Reality Gives Us the Framework, Imagination Fills It With Meaning: Why Do We Want to Fly?
This post aims to spark a discussion close to my heart.
It is a reflection on what draws us to flight simulation — and why flying, even virtually, resonates with something deep within us.
I would love for all of us to share our thoughts on why we fly using a simulator and what this experience means to each of us.
I’m sure the answers will be as varied as the skies we choose to explore. But here are some of my thoughts to begin with:
Why Do I Fly?
I fly to escape gravity and reality — imagination is the key to happiness, and here, “The Skies Are No Longer the Limit.”
I want to witness the beauty of nature from a bird’s-eye view, where mountains, rivers, and clouds tell a different story.
I am fascinated by the incredible machines called aircraft — a perfect harmony of physics, engineering, and human ambition.
I love exploring the complexity of the aviation world — how countless systems and technologies have evolved to bring us where we are today.
I enjoy connecting with others who share the same passion — the global community of simmers, pilots, and aviation enthusiasts.
I have always loved computers and technology — and flight simulation sits at the perfect intersection of these interests.
What Does Flying Using a Simulator Mean to Me?
It means learning endlessly.
Every flight is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding — whether it’s about navigation, weather, aircraft systems, or procedures.
It means connecting imagination with reality.
Even though it’s a simulation, it feels real — because my mind and heart are fully present in the experience.
It means respecting the real world of aviation.
Flying virtually gives me a deeper appreciation for the skill, dedication, and precision of real-world pilots, engineers, and controllers — and we must not forget the incredible work of the sim developers who make this experience possible.
It helps me gain amazing insights into systems design.
As a computer systems designer, I enjoy experiencing how aircraft systems are built from a human perspective, and I often reflect on the interaction, control, safety, and efficiency of machines.
It brings peace, focus, and joy.
Flying offers me a space where concentration meets imagination — a mindful escape that brings both challenge and calm.
Now I invite you to share your thoughts: Why do you fly? What does it mean to you?
Let’s explore together what makes this passion so powerful and universal.
I appreciate thought-provoking threads, and this is certainly one.
My thoughts mirror yours in many ways.
I enjoy parts of the process that some find tedious; each of them represent some sort of challenge, whether it’s tuning my computer for the best performance and stability, learning SPAD.NeXt, and of course, learning to fly different types of aircraft.
Some might argue that I’m not really learning to fly, rather, I’m learning to simulate flying. So be it. Like any game, I enjoy the feeling of being able to do something I can’t do in real life. It’s a vicarious thrill, and it’s the same thrill that any good fantasy provides. I’ll never fly a multi-engine turboprop, or a business jet, or a helicopter, or an A320, but I can pretend, and this sim pretends pretty darn well.
World travel. Who doesn’t want to be able to fly to all parts of the world and discover the natural and man-made wonders that we are blessed with? Am I really there? Of course not, but in my mind I am, and that’s what matters. One of the things that puzzles me the most is how critical some folks are of the imperfections in the digital representation of the world we have at our fingertips.
I have to go to work now, to pay for this hobby. But I have more thoughts, and will revisit this thread later.
A chill way to wind down after a days work.
A skill to learn, and perfect.
Being very much a goal oriented person, seeing flight through bad weather as a challenge to be overcome.
Seeing parts of the world I will most likely never see with my own eyes.
The biggest is probably the challenge of learning to fly a plane well, as it should be in the real world, and getting repeatable, and more importantly pleasing results. Flying a given plane then becomes like putting on a well tailored suit. A sense of familiarity, which leans into the chill aspect.
Nice post. I am a real world pilot and flight sim gives me the possibility to fly other machines that would otherwise be impossible for me to fly. Also it gives me the possibilities to go to other locations in the world where I have never been; and it gives me the possibility to visit a digital twin of the places where I have.
Nice reply and you raised many important points. One is about if there is real learning in this hobby or not. From all my reading and the evidence available the answer is definitely yes.
