Question for real world student pilots or CFI’s

[vlrning2fly]

I am a real world student pilot in the early stages of my training. I just competed the 4 fundamentals and moving to the nest stage this weekend. I fly about 2 - 3 hrs a week.

I would love to connect with real world student pilots or CFI’s to understand how you fit FS into your training. I am specifically looking for folks who are VFR training on a C152 or C172.

• How do you use FS in your training?
• Are there specific components of the experience that are more valuable than others? Any that are not useful at all.
• What is your hardware setup for yolk, throttle quadrant and rudder pedals?
• How many hours (a week) of real world training do you do and how many hours on FS?

[BarrelShip43882]

Here is the bottom line from a long time private pilot:
The more time you use any flight simulator (MSFS, X-Plane, etc) the better the student -and- pilot you will be. Period - at any stage of your IRL flying career. Doesn’t matter what equipment you have in the home cockpit, or how many pixels your monitor has. It matters that you are engaged with an airplane. Heck - I used to fly with keyboard on MS’s first version.

The more you simulate the safety aspects of flight and fuel planning, starting cold and dark, using checklists, the better student and IRL pilot you will be.

I was a student in the 1980’s, and IFR certified in 2009. In all cases, practicing with whatever simulator existed at the time improved my ability to interpret and understand the instruments, interpret and understand the view of the runway on approach or the world and horizon when practicing maneuvers, as well as learn the muscle memory needed to “fly”. When you practice your last or next flight lesson or a cross country flight in the simulator, you find you are able to anticipate the IRL flight and stay ahead of the aircraft AND your instructor. Being practiced and confident with the instructor will allow the instructor to teach you more than just the minimum requirements. In the IRL flight you can “tune” your reflexes to the real plane’s controls, as well as understand the butt-in-seat feeling of real flying because you already understand what the airplane and the world is telling you.

Simulators can’t teach you the nuances of “coordinated flight - good rudder skills” and “P-Factor”, or really good landing flare technique as much as IRL flight. Simulators can’t do ATC well, which is intimidating to students IRL.

I can’t stress enough that practicing flying the instruments and emergencies will save your life. Odds are you will end up in a cloud or becoming a glider by accident, or some other thing that makes you NEED to manage your airspeed and attitude without looking outside and/or without panicking. I did lose my engine while a young pilot and because I could READ the instruments in the cockpit and had practiced engine out scenarios in sims, I was able to manage the best glide speed, aviate, navigate and communicate over a city on a poor visibility day to find a suitable landing. Simulators give 99% of that at 1% of the cost.

So even a basic computer setup with low graphics and a basic yoke w/throttle is all you really need to get HUGE benefits from a flight sim. Anything above that is gaming - or replacing the real flying experience because you’re not doing it IRL. (If you’re in the US) You’ll notice the “FAA certified basic training simulator” at your flight school is pretty lame. There is a reason for that.

If you use the simulator AT LEAST the same number of hours of both classroom and instructor time, you’ve doubled your training experience for almost free. Do it!

Best wishes. Flying is a passion. Those that have it, live it.

[vlrning2fly]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I am really encouraged by your reply since the Flight Simulator setup was an investment that initially wasn’t sure about. My mind was put at ease when I actually started using the software and I am sure that that this will be a huge benefit to my IRL training. Your response here validates that.

I posted a picture of my setup

[Eefoe]

+1 to the first guy’s comment. If you treat it like a serious plane in a serious environment, it will always be a positive influence, since you’re constantly engaging your mind in the activity.

On the other hand, if you cut corners and half-■■■, or play it like arcade game, you create bad habits that could bleed into your real world flying.

[vlrning2fly]

Yep, I get that. No, I am not playing it like a ‘game’. Using the sim is very much part of my ground school training and I take it seriously.

[MtnFlyCO]

A flight simulator can make you a better pilot IRL. A flight simulator can help with the proficiency of many areas that simply take practice. Below is just some of what a flight sim can help with:
• Always using checklists
• Multitasking especially under pressure
• Remembering to update your heading indicator (stream gauges)
• Remembering to switch fuel tanks
• Remembering to monitor engine gauges
• Spacial awareness (stream gauges)
• Timing and steps of procedures
• Making everything habit
• Using Vatsim to become comfortable with ATC
• Plan your flight as you would IRL and fly that VFR flight in MSFS2020 using visual checkpoints such as lakes, highways, towns, VOR’s…
• This list is off of the top of my head and there are many more advantages.

