Does Flight Simulator help ACTUAL pilot training?

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I've been a licensed pilot since 2004, commercial pilot since 2006, and flight instructor since 2008 - and it is my belief that, while not entirely accurate to real life, games like Flight Simulator can dramatically help the skills of any aviator, over time.

#pilot #flightsim #aviation

[brodiebrazil]

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[fixed]

Just started training for my PPL and have been a flight sim fan for years. My instructor was impressed by my stick and rudder usage right of the bat. I was also familiar with the instruments, cockpit layout, and many of the procedures we went through up in the air. Of course, the feel is definitely not the same as real life - but it's as close as you can get without actually firing up the engines and taking off. Thanks for confirming that it definitely does help.

[iamshaker]

I landed a Cessna on a discovery flight because of the hundreds of hours I spent on the simulator. The flight instructor genuinely thought I was a real pilot and even asked me if I was😂 I expressed to him the passion I have for aviation and the countless hours I spent flying at home to convince him I wasn’t lying and that I wasn’t actually an actual pilot.

Deffff recommend using a simulator to help with training, especially for people who can’t afford to fly 4-5 times a week

[Fenixx]

Before my PPL solo cross country flight I took my paper navlog calculations and wind corrections and flew the route in MSFS to make sure everything checked out and to recognize specific roads and lakes I used as checklists over a quite remote area near the mountains. It worked perfectly. I'm doing my IFR rating now and just waiting top upgrade some things to practice all those approach plates and holds in my room instead of in the plane spending $$$

[texasroadman]

Man I'm so tired of some pilots coming on here and completely discrediting the benefits of using a sim, it's refreshing listening to brodie tell us it actually counts for something

[Justin-nydf]

I always enjoy hearing people with different things.

I always thought flight sims would be really good to pick up. However, my instructor gave me a fair warning, "be careful getting into a flight sim to supplement your training until you know what you are supposed to do CORRECTLY or else you MAY or MAY NOT develop bad habits that will need to be broken in flight." I thought it was a sound piece of advice.

[terrywayneHamilton]

I am an old guy and just got a plastic license to replace my paper ticket, that is how old I am. I love every thing that can fly and I love flight sims. My take on computer teaching is that with a flight / Navigation sim and add active weather with tower instruction and good graphics you have all the aeronautical knowledge that is needed to be a successful pilot. One note, the only thing lacking in the computer flight sims is FEAR. That you will learn on your own. Stalls the big problem few pilots ever learn until it is to late. A couple flight sims have aircraft you can learn stall procedures and recovery from . Fly by the numbers and you will fly long and healthy .

[ZacharyGalloway]

This has been my exact thoughts and I ended up building a gaming PC and getting a VR and CH products flights yoke and pedals for FS 2020. In game flight training helps to learn the instruments and comms to help get comfortable with the cockpit setups. Also love fighter jets so I use DCS world with a HOTAS for that as well. Learning the real start up procedures and instruments has to be extremally valuable. Trying to learn as much as I can about as many planes as I can before taking the leap to flight school.

[natecus]

I really appreciate you just giving the answer right at the beginning, I watched the whole video but so many people bury the answer

[danielharvey]

Thanks you answering the question at the start of the video and not waiting for 99 percent of the video

[caltagerone]

Thank you! I just started my pilot training. I had my first flight a week ago and I wish there was a way to recreate all that in a more control environment. I have been thinking about investing in a gaming PC, game, and some basic instruments. Yoke, peddles, throttle. It adds up to about $2, 700 and I wasn't sure if it was worth it or not.

[theradicalnomad]

As a student, I can simulate a new plane I haven't flow yet so I'm already familiar with the cockpit before I ever get in the real thing. As well as I can simulate approaches and terrain around airports I haven't been to yet. Plus sometimes its fun to mess around in a consequence free environment. I have a cheap $30 flight stick so its far from exact but it gets you in there and can help you get familiar with things like where to set the trim and allows you to feel out the basic handling characteristics of an aircraft. It's no substitute for the real thing but I think it absolutely benefits beginners and anyone who wants to gain some basic familiarity a certain plane or location.

[ohkaygoplay]

Kind of a long post.

I got this game at the end of June after I'd made the decision to get my sport license. I did this without recommendation, because I'd thought it would help me learn the basics, and become familiar with the aircraft and avionics.

I just got a velocity one control stick so I can use it in my left hand. I'm right handed, so using my left is weird, but I need to train my muscles so that it becomes automatic to use my left hand when flying so I can use the throttle and adjust the other controls with my right hand. At this point, my right hand still tries to take the stick.

I tried flying last night with the new stick, and it was like I'd never flown before despite already having a few hours in this game.

Admittedly, I didn't fly for a month thanks to being so sick I couldn't concentrate on doing anything (literally. Next to nothing but the basics of cleaning got done.)

In the game, I'll fly a Vans single prop low wing that I purchased in the marketplace. It looks the most like the planes I'll be flying in real life at a local flight school when I can finally afford it.

However, I figured I should actually get used to flying a Cessna, so I picked the 172 G1000 so I can use the Garmin.

After a lot of time spent adjusting and readjusting the controls, I got so frustrated with how difficult it was to maintain a straight line on the ground, and straight and level flight in the air that I alt+F4'd. My grumbled responses to the warnings became a frustration filled "shut up" with added colorful words. Leaving the game was the smart move to make, because I needed to walk away for a minute.

I'll struggle to stay on the glide path and line up with the runway. When I reach the points I'm supposed to start slowing down at, I do what I'm supposed to do; throttle back, lower the flaps, adjust my trim, ect but no matter what I do, or how tiny my movements are, or how steady I try to hold the stick and keep my feet off the rudders, I always end up zigzagging all over the place. I'll land either short of the numbers, too far ahead (if I ditch an attempt to go around), veer off the runway into offroading, pull a Harrison Ford even if I aimed for the actual runway, or I land in the bushes.

