I used the morse exercises in the RANT demo and in an hour and an 'alf + plus a few referesher sessions over the following couple of days got it all burnt in.

Wow, you learnt morse in an hour and half, my, my that is fast! Well done though ....:}

Yes, I know, twas a tad tardy. I was very dissapointed that I had to refreesh my memory for a couple of days. Not sure I'm cut out for this game. But we digress.

Boogie-nicey,

I somewhat second that. As a child aviation enthusiast the first and main access to a stick and rudder I could get was through the various, basic, flight simulators on offer on PCs. I wouldn't for a minute say their fidelity is accurate but the basics of reacting to changes in pitch, yaw and roll with pedals and hand movements are universal (why else would we consider light aircraft training a useful precursor to bigger and better aircraft?). Likewise correlating that to various changes in basic aircraft instruments and reacting accordingly became second nature.

I never throught it would necessarily improve my flying, but when I first undertook flying training, initially on gliders then powered aircraft, my results were tremendous. This cannot be some inate ability so the only thing I can put it down to is the practice I gained at keeping needles lined up while playing my old computer simulators. Microsoft FS was one of them.

I think there is a degree of elitism in denying the value of these as training aids. Some of the products available make accessible to the general public information that would have been completely unavailable previously. That in itself takes away some of the mystique of something a few would like to consider their exclusive and elite domain.

The basic Flight Simulator program itself is very limited. The addons on the other hand incredibly detailed in systems, presentation and possibly handling. I suspect critics of the system are maybe unaware of what these external addons offer - a few of them have been listed above.

As an aside, I have been using a soaring simulator for off-season gliding which has been fantastic for keeping the stick and rudder skills from rusting over. The latest copy of Sailplane & Gliding featured an article on Lasham GC using a simulator for training an ab-initio pilot as a trial. The results appeared to be brilliant, with the instructor commenting that by his second "live" flight the student had unprompted control throughout and flew something like a slightly out of practice, solo-standard pilot.

That explains why some of the charts keep mysteriously going missing from the f/decks !!

:\

Not on my aircraft! Virgin makes the out of date charts available to its pilots for home study.

Scroggs

How can anybody argue that somebody with the right approach who is using MSFS to become familiar with the concepts of flight controls and instruments be anything but beneficial to training, else you would be starting from base zero.

I suppose I'm expressing my thoughts in relation to the more complex training, IMC, CPL and IR. These are the areas where I struggled and these are areas where I felt that MSFS was not helping without spending considerable sums and the trial and error that goes with it, but other applications were.

Using MSFS (or similar) to teach elementary principles of flight, effects of controls, Power-Attitude-Trim etc. makes a lot of sense if it saves airborne time or, more realistically, makes better use of ground study time. Equally, using it to make sense of the basics of procedural instrument flying is logical and may save a lot of money - MSFS plus a couple of add-ons costs less than an hour's instruction in a light single, so why not include it in your (or a school's) arsenal of training aids?

However, it must be seen in context. Used sensibly and with guidance, it can be a valuable aid to training. Unsupervised use by a student pilot can introduce bad habits at a time when the right way of doing things needs to be hammered home until it becomes second nature.

As entertainment, and as a demonstration of what modern PCs are capable of, MSFS is a very impressive piece of technology. As a training aid, like any other it must be used with care and in the context of the stage of training you are at. It simply is not appropriate to go and spend hours on MSFS and hope it will somehow make you a better pilot. It won't - that's what your instructors are for.

Scroggs

yeah i would agree that the unsupervised use of MSFS by student pilots would lead to certain bad flying habits. I'm currently a student pilot doing my PPL course now, and I have been using MSFS since the FS98 came out. The first few times I flew, I found it rather hard to take my eyes off the instruments, especially the artificial horizon and the VSI. Thankfully, after a few flights, I got used to visual flying techniques rather than keeping my eyes on the instruments. However, it did allow me to learn elementary things like power-attitude-trim more quickly due to prior experience in MSFS.

