I have a problem, and it’s time I’m honest with myself about it. Looking for others’ thoughts here. I’m a private pilot, probably 85% of the way to getting my Instrument, with dreams of commercial and flying cargo or passengers in the Caribbean some day. I’m 45, very steady, good job. I enjoy flying but it does make me apprehensive at times. I consider myself to be a very competent pilot.
My problem is this: I love simming. And I’m starting to think that it may just fill my flying need. 100LL and Jet-A in the sim are the same price, $0. Planes are cheap, too. Hourly rentals are low, no maintenance. (Being sarcastic here). In real life I have access to two wonderful club planes, a 150 and a Cherokee 180. Both incredibly well-maintained and very inexpensive. Great club, well run. And I just don’t feel like going to the airport. Simming? Sign me up. But I’m sitting here right now, work is over, I could hop in the car and go to the airport for an evening flight (it’s 6 PM here) and I just don’t feel like it.
The economic burden of flying isn’t that big a deal. And I could fly a whole lot more than I do. I think maybe it’s the training blues. Focusing your flying on a rating isn’t exactly a blast, and it can get repetitive, as opposed to day trips and going to interesting airports. Yet I’m this freaking close to my IR.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Where you literally start to wonder, maybe simming is enough for me?
I don’t know. I love the challenge of actual flight. For those of you that do it, you know it’s just different from simming.
15 yr Airline Pilot here. I feel you when you talk about simming v. real flying. I can tell you in the Airline world it gets repetitive for me at least. I love the job, but thats what flying is for me now. However when I get on flight sim, I love it. I miss GA flying and MSFS VR has really helped me recapture the magic of it. So its ok.
The training blues is normal. It can absolutely turn flying into a chore for sure. Id definitely finish out your Instrument Rating, its always nice not having to stress about bad weather rolling in . Maybe after you get done just take a break from real flying for a little. It might help.
If you are 85% towards your IR, it would be a shame to waste all that hard work, money and time, so please go yhe whole way. Simming is great, but it’s not the real thing. I can’t fly anymore for medical reasons, but I would if I could.
Simming is good practice to fill the weekends you can’t do the real thing anf to maybe practice going to airfields that you will go to in real life later on. I learned instrument flying real quick ITRW as a result of flight simulation and I also remember flying my early cross countries in the simulator beforehand.
I’m in an opposite situation. I am a PPL but cannot fly due to medical issues. Flying MSFS is sort of a substitute.
If you are in the US and your dream is to fly commercially, now is the time to finish training and rack up your hours. Many airlines large and small overestimated the COVID impact and mothballed aircraft and furloughed or retired too many pilots. Now that we are getting back to “normal”, airlines are hiring a lot of pilots. There are aircraft sitting on airport tarmacs around the country because there are not enough pilots to fly them.
I had ground school back in college but not the money to get my license. All my life I’ve done airplane stuff, though. Volunteered at a flying museum, wrenched (under A&P supervision), etc, etc. I’m now older and asked myself if a PPL was even worth it. Between paying rental hours, staying current, staying safe, and all that, I decided real flying would be more trouble than it’s worth. Flying in the kinds of planes I would be able to rent wouldn’t be too much faster than driving. Pretty much a certainty for anything I could buy. And anything too far away, I’d have to fly commercial anyway.
It might not be the thing IPs want to hear about FS2020 but I fly in VR and with FS2020 I can go wherever I want, in any plane I want, and it looks very much like it would in real life. I don’t even have to drive 5 miles to the airport, buy gas, rent, etc.
My suggestion to you once I finished my instrument rating was take a break for like 2 weeks, maybe longer if you have too. After the two weeks, I felt refreshed and eager to get back. I did not focus on studying for my commercial until maybe 2 months later down the road. What I defintley did was take trips with friends and family. It defintley helps out a lot just flying somewhere for fun rather than doing lessons non stop.
I mean you most likely do not want to slow down completely on your training if you are trying to go commerical. Find ways how to space out your training while throwing in some fun flight here and there to not burn out quickly. Studying non stop defintley brings a toll on you.
I’m not a real pilot. I can’t change that nickname here without paying for it - seriously weird - and I’m too stingy. So for what it’s worth…
I wouldn’t want to be a real pilot. But if I was 85% close to finishing up, I would not let it go that easily.
Besides, I’m missing a few things in the equation. Not to put you on the spot, I think I understand your doubts, but two things stand out to me:
If you would not make a career out of flying for real, what’s your fall back? Surely not simming for a living? (As in: you can’t really equate the two…) And how interesting is that fall back? (I don’t need to know, just an attempt to point to a question that might be useful… although I’m guessing you thought of that already…)
How do you match all of this up with what you write in the opening? “with dreams of commercial and flying cargo or passengers in the Caribbean some day”
If it’s your dream… you probably just have the blues.
