Andrew_McP

Interesting. I bought an 8800GTS this week and have been very disappointed by fsaa quality and texture crawling/shimmering (particularly on towns in the middle distance) compared to the ATI x800 I had in the machine before. I'm running at 1280x1024 and lower though. No doubt at higher resolutions it's less obvious. I'm thinking very hard about dumping the card and buying the 1950Pro I was aiming for in the first place. I was tempted by the price though. Andrew McP

The 7900GS is a lot cheaper though, cheaper (usually) than the 1950Pro. Hopefully I'll find a solution I'm happier with, but this situation reminds me how impressed I was when I changed from an Nvidia GF4 ti4200 to a second hand ATI 9700Pro. It wasn't just the speed, it was the quality of the FSAA'd image. If I could go back in time a week I would undoubtedly stick with my original aim of buying a 512Mb 1950Pro (512Mb in the hope that the extra onboard memory helps smooth some of LOMAC's stuttering when firing rockets etc). I certainly wouldn't recommend Nvidia to anyone for LOMAC based on my experience so far. Other people will hopefully have better experiences. But my advice would certainly be to bin the 7900 and find a little extra money for a 1950Pro. Andrew McP

Thanks for the suggestions Squid. I may have been a bit harsh about the smoothness... x16fsaa is pretty good. But the shimmering certainly isn't, particularly on town textures in the middle distance. I'm finding it very distracting, and when I drop to 800x600 and x2fsaa (movie making mode) things are really bad. Edges crawl, and those town textures look lik ethere's an earthquake going on. I think I'll be dumping this and heading back to ATI, but it's early days yet and I must do some experimenting. Andrew McP

This week I made the tactical error of buying an 8800GTS instead of the (slightly) cheaper x1950Pro I was planning to buy. I won't be buying Vista, so DX10 wasn't a factor. I just thought "oh well, for a few quid more I can have dx10 capability if I ever change my mind". Seemed like a good idea at the time... but then doesn't everything? :-) Ok, cards like this aren't meant to be run at "low" resolutions like 1280x1024, but all I can say is that even x16fsaa on this card isn't as smooth and -- more importantly -- shimmer-free as x4fsaa on the X800XT I was using before. I swear it's like looking through a heat haze at times. I was prepared to be underwhelmed by my new card (especially in CPU-limited sims) but I wasn't prepared for this. Serves me right for spending so much time looking at the pretty views I suppose. I should be bombing things. Anyway, if you're planning on flying at 1600x1200 then Nvidia is probably as good as ATI (pixels so small that fsaa isn't a big factor). But for anything else go ATI. This has been a public service announcement on behalf of the more money than sense party. Andrew McP

http://www.eechcentral.com/wiki/index.php?title=Installation_guide has links to the demo. You can install quite a lot (all?) of the updates on top of the demo. I'm not really up to speed on that though. The forum at SimHQ is probably a better place to search for more information. Andrew McP

If that video was in-game footage it would be very impressive. EECH is a great sim though (there's nothing arcadish about the flight model, and the dynamic gameplay is, sadly, still miles ahead of LOMAC's), so I have my fingers crossed that they managed to update it with more than a few graphical tweaks. Andrew McP

If I ever get diagnosed with a terminal illness, I might try that out. What an excellent way to go! Ought to be able to get a better top speed with no parachute as well. :-) Anyway, well spotted. Thanks for the link. Andrew McP

It's been a while since I've allowed myself to whine, but.... A... F... M... <sob> for the Su-27... <sniff> PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE! Ok, the 27 doesn't have the thrust vectoring which takes it from a superb ride to the sublime, but... <sigh>. I guess we'll have to settle for playing with an unarmed Ka-50 with a low fuel load. That out to somersault quite nicely. I like my ride with a bit more acceleration though. Andrew McP PS D-S, I don't think you've got much hope. We don't even get them in the UK any more, and they used to be quite common. I think life must be quite hard for Russian aviation these days.

I fly about one hour every three months, whether I need the practise or not. ;-) Andrew McP

Funding might be being reviewed, but I very much doubt it will be withdrawn. The Red Arrows, like many similar display teams across the globe, are a powerful recruitment tool, not just a bunch of talented nutters addicted to coloured smoke. I suspect the team also encourages a lot of healthy competition within the RAF, driving up standards. In this day and age, with New Labour so well versed in milking public opinion through focus groups and the like, I suspect this is one of those opportunities for them to create artificial goodwill. First the leak the fact the Red Arrows might lose funding. Then, after much public and media debate, announce the funding's safe and the Red Arrows are saved. Hurrah for the government! Let there be partying in the streets and much waving of Union Jacks made in China! Andrew "cynical" McP

I love the picture of the man sweeping the snow off the aircraft with a good old fashioned broom. Andrew McP