I change the weather settings in the world (offline) so that there's a light breeze at best. So it's not wind physics. I've also turned off the AI assist settings for auto trim, auto rudder, auto flaps, ect to ensure that's not getting in the way.

It's not my computer. I have a custom built gaming computer (albeit an older one - 2018), but it has no problem running this game. I built it under the guidance of a friend who knows computers with the best components at the time so that I wouldn't have to upgrade for a long time. My computer was a birthday present.

Honestly, flying a real plane is easier. And I've only flown a real plane once on my discovery flight - a Sling. It was awesome. I felt like I had so much more control, and I felt connected to the plane (even if the seat was too low and I could barely see over the dashboard. I'm 5'4". My fault for not asking how to adjust the seat height before hand) I genuinely did not want to land. I wanted to stay up there forever.

AZ805N will always have a special place in my heart. :)

In the game, my goal at this moment is to fly straight and level. I don't use autopilot, because I want to learn how to control the plane on my own. I don't want to rely on autopilot.

I've tried the mouse and keyboard, the Xbox controller, the thrustmaster joystick and throttle, the velocity one pedals, and now the velocity one joystick. I do not have a yoke yet. Thanks to not working for a month, I ran out of money. Costs to stay alive and keep a roof over my head are taking priority right now.

The hardest part for me in this game is maintaining straight and level flight no matter what controllers I use.

I want to fly, and I'll keep studying on my own. I want this game to be fun, and I want to reach a point where I can join VATSIM. But this game at this early point in my journey makes me want to scream.

It may just be a matter of time, patience with myself, and practice. Patience has never been one of my best virtues, so I suppose this game is a good teacher for that.

[xpsports]

I've spent thousands of hours flying and enjoying X-Plane. I have no desire to get my pilot's license and the truth is I don't even really like to fly (thus my interest in a simulator {I don't have to leave the safety of my couch}), but I'm thinking that with all time I've logged there is a fairly good chance I could take off in a real plane (most of the times), actually fly it (for at least a little while), and maybe even safely land it (a few times). There is a version of X-Plane (I'm not arguing which sim is the best) that is actually used in real pilot training.

[topofthegreen]

I think there is some value if you have a good yoke, throttle and rudder pedal setup, I’ve gotten pretty good at cross wind landings.

[BerryTheBnnuy]

I just got FS2020 and played it in VR... I immediately installed the freeware Grumman Goose aircraft from ozx.
In the first 3 hours I learned more about flying a Grumman Goose for real than I did in hundreds of hours of doing it on FSX. It's all due to VR... Since I wasn't relying on keyboard controls which are universal across all airplanes, I had to flip the switches for the battery, the lights, the alternators, magnetos, engine start, etc manually...

I took off from Key West and flew to the Florida coast and set her down in a salt marsh and wondered why the plane was tilted to one side, then I looked out to the wing and noticed the float arms weren't down... Went looking all around the cockpit in VR and found the float arm control just above my head...

I also learned how to use the goose's prop feathering and flaps... with all the controls being exactly where they would be in a real Goose...

Now, I'm not saying that I'm definitely qualified to fly a real goose, and I sure as hell would never be able to afford to buy one (but I really really REALLY want one, anybody with a spare half million can get me a real goose?), but I feel like if I went and got my pilot's license, I could definitely get in the cockpit of a Goose and know how to do just about everything.

I'm not confident with landing on a runway yet though...

[natelove]

Yes it does help. I’m a RC Pilot. I have a Simulator PC for RC and Real Flight training. When I fly RC, I was practicing Aileron, Rudder, and the worst case Elevator failure. One day I took out my Aerobatic Biplane P-6E Hawk. I took off within the 1 minute my Right Aileron failed for real. When I took off people was excited but they didn’t know I was i trouble. My training kicked in. The plane started to roll left. I corrected it with left aileron and right stick. I had to increase throttle to keep air over the left aileron. I had to gain altitude and glider her in by feathering the throttle. As the speed of the aircraft decreased the more the plane tried to roll left. I finally landed with full stick to the right. Inspect the plane and saw my Right Aileron servo stuck do to the epoxy glue melted and went into the circuit board. It was my fault. I rushed to put the plane ✈️ together and put to much glue on the servo tray. The plane is fixed. Believe me PC Simulators work. Ask the Air Force and Navy. The Military have to have a balance between Simulator Time and Flight ✈️ Time. It will save your life

[johnporter]

I am a retired private pilot. Actual flying became too expensive for me, so I acquired a sim. They are amazing these days ! I love exploring the world on MSFS with my small jet - which is something only rich folks can do in real life - and only with a ton of $$$.

[topofthegreen]

I was wanting to pursue a professional flying career, however, the problem is the new rule on part 135 and part 91 state that operators have the option of forcing retirement of pilots of age 65 just like the part 121 pilots, it’s too bad they decided to do this because now being that I am 59 years old and in great health, it still would make spending a small fortune to pursue a career that is uncertain at best would not be worth it, yet they say there is a pilot shortage right?
Flight sim will be all im using.

[kenbit]

Thanks for the info. Sim flying will definitely do a lot in introducing a first flyer to aircraft environment and systems. Experienced pilots will find it useful too when it comes to new cockpits because instruments and switches are replicated to represent real cockpits; it is also useful in instrument flying plus saving money! Strictly speaking a sim. is not a real aircraft and cannot fly like one (except full-flight sims which come "a bit close") but nonetheless does a lot good.