Ya no argument from me. We all can form bad habits but its how you “stop and correct” that counts. I’m sure it would take some getting used too depending who you are as we have been discussing.
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you are correct in my work the simulation does not give the sense of motion or movement but everything else is accurate.
I can land them by hand no issues, but my pilot used to let me do low approaches and even one touch and go in a B52, so I guess that may be why, I also held a ppl, but have not flown irl since I got out of the Air Force right after the first gulf war.
Now do it with a dead engine, not an inop pilot .
What’s funny is I suspect we all think about this quite a lot.
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On the B52???
Only another 7 engines to use! XD
Im talking about a cessna or piper. Unlikely a simmer with be in a Bomber on a discovery flight. Lol
It’s true though some people just have that natural ability to do things not just driving or flying or music but a great many things. They’re out there, I’m one of them.
Wow, for someone who’s stated they are not a pilot, and have never flown an aircraft, you are awfully confident in your abilities. Naively and arrogantly so I might suggest.
The absolute last person I would want flying/landing an aircraft for the first time is someone that thinks ‘I’ve got this, because I’m just that good.” This attitude usually leads to all sorts of failings, not using all the resources available, not identifying an individual’s limitations and therefore exceeding them, not recognising alternate solutions, etc, etc. People with this attitude usually get humbled in the most dramatic fashion, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near them when it happens.
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How nice of you to insult me. Enough said don’t push it !
Moving forward…
No. A flight simmer cannot land a real aircraft. Two different beasts.
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I didn’t see that as an insult. Merely a comment that pride comes before a fall, and that an over abundance of confidence coupled with a lack of humility can be disastrous. Don’t fall into that trap.
If a person with no experience other than watching what his incapacitated pilot mate did can land a plane so can some simmers.
Yeah, i left engineering after 30 years. I sat for 10 days after retirement and said i had to do something. I decided to get my commercial license and drive a school bus . I love kids, what could go wrong? Yeah, driving a 40 foot bus down narrow cities streets isnt the issue. Now put 50 13 year olds on it. Lmao. Have fun stormin da castle!
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As I’ve stated further up in the thread I’ve run a few full motion simulator sessions with ‘enthusiasts’ in the seat in a B744 sim. The results were fun and interesting. The TLDR is that, with a bit of coaching, someone with no experience, on a good visibility, calm day could land the aircraft. Probably not the best arrival in the world but okay. Small aircraft react quickly, have less energy and less approach speed. Big aircraft require approach planning and significant energy management to get them on the ground. Totally different ‘feeling’ for obvious reasons.
Same with the helicopter video, your confidence to ‘give it a go’ in a real aircraft is massively bolstered by having a qualified flight instructor giving you support as you know that if it all goes wrong the instructor is there to recover it. Jeopardy!
Large airliners are complex beasts. if the automatics are working for the ‘simmer’ then there is a chance they would be system savvy in their use. If it’s a manual landing then my confidence in a successful outcome is not high purely from the fear, jeopardy and unfamiliarity with the dynamic motion and energy of the aircraft.
If your life and the lives of the passengers are on the line then I’m sure someone would try as trying and failing would be better than not trying at all!!! 
Thankfully this has only ever been the hypothetical ‘Hollywood’ scenario! 
AIMHO of course. 
(For info, ex military, fast jet and helicopters now commercial, formerly A320, and now current on the B777 18,000+ real life flight hours. I still love sim flying in VR!)
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Remember back in 1989 after ppl got the chance to fly fb-111 simulator. Can definitely attest to the energy management aspect in larger planes (mgtow 100000lbs)as tried to fly it like a 152 (fly to the ground, flare at the last minute) didn’t go too well but got it on the ground in one piece. By the way what’s up with the dc/sc designs sounds on f15/16 not realistic at all. More like dcs irl can barely hear anything different when in afterburner.
True but somehow I doubt if many if any students with no experience whatsoever land a heli by themselves with no input whatsoever from the instructor. The “fundamental” skills he learnt in the sim enabled him to make that landing. I am reliably informed that getting it right in the sim is a requirement for airline pilot training before they are let loose in a real plane.
I completely agree that time in a computer sim is useful in a real aircraft. The ability to familiarise yourself with the aircraft systems, locations and functions within a computer simulation is going to free up spare capacity over someone who has never seen or experienced the environment at all. That extra capacity can then be put to work in physically controlling that aircraft.
An airline conversion course requires time in an approved full motion simulator (FMS). The whole course is ‘flown’ in the ‘box’ and then, if needed, 6 take-off’s and landings are achieved in the real aircraft for type rating certification. Obviously the fidelity of the FMS is several levels higher than MSFS. Oddly enough the visuals are often far lower fidelity but what the environment is trying to do is to simulate the aerodynamic profile of the aircraft so that when you step into the ‘real’ aircraft it’s as close as possible. Suffice to say I have yet to fly a simulator that is exactly the same as the real aircraft.
The student in the video seems to have a flair for poling the aircraft. It happens more often than you think. There are some people who just ‘get it’ on their first try. As I stated above, familiarity with the aircraft from a sim would free up a lot of capacity so it is, without a doubt, a benefit.
As I’ve posted before I do think that someone who has put thousands of hours into their favourite aircraft in a computer sim could probably land it in real life in the ‘hollywood’ scenario. It has even been proven in the real world. The stress of the situation would be, in my opinion, very high and I take my hat off to anyone who can keep themselves calm and focussed in such an environment. I hope it never happens but if the classic PA of ‘Is there anyone on the plane who can fly a plane and hasn’t eaten the fish?’ comes up and you step up then you have my full admiration!
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Yes I completely agree, I think that would be the single biggest hurdle to a good outcome, potentially, even too a very experienced sim pilot. Possibly the stress would probably be easier to manage if that person had been up in the real thing a lot but for a first “time in the plane” type scenario, it would be very difficult indeed.
It’s actually very possible, I’ve actually have flown a Cessna 172, Piper Warrior II and Piper Cherokee 140 irl and would be confident enough to land those aircraft because of my experience and I actually watched someone who played a ton of fsx fly a Cessna 172 and land it actually
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Jetwash’s post above is totally correct, MSFS2020 is a visual simulation whereas much of flying a real aircraft is feel. The process of landing is partly flying the numbers, partly the big picture and finally “feel”. The element of feel becomes the predominant factor in the last few hundred feet. The inputs also change from mostly stick to mostly rudder with almost zero aileron input in the final stages. The progressive backward pressure on the elevators is not intuitive i.e. if you put in slightly too much, never drop the nose but just hold what you have if the situation is recoverable. If in any doubt, go around.
A simmer with no previous experience in a simple piston aircraft will probably be able to arrive in the proximity of the runway, the odds of the aircraft being usable again are in the 20% range.
If you have a VR ski slalom game but have never been on a slope, get proficient at that then slap on a pair of skis. If you make it 20 feet before you fall over, well done.
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