IRL Intro Flight perspective from a VR sim pilot

User Support Hub Virtual Reality (VR)
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I’ve been playing the sim since the fall of 2020 when VR was introduced. I started with an RTX2070S, Ryzen 5 3600X and 16GB of ram. I’ve since upgraded to a 3080ti, Ryzen 7 5800X3D and 32 GB of ram… oh and I’ve build a 2DOF full motion rig with Butkicker, Honeycomb Yoke and Throttle. Using the Valve Index.

I’ve strived for as much realism as I could reasonably muster. I follow checklists, read POHs for the plane I’m flying, watch IRL pilots on YT fly the same plane, patterns and procedures. It’s really, truly been life changing.

The idea of taking it to the next level and going for a PPL slowly creeped into my conscience and conversations. This summer, I started communicating with the local flight school in my area and got the ball rolling. I’m nearly done my medical, I’ve started the air exercises part of the ground school (in preparation for in flight training) and just this week went up for an intro flight with an instructor.

Before the flight I was anxious, excited and a bit nervous… I was not nervous or stressed about the actual flight mind you, I was nervous about ruining my illusion of what flying a GA plane was IRL and thus taking the luster and shine away from my last 2 years of VR flying (I didn’t want to lose that wonder and amazement I have been experiencing with VR).

Well let me tell you what… Although getting into a 20 year old flight school C172 on a real tarmac is, of course, way more visceral then strapping into my motion chair. The smells, the bounce, the clack of the door, the feeling of the headset and the feeling of the shoulder of the instructor against yours all make it REAL. …but… the familiarity of the C172 (it looked like Asobo used this very plane to model their classic gauge C172… I assume they all look pretty much the same :smiley: ), was amazing. My eyes and head went to the same places, I immediately knew where I was and was completely comfortable and at home. Going through the checklists with the instructor was just a repeat of what I always do. The engine start sound and vibrations was waaaayyy better though (I wish someone would improve the sound pack for the C172… I’ve since cranked my buttkicker to the max but it still doesn’t really do it justice).

The taxi, the runup (we need better C172 sounds in the sim!!), the lineup… felt at home. As we started our roll, my eyes naturally darted from the center line, the engine gauges, the speed, and back to center line and back to speed and rotate!

OK… this is where the sim CANNOT “simulate” the feeling… WOW, the sink back into the seat, the sudden heaviness of your head and the stomach drop… ha! Amazing… I’m convinced that after a few takeoffs, your body and brain get used to it and are better at timing the counter muscle flexes and your brain is able to anticipate the G load.

The instructor brought us to 1500’, trimmed it out and adjusted throttle for cruise. He then gave me control. He guided our short journey and pointed out landmarks and gave me basic info on the planes functions - trim wheel, throttle, mixture, rudder, flaps etc. (of course I didn’t tell him I was a hardcore VR sim pilot with a motion chair .. I just nodded and said “cool… got it… ok…” a lot! haha! :smile:)

I completed a few 20 degree turns as we followed a local highway that looped around back to the airport and maintained altitude (he had trimmed it up pretty well so not much to do there). We came in at 45 degrees to the runway and entered the pattern on downwind. The yoke was heavier then I expected but I got used to the extra pressure required pretty quickly. I nailed the downwind heading and brought our altitude down to 1000’ ASL. His quote: “Your flying this thing like a boss!” ha! He took control just before turning base and absolutely greased the landing… wow it was smooth…

He is a great young instructor and the perfect person to take me up for my intro flight.

So what do you think I did when I got home?! I parked the Asobo C172 exactly were it was at the flight school and recreated the flight as close to real life as I could.

My fears were unfounded… the feeling of recreating the flight on my rig in VR was amazing… and felt just as real as always. I’m so happy to be starting this journey for my PPL and MSFS VR is the reason why.

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That’s all so great. I strongly recommend that every simmer go to their local airport for an intro flight.

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This was great to read. Your excitement is through the roof and that’s fantastic. It’s always nice to see someone get into a real airplane as a result of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

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That’s really exciting, and a thrill to read. Now you just need to upgrade to a Brunner yoke so you can trim by the feel of the yoke in VR just like the real thing. :slight_smile:

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I started flight training in C172s this past week too, as a result of MSFS finally pushing me over the edge. It’s been a life-long aspiration, but I’ve always made excuses. My experience was a lot like yours. My instructor muttered to himself at one point “You already know how to fly; I have nothing to teach you”. That was a bit of hyperbole, because I can tell already that I have lots to learn and there ARE material differences between the sim and the real thing, but MSFS has at least familiarized me with the aircraft.

Edit:

Coincidentally, P Gatcomb posted a new video the other day about exactly this topic.

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Thanks for the great post. I was in your exact position about six months ago when I finally decided to fulfill my lifelong dream. Unlike you, though, my first impressions of my introductory flight after a lifetime of simming were a bit underwhelming. Other than the physical sensations, I had a “been there, done that” feeling.
I decided to push on, though, and now I’m almost done with my PPL training. Just a little night flying, one more cross-country solo, a bit more practice in the maneuvers, then the final exams. It’s been very humbling and gratifying at the same time.

Good luck with your training!

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Yes, I was surprised by how much actual back pressure I had to apply in the landing phase. Glad you enjoyed it.

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90mm pitch travel and a handfull of buttons for 1300€ is not really a good deal only to get some FFB.

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What a nice thread. There are a lot of elitists on different flight sim forums that say that you barely learn anything from flightsimming and that flying IRL is completely different.

I did the same as you but in a Katana and I couldn’t agree more. Flightsimming indeed makes you feel at home in a real airplane, especially if you practiced in the same aircraft.

