Hi Dub,
Well firstly prepare for abuse from the usual suspects on here for daring to mention both low cost/cheap and PC flight simulators on this forum!
But FWIW as a mere 11 hour ppl student, I'd say you've got it spot on with getting the medical first and review your options from there. I *DO* also advocate use of a PC flight sim as a sensible learning tool, and also a cost saver. Let me explain...
I got seriously interested in flying from a friend PPL. We spent a couple of years just c*cking about with with Microsoft Flight Sim 9/X whilst linked up over the internet for fun. It taught me what all the instruments do and how they work, how to use VOR/ILS/ADF ... the list could go on and on. I also followed the tutorials on the game and learnt some of the (to me) non-intuitive basics such as controlling speed with attitude, height with throttle.
The thing to bear in mind and keep reminding yourself with PC sims is they are NOT repeat NOT teaching you how to fly. However they are teaching you the principles on which your learning can be based. There's an argument of "the law of primacy" in that if you learn it wrong yourself off a flight sim, it's very hard to then overcome that during training - and indeed even if you do, there's a tendency to revert to that first-learned (and wrong!) approach in times of stress/panic. I was aware of this from day one and so kept an open mind when simming and then getting in the cockpit for real and I genuinely believe all the sim time served me very well. When I'm paying for my flying time now, I can concentrate on learning to fly as I already know much of the physics, the instruments etc (but still always ready to listen and learn
). You can increase this effect by getting hold of e.g. the JustFlight Cessna 152 plane for the flight sim (I'd recommend Microsoft FSX) so you will even know where the guages are going to be when you get in for real, again saving you learning time.
One thing I took a while to get used to was the rudder pedals on the ground - in the air no problem, but I had to think before I pressed them when taxiing as I tended to go for the wrong one (I think it was that I was "thinking" of bike handlebars which I used a lot in my younger days, but this is the reverse of what's needed for peddles). So I took the plunge and bought a Yoke, throttle quadrant and pedals from ebay, practiced a couple of hours of taxiing at home on the sim and now it's a non-issue for me. The controllers cost about £140 - less than the cost of an hour's lesson - and when I don't need them anymore, I can probably sell them on again for the same price.
If you'd like to ask more either on the thread or PM, feel free. Good luck however it pans out for you, see you in the air
