Especially when you have to run around in the cockpit to do the second officer's duty. Althought most airliners have to be operated by 2 pilots, which I gree with that but IMO I think it's not "imposible" to single hand flying one of these, even in reality...... but single handed a 3 crews cockpit aircraft is kind of over the line? No offensive here just my pure curiosity and the attempt to search for the "correct" level of reality in FS experience.

1. Yes it is realistic ( I think, never having done it in real life, of course)2. No, it is not impossible to play all three roles in the simulator. My guess is that real airline Captains could probably handle an aircraft by themselves in an emergency; I doubt that any of them would think that it was desireable and I would certainly prefer to be on a different flight, myself.Best Regards,

"I think it's not "imposible" to single hand flying one of these, even in reality" If you think about it, todays modern jet aircraft are so complicated that even the best pilot couldn't fly alone. Between radio calls, constant hand offs, checklists, overhead buttons and switches, looking down at the FMC and MFDs, and oh yeah, you're 20 miles out about to intercept the ILS in minimal conditions........would you want 1 or 2 pilots? I'd rather have atleast 1 pilot with his eyes locked on the panel keeping the airplane on course. In the smaller turbo props its fine because their aren't alot of things in the cockpit worry about. As for a 2 pilots and a flight engineer, todays technology has entirly eliminated the need for a 3 person in the cockpit. Instead of having an entire wall devoted to gauges for systems, they are all routed into 2-3 8" X 10" displays that pop up warnings when the slighest thing goes wrong.

If things get too hairy for you there's always a "Pause" button - obviously unrealistic but do you really want to invite 2 people over every time you want to fly a 747?

I'd tend to agree and disagree on the complexity of the new cockpits... its actually easier these days... wanna do a hold, plug it into the FMC and it does it for you, want to fly direct to an intersection, plug it into the FMC and it does it. Its mandatory for 2 crew in these complex aircraft... when I would start get worried is when the FMC fails that is so heavily relied upon and everyone has to go back to the basics... I have a book called the Black Box which is full of cockpit voice recordings. Some ended up in disaster, others were miracles.. alot of the time what it came down to was if they went back to the basics, they probably would have survived.Chris

I think the FAA requirement is a crew of two when nineteen or more passengers are capable being carried. I remember thinking immediately of the the Beechcraft 1900D which boards nineteen.In addition I would imagine airline or charter ops insurance rules also might dictate crew requirements even for smaller aircraft.

>If you think about it, todays modern jet aircraft are so complicated that even the best pilot couldn't fly alone.http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg EDIT: I only seem to be able to spot spelling mistakes AFTER posting... :)