 3500 MSL 
(coord's 18378N, 19031E).  (2) NE of Toronto, near Lake Ontario at 3500 
MSL (coord's 18384N, 19840E).  (3) SE of Buffalo at 3100 MSL (coord's 
17722N, 19512E). and (4) S of Elmira, NY at 2600 MSL (coord's 17482N, 
20088E).

Hot air balloon at 1400 MSL near Grand Lake in Ohio (coord's 16648N, 
17679E).

HAWAII
------
This is truly a must have disk.  Islands are depicted beautifully in 
great 3-D detail, including the mountains and volcanos (with red-hot 
lava!).  Don't miss the terrific rendition of Pearl Harbor and downtown 
Honolulu.  The Arizona memorial is great.  If you fly over it, you can 
even see the dark shadow silhouette of the ship's hull in the water 
underneath the memorial.

In addition to real-life scenery, the Hawaii SD has a new concept - 
Experimental scenery.  Great new exp. depictions include Portals into 
tunnels, the pyramids of Egypt, a huge piano!, a just as big kitchen 
(your A/C is about the size of a housefly), an area where the horizon is 
vertical, skyports, a barkentine ship from the 1690's, a giant 
sailplane, a forest of trees, and a huge fortress complete with airport 
within - one of the runways has an approach that brings you in through a 
hole in the side (sort of like a starship coming into a repair station).

SF STAR
-------
Much of this scenery is now available in the default San Francisco area 
of FS4.  Highlights include Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, Downtown, SFO 
airport, Golden Gate bridge.

EUROPE
------
Some of the great European cities are wonderfully shown in this scenery 
disk, especially at dusk (set the time via the FS menus to get to dusk).  
Especially noteworthy items include...

London - Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge (which in real life 
has a sign that reads "This bridge is NOT for sale!"), Tower of London, 
Buckingham Palace, Hyde park with the Serpentine Pond, Post Office 
Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Thames river.

Other sites in England - Stonehenge, Chalk figures (Whipsnade Lion, 
Uffinton White Horse, Westbury White Horse, and Long Man of Wilmington), 
and the Lighthouse beacons along the South England coast.

Paris - Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur Cathedral, Montmartre Hill, Eiffel 
Tower, Tour Montpamasse, Concorde Obelisk, Louvre Museum, Notre Dame 
Cathedral, Ile St. Louis, Seine River, Bois de Boulogne, Bois de 
Vincennes, Jardin du Luxembourg, Place des Invalides, Champ de Mars, and 
the Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

Strasbourg - Rhein river and canals, Jardin Botanique, Orangerie, and 
three mountains SW of the city.

Munich - Olympiaturm Tower, Olympic Grounds, Hauptbahnhof, Frauenkirche, 
Residenz, Deutsches Museum, Isar River with islands, Theresienwiese beer 
garden, Englischer Garten, and Holgarten.

Nurnberg - Fernmeldeturm Tower, Pegnitz River with parks.

Stuttgart - Fernsehturm Tower, Schlossgarten, and it's two adjacent 
mountains.

Frankfurt - Fernmeldeturm Tower, Palmengarten, Opera House, Cathedral, 
Skyline buildings, Zoologischer Garten, and three mountains NW of the 
city.

Moscow - Kremlin wall and park, Red Square, and other parks, rivers, and 
lakes.

You can create the infamous flight a pilot made in the recent past 
(where he landed a single engine plane right smack down in the middle of 
Red Square!).  An airport is located in Helsinki, Finland just for this 
purpose.  * Stay low to avoid the radar! *.

JAPAN
-----
This disk covers the area from Osaka to Tokyo.  Highlights include 
downtown Tokyo, Tokyo Tower, Palace Grounds, Canal networks, Mt. Fuji 
(with snow cap), Shin Kansen bullet train network, and Osakajo Castle.  
In addition, mountains-lakes-and waterways look very nice and show great 
detail.
DEFAULT FS SCENERY
------------------
Default scenery in FS4 includes the following:

New York - Statue of Liberty, Empire State building, World Trade Center 
towers, Central Park, and several bridges.

Chicago - Landmark buildings such as the Sears tower, John Hancock 
building, and more.  Located south in Champaign is the U. of Illinois.

Seattle - Don't miss the Space Needle and several mountains!

San Francisco - (See previous screen describing the SF STAR disk).

Southern California - Catalina Island, USS Nimitz conducting flight 
operations with F-14 Tomcats, and a beautiful view of San Diego at dusk.
*******
