Turns out professional simulators aren't perfect, either.

Turns out professional simulators aren't perfect, either.

Interesting read. I also found this setup to be quite cool, like a pretty big glass sphere... :(

The article actually reads:"Simulator training is credited with saving thousands of lives. But the problem, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) case files and safety experts, is that in rare but critical instances they can trick pilots into habits that lead to catastrophic mistakes."Obviously there's always room for improvement in any activity, but let's not get carried away by journalistic spin. Overall flight simyulators are beneficial by providing air crew with far more experience than they'd otherwise have.

The article actually reads:"Simulator training is credited with saving thousands of lives. But the problem, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) case files and safety experts, is that in rare but critical instances they can trick pilots into habits that lead to catastrophic mistakes."Obviously there's always room for improvement in any activity, but let's not get carried away by journalistic spin. Overall flight simyulators are beneficial by providing air crew with far more experience than they'd otherwise have.

Particularly when the publication in question is USA Today. No, of course simulators are a great tool. The NTSB finding for the Continental crash at Denver isn't journalistic spin, though, and they did find simulator training contributory. What I find interesting about the piece is that the problems they identify are with yaw modelling - the crosswind takeoff for the CO crash, the rudder inputs for the AA crash, and I've always thought that yaw modelling was the weakest part of the MSFS flight modelling.The real point of the piece is not, I think, that simulators are the problem, but that their limitation in some aspects are not well enough understood. That's a good lesson to bear in mind for any kind of training, in my opinion.

I don't know how the NTSB, can attribute the Buffalo Colgan Crash to simulators. I don't know of any simulator, that would teach you to raise the flaps and pull the nose up, while in a stall!

Interesting read. I also found this setup to be quite cool, like a pretty big glass sphere... :(

badderjet- your FS multi views pic is a great example of the enhanced realism possible in our hobby. Thanks for posting. In noting "like a big glass sphere", that picture illustrates perfectly how monitors need to be viewed to eliminate distortion- ie each mon must be square to the pilot's eyes. Doing so replicates how we actually see the real world- as a scene on the inside of a giant sphere! That's why we are able to see a real cloud or an airplane overhead.Placing monitors as in that pic, is the means of achieving a Flight Sim straight horizon in all attitudes of flight- both pitch and roll.To paraphrase Hamlet- "The view's the thing and all the world's a stage---".Here is a similar (screen)shot using just 3 monitors driven with 2 GPUs. (AMD 1.8 GHz, 2 FX5200 cards)Your pic is not as extreme as may seem at first glance!Alex Reid"Chasing hot air ballons over Phoenix"