Some thoughts after a commercial 737 sim session

[Steven_Caffey 23]

...Of course, the big complaint from the instructor was that I was looking at the instruments too much (which would have been fine if I wasdoing IFR)..

Hahaha, I get the same thing from my instructor. On the flip side, flying and controlling on VATSIM had me really comfortable with the radios before I even started.

I was lucky enough to fly a 172 for 30 mins as a present, and found it easier to trim thanFS9...

Yeah trimming by feel is much easier in the real thing. :(

[Dan F 6]

Was scrounging around and found some pics...Ever wonder where Janet pilots go to "get their groove back"?

[Paul_Smith 92]

The fixed base trainers that " Flight Experience " use are not very good.The Guy who started that idea ( in New Zealand ) was only in it for the money.He has since sold out to some third party buyer.They certainly would not meet certification level here in Europe.They are nowhere near realistic in comparison to the real plane !Fred.

I can only assume you have never been in one.Of course, dont let the fact that they are CAA and CASA certified or the fact that they are installed and in use in Europe change your mind.

[Jen 0]

You can increase the smoothness alot by adding the following line to your FSX.cfgstick_sensitivity_mode=0The line above goes in the [CONTROLS] section of FSX.cfg as the top line.Example:[CONTROLS]stick_sensitivity_mode=0

Paul,What yoke/joystick are you currently using? And would this setting work on my PFC yoke?Regards,jenSptg, S.C.

[Paul Deemer 13]

I can only assume you have never been in one.Of course, dont let the fact that they are CAA and CASA certified or the fact that they are installed and in use in Europe change your mind.

If anyone would know it would be Fred he builds and designs the things for a living. He is also a retired 737-800 Pilot. So what are your qualifications Paul?

What yoke/joystick are you currently using? And would this setting work on my PFC yoke?

I use the X52 Pro. It is not controller specific and will work fine with any controller. This changes the controller to use deflection which is more realistic. Give a try it will noticeably improve how your controls respond and will be much smoother. Edited January 19, 2012 by UAL115

[flightwatch 68]

I tried your tweak. What it does is limit the amount of deflection your controller can apply to about 50%. While it may be smoother in the air it is a killer in ground maneuvering. I had a Vr of 140kts. I didn't start rotating until 174kts with your "tweak" applied (and yes my trim was set correctly.) Not to mention the poor turning radius and inability to pan your viewpoint more than 90° in any direction using the space bar and mouse. Anyways, the same smoothness can be had if you are lighter on the controls.Just some feedback from someone who tried it

Edited January 19, 2012 by flightwatch

[paulyg123 135]

I treat myself to 2 hours a year in a full motion sim. this year I tried the 737-800 at a flight school. The PDMG 737NGX really had me prepared for a full flight (cold dark cockpit at the gates to an ILS landing with 1/2 mile forward vis / 400' ceilings and a crosswind). The 1 thing I took away is my little $4000 computer has 1000X better graphics than the $17,000,000 simulator. But it was good to see all my prep on the 737NGX set me up nicely for the "real" thing.

[Paul Deemer 13]

They tweak works fine for me and others. It is very easy to move around on the ground. Did you set your FSX sensitivity levels with the sliders? Try setting your control surfaces to a high sensitivity level such as maximum and move from there to the minimum until you find a realistic setting.

[YMMB 234]

are you playing at vatsim?

No unfortunately, mainly because I would struggle to set aside one straight hour uninterrupted, or is that something that can be worked around?

[Paul Deemer 13]

No unfortunately, mainly because I would struggle to set aside one straight hour uninterrupted, or is that something that can be worked around?

If your not gonna be in the cockpit don't fly online.

[wanabflyer 53]

I treat myself to 2 hours a year in a full motion sim. this year I tried the 737-800 at a flight school. The PDMG 737NGX really had me prepared for a full flight (cold dark cockpit at the gates to an ILS landing with 1/2 mile forward vis / 400' ceilings and a crosswind). The 1 thing I took away is my little $4000 computer has 1000X better graphics than the $17,000,000 simulator. But it was good to see all my prep on the 737NGX set me up nicely for the "real" thing.

