it helped me for sure in knowledge of instrumentation, navigation, atc phraseology, aerodynamics, those kind of things. I started gliding recently, actual plane handling is a complete different ball game - I don't touch the gliders in the sim because of learning the wrong things. But I think simulation really helps with getting more comfortable with all other aspects than actual flying.
this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
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It definitely did not help with getting to know how the aircraft handled - sims are just too... different from reality. Even my flight school's dedicated whole-cockpit sim wasn't great at emulating real flight physics.
What it did help with is cockpit flows and flight planning (within reason). The school wanted us students to learn certain procedures by heart (unsure how yours does things) and only verify their completion via checklist. Flying multiple traffic patterns and learning when to do what was certainly helpful. So, definitely useful, but not for everything. The only way to really learn to fly is... to fly :)
Contrary to what most people say, I found that having flown X-Plane for a year or so before flight training, always striving for reality, has given me a pretty good feel for how a real aircraft handles. This probably doesn't translate for all planes and for everyone, but it sure helped me. With a good set of rudder pedals and even a mediocre stick, I can practice crosswind landings and sideslips and it helps me being more comfortable when doing it in real life. It needs to be a pretty accurate simulation for that, and judging that isn't easy, and bad models can lead to bad habits, so I won't recommend it in general.
The only way to really learn to fly is… to fly :)
That is mostly still true, although professional full-flight simulators used for airliner type-rating and recurrency training are probably good enough to teach you to fly without ever having been in a real aircraft. But those cost at least an order of magnitude more per hour than a light GA airplane, so it's not cost-effective for ab-inito flight training.
Ive used it to get a rough idea of approach into new airports. It isnt perfect at all, but has helped 'get a lay of the land' so to speak.
Sims suck for feeling how something will fly. Maybe it is the lack of hardware that makes me feel like im forcing the experience.But msfs has been an asset for a wierd approach on occasion, just to get an idea of what to expect flying into addison or centinneal for example.
Personally i get bored flying for 2 hours and not going outside my house. But i can see the appeal so i wont judge it. It has its place and plenty of people love it. If you can find a good service, for radio work ive noticed some sims are more educational than actual atc tbh. And way safer when you mess up royaly. Speaking as someone who has fucked up his calls with vegas approach, radio work is pretty important.
Not at all. I am still being a sw engoneer
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