Does MS Flight Sim make you a better pilot?
By Patch • Category: Ground School
For years before getting my private pilots license, I did all my flying on Microsoft Flight Simulator. I learned a lot about flying and what each indicator meant on the control panel. I even learned how to shoot and ILS landing. Nothing feels as great as coming out of very low lying clouds, 800 feet off the ground and finding yourself lined up perfectly for a beautiful landing.
From the very early stages of MS Flight Sim to the most recent MS Flight Sim X, I have considered it the next best thing to flying a real plane. I even told my flight instructor “I should learn faster than the typical student because I’ve had years of practice on my flight simulator.” Most flight schools will apply simulator time to your Instrument Rating, but they use a different piece of software.
When I asked other pilots if all this flight simulator training would help me be a better pilot, most said “NO WAY”. As a matter of fact, many of them said it would teach me very bad habits. That was it. I didn’t want to risk slowing my training, so I put away the flight simulator until now. Having passed my checkride, I was really yearning to get in the air, but I just haven’t had the time or money. I moved from Washington state to Florida and I can’t wait to fly to Key West.
Last night I did it. I flew from F45 (North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport) to KEYW (Key West International Airport). I flew along the coast and transitioned the class C and B airspace along the way. It was a great exercise. I arrived at KEYW and entered the left downwind. I received my clearance to land and turned to base, then final and set up for a landing. I greased it onto the runway and taxied to the general aviation ramp.
Then it was time to go to bed. So, I shut down Microsoft Flight Simulator and went to bed. Oh, did I not mention this was all done on the flight simulator? Well, I still can’t afford to do any flying so I did some practice on the ol’ PC.
Wow, I did great! I don’t know if flight simulator will make you a better pilot, but I can tell you being a pilot makes you a lot better on a flight simulator. Of course, it cost close to $7000, but it sure feels good when it all goes right.
Patch is the owner of this site. I originally took my flight instruction with Spokane Airways located at Spokane International Airport (GEG). I passed my checkride in August of 2007. I now live in Florida and fly out of Lantana (KLNA) or North County Airport (F45).
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So what’s your opinion on whether the simulator helped you?
Thanks,
Brian
Sorry, I realized you answered this at the end, but maybe you can elaborate…
Brian
Well, it’s hard to say if it WOULD have made me better. I stopped using it as soon as I started my flying lessons. It still took over 50 hours to finish. As a lot of people have said, it took my 2 hours to learn to fly a plane and 50 hours to learn how to land one.
Landing a plane was SUCH a huge portion of my training and that’s an art based on feel. I don’t think you can get that with Microsoft Flight Simulator. Following the VOR and knowing what a VSI and Attitude Indicator was great. But, that doesn’t help you fly. That’s 5 minutes of training.
I’ve heard other say a flight sim will help a LOT with your Instrument Rating.
your right on the instrument rating help with flight sims. i’ve flown all kinds of PC flight sims (including MS since the first installment) and I generally used them to bolster my simulator hours (at the flight school). other than that flight sims cannot replace the real thing. Besides, it’s good to know that i can fly from Rio to Madrid in a 767 in my pyjamas (or nude for that matter) without gettting hustled!!!
Bushpilot:
The realism in MS Flight Sim is amazing. Just the VOR frequencies and Comm Frequencies are right on target. I can plan out a flight and do a test run to see if there’s anything I didn’t think about. You can set yourself just outside of your destination airport, save that setup and then just keep practicing your approaches over and over. It’s great for the repetition.
I’m a big fan of FlightSim and have been using it since the Apple II days. I don’t think you get the feel of flying, but you do get practice with some of the systems, particularly the nav. I think, generally speaking, it’s pretty helpful.
Nice site, by the way! I’m adding it to my blogroll and to my RSS feeds list.
I hav been using flight sim since 1998 and have experience of all versions to date. As far as the argument of whether it helps u to be a better pilot: I think this depends on how you use it. one of the software developers of microsoft flight sim 2004 (who happens to be a part time flight instructor) is confident that if one uses flight sim properly, then over a period of time it can develop and polish your ‘mental’ flying skills. Accoding to him, flying is 90% mental and only 10% physical. I have heard RAF harriar pilots that landing a harrier on an aircraft carrier on a simulator is more tough than in the real world! I personally think passing checkrides on micrsoft flight simulator is tougher than in the actual checkrides since in flight sim, your examiner happens to be computor and is very rigid about all the flight criteria. This inturn pushes you to be more skillful and develop more precise flying skills. by the way, I failed my PPL checkride in flight sim about 7 times before finally passing it since the examiner (computer) expected me to do things that were strange. e.g. when I started to level off 50 ft below my target altitude, she expected the VSI to move from about 700 fpm to 0 fpm at a constant rate during the leveling off and to turn 0 precisely when the target altitude is hit! even if I stayed within all the tolerences but if my leveling off resulted in a non-uniform VSI needle deflection, she woud fail me! So, I gradually became more proficient and only failed my CPL checkride 3 times (similar reasones) before passing it. currently i am taking ATP lessons with Rod Machado-he’s awesome! I think (although it is arguable) that a real-world pilot (ppl, cpl etc) would not be able to pass the relevant ppl, IR, cpl rating on a microsoft flight simulator (at least not in a few attempts)!!!
You’ve made some GREAT points. You’re right, the computer can’t “overlook” a slight deviation from what is expected. The comments about the mental game of flying are spot on. The thing it won’t help you with is that “feel” you acquire when you’re airborne and trying to get your round-out just right in your landings.
Thanks for the great comments!