Flight Deck 5

falconxxx wrote:

Hello everyone, I'm considering purchasing Abacus Flight Deck 5. Does anyone know how it compares with the carrier missions on the acceleration pack?
I have noticed that on the Acceleration Missions you can not instant replay to view the landings from different angles, which is a disappointment to me. (I know I can record it on Fraps.. but you cant replay it from different angles)
Also I have noticed that the tail hook does not really catch the wire cable on the deck, although the F-18 acts as if it did catch the cable. Are these flaws also present on Flight Deck 5?..especially being able to view the landings from outside the aircraft from different angles ?.....thanks in advance.

Hi falcon,

I cannot compare FD5 with the carrier missions on the acceleration pack as I've uninstalled FSX for the time being.
Regarding your second paragraph, for instant replay of any flight or COPS and to be able to view from different angles forget about Fraps and install FS Recorder. Fully compatible with FSX and a joy to use.

I used to have FD4 and still have many other carriers in fs9 and NONE of them shows the actual wires - though they work and you can see the aircraft being pulled back by the wire after recovery.
Now I've got FD5 but also in fs9 and there are still no visible wires. Now here's the weird part, the FD5 .exe for FSX is much bigger in size than the fs9 version. Whether or not this discrepancy in file size has to do with the actual texture files of the carrier and thus a possible visibility of the wires I have no way of knowing.

Regarding your last sentence the fact that you cannot watch your 'replay' from different angles is certainly not a flaw in FD5, instead it's probably just the way the Instant Replay Function works in FSX... very limited, that's why I strongly recommend you get FS Recorder. Installation is easy and so is its use, you just have to read the manual.

A final word re FD5 - seems you haven't owned any previous versions of FD. I tell you in all honesty that when I got FD2 several years ago I could never get it to work properly despite the updates which were available at the Abacus site. After a long boycott of anything to do with Abacus I finally got FD4 'cause I'd seen it work flawlessly at a friends house. The verdict: Never had any problems with FD4, worked straight out of the box, upgraded to the FSX version (FD4) and had no problems with that one either. As mentioned, now I'm running FD5 under fs9 and have no problems at all. I haven't come across any complaints in any flightsim forums re the FD5 FSX version. If FD5 works as well in FSX as it does in fs9 (and why shouldn't it) you'll be doing COPS 'til you fall off your chair 😀

Good luck!

Hello Tailhook and thankyou for the response, you are right I have never owned a Flight Deck software package before...with that said I have found the aircraft carrier missions on the Acceleration pack facinating and very challenging as I'm sure many have found as well. As soon as I get some free time I will take your advice and try the FS- recorder....and thanks again.

You're very welcome falcon, always nice to meet another Carrier nut. For the sake of convenience I'll quote myself from my previous post:

...and NONE of them shows the actual wires - though they work and you can see the aircraft being pulled back by the wire after recovery.
Now I've got FD5 but also in fs9 and there are still no visible wires.

I've read in another forum that apparently the wires of FD5 are visible when installed into FSX. That, as I understood it is due to the fact that the FSX version incorporates the 3wire system.
If you're unfamiliar with "3wire" you can check out the program as it used to be for fs9 ➡ https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/2953/fs2004-3wire-aircraft-carrier-simulator/

I have made attempts in the past to work with 3wire but could never quite figure out why I should need it... I'd installed Rob Barendregt's gauges and sounds and retrofitted the a/c panels I needed for COPS and since everything was working fine, I abandoned the 3wire project.
Well, you live and learn.
Should you decide on FD5 and when you eventually get there, post us some feedback - greetings.

Should you decide on FD5 and when you eventually get there, post us some feedback - greetings.