[DA40CGDFQ]

I have to disagree with most here. A flight sim is good after you have your license. You will get into bad habits. The sim is good but not for student pilots. It’s all about the feel. Sitting at the desk is not the same.

As a VFR pilot is your eye position the same as in the real aircraft. Does it perform the same? Everything is looking out the window, setting your attitudes for climb decent level flight, turns , co ordinated flight. Do you start cold and dark each time? Or do you short cut right to fly.

Rehearsing emergency forced approach is good in a sim. Planning your cross country, is good.

But stalls, slow flight, steep turns no. Concentrate on your studies.

You will get away with things in a sim that may be unsafe in real life.

Be careful.

[vlrning2fly]

I’m guessing you have real experience. I’m fairly new at this.

While I’m sure there a lot the sim can’t teach you and there is not substitute for real world flying, I can tell you that I’m already getting better at how I use instruments and can now take the time to get comfortable at learning them on the sim. My ability to go between instruments and see how attitude affects airspeed or vertical speed etc has definitely gotten better when I’m sitting in a real aircraft. I’m also learning how to avoid fixation.

Again, never a substitute for the real thing, but it’s helping me.

[BarrelShip43882]

Lot of good points in these responses and a lot of experience talking to you. Very common thread is to take it seriously to develop good habits - no shortcuts. Learn in the air, and reinforce in the sim.

[GrueDiademe81]

@BarrelShip43882

Learn in the air, and reinforce in the sim.

This! Very well said

[PacificSet90456]

I used my flight simulator when I was a student pilot and during instrument ground school. I would use the simulator to visualize the questions and answers in the books.

The biggest thing missing from any flight simulator is everything that goes into the pre-flight such as planning the flight, weight and balance including fuel calculations, researching the weather, notams, sigmets, airmen’s, and the all-important the walk-around. Technology has improved so much that paper sectionals and charts are no longer required. But all the new technology has not eliminated preflight tasks and learning stick and rudder. For example, the metal E6B could perform many necessary calculations. Today student pilots still need to make these calculations using an electronic EGB equivalent. Finally, today’s technology can overwhelm anyone with too much information. For example, the when I first started using SimBrief, my flight reports were 20, 30 or more pages. Did I NEED all that information? Maybe not if I’m flying VFR locally or just practicing pattern work.

[salamonshoe]

I’m a student pilot as well I train in a c152 and piper cherokee and I can say my cfi is very impressed I practice everything I’ve learned on fs like for a example touch and go remaining in the traffic pattern take off and landings is the best way to start

[VestedCrib89417]

Hi, I am a flight instructor, when I have students who come from flight simulator, I see the difference, they understand much faster what is explained to them than those who do not use it.
I repeat my opinion is that starting with flight simulator is better than starting to fly without … moreover, even during real training it is always good to continue flying virtual, especially if online to perfect aeronautical phraseology

[salamonshoe]

I agree with you

[FSAcademyLTD]

Hi there,

I did my PPL in a C172, CPL in a Seminole, IR in a DA42 and ATPL for the A320. I used flight sim every step of the way.

It has maximum benefit IF you use it to practice REAL techniques. If you spend your simming hours doing the wrong things, you’ll just get good at doing the wrong things, which will take effort to undo once you start formal instruction.

That’s why I have been making FS Academy training missions since about 2014, so that you can have some authentic direction to your flying, whether its for your own satisfaction or as preparation to do it for real.

I use an A320 on P3D to practice before my sim tests every 6 months and it makes it feel like a breeze compared to turning up unprepared. I can even put in some of the failures I expect to be examined on and the sim replicates them brilliantly.

All I’d chip in is to make sure you’re doing things properly before you practice them.

Happy landings!

[Ash6246956]

I agree with most comments here, I am a CFI with 35 years real flying experience. Those that try to do things correctly on a simulator rather than “playing” will generally be far better prepared and usually learn faster. Simulators can be, and are, a real tool and benefit to learning to fly. They do however cause some issues and allow bad habits to form, lack of lookout being a major one. It is important when learning any new task to form “good habits” and practices very early on, otherwise it takes a lot of time to “undo” these as they have often become hard wired. In the simulator world you will not die from a “mid-air” through lack of lookout, but you will IRL!!!
Beyond this, and moving up the experience tree, great practice for all procedures including IFR stuff and beyond. So, simulators get my vote if used as a “tool” rather than a game.