This hobby and many other similar ones like music listening are sometimes not understand by some people and we respect that. But at the end, different people put their money on different things, and spend their time where they just feel enjoyment. This hobby is definitely a very interesting one.
At the philosophical level, here is no clear separation between what is virtaul and what is real. Reality is what touches our emotions and virtaul is anything else., at keast to me.
Enjoy flying and dreaming while focusing on your business
Yes I can imagine that. I spent half my life in tech and in many occuasions I still struggle with technical issues. However my background has always helped me when I get into a technical area I am able to explore the area and unlock its secrets.
My advice to you is to ask anything you wish to know. We are here to share and exchange knowledge. For example I and perhaps others have more strength in tech but others in aviation as pilots. Those are the masters here and deserve the best respect. Flight sim is not about the computing technology but rather about aviation. We need essential computer knowlege to operate it.
Exactly. The world of simulation offers a unique opportunity to scale people’s experiences massively and conveniently. It is and will continue to be increasingly used across a wide range of domains.
You can do 100s of hours of flying from home without burning a single drop of fuel (Not counting electricity
It’s amazing when you’re an experienced real-world pilot and operate the simulator. For me, the amount of new things available sometimes is overwhelming, but I still enjoy them. Having a strong technology background is extremely helpful. For example, in the A350 Airbus, electricity generation utilizes a variable AC frequency, which is interesting because it allows the generator to run at variable speed, thereby reducing complexity and fuel usage. Yes, the elements need to work on those that are mostly DC.
On the other hand, varying the frequency to obtain variable rotation speed in a motor is the key behind electric cars. This is why Tesla Cars are not Addison. *Motor, not the battery
I wonder how much Aviate, Navigate, and Communicate will remain the framework in the future as more advanced technology is used in aircraft.
Here is a simple question for pilots: Will aircraft in the future be autonomous? i.e, pilot free. Imagine that, shortly, nearly all aircraft incidents will be due to human error.
There is a wealth of knowledge in each Black Box on an aircraft. I assume the data is uploaded to one repository, where millions of flight data points are used to … train an AI Model.
Lets break it down. I am a PhD and I learned how to think through the lens of “Systems Theory.” An aircraft is a system and each of its modules is a sub-system all designed to integrate and communicate. So, without getting into the complexity here, I am doing the following:
Learn the aircraft one system at a time. For example, do many experimental flights focusing in each flight on one system such as navigation VOR, GPS, NDB, ILS, and others. Once you cover most of the systems in the aircraft, putting that together will enable us to follow the formal piloting procedures.
Trying to do everything from the beginning will not be possible.
This is a fascinating question. I recently saw a pundit claim that the F-35 will be one of the last US fighters (if not the last) piloted by a human in the cockpit.
Remote-piloted UCAV’s are here, but not yet capable of matching the ability of a humn in the cockpit of a capable Gen5 fighter. The X-47 was a fascinating demonstration concept, but not ready for prime time.
Fully autonomous is coming. It’s both intriguing and terrifying.
A related and interesting question is how are AI models trained? As I understand it, machine learning models can be trained on data, hence the moniker; and generative AI models can be trained by humans writing statements called prompts. People can collect statements from other people and the WWW to write prompts to train their new generative AI models. We might ask ourselves what new models are being trained and how will they be used in the world?
I’d be happier with remote pilots who can take over if need be. If the controls fail in some way, then it wouldn’t matter if the pilot was onboard or not.
Better hope some bad actor doesn’t attack the control infrastructure.
Imagine you’re a remote pilot and you have a Star Trek moment: “Captain, the controls are not responding!”
To give my perspective on your original question: for me msfs is about exploring the planet and ‘visiting’ places I probably never will visit IRL. Maybe it’s curiosity, I don’t know. But the planet is so big and there are so many different cultures each with their own histories, it’s very intriguing to me.
Plus the feeling of freedom when you’re floating between heaven and earth is kind of surreal.
Now I invite you to share your thoughts: Why do you fly? What does it mean to you?
