Virtual Flights & Actual Flights:?

Question

Two friends of mine & I were discussing and the question...or debate came up:
"If someone can fly a Cessna 182 Skylane (for instance) very well on MS-FlightSim, does it mean the person can fly a real Cessna 182 Skylane just as well"?

Answer 1

No. I have a PPL and Flight Sims come nowhere near the real thing.

Answer 2

No matter how good you are in a simulation, it will never be the same as flying for real. The actual conditions in a flight is very different from that of a simulation.

The simulation can only do a mock up conditions in a computer, and its all pre-determined. The real world is not so well organized. Wind conditions, temperature variations, weather are some of the most unpredictable things around us. The sky might be bright and sunny but there might be an unusually low pressure system coming in from elsewhere, so you might never know.

Hence the answer to your question is this: A simulation only helps you to understand the basic aspects of flight operations and cockpit familiarization. It does not train you for actual flying. Simulations are merely a tool that provides safety in terms of training and ground school theory without the risk of death or destruction to the plane.

Answer 3

I agree with the above but have found MS flight simulator useful during training for many reasons.

The actual 'flying' bit of a real small plane such as a Cessna is p*ss easy, so easy a child could do it, the take off not much more difficult and i even had a decent landing the first time i did it and that was at Teeside airport.

The difficult part is everything else you need to learn, the air law, planning your flight, etc, etc.

I can only compare it to driving a car, the actual driving isn't that hard but when your looking at road signs, speed limits, watching other drivers and pedestrians is becomes much more difficult.

If you've never flown before i would highly recommend you have a go, even a trial flight will blow your mind.

Answer 4

Like everyone else said, simulated flight on a PC is no replacement for actual flight in a real airplane. It IS useful for learning procedures and navigation.

The things that you learn in real-world flight training that you don't get in a flight simulator are:

You learn "muscle memory", how things are supposed to feel, how the wind sounds when you're close to the stall, the way the aircraft shakes in a stall, how you sink into the seat in a steep turn, how hard to pull when you flare to land.

You learn the regulations, when to call up the tower, when you're "current", how to get a Class B clearance, how to announce yourself at an uncontrolled airport.

You learn how to take off and land on short fields, soft fields, with crosswinds.

And probably most important of all, you learn what to do when something goes wrong. Initial private pilot includes engine-out procedures and enough simulated instrument time that if you get caught in a cloud bank, you can get home safely if you call up air traffic control and scream for help -- they'll coach you through an instrument approach, and you know you can do it because you have before.

You see, when you're flying a real plane, you can't just hit PAUSE when you're in trouble, or go "Oh never mind, I'm going to play HALO instead now" . You're stuck with it until you land safely or ... not.

Answer 5

Back in the early days of flight simulators, the commercial type, they found that pilots were not being prepared for real situations, they could handle it in the simulator but it didn't carry over perfectly into real life. The missing component was motion, when they started using full motion simulators they found that simulator scores fell through the floor.

Then there's the accuracy of the simulations. I'm sure MS has been improving their simulations, but I gave up on them after I couldn't get an Extra slowed down enough to land from 250kts at 10,000 feet thirty miles from the airfield. Even the best consumer flight simulators aren't accurate.

And finally the lack of consequences when you get something horribly wrong.

Answer 6

No. It's no where near the same. I thought that once, then I did a Gliding course and took powered flying lessons and realised that playing a simulator and flying an aircraft are too different!. You don't get a feel for the controls, don't get the feeling of the wind buffetting the aircraft and blowing you off course. when the wind hits you, you feel it through the flying controls. the engine doesn't simply switch on and off by pressing a button, and the throttle is a little trickier to guage (no throttle % in your display) If you can drive a car in a game, does it mean you can drive in real life? no. Same with an aircraft.

Answer 7

They were all right, but: If you can fly the simulator for a Cessna 310 under the hood and keep it within the designated+/- altitude and airspeeds, you'll probably do okay when it comes time to fly with an instructor. I hated those damned Instrument simulations, they were almost impossible to keep steady; but in an actual aircraft, it almost seems that having the wind buffeting and guages actually rolling normally made it all feel right!

Answer 8

I'm not too sure about the specifics but I used to fly the Longbow on a computer. I also have experience of fixed wing, fast jets. I have often wondered if I had the coordination for choppers. I had the opportunity to fly a Lynx simulator (lots of millions of pounds PC) and I was astonished how well I coped. I eventually did an absolutely superb landing when I was on Morphine (due to a previous aircraft accident) on a mark 7 (could do rolling landings.) purely by accident. if you ever get the chance to fly a 'real' simulator, mortgage the next of kin, but do it!

Answer 9

Although you do use simulator training in your instruction, I would have to agree with everyone else that because you are good on MS-FlightSim it does not necessarily mean that you will be as good in an actual aircraft. There are a lot more factors that are involved in actual flight that are not in virtual. How about going to your local flight school and taking an introductory lesson and see how you do!

Answer 10

nope. A flight simulator can be very useful while learning communication, and other important related information. Aflight simulator is also useful when attempting a dangerous task that would other wise put your life at stake, but other than that, they are not a good source of learning to fly. flying a sim and a real aircraft are two different things

Answer 11

Ive been an instructor for many years. Nothing can replace actual flight time. Flight sim is good for learning certain procedures such as navigation and instrument function. I have never used it as a teaching tool but I did use it when I was working on my instrument rating.