I been flying sim since FS2002, and after doing the Rod Machado flight school my parents sent me up for a intro flight in a real 172. Instructor was blown away by how well i could fly and knew my way around the plane for first time being in a 172, and I was a 14 year old kid back then. So yes, FS will definitely help.
it will help with gauge scans (not much anymore with everything coming stock with G1000s), help immensely with IFR flying, procedures, navigation, every single thing besides pure VFR.
I ended up taking some flying lessons later on in life before my medical got denied, and for the first few lessons my instructor kept calling me out on flying by the instruments instead of by looking outside and feeling the plane. Youll do the same thing, any seasoned simmer going over to the real thing flies by the instruments when they start out, thats all we know.
Of course it is useful providing you have the right expectations. For example, do not log 1000hrs in the sim and then expect to pass a licence skills test in the real aircraft on your first flight!
Learn the correct procedures from a qualified instructor/resource and how to properly execute them in the real aircraft, after that you can 100% use the sim to practice what you have learnt. But as soon as something doesnât work right in the sim stop! Whatever you do, donât adapt to the sim.
Stick mainly to procedural stuff like radio nav, comms, flying the pattern, and avoid putting too much emphasis on practicing hand-flying/âthe feelâ because that can never be replicated by any sim.
Yes. Absolutely it is. Nothing official mind but I have been using sims for the last twenty years as valuable training for real world flying (PPL).
You have bang on Nav Data. You can use it as a superb cross country trainer, with Complex models you can practice Flows, procedures and Emergencies, the list goes on and on.
I used it to practice for my PPL XC flights back in January. Since the sim uses all satellite imagery, you can practice pilotage and dead reckoning. If you hop on an online atc network such as pilotedge it can certainly engage the âflying brainâ and add to that pilot workload. You can use checklists and stuff as well. As for getting the âfeelâ of the aircraft down, thereâs nothing like the seat of the pants feeling of the real thing. You can get some basic concepts like coordinated flight, ect, but this sim seems to not simulate that properly to me.
Every couple of months someone asks the exact same question.
Call your local FSDO ask to speak with an ASO and ask them if you can substitute training in a video game for real flight training. Donât have an FSDO then call your Ministery or Aviation, EASA, or whoever is the regulating authority in your country. They love calls like this.
Donât want to call the Feds, then call Microsoft and ask them âCan I officially use your software as a substitute for formal flight training?â
I know what they are going to say, in fact, every certificated pilot worth their salt knows what the Feds are going to say.
First of all, numerous simmers in this forum just canât seem to let go of the fact this video game is NOT a flight simulator. (Better read this quick as certain individuals will quickly assemble their minions to flag this post as inappropriate.)
Notice Webster is quite clear that a flight simulator is an airplane [sic] pilot-training device.
If you decide to call Microsoft ask them if Microsoft Flight SImulator is a pilot-training device.
The fact is flight training is very expensive. The cost to become an Instrument rated Commerical pilot is $80,000 to $100,000 depending on location. All of that cost and you are still not qualified to pilot an airliner. An ATP is going to require another 750 to 1,250 hours depending on if you got an aviation degree along with your certificates. It is becoming as difficult and expensive to become an airline pilot as it is to become a medical doctor.
So most of the people you will meet on this video game forum have no hope of ever becoming a real certified airplane pilot. There are a lot of anarchists here who rather push their agenda. As such this is the worse place ever to ask about real flight training. If you are going to become a professional pilot then do yourself a huge favor and join an organization that is dedicated to the proper training of pilots such as AOPA. https://www.aopa.org/
There are forums on AOPA where professional CFIs would be happy to steer you in the right direction when it comes to your training. You will also get access to AOPAs huge knowledge base and can speak with real aviation attorneys. Most importantly when using any software to enhance your training, you should coordinate that with your CFI. They have your training interests at heart.
I think that you may be overreacting to the OPâs question. He only asked if MSFS can help him moving forward. I do not think that he was asking if he can replace IRL flight hours with the sim. Regardless, to get a PPL (or, as you jump to, any professional license), he is required to have a CFI, check rides, etc. - MSFS will be a blip on that radar in the end. Yes, overall you cannot replace flight training with MSFS, but a lot of IRL pilots have found ways for it to help.
To mirror a lot of the other comments on here, yes, with managed expectations, it can be a huge help.
FSX was my âgo home and practice what I just learned in the airplane IRLâ tool.
Checklist use, procedures, and ded reckoning can be practiced with little consequence to getting back into the airplane to do it all again with an instructor. There is benefit to practicing these things at home, for certain.
I will say though, that in my opinion, the âedge of envelopeâ maneuvers, most notably power-on and power-off stalls, are not modeled as well in MSFS as they were in order versions of the sim, with an incredibly high sensitivity to dropping a wing violently and snapping into an over-exaggerated spin, regardless of keeping the ball on-center.
Other than that, slips to landing, crosswind corrections, and aileron authority on the ground to compensate for crosswinds while taxiing seem to be represented pretty fairly.
I think the idea of âlearning bad habitsâ is a bit of a boogeyman when it comes to adding a home sim to your flight training. It helped me immensely being familiar with aircraft operations, systems, and instrument use when I started flying for real.
And it was pretty easy to resist the urge to drop under bridges and slip through the Gateway Arch flying IRL too.
Itâs a tool, and can be used as such, with reasonable expectations.
