Originally Posted by
Armchairflyer
Side note (and question to the instructors here) regarding the pros(?) and cons of PC simulator use: in my case, the idea of "I wonder how flying feels in reality" which led to my going for a PPL stems from MSFS exploits, and I suppose I am not the only person with that "background". Maybe my flight instructors were simply so polite as to never rub this in as a handicap -- or it really wasn't of noticeable importance after all. Do you think it is really the PC simming per se which causes trouble, or rather an "I already learnt about flying from MSFS/X-Plane/whatever, so no need to (re)learn"-attitude?
My take would be learning by yourself in a simulator without someone directing you means firstly you will probably be very instrument focused rather than getting your main attitude references from outside the aircraft.
To the uninitiated it would seem obvious that flying using instruments to give you information on the aircraft's behaviour would make you a better pilot but in fact if a pilot relies on instruments early in their training it is a great hinderance. I think the ideal aircraft for teaching ab initio pilots would be one with minimal instrumentation and great visibilty. A J3 Cub comes to mind - seriously.
Secondly you will work out by trial and error how to get the aircraft to do what you want to do. Which will work most of the time. However it means you will not really have developed a strong grasp (and may have misconceptions) of how the controls individually act on the aircraft and behave under different conditions - understanding that gives a strong foundation for developing good hand and feet skills (and a deficiency here may come into play quite early - eg when learning to land the aircraft, particularly in more challenging conditions).
Finally any bad habits you pick up teaching yourself, (eg how you control descent profiles, landing technique, speed control, engine operation, trimming etc), having been learnt first, often are difficult to dislodge (something called "primacy" - what you learn first often has a strong hold over subsequent behaviour, particularly when you are under stress which is why instructors aim to install good basic skills from the start of training - having a good instructor during the first phases of learning to fly can make a big difference in how quickly you progress later on).
This doesn't mean I am saying you will be a bad pilot if you learn on a sim, simply it is not really the best way to learn to fly a real aeroplane and may be a hindrance (at least when learning to fly the current generation of GA aircraft)
Stick and rudder skills are best taught in an aircraft rather than worked out by yourself on a computer. Use your pre flying time to learn the theory - it will really help when you get into the aircraft.
All this is in my opinion of course - feel free to ignore it