Worked for me
 

I found MSFS awesome for IFR training, and even used it to test out my aerobatics sequences. When ever i wanted to use MSFS, i first asked myself what i needed to get out of it so i wasn't wasting my time. I think it can be useful for a lot of things, dont discount it!

I must say I basically learned how to decode METARs with FS 2004. Use the real world weather function, it's downloaded from the Jeppesen network, then compare it with the METAR for that area and you'll find it's spot on. Useful also for wind corrections, x-wind approaches, airfield patterns... it does help to get your mind used to that sort of reasoning, so that when you actually fly it for real, although it's totally different handling and feel, at least it's the same way of thinking !

Elite SIM/ASA SIM/fs2004 for practice???
 

Planning IR in January. Would like as much practice as possible. Has anyone used the Elite PC simulator or ASA procedure trainer? Are they any better than using Microsoft 2004 for practicing the BASICS. I appreciate they are not FNPT 2s, but surely they can get your thinking processes going in the right direction. Or is MS as good as you'll get?

The packages you mention may help with the basic instrument scan etc but for practice on holding/ flying procedures and tracking, I would recommend RANT. It's written by an IR examiner and it's the only package to simulate ADF dip properly, which makes things more realistic. Simple to operate and not as heavy on PC memory either, compared with MS etc because there are no fancy graphics.

Hi!

PC software can save you lots of money, particularly during IR training. I used Elite that was very good, the same software that my flying school used in their sim (www.flyelite.com). MSFS is good too, lots of good add-ons to buy.

Pat

I would imagine this could be of some use

http://www.opencockpits.com/modules....g2_itemId=3465

The only problem is by the time you had built one you could have paid for a 737 TR and worked your way up to Captain.

I've been using MS 2004 and loading the Baron B58 for practising ILS and NDB approaches. If all you want to do is practise the basics, then it's more than adequate. Even setting the wind strength and direction will give an accurate picture of the amount of drift you'll need to remain on track. You can also program the thing to fail in engine whilst you're shooting an ILS and it'll yaw as expected so the flight modelling (for the baron anyway) is not too bad, given that it's main purpose is for entertainment and not training.

But I'd have to agree with others, though, that using something like this without formal training may actually be a hinderance than a help to you as you may start to develop bad habits/techniques that are unchecked and uncorrected by an instructor.

BTW .. the latest version, MS Flightsimulator X is out this weekend.

I would be interested to know whether anyone now running MSFS X has tried out the A321 yet and if so, whether it bears any resemblance to the real thing. Whilst i appreciate that a lot will be missing due to it being a game and not a proffesional training tool... Does it include: autorim? any protections? managed flight? are pitch and power settings similar at all? or are there any other airbus features that fundamentally set the bus aside from boeing etc, or is it basically a 737 with a revamped cockpit layout and exterior? I am due to start type rating on the A319 in december and whilst i have some time in a 320 sim to relate to, i'd be interested to know whether there is any resemblance that justifies buying FSX to get the feel of the thing again.. Thanks..

Cockpitweb IFR simulator
 

Just read the whole thread and on page one, Cockpitweb's IFR simulator is given a mention but there have been no comments since. Have many people out there got any opinions about this sim? Would it be useful for helping a pre-IMC pilot to learn instrument procedures prior to doing the rating?
Cheers
ZW

ZuluWhiskey,
The Cockpitweb IFR simulator has been a great help for my single engine IFR training. I liked the stability of the airplane and the turbulence mode. Another great thing is the Holding you can draw on the map. If you buy it I suggest you take the option including the IFR exercises that mentally prepare you for IFR procedures (includes PDF IFR manual). Unfortunately there is no multi-engine airplane included. It has definitely simplified my IFR training.:ok:

Cheers airba for your opinion. I'd really like a few more though, anyone else out there with experience of Cockpitweb?

Thanks
ZW