I'm a Brit and I'm over 40... so I'm not normally the kind of person who uses the word "cool" except when commenting about the weather. However that is very cool indeed! I've never really had any interest in RC aircraft but a setup like that would be worth ever penny of whatever it would cost if available retail. Andrew McP

The discussion on rec.aviation.military pointed out that the markings on the aircraft are not US. I'm no expert, but apparently the French have some of these and the terrain points to somewhere like Chad where the French still have army & air force based. I can't confrim any of that, just passing on what I read. Andrew McP

Great clip isn't it? But common sense says that's not a trick you'd want to try twice (or even once!) in a lump of steel that big. Mind you, this Greek F4's a lot smaller and I don't think this is too sensible outside a sim either... http://www.patricksaviation.com/videos/andreasmd13/1159/ Andrew McP PS And while we're in the mood, I never tire of our old friend the low flying Spitfire clip... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6tJgdquU_M

Apparently French. Definitely nuts. Andrew McP

I saw the link on rec.aviation.military and was surprised at the quality. Thought some of you might appreciate them. :-) However I do wonder if whoever took them was bending any rules by putting them on the web. I imagine if you were a smart cookie you could look at the damage, make a lot of educated guesses about the forces involved, and derive some information about the B-1B's structure. Still, it's an amazing aircraft even when wounded. I've never been a big fan of US aircraft aesthetics (give me a Russian or Swedish bird any time) but the B-1B is the exception that proves my rule. Such a sleek, powerful, profile, especially with wings swept back and moving fast. I just wish the flight sim genre had managed to throw up a B-1B sim before it ran out of steam. Andrew McP

http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/bombers4.html Sorry if this page is old news. I'm not keeping a close eye on this forum any more. Andrew McP

Excellent news! Andrew McP

Ah, I missed this. Congratulations Mark! (And Mrs Shepski, who probably had some part in it ;-). Sometimes it's easy to look at this messed up planet and wonder why anyone would want children. But when you contemplate the fact that we all represent an unbroken chain of dividing cells running back into the deep, dark depths of history, it seems like a shame to waste all the evolutionary effort* that put us here. Best wishes to you all. Andrew McP *Other versions of this post are available for Creationists, but this forum doesn't allow swearing, so... ;-)

If you don't win in all those categories I'll be very disappointed! Stunning movie. It all looks so effortlessly put together, but that's very deceptive. There are too many excellent, complex, and well executed ideas to list. Amazing work guys. Simply amazing. I have no idea how you created some of those scenes... and I don't want to know either. A little mystery is always good. Oh, and it's very funny too. :-) Andrew McP

:-) Though I feel vaguely uncomfortable smiling about anything related to the Belgrano. Having said that, although I used to think it was an unnecessary sinking, a documentary I watched last year pointed out just how vulnerable the UK task force was. Sinking the Belgrano might have been a horrible act of war (assuming there's any other kind!) but it seemed to persuade the rest of the Argentine fleet to stay at home, which was vital to the task force's success. Anyway, back to this harrier... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/07/harrier_jet/ ...gives more details. Andrew McP PS No engine, sadly.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Decommissioned-Navy-Sea-Harrier-Jump-Jet-Aircraft_W0QQitemZ300012997602QQihZ020QQcmdZViewItem Still 2 hours to go. I'm off to check down the back of the furniture for some loose change. Maybe I can scrape £70k together. Andrew McP

Ok, I confess. I bought it for commuting 200 metres to work. Usually I leave it at home though, because the fuel bill's extortionate even though it's only a short taxi. And to be honest it's quicker to walk given the time it takes to park. So at the moment it's tucked away in the garage next to the Vulcan and the Spitfire. I'd put up a photo to show you, but I'm worried the local council might see it and put up my Council Tax to something to match Heathrow's. At first I thought the neighbours might rat on me, but so far I've managed to persuade them the 27 is a Reliant Robin that 'Pimp My Ride' did some work on. They haven't noticed the Vulcan yet, and I can drag the Spitfire down the road with a bit of help from the dog before starting it up out of sight. Andrew McP... inclined to flights of fancy PS Well done for spotting that. I wonder if it's been bought for research or training purposes, or whether it's some super-rich bloke using it for the occasional jolly to France at the weekend? Unlikely to be the latter I'd have thought.

The only time I went by car with a friend it didn't take too long to get in, but it took nearly 3 hours to get away! That was fun. :-) I'd only ever go by train/bus in the future. The buses have a special route which avoids the worst of the traffic. Andrew McP PS Thanks for the pics.

UK weather isn't what it used to be. :-) French champagne growers are buying land in SE England because the climate's changing and the geology & soil's just like the main Champagne region. SE England is also heading for severe water shortages though, so they might want to bring some Evian with them. Great for airshows, but I miss the rain personally. Andrew McP