This is a question to real world pilots, I'm not unfortunately but I have had a lesson some years ago.What I've noticed with flight simming is I can get to a point with certain planes where by I can land it without the need for the instruments, ie. I've got used to how the plane behaves and sounds so this enables me to judge my landings on feel alone. I've even managed this with some bigger planes not just small props.Is this true for real world flying, do you get that used to your planes that you could fly them and land them even if all your instruments were to fail?Just a thought I was having so I decided to ask the people who know.CheersMartin.

For smaller airplanes you can fly by the seat of your pants and it works out really well. However when you start moving to bigger and faster things the senses are thrown off and you can get into some real trouble. When jet airliners were first introduced there were a rash of crashes because the pilots were flying by feel instead of by numbers and instruments.

Thanks CessnaflyerI understand what you mean, I suppose all the extra power and speed gets too much for us to be able to judge things accurately.Interesting though, I'll have to try some fast jets and see how many times I crash. CheersMartin.

"Interesting though, I'll have to try some fast jets and see how many times I crash. "Tried this on a few occasions with A320s, and even if I can get the thing down on the runway without an undercarriage-collapsing crunch, I always over-run into surrounding residential areas causing hundreds of virtual deaths. Neither big nor clever

Certainly not to the point of landing completely without instruments (especially on bigger airplanes as previously pointed out), but it helps to "cross-check" your instruments, so to say. If you feel a bit high, a bit fast, a bit slow or low you suddenly take a glimpse at your instruments and they confirm the information given to you by your feelings. This shouldn't be applied when you are flying IFR or at night or in bad weather, as your primary reference should always be your instruments; your feelings may cause you spatial disorientation. The wind speed over the cockpit windows (or lack of it) is something very helpful to establish a "ballpark" figure of your speed. Once you get used to the point of view you fly (i.e. from how you set your seat in depth and height) it also helps you to roughly determine your pitch.If all of your instruments were to fail, I'd assume someone with a decent amount of hours on type should be able to pull a decent landing (considering that if you lose all of your instruments, you are deep in problems).

Raindance, I'm not trying to be big or clever, honest.DC_Ed, It's like you said, if all your instruments fail you probably in deep doo doo, but there have been pilots who have managed to land big jets and save all passengers in extreme circumstances, like that guy who landed in the Hudson river, there was a pilot in the UK some years ago who landing in a field in the dark. OK their instruments were probably still active but it just shows how cool they must be to handle things like that, I'd probably just brick it.Cheers GuysMartin.

The wind speed over the cockpit windows (or lack of it) is something very helpful to establish a "ballpark" figure of your speed.

Simmers, read carefully, and listen in the sim, its there also!