I want to view the countryside

Hi Trevor, if it's any consolation I have a friend who is 80 and still enjoys learning new stuff on FSX. However, can I suggest an alternative to FSX for your purpose. Have you seen Google Earth? If you download Google Earth it has a photographic view of the whole planet. Sel;ect an area you want to look at and zoom in. On the menu bar at the top select Tools -then- Flight simulator mode. You can then use your joystick to go where you want. There are two aircraft to choose from but all you see is the windscreen. I would suggest the slower of the two in order to take in the scenery. Hope this helps. Chris.

I'm also old ( and bald ) and dumber than the computer, and I like to fly low and slow and look at stuff on the ground too. Get ahold of ," Mission: WW1 Dogfight ",by Abacus software. It's a CD, so none of this " it's so easy to download " garbage. Put it in your disk drive and it will add a couple of bi-planes, a couple of tanks (of all things ) and the dirigible LZ62 to FSX. The Zeppelin is the greatest sightseeing aircraft ever. There is a camera position below the thing that is breathtaking ( the upper gunner's station is pretty cool too ). You fly it with throttle, elevator and rudder, things happen very slowly and it's just a lot of fun. Hope you like it. Tom

We have a free zeppelin if you like.

https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/3038/fsx-flightport-zeppelin-nt/

And a nice Bi-Plane.

https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/9439/fsx-dallas-cowboys-biplane/

Mr Trevor Jones has raised a good topic. The flight simulator is an ideal toy for old men. It helps to keeps us alert and dementia at bay and for those of us who are ex-flyers it can bring back many happy memories. We are fortunate to have Fly Away as many pensioners are hard up and I for one thank the very skilled modellers who provide us with excellent free models, many of which are the aeroplanes of our early years. (If only more of them were updated to FSX. ) So it is well done chaps all round to Fly Away simulations.

I am nearly 80 and my day starts with my Spitfire IX flying display with the wonders of Realworld Weather so there is always a challenge. I might then take off from Paris in a C47 bound for Gatwick twenty minutes before dawn so that the sun is just coming up over the English Channel as I cross the Straights of Dover. Absolute magic.

Thank all of you who were kind enough to offer ideas (and moral support) in answer to my query. I shall try the dirigible, and the other ideas proposed.
I rarely post on the internet, but whenever I do I am confirmed in a belief that the world is full of helpful people. Thanks again