Hello all. Am new to the software as have developed an interest in obtaining my PPL eventually. My question to whomever can assist is: Can someone provide me with the best settings for MFS 2004 that would make it easiest to learn the program? Am running it on a P4 2.8 Ghz with 2GB DDR RAM. Additional hardware is the Saitek Yolk, Throttle, and Rudder Pedals. Am particularly interested in the sensitivities section as am having problems using the Yolk to control the flight of the Cessna 172SP (Flight lessons). Thanks to all who respond.   

Welcome!

So much of it is a matter of personal taste, so the best thing to do is experiment until you like what you have. There really is no list of settings that works best for everybody.

And in general, I'd avoid the in-sim flight lessons; as a RL pilot I have issues with a lot of the stuff in there, and the "virtual instructor" seems crazy sometimes.

It's not a bad idea to check out the lessons, but fly the exercises on your own, without the AI CFI prompting you. Much easier to make progress that way.

Or better yet, get yourself a real Private Pilot Handbook, which outlines the basic maneuvers, and create your own sessions.

One last thing: if you want to fly a proper C-172 in FS9, you absolutely must try the freeware 172 from RealAir. I have over 100 hours in real C172s, and I think the RealAir model is much more like the real thing than the default FS9 Cessna.

Get it here... about halfway down the page. I think it's also available in the SimV library.

http://www.realairsimulations.com/list_box.php?page=downloads

RDMAviator, only guessing, but maybe the answer is not 'changing the settings' but a little more practice/experience?

To turn an aeroplane you mainly have merely to bank the wings in the direction of the turn. But banking reduces the lift provided by the wings, so you'll also find it necessary to ease the stick back a touch to stop the nose dropping. Also, the air being a fluid medium, the aeroplane will tend to yaw (that is, carry on straight for a while before it begins to turn) - so it's necessary to apply a touch of rudder (though JUST a touch!) as well, in the direction of the turn, to 'coordinate' the whole operation. It continues to amaze me how 'right' the original designers got that process in FS.

So the best way is probably a bit more practice - using small progressive movements and remembering the 'golden rule' - keep an eye on the horizon, not the panel, and keep the nose as level as you possibly can.

Hope that helps. 

   

Welcome RDMAviator
The first thought that came to my mind when I read your thread was that you need to get your hands on the realair c172, second thought was, better yet get the tutoriel c150........I got beat to the punch on both  the third thing that came to mind was to make sure you had a really clear understanding of how trim works, I would suggest you assign your trim to one of the toggle switches on the front of your throttle quadrant , remembering that you are trying to emulate a wheel which rolls forward to lower the nose.....hold the nose down, and rolls backwards to hold the nose up, so the assignments can be a little counter intuative for many people. but if your inention is to practice up for one day in a real plane then it's best to get the feel of this layout.
When you do trim, try to avoid using the trim to fly the plane....what I mean by this is hold the yoke to keep the plane straight and level and then use the trim to release the pressure that you are having to put into the control column to keep the plane flying straight and level, as the trim gets closer to being centered (for your particular throttle setting) then the less pressure you will need to keep on the column. once you dial in this (equilibrium) then the control inputs become very light and easy to control    just like in real life this is the first step you must master before moving on to.......anything 
good luck
Rom