To put a contrary viewpoint .. it all depends on the style of training. Steam driven needs the pilot's brain to be involved and a modicum of stick and rudder skills development.
Going one way .... the glass toy still works the same - stick forward, houses get bigger, stick back, houses get smaller, stick further back, houses go round in circles - the airframe doesn't know what style of cockpit is up front - so the steam dinosaur's stick and rudder skills transfer over reasonably easily in manual flight .. may be a different story when it comes to getting on top of the automatics ... I am reminded of a wonderful elder statesman of the game who would be known to many of the Oz readership. His first jet transport at age somewhere in the mid-50s (he had flown MeatAxes in Korea .. but that was a long time ago) in a mongrel of an old sim (and recall that this Type was definitely not glass but did have a flight director) was giving him a few problems in the early sessions. Then he had to do the standby power thing ... came out of the box with a grin from ear to ear ... "flies just like a real aeroplane, mate .... !" .. thereafter the demon was defeated.
Going the other .. if the glass training emphasises button pressing and FMS piano playing to the exclusion of handflying on raw data .. the steamship will present major problems (reminds me .. did I tell you of my observations from the jumpseat in a Lao Aviation (actually Balkan Bulgarian, as I recall) 727-ski ? .. now that WAS steam and I was particulary impressed at a bird which barely noticed a 20 ft too high flare) .. if, however, the glass training has involved a reasonable amount of handflown, raw data fun, then there is no reason why thoroughly modern Millie should have any real problem. I can recall 200 hour trainees on glass who, at the end of the endorsement, could fly a handflown, raw data ILS in 0/0 to touchdown, quite nicely ... so it can be done.
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Last edited by john_tullamarine; 12th February 2005 at 09:49.