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They actually made me sit in a Diamond DA20 to see how it “fit” :grin:. I’m 6’ 210lbs, so the the little DA20 is tight but it was very comfy and I will have no trouble in it. The flight school’s fleet consists of 3 C172s and 40+ DA20s.

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Until recently, Learning from a flightsim was a no, no. But these days, and with MSF it really is a realistic training tool. If it’s use properly

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As I’ve been working my way through the air exercises portion of my ground school, the sim (in VR with motion) has been so great. As I finish a section… be it turns, climbs, stalls etc., I’m able to jump right in and practice the procedures. I know the G loads will be different along with the other things I described above, but the procedures and for the most part, the way the aircraft responds is so very close to reality. It really hammers home the lessons. I don’t think someone playing the sim in 2D flat mode would get nearly the same benefits, but I’ve never played like that, so who am I to say? All I know is that with a fairly high end rig in VR, it’s helping me understand the lessons in a way that will most certainly help during IRL flight lessons.

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Absolutely. Even with just 2D you can learn a lot from MSFS if you’re actually trying to learn procedures, instruments, navigation etc. through the Internet. Most people who use MSFS don’t do this. They mostly just fly around and that’s not going to teach you a whole lot.

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The flight school where I am training has C172s and C152s. They basically said “don’t bother” with the C152s because the 152 is too small for me. I’m fine with learning on the C172s, though. They have both G1000 and classic models, so it will be easy to feel comfortable in both with my MSFS experience. The avionics in the classics are a bit different than the game (Garmin G5s and GTN650s, plus Garmin radios and transponder), but Garmin has nice emulators that you can download in order to learn how to use their avionics at home.

One thing I was warned about ahead of starting training was that there would inevitably be lessons where I would think “I paid how much for what!?” afterwards. That’s already been true for me in the limited number of lessons that I’ve done. There’s been a bit of “wax on, wax off” (a la the Karate Kid) type learning in the early lessons that’s a bit underwhelming, but I understand the rationale for it. It’s basically about learning to judge airspeed, attitude and power setting by sound and feel, without reference to the instruments, and that’s something you couldn’t do in MSFS.

And later on in the syllabus, they’ll even have us spend some time in the school’s simulators for things like unusual attitude recovery training, etc.

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The difference is the used senses. In reality you fly by feel of pants and ears. In the sim you fly by your eyes only. Even ears is barely possible as all the tiny audible differences are just not modelled and the engines are not simulated in depth. That’s the main difference. Everything else can be trained in the sim just fine.

When I started my flight training at 15 I had two years of flight sim before. I went there with my head spinning of “knots”, “autopilot”, “attitude indicator” and all that stuff and some really bad habits.. My instructor almost dismounted his stick behind me to beat me with it when I started to trim to hold the altitude. And with what we have here can simply not be used to train engine management. Maybe A2A will eventually release their Accusim environment for MSFS but until then don’t take an engine as a simulation and certainly no radial.

It lacks all the situations beyond normal flight envelopes. Even turns are far from realistic. Procedures and to a degree navigation can be trained. But not flying itself.

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I guess the point of my post was to really highlight the similarities to a well equipped and dialed in VR setup and how if a VR pilot strives to follow proper procedures, the experience of flying IRL can feel at home. I’m in the very very start of my journey, so these are certainly only my initial observations and feelings. I’m certain that as I get deeper into it, the differences will become more apparent and the limitations of the sim will be highlighted.

But… what most surprised me during my intro flight (to my great delight!), was how similar it actually was, and how “at home” I felt in that 20 year old C172 bouncing around at 1500’ :slight_smile:

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FSX brought me to two intro flights in a C182 and a C172 about 7-8 years ago. I was so excited to fly but on both occasion , it was in July on a bumpy and turbulent air days and I stopped flying GA aircraft in real life at that moment. I got scared of the feeling and didn’t enjoy it but I was so mad at the same time because I love flying in the sim so much and even more since VR is available. I too have spent thousands to upgrade all my gear and I love it. All in all , I agree that the similarities are phenomenal and I’m happy to say that on both intro flights , I did the whole flying from takeoff to landing. But gosh is it shaky and bumpy in those small (tiny) planes loll. I wish I had the balls to jump back in real life flying sometimes and happy to see and read about people like you that enjoyed their experience. It makes me want to push myself and surpass my fears… happy flying!! :blush:

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absolutely true. I can’t get MSFS to work in VR but I fly DCS in VR exclusively and it’s an absolutely amazing experience, you almost feel that you fly. The perception of depth is incredible.

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I recently had a one-day introductory helicopter experience after 10+ years of flight sim experience and 100’s of not 1,000’s of hours in helis. Previously I have also had a couple of flight experiences in fixed wings (Piper Warrior and Cessna 150/152).
To echo your comments, sim really do provide a good grounding for becoming familiar with the cockpit environment particularly with VR. Likewise while it’s not the same having a good appreciation of how to fly takes a lot of the pressure away.

Personally each experience I have had in a real aircraft has felt very natural and familiar, of course with the benefit of other senses coming into play. I think as long as you approach flying a real aircraft with a sensible attitude, and are willing to accept you may have learned some bad habits in sims then you will benefit from sims.

The feedback I got from the heli instructor I had was extremely positive. He actually question me at one point thinking I was there covertly checking him out, I.e. I knew what I was doing.
Nearer the end of the day he told me you had to do 45 hours minimum to get your PPL (heli), that most people take around 75 hours. His assessment of me was he thought I could do it in 48.

Congrats SplitCurve49315 - great to hear of your experience. :+1::smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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But that’s a problem of the sim. It shakes the world outside around the plane and that’s not how you see it in reality. Our brain focuses on a certain spot and doesn’t shake the world about.