Hello Tailhook, ok so I downloaded the FS Recorder and it works great in all circumstances accept when I replay the Acceleration carrier missions!!
What happens is this. When I play back the recording of the flight after I make a safe landing the carrier is seen sailing away several hundred feet in the distance!!!! and the F-18 is suspended in mid air where the carrier should be!!..its very weird!!!...... The same thing happens if i just record an F-18 just sitting on deck of the carrier, when I play it back sure enough the carrier is sailing away from underneath the aircraft!!
As soon as I get my FS Recorder site account activated i will report this to the support forum to see if I can get some feedback on this very strange occurence.

Regarding the FD5....I actually ended up buying FD4! Had read somewher that FD5 was not as good as FD4 so anyway it plays OK except for the very slow frame rates, but that I guess is my computer's fault I have a Pentium 4 processor. When I fly near the carrier I only get single digits frame rates. Needless to say I have had great difficulties trying to land an F-18 on FD4.....still have not been able to do it yet! To me it seem a lot more difficult to land on FD4 then on the acceleration missions, now whether that is due to the slow frame rates or its just programed to be more difficult I dont know.

I actually get best results playing on an AI carrier that I downloaded from somewhere and make my own flights using an F-18 from the acceleration collection. frame rates are in upper teens and twenties and the flights are much smooter.....and can actually land the F-18!!🙂 though the airplane almost tumbles and does a little dance at the end!!!...

Hi Falcon,

Congratulations on your FD purchase. Re FS Recorder and the Acceleration carrier missions I can't even begin to think what the problem could be - to consult the FS Recorder support forum is probably your best bet.

Re the low frame rates try to set them to 'unlimited' just as an experiment... it certainly works wonders in fs9, the same might apply to fsx - no harm in trying.

Re landing those F-18s etc. I don't have too much fun with the FD aircraft either - I prefer 3rd party aircraft, there are many available for fs9. I have seen properly updated F-14s for FSX ready for COPS - just can't find any at the moment.

Here's an idea for good practicing: get https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/2754/fs2004-french-chance-vought-f4u-7-corsair/
take off from a nearby airstrip, head for your carrier and just practice your recoveries. Granted it's an fs9 aircraft and the gauges won't do you much good but our objective here is to practice catching the wire. It has a Tailhook and for fs9 it even has an extra panel configured especially for COPS including a CAT launch switch. But you won't need that anyway when your taking of from FD.

I actually get best results playing on an AI carrier that I downloaded from somewhere and make my own flights using an F-18 from the acceleration collection.

I'm only guessing of course, but it's probable that the difficulty degree of the contents of the acceleration collection have been toned down for the sake of appealing to a wider audience.

Happy to hear that you're on your way, keep it up and have fun!

🍻

Hello Tailhook, ok...so trying to land on the carrier using flight simulator X was giving too much grief and aggrivation! So since I'm not yet ready to purchase a more powerful computer I reinstalled windowsXP on my machine and now have a dual operating system and reloaded flight simulator 2004 on windows xp. Now I can land with frame rates locked at 35 and have a much smoother flight.....which makes landing easier and keeps my blood pressure from going through the roof! 😀

Haha... that's the way to go. I didn't realize that you owned FS9 or else I would have suggested to use FS9 for your COPS in the first place.
Using FS9 you're not restricted to FD only - there are many freeware carriers with hard decks and many aircraft with arrester hooks, modified panels ready for COPS and plenty of sceneries to go with it.

FSX is nowhere near that yet and my guess is it will take a very long time for it to catch up with FS9 in this regard. Obviously the priority for the developers of add-ons are GA and Heavies to appeal to a wider market.

Have fun 😀

falconxxx wrote:

I reinstalled windowsXP on my machine and now have a dual operating system and reloaded flight simulator 2004 on windows xp. Now I can land with frame rates locked at 35 and have a much smoother flight..... 😀

Reinstalling windows XP, gave you Dual Operating system....???

Better Frame rate?...

Reinstalling windows XP, gave you Dual Operating system....???

Better Frame rate?...

There is a process you have to follow to get a dual operating system, I'll give you the link if you are interested in doing it.
And yes I get much better frame rates in Flight Deck 4 with windows XP then on Vista.