Dianna,

HI and welcome to SimV.

At some airports Microsoft got the tower view all messed up.  There are ways to fix it .... but until you are really comfy with the simulator and changing files and such...... wait a bit to try it.

As to backing up....... few aircraft will actually back up with reverse thrust.  The normal method is a "pushback".  If you hit "Shift P" in the cockpit view.... you will slowly start moving straight backward.  Hit the same key combo again to stop it.  If right after you hit the "Shift P" keys you hit "1" or "2", you will back up straight for a while and then veer left or right.  Again "Shift P" stops the pushback.

Look in the "Learning Center" section of the sim for a LOT of excellent information.  Then look in the "tutorials" section here on SimV for more info.

There is info on the Learjet in the Learning Center...and all the default planes.  Also look in the Downloads sections for the real manuals for the varuious aircraft.

Hope this helps.

best,

......................john

Dianna

re the Tower view.  I love this feature particularly for watching my take-offs and landings in the "instant replay" mode.
It is very easy to position the tower.  When you have a flight set up, go to World>Map.  You will see a map of your position showing at least your aircraft as a little black shape.  If you're lucky you may see another black shape looking a bit like a letter "T" - yup that is the tower!  If not use the + and - buttons in the top left of the pane to pull out as far as you can.  You may find the tower at the MS default location in Seattle.  Simply place your mouse pointer on the tower and drag it close to your aircraft.  As you get closer use + to get more detail on your map so you can "fine tune" your placement and put the tower adjacent to the runway where your aircraft is.  Now, you will see two radio buttons in the map pane marked "aircraft" and "tower".  Make sure "tower" is checked and then adjust the height of the tower to be around 200 feet above your runway (the map will show the height of the airport above sea level).
When you are happy, close the map pane and cycle through to the tower view.  Your aircraft should appear below you on its runway.  If you are a bit close/too far/too high/not high enough simply make your adjustments using "Map".
By doing the same at the end of a flight and before you run the instant replay (replay the last 300 seconds or so of your flight) you can watch yourself make that perfect landing!