I want to see how close I can simulate or recreate an entire private pilot’s license with MSFS. In other words, basically do everything you would for a real PPL (reading, ground school, testing etc.), but the actual flying will be done in a the sim. So far I have:
Course syllabus (can download for free from Sporty’s or Gleim)
All of the FAA books (Sporty’s syllabus cross-references these or assigns them as study)
Ground school - can purchase a real one like Sporty’s, King or I have a collection of youtube videos.
Flight maneuver guide - can buy books as well as view YouTube videos.
All other maps, software etc.
Obviously the missing piece is a flight instructor that “sits besides you” on the flight. For this I have found:
FS Academy VFR missions pack (good, but light compared to real PPL)
TakeFlight Interactive academy - will work with MSFS 2020 soon - this is the closest I’ve found as there are voice commands, corrections, actual maneuvers performed, and then a very robust grading/scoring system.
Gleim’s training program (but X-plane only); similar to TakeFlight, but somewhat more “realistic” in that you take off, go to a training area, do maneuvers, come back and land, and get graded.
FS Flying School - still playing with this, but offers the feedback of an instructor, grading, can do circuits etc. What is lacking is the kind of sequential buildup of lessons and structure, and specific maneuvers aren’t programmed in.
Is there anything else out there? Or is there a way to record and see all kinds of flight data after an MSFS flight? In other words, I could construct a “lesson” myself, and then see the data to see if I stayed within the specs of heading/altitude/airspeed etc.
(Also, I am very aware of the twitch series with Fodor, which is really good and realistic, but they are only videos, not interactive).
I think it is very hard, to get what you are looking at. As long as you dont know the structure of the flying lessons IRL, you cant replicate them in-game. MAYBE, there is a youtube series of someone showing his PPL journey who covers whole flight lessons? It then, you can replicate them, otherwise, i really have no idea how you could do this without taking actual lessons… But it would be SO NICE, to actually have a good addon that takes you to a virtual PPL license, in a very realistic way. I dont know of one, sadly…
Great thread. As a non IRL pilot I want to do something similar. I came into MSFS through being a VR geek who loved Google Earth. I wanted to travel to places in VR but over the past 16 months or so I’ve got more and more into the hobby, building a simple but nice flight cockpit, with a Honeycomb yoke and throttle, Thrustmaster’s beautiful TPR pedals, a Saitek radio all put on to a Playseat Airforce chair.
The first thing I did was join Skillshare for a free 30 day trial so that I could work through all of Forder’s online courses. They are a lot more focused than his Twitch videos and I really enjoyed doing them.
I’ve got all of the FS Academy courses, but yet to really start. I’ve just done the first VFR lesson so far, but planning to spend the next few weeks working through this course in detail, before progressing on to the navigator and IFR courses.
I am interested the other programmes mentioned, but haven’t tried them yet.
So far I’ve only been flying the 152 and the two 172’s in the sim. I like the idea of progressing on to the Piper Warrior and Arrow variants then purchasing the Kodiak and subscribing to Youtube’s Missionary Bush Pilot’s course on that plane.
I thought that would be a pretty intellectually stimulating and satisfying thing to do.
That’s awesome! Some of the very same ideas and impulse I have as it sounds. I’ll check out the skillshare idea. I do like Forder’s style and his videos so far so thanks for the tip.
If FS Academy and others can create mission packs, why hasn’t someone done a more detailed private pilot and IFR “mission” pack that is really just more detailed flight lessons than what FS Academy and MSFS already offer?
Also, while I’ve found lots of “ground school” youtube series, this is the only one where someone is demonstrating some of the specific PPL airman standards in MSFS (stalls and spins, short field landings etc.) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLumwWCWlwh3-ea1As9uiZf9FJA0aM_Dr7
There are several aspects of the sim that work significantly different from the real world. Some because of lazy or badly informed developers, some due to the lack of correctly working control hardware. And some for… reasons. An example of the first would be radio navigation, an example for number two is trim.
Therefore it would be dangerous to seriously attempt to learn through the sim and it doesn’t matter if it’s MSFS2020 or P3D or XPlane although the two last ones at least got the radio nav right
An instructor with more than a couple hrs to give feedback and telling your mistakes with a reasoning and explanation of possible consequences is mandatory for save flying. Anything else is just insane.
Can’t speak for CaptainJohnLaw, but if his situation is the same as mine he likely doesn’t have a real life plane to hop into to try out his sim learning so any real world experience would have to be at a flight school with an instructor. I’m fairly sure we aren’t putting ourselves or anyone else in danger.
On a serious note, I’m highly unlikely to ever learn to fly for real. Probably a couple of taster sessions will be as far I get. It’s more about the intellectual stimulation of understanding how planes work, learning the cockpit instruments, and getting an understanding of the basics of flight.
The fact that the controls feel different in a real plane, when dynamic forces are working on the plane is neither here nor there.
I love ancient history, especially Near Eastern and Classical. What I can read about those times in books would in no way equip me with a real experience of living in those times, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to communicate with a real ancient Egyptian or Greek, but I’m never getting a time machine to go back there anyway so it doesn’t matter.
It’s the same with flying in Microsoft Flight Simulator, I’m not expecting to become a real pilot from my PC. It’s just about getting an appreciation of aviation.
Yes, this is the same for me. Doing my actual PPL is not in the cards right now but want to just enjoy the intellectual stimulation and learning about aviation, weather etc.
That said, Gleim’s X-plane and TakeFlight interactive both market their product as a way to help familiarize what you will do in the actual plane, and maybe even cut down on expensive training time. Obviously I agree that there is no comparison to real flying, but many have commented here and elsewhere that the sim especially helps with working electronics and if they go on to their instrument rating. And packages like Red Bird are certified to be able to log hours. That’s why I would still like to put together a set of materials and software that could be used either way: 1) Education/entertainment only but in the most realistic way possible or 2) Help with real world training to be used before, during, or after real world training.
I am doing a Learn To Fly series on my YouTube channel from start to finish following the Airmen Certification Standards (ACS). It is a very long process. Shared cockpits giving the ability to give dual instruction and shared controls would be an amazing step forward for those wanting to learn - someday! I am a former CFI with around 2,000 hours of dual given and 8,000 hours total time. This series was started to show flight sim users what it is like to learn to fly in the real world and for anyone in the real world looking for a preview of their next flight lesson. Here is a link to the series which should bring up a play list: Straight and Level | Climbs | Turns | Descent | Standard Rate Turns - YouTube
My spouse says I spend a lot of time “play this game” and reading flight training manuals and books, even though I will never get behind the controls of a real aircraft… I have loved aviation my entire life, the time I spend learning about flight dynamics and “Playing” this are an extension of my appreciation… At the end of the day, this is my hobby, no different than people who play NHL’22… They may know a lot about Hockey, and can probably hold their own on a ice rink, but they won’t be playing for the NHL anytime soon…