So how did you do?

[Paul_Smith 92]

If anyone would know it would be Fred he builds and designs the things for a living. He is also a retired 737-800 Pilot. So what are your qualifications Paul?

This is not a religion, something is not true or false just because of the qualifications of the person saying it. Regardless of what qualifications I have, you can contact the CAA and CASA yourself and ask them if these simulators are certified and if so, for what, and with what restrictions. You can than ask them if they have ever heard of Fred. You will be then able to decide whether the statement "They certainly would not meet certification level here in Europe." is factual or BS. And if you were to do a little more research, you could find out whether or not these simulators were already operating in London, Paris, Munich, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Prague. You should then be able to say for yourself who is telling the truth and who is telling porkies.Statements like "The fixed base trainers that " Flight Experience " use are not very good" or "They are nowhere near realistic in comparison to the real plane!" are meaningless. Try thinking about it, are they as good as a real plane? Yes and no. Yes because they have a reset button which means lives are not lost when you screw up, and no, because they are not real planes. So, other then multi million dollar full motion simulators which cost 4 times as much per hour to book but which seem to have the same certifications, is there a better simulator for the 737 in existence? Not that I am aware of, but you might know otherwise.I didn't understand why Fred said "The Guy who started that idea ( in New Zealand ) was only in it for the money. He has since sold out to some third party buyer." but now that you tell me that Fred makes simulators, this sounds like simple jealousy. Of course the founder was in it for the money, it is a commercial enterprise! Why else would he do it?

[FLEX1978 373]

Paul, I've just been having a chat with a few 737 crew regarding this since I found out these guys have set up a sim in Kuwait. They advised me that these fixed base sims are based on MSFS and are pretty much useless except for cockpit familiarisation. Do you know if the MSFS part is true?

[Paul Deemer 13]

This is not a religion, something is not true or false just because of the qualifications of the person saying it. Regardless of what qualifications I have, you can contact the CAA and CASA yourself and ask them if these simulators are certified and if so, for what, and with what restrictions

I don't need to call CAA or CASA and ask. Fred is pretty well known on the forums here and has never gave me the impression he ever gave anything but honest advice based on his experience as a retired pilot and sim builder. In any case I will take the word of a real world pilot any day. If he says fixed based sims are not that good then that all I need to know. Edited January 22, 2012 by UAL115

[Paul_Smith 92]

Paul, I've just been having a chat with a few 737 crew regarding this since I found out these guys have set up a sim in Kuwait.They advised me that these fixed base sims are based on MSFS and are pretty much useless except for cockpit familiarisation.Do you know if the MSFS part is true?

Hi Rob, I know nothing about a sim in Kuwait. I used the one in Auckland, which is the basis of the 'Flight experiance' franchise. It is a Boeing 737 cockpit hooked up to a simulator. The graphics were not MSFS. The attached photo shows the cockpit and scenery for Queenstown, New Zealand. I apologise for the lack of quality and assure you that it is my fault and not theirs, but it should give you an idea what to expect. I am not qualified to tell you if the flight model was realistic or pure fantasy but suspect it was on the 'forgiving' side as I was able to hand fly down Lake Wakatipu and do a straight in approach and visual landing on RW05 at Queenstown. I would love to be able to say that was a testement to my superior flying skills gained from years of simming, but that would be too much BS even from me! I can say from a pure entertainment point of view that I felt totally engrossed and had worked up a good sweat by the end of the session. I can also say that the sessions before and after mine were booked by serving NZA aircrew as I got to chat with both of them. One doing procedural training and other logging hours, so it is a safe bet that even though it was fun, it is not just a toy. Paul (UAL115), - It is quite impossible for me or anyone else to make you change, or even open, your mind. Only you can do that. However, at some point in your life, you might decide to find out the difference between percieved wisdom and revealed wisdom. You have access to enough independently verifiable facts to come to your own conclusions.