Oh Boy! Thanks so much for all your input! This is fantastic to see real pilots describing how a sim feels in comparison to a real plane or a professional flight simulator!
Regarding the cross-wind situation mentioned by NOTSOFANTASTIC: you can of course program cross-winds or thunder-storms, stormy weather, complete fog, snow etc... in FS2004 and the resulting winds are very frustrating to deal with, especially in a 737 which is, as it is quite clear from your post, is too sluggish (as I suspected it was) in MSFS 2004.
I had started to get weary with the ridiculous sluggishness of the 737 - all models I've tried so far are like that (the -400 and -800) when landing that I thought, "this CAN'T be like this in real life" ...I move my flight yoke literally with one finger and not even move it but NUDGE it and the plane responds. I am trying to see if adjusting the sensitivity of the yoke has any effect and I'll try a really challenging landing at Mount Hagen airport in Papua New Guinea next in the default 737-400 as I experiment with reduced yoke sensitivity. It is interesting that you mentioned that Flight Unlimited 3 is a much better sim than MSFS2004. I had heard of Flight Unlimited but it doesn't seem to be available here all that much or it sells quickly (I don't know which) for one minute I see it on shelves, the next minute it's gone.
JPSINGH: Thanks for the comparison to the A320 - and yes it was extremely useful! That's interesting regarding how quickly it can manuever to the parallel runway at only 200 FT AGL! I have found it to be highly maneuverable too (using the IFDG model from
www.ifdg.net with Pedro Oliveira's flight dynamics).
Is the A320 also a plane which doesn't slow down so readily as can, for example the 747-400 Jumbo - the apparent procedure for descent with a Jumbo is to literally cut throttle completely to idle and let it descent at approximately 2000 ft/min. while the plane naturally starts slowing down also as it descends. This also works (albeit at a slower rate of descent) for the 737 but not for the A320-200. I believe I am using incorrect descent procedure here - I may have to descent in increments - descend, then level off with throttle reduced, to reduce speed, then once speed is down a notch (e.g. from 325KIAS to 280KIAS), then continue descending, then level off to reduce speed again etc... - is this the way an A320 descent is made in real-life?
GEAR DOWN AND LOCKED: The feel of the forces, the wind and the noises are of course something we can never experience. Something tells me, though, that I will be excellent at responding the both the airplane and the environment if I were to become a real pilot. I have a keen sense of my surroundings, very good 3D -spatial orientation/judgement and love the mechanical/technical aspect of planes (although some of those VOR/ILS approach techniques can get a little overwhelming).
Thanks all again for your feedback! ... Now, for the real question: do you think a 40-year-old can go to flight school and still be an attractive employee (at his age) to be hired as a pilot in a commercial airline?
)
John