News: Prepar3Dv5 Hotfix 1 is Here

| Tom Tsui

Just found out Lockheed Martin has released a hotfix addressing P3Dv5’s high priority issues two days ago.   Nearly missed it while I’ve been working on the Honeycomb Alpha yoke story.

Hope the most critical issues are fixed.  Will report back once downloaded and installed.

Edit 1: Run the Hotfix version briefly and confirm that the landscape issues in KHQM and LSGS earlier reported have been fixed.

Edit 2: Run the Hotfix version for nearly two hours with active ATC. No crash seen so far. Seems the fix does the job.

575: What I Dislike in HoneyComb Alpha Yoke Part 1

| Tom Tsui

The HoneyComb Alpha Yoke, I believe, is one of the hottest flightsim gears these days.  I got mine in February and it is the sixth yoke I got — from the very first Saitek Yoke (2007), to the CH Eclipse Yoke (2011), Saitek Cessna Yoke (2012), VRInsight Flight Master Yoke II (2014), and the last VirtualFly Yoko Yoke (2018).  It’s no surprise that none of them is perfect, but surely each one has something good to praise.

You may have seen other reviews about the good and bad of the HoneyComb Alpha Yoke.  By no means to lower the product, followings are just the things I dislike from a user’s standpoint — both objectively and subjectively. Continue reading →

574: FIP Broken Knob Fix

| Tom Tsui


In my Post 574, I mentioned that the two knobs on the face-plate of the FIP, if broken, are simply unrepairable, but Oz Flyer (David) in the Comment suggested two possible solutions to repair them.  Here’s the first one I just tried since I don’t have a 3D printer as required in his second suggestion.

Stuffs needed are just some super glue and WD40, and I put everything on a piece of paper to avoid either the glue or the WD40 spilling over onto the table.
Continue reading →

Cockpit: José (LFPG, France)

| Tom Tsui

José in Paris started flightsimming with FS98 back in 1989 because flight training courses were too much for him, especially he had just had his second daughter at that time.   Sadly in these days, he has to partially disconnect his simulator in order to save a little space while needing to stay and work at home.

Followings are the photos of his cockpit.  Stay Safe, José.

Builder: José
Location: Paris, France
ICAO: LFPG, Roissy-Charles de Gaule

Continue reading →

Cockpit: Beaverpilot (CNN5, Canada) Update

| Tom Tsui

Since there is no flying season during recent pandemic shut down, Beaverpilot in Canada has more time continuing his DHC-2 cockpit project that he has been working for more than 10 years now.  Here are some photos he took recently.  It definitely looks better and better.

Builder: Beaverpilot
Location: Northeastern Ontario, Canada
ICAO: CYCN, CNN5 waterdrome

Continue reading →

POLL: Gauge Background You Like More

| Tom Tsui

I am having some new ideas about the background of my gauges.  But firstly tell me which types of background you like more by clicking the survey button below.

Take Survey Now !       Continue reading →

573: A Quick Update on P3Dv5

| Tom Tsui

I flew the P3Dv5 continuously for nearly three hours this afternoon.  Besides the landclass issues that I mentioned in my Post 568 earlier, I didn’t encounter any other issues reported in P3D forum during the session (perhaps some but not noticeable to me) luckily.

Of course the ATC service was kept silence all the time except during take-off and landing.  This is a known bug so far causing freezes or CTDs.  Other than that, I really feel the new simulator runs smoother.

Be the way, I have clean installed the latest Nvidia drivers again and Continue reading →

572: A kind of Easter Miracle

| Tom Tsui

A few days ago, another flight instrument panel (FIP) of mine suddenly stopped working.  Didn’t have any symptom similar to the other faulty one I reported in my Post 561, this one just ceased to work — no display, no response — during a flight session.

After trying many possible solutions to revive it but of no avil, I had no choice but to unplug it from the hub and put it aside waiting for another teardown.

Nothing lasts forever in reality, I know.  This one has also served me for more than 10 years.

I was planning to tear it down this morning.  Continue reading →

571: FIP Gauge Lights on Automatically

| Tom Tsui

Some of my FIP Gauges developed for FSX/P3D come with the backlight feature.  By disabling the “Pilot controls aircraft lights” in Realism setting, the backlight will turn on automatically when night falls.  I wasn’t aware of that before since I always have this option enabled.

Considering applying lights automatically really adds fun, probably I should spend some time updating more of my other gauges with backlights accordingly.