Good day, when i open Microsoft Flight Simulator Xbox Series X version game, during the initial phase of loading the game, among the opening screens there is one who shows me an image of the cockpit of a jetliner intitulated in italian “Aerei di linea a livello di studio” which means, if i do not mistake my English Language knowledges, “Study (or studio) level airliners”.
I am curious about this, could you of the forum, or developers explanate what does this sentence mean?
Thanks for your answers.
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Study level generally means more of the systems are modeled at a higher level of details than a non study level aircraft. You will need to learn more of the correct procedures etc to successfully start up and operate the study level aircraft, at least in theory.
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Back in the day, one used to be able to purchase a simulator and a desk mounted 5-pack and yoke so that you could attain your IRL flight hours just by practicing in a video game. “Study level” comes from the depth of systems in that sim which are detailed enough you can use the game to study for the real world counterpart . Nowadays these are less available since aviation authorities would likely rather you have someone certified physically next to you when learning to fly (or so i would guess) or better yet going through an approved training program. Last i heard CFIs love flight simmers because they get to yell at the student for all the wrong stuff they learned flying virtual ones.
Personally i find “study level” a dated term since MSFS (or P3D or Xplane) is not certified to train pilots who are earning a given pilots license and properly certified sims run in the 10s of thousands of dollars (if not more). A more accurate term would “High fidelity aircraft.” It still describes the depth of simulation in that plane as one to be more accurate but leaves out any connotations that you could use it to learn the real thing (beyond cockpit familiarization)
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I like your summation, bit I would also add that a Study Level is more than good cockpit orientation.
It must be able to allow the simmer to follow more advanced flight procedures accurately.
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i guess. Even still different airlines have different procedures for the same thing. One Airline might wait to turn of APU until 10,000 feet, another might have you turn it off as soon as you have two good engine starts. One way or another by the time you get into the real thing there are like 100 things you’ve had to unlearn from flying in simulators. That’s why i think it’s more familiarity since they won’t spend as much time training you on where the buttons and dials and switches are
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I think you are trying to refer to PCATDs in which AC 61-126 was canceled back in 2008 and replaced with the BATD and AATD standards. The PCATD never allowed you to earn an instrument rating “just by practicing in a video game.” The PCATD which was tested by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University allowed an Instrument student to substitute 10 hours in an approved PC Based simulator for the aeronautical experience required under FAR Part 61.65 Instrument Rating. (I am a U.S.-based CFI, CFI-I, MEI and there may be other rules with other countries. However, it is my general understanding that the PCATD was primarily a U.S. only effort, and few to no other countries allowed the use of PCATDs.)
Yes, CFI-Is generally prefer the use of the simulator, but it is not to yell. Removed from the aircraft you remove the noise, vibration, and other distractors of real-world flight and can concentrate on basic skills. So if a client is having difficulty in a particular area the BATD or AATD offers a solution that allows for focused training free of other distractions. The ATDs also allow for such things as freezing or pausing so the CFI-I can provide instruction free of a moving aircraft. Thus when the client makes a mistake, usually in buttonology with advanced avionics, the ATD provides a platform where the CFI-I can allow the mistake to happen, let the client see the result of the mistake, and then freeze or even back up the flight to allow the client to perform the task correctly.
As for the term “study level,” it was coined on a major flight simulation forum and picked up by semi-professional reviewers. As such it was applied to a product post-development to identify a product that in the opinion of the reviewer allowed the user to follow the procedures in an applicable operator’s manual and see real-world expected results. It was, in the beginning, something that had to be earned. Today, it has become a self-declared marketing term applied by developers.
Most developers seem to have the best intentions when they apply the study level moniker to their product. I worked with one developer as a consultant and their software engineers were busy studying manuals and watching YouTube videos. I had to warn them a number of times that the operator’s manuals are rarely complete and the version they had was most likely out of date. YouTube videos didn’t always show the correct indications. On one particular piece of hardware, I noted there were over two dozen different manufacture’s part numbers that could be installed in the aircraft they were trying to model and nearly a hundred software revisions that occurred over time. Even their real-world pilots were mostly only going to see normal operations of the hardware and rarely if ever see abnormal.
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Also, don’t assume the ‘study level’ moniker has any bearing on how good or bad a modeled aircraft is. There is plenty out there that’s just complicated and/or pretty but still junk.
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Nothing at all or everything.
You can use the beautiful Carenado Models to study the visuals of an aircraft.
You can use the Asobo A320 to study the Cockpit layout of an A320 neo Cockpit.
It’s a made up phrase without an official definition.
It means to everybody something else. If somebody uses the phrase it’s interesting what he believes it is supposed mean or what it means to him.
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It seems to me that the ‘Studio’ part of the phrase is a translation error (I saw it in the German version of the sim - something like ‘Trainingslevel’ would probably fit better).
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I think complex or advanced would be a better moniker.
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To me it means that for about 85% of in sim flying you can follow the actual real world checklists, FCOM and QRH’s/abnormal procedures checklists and the aircraft would behave in that same real world predictable manner…
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