Hi,I have been simming for many years now and have a full understanding of flying small props VFR or using VOR's NDB's flying holding patterns etc. I am now financially in a position to book a full PPL course and fly for real, my only experience apart from MSFS is 2 hours in a level D Tristar sim and a couple of hours in a Cessna with my father who is a commercial pilot. My main concern is all the bad habits I may have picked up flying fs9. Could anyone who has transitioned from fs9 to real world give me some advice on how it went?Sorry if this is the wrong forum...Thanks Rob prest EGLL

>Hi,>>I have been simming for many years now and have a full>understanding of flying small props VFR or using VOR's NDB's>flying holding patterns etc. I am now financially in a>position to book a full PPL course and fly for real, my only>experience apart from MSFS is 2 hours in a level D Tristar>sim and a couple of hours in a Cessna with my father who is a>commercial pilot. My main concern is all the bad habits I may>have picked up flying fs9. Could anyone who has transitioned>from fs9 to real world give me some advice on how it went?>Sorry if this is the wrong forum...>Thanks >>Rob prest EGLLHi Rob,Let me reassure you that any bad habits you've picked up in FS9 WON'T carry over to RW flying! It's a totaly different game and you'll find that, with a competent instructor, you'll soon be flying "by the book" and with little or no ill-effect from simming. But.. what you will also find is that a LOT of the GOOD things you've learned through simming will definitely help you in getting your PPL! When I was working as a CFI for a bit, I had one student who breezed through his PPL because so much of what I normally had to teach a new student (i.e. terminology, phraseology, aerodynamics, etc..) wasn't necessary with this kid because he had spent so much time flying with his simulator (back then, it was FS2002)and he already knew so many things that many beginning students must learn from scratch and understand. Because he was already knowledgeable in these things, it required less time on the ground and allowed more time in the air!My suggestion is to go into the PPL learning process with an open mind.. don't resist the things your instructor will try to teach you (even if you think it's something you already know)... and just take what you have already learned through simming and assimilate that to the real-world equivalent. You'll find that things will go smoothly and quickly... and before you know it, you'll have your ticket and will discover a whole new world of flying!Good Luck!- Alex

One recent Father's day, my daughter bought me on a left-seat demo flight at a local flight school (Wright Flyers at KSAT). The instructor had trained several flight simmers and he said I was typical. He said we all spend too much time looking at the instrument panel (instead of out the windows looking for other traffic) and most of us want to use the trim wheel to level off rather than leveling with the yoke, then trimming to relieve yoke pressure.R-

There are more benefits than negatives by having sim experience. You'll be familiar with all the instruments, plus all the general rules of aviation. I did have a slight habit of looking at the instruments to trim, when all you have to do is line up the nose to the horizon by looking out the window :) Same problem with steep turns. I kept on looking at the Altimeter, AS, and VSI during the turn...and kept on messing up. It was so much easier to just look out the window...and keep the horizon stable by using the trim wheel. :( Having sim experience will definitely help shave some time...especially in ground school. Have fun flying...it's gonna be an addicting hobby.-feng

Hi Rob,You'll do just fine. And good advice from the above posters; outside, not inside so much. I learned to fly in a side-by-side Taylorcraft which had an altimeter, airspeed indicator, turn and bank indicator and a tach. Not much to look at inside to begin with. :-lol I think your simming experence, though, will be a big help if you go for the Instrument Rating. I envy you! In away I wish I could do it all over again. I consider the time my instructor asked me to taxi him nearer the little airport building at Nedrow Airpark ( greater Syracuse, NY ), got out and said take it up and go around a couple of times, one of the high points of my life , right up there with the birth of my children.Good luck.Roger

>The instructor had trained several flight simmers and he said>I was typical. He said we all spend too much time looking at>the instrument panel (instead of out the windows looking for>other traffic) I've always heard that, but figure it's somewhat of an "old wives tale". :-hah But if not, it only proves one thing....Bag the 2D panels; get a good VC, and look out the windows! :-lol L.Adamson -- I prefer good VC's, and use shift Z for airspeed & altitude

Thanks for all the Info guys :) I dont feel as nervous now.Rob