I really appreciate all of the responses, truly.
That said, as a newb who hasn't been in a real cockpit for 15 years--there's a lot of stuff thrown into those answers that have me suffering from a touch of information overload. So, let me ask this a little differently.
1. How do I keep from angering the ATC and other pilots when I'm flying out of/in to places, considering I'm using vanilla FSX:SE, with respect to IFR Flight Plans? (Sounds like "/a" is a solid go-to, and just plan through FSX?)
2. I like the idea of a higher-end pay-for plane, but I don't think I can justify that just yet, having just returned. Perhaps in a couple of months. That said, anything particular to look for?
3. I tried installing the stuff from aero.sors.fr, and a couple of things happened. First, got some scenery errors. I worked through those, and loaded up at KMEM (I have a SID printed out for that, so I had a few intersections I could look for). I didn't find any of the intersections. Any way to tell if the install worked, and these simply weren't there, or they're there, but the install failed?
4. With that in mind--did I understand that response correctly? It effectively inserts the newer fixes, intersections, etc?
Thanks a ton. I don't want to wear-out my welcome with the newbie questions, but this feels sort of...well...basal for the whole system.
/A is the easiest way for you, since many SID and STAR charts can be flown that way as they are based on ground navigation radios that haven't changed. However, you need to know how to fly them which can present difficult for some. Avoid "RNAV" terminology until you have a plane capable of it.
Include "Default FSX GPS" in your flightplan remarks.