Growing up in an aviation family and as avid flight simmer, it was a dream of mine to get my certificate and fly recreationally. I didn’t want to drive a bus, but do fun stuff like looking at the scenery and pretty graphics. I got my private certificate in 2008 and it felt like a huge accomplishment. I tried to keep current, but it turned into a chore. A few years later I found myself with my head out the window vomiting into the 100 knot airstream, and it was about that time I decided I was done flying. I chased my dream and found that it wasn’t for me, and have no shame about that. I still geek out about aviation and was super excited for Flight Simulator. The graphics aren’t as good as real life, but I’m happier with my feet on the ground. People move on from their interests, and that’s ok. Don’t do it if it doesn’t fulfill you or make you happy.
I’ve felt this way from time to time. I’m a recent PPL and even though IRL Flying is new and exciting sometimes I wonder if it was worth the money. As you and others mentioned, the costs of not only the license but actually staying current and safe takes a bit of the enjoyment out of it. Taking passengers is another huge responsibility on top of it all. IRL flying is certainly very rewarding but also stressful where in the sim I can sit here in VR in nice cool airconditioning stress free lol.
Ok - maybe I’m just feeling this way after getting back from an extremely hot and humid flight today. To boot I aborted due to it being extremely hazy today. Crossing even a short hop on the atlantic to block island was a bit out of my comfort zone as the haze made the horizon all blend together. Everything was 10 miles vis, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Soemthing like this in sim, i’d have the AP on sipping my coffee in comfort.
Anyway - take a break as others mentioned and give it a go. But def complete the IR. Even though I get discouraged sometimes I’m still planning on pursing it over the next few months.
No simulator, not even a Level-D one comes even remotely close to actually simulating flight.
It’s a day and night difference.
If you are already asking the question if simming is enough, your love towards flying is apparently not sufficient to invest time and money into real flying and I’m not even taking the danger of real flying into account .
That totally mischaracterizes why people choose to not start/finish a ticket. Lots of us love aviation but for various reasons, the reality for us is no ticket. It has much more to do with circumstances for many/most of us than any lack of “love”.
No, I get it. You think being a pilot makes you better and gives you insights the rest of us mortals can only stare at like an animal. Do you wear overalls and lots of pins to show everyone how special you are?
That’s a totally wrong assumption and a pretty stupid one I might add.
If this would be the case I would certainly not spend most of my time in this forum trying to help people enjoy MSFS and e.g. take part in beta testing.
Been flying private jets when I was younger. Very taxing and very competitive. Just couldn’t see me do it for life.
Always loved to instruct students, but doesn’t pay well and does get repetitive also. Also, I prefer smaller aircraft and was never tempted by airliners (that must be one of the most boring jobs I can imagine).
I am now living in the Philippines and have been considering getting back into the air, flying GA and as an instructor. However, same issue here: costs are high and pay is small.
The saying in aviation is true: how do you become a millionaire in aviation? You start as a billionaire.
I am planning to build a proper sim pit again with proper visuals, once it becomes available for MSFS.
And who knows, maybe I will get back into the air for real again, after a proper cost/reward/risk analysis that promises positive results.
One more thought, risking to sound hyper spiritual:
I started flying in real life when I was 21 and got my PPL at that age. I was hooked and had caught the flying bug. It was awesome and flying was the “highest” thing I could imagine. It made me happy and gave me joy.
As the years went on, I got into Christianity, then became spiritual and I started enjoying my relationship with God and the spiritual things.
After not having flown for a few years, I did some flying again a couple years ago. And was disappointed. Sure, I was back in the air. But it didn’t have that same effect on me anymore.
I felt like I had grown out of it. It wasn’t my season anymore.
When I asked God about it, he said something very wise: You were not primarily looking to fly, but you always aspire for the higher things.
It’s true, I had found something “higher”, greater than flying that I am more passionate about and can grow into endlessly.
I still enjoy flying, but the passion and the ecstasy it once gave me have passed. I can get much higher highs from hanging out in the heavenly realms.
I guess it’s ok to enjoy the times and the seasons when there is bliss on them, and not be afraid to move on and grow.
Bingo. And the fact there’s no chance of death removes a pretty important emotional element of flying. I do some pretty crazy stuff (in VR) at no more than 1500’ AGL.
FS 2020 is a great tool for learning but it doesn’t come close, even in VR, to mimicking real flight.
. Maybe after you get done just take a break from real flying for a little. It might help.
