Flight Training for Student Pilots (and others who want to learn)

[gucommander 0]

Hello Everyone,While Microsoft Flight is not the most realistic flight sim experience out there I find it to be quite adequate for practicing most flight maneuvers that are required to get a private pilots license. I am currently taking lessons and I try to use flight at least 2 hours a day on weekdays and 2-4 on weekends.I am curious if there are any other student pilots or MS Flight players who would be interested in reviewing and practicing maneuvers (and other essential piloting skills) together. We could take turns going over the maneuver, doing them together, and self-critiquing what we did wrong and discuss (as a group) how to improve.Anyone who is currently a student pilot or is thinking of starting their training could learn a lot from each other. I am very eager to learn from anyone who has knowledge to offer and I feel like a lot of student pilots are the same way. Doing this together will help us all learn, help with motivation, potentially save some money, and ultimately make us all better pilots.I am typically on during the nights. (2 hrs sometime between 8 and midnight est). My gamertag is gucommander. Post in this thread and add me on XBL if your interested. If there is sufficient interest I will start setting up "official events" for this.Maneuvers we would be practicing:

• Pre-maneuver checklist
• Steep Turns
• Power on Stall
• Power off Stall
• Slow Flight
• S Turns
• Turns around a Point
• Rectangular Course (I just practice this while doing touch and gos in the traffic pattern)

Essential Flight Skills

• Normal and Crosswind takeoffs and landings
• Emergency Engine Out Procedures
• Traffic Patterns
• Radio (I would LOVE someone to practice the radio with...)
• Night Flying
• Basic Instruments
• Maintaining Straight and Level flight (Altitude is a I TRIED TO USE A PROFANITY HERE - AREN'T I STUPID! even with trim...)
• Cross Country Flights (Includes flight planning and VOR)
• Taxiing (This ones a bit hard due to the issues with breaking in MS Flight. i'm sure they will be fixed eventually)

 

[Faire 0]

Sounds great, the question is how seriously do you want to do the things. I am not a pilot, I have basic skills, would like to spend my time learning new things (especially communication), but as my time-frame is limited, I would need to go rather lightly through the exercises, not repeating everything for umpteenth time. I would love that, I know that it might help, but I just do not have enough time for that :)

[gucommander 0]

I need to practice all maneuvers as many times as I can while teaching others and learning from others. A typical flight lesson (in real life) is go through each maneuver once or twice. More than that is unnecessary and can be counter productive.This means over time all maneuvers get done a bunch of times but in one session it's mostly just going over each maneuver and practicing it a few times. The only exception would be if we wanted to get a traffic pattern going for touch and gos. That would be repetitive (but fun if you're into it).

[Oracle427 45]

Congrats on taking the plunge! How far along ate you in your training? Based on what you have described that you wish to practice, it sounds like you are well along.If you are serious about the radio work, let me suggest that you try out Pilot Edge for FSX. It is a great tool and the controllers and pilots are very professional.They service VFR and IFR and guarantee their service during their business hours.In the interest of full disclosure, I have met the founder because he flies out of my airport, but I am not recommending it because I know him. It is not a free service.And here is a thread about the service with comments from the founder Keith Smith.http://forum.avsim.net/topic/351297-pilot-edge-network-the-new-standard-for-atc/page__p__2137312__fromsearch__1#entry2137312

[gucommander 0]

Hey oracle,I am definitely going to check out Pilot Edge. Paying for help with the radio will likely be cheaper than the average 10-15 hours extra New York pilots need to fly before they get their license due to complicated radio and airspace.I am only 6 hours into my training. I have already successfully executed steep turns, power on/off stalls, slow flight, emergency engine out procedure, s turns, turns around a point, maneuvering through the traffic pattern, and a successful (albeit rough) landing. I still have lots of practice to do on the maneuvers and even more to learn but I am definitely moving at a brisk pace.

[Oracle427 45]

If we meet up online, I'll be happy to participate and help practice. The biggest issue I ran into tonight is that we don't have tail numbers on the aircraft, so I figure that I'll just have to use my real one. :)I'm just shy of 65 hours, passed the written and ready to take my checkride. :)That sounds like great progress for 6 hours. I soloed at around 30. My runway is only 40 feet wide and ~2400 feet long due to the displaced thresholds so it took a while to get comfortable with crosswind landings. :)I was very concerned about the radio work in the beginning of the training. The fear was unjustified! I found that I didn't have to dedicate much time to learning the radio work (hit the books and hit them early, absorb that info like a sponge!). Communicating with flight following, flight watch, the towers and CTAF advisories in uncontrolled areas isn't all that bad once you get into the routine, get comfortable with your flows and get your head out of the cockpit and improve your SA. I think you'll be very well prepared doing your training in this airspace. The biggest "annoyance" I have is that sometimes NY approach is very busy so you can barely get a word in with them, and sometimes they are too busy to provide VFR following.Are you operating out of a towered field? I am flying out of N07 (untowered). If you're using a towered field, you're probably already ahead of the game on the radio work. I was never endorsed to fly into the NY Bravo, but frankly, I'm not worried if tomorrow I was asked by my instructor to request a clearance from NY approach into the Bravo.

[Voics 0]

Yes I'd be interested, although I suspect we're in different time zones.I'm no pilot but it would be nice to learn more about r/l procedures - I did pick up some very useful VOR/ILS tips from the good folk on this forum (before they drew the curtains and forced me to register, LOL) and I've Googled some things like correct cruising altitudes etc but there's always more, e.g. I need to practice holding patterns over a VOR transmitter (would be nice if the on-board stopwatch worked).

[tililae 0]

I would be interested in things like this.

[Puff3r 0]

While I have never had an actual lesson, I would love to take part.

[AzureWX 0]

Might I recommend Dillingham on Oahu for daytime practice ops? It's a 5000 foot runway inside a 9000 foot runway (displaced thresholds 2000 feet either end), plus what appear to be some un-numbered dirt strips in the woods adjacent to the airport. It's not well lit at night and there's no tower, but there is a lit windsock and fuel, so it's a great place for training.

[AllFiredUp 0]

great idea. I have a pilot's license for real. But I have very low hours. I was training for IFR flight back in the early 90's but just couldn't afford it. To get back in the plane for real I need to go up with an instructor in BFR. I could definitely practice more though. So far, I've been using Flight to practice radio communications, IFR navigation, short field and soft field take off. I was studying to be a bush type missionary pilot back in West Virginia and Kentucky. I used to fly on my instructors field, solo. It is a

2400 x 30 ft grass runway with trees all around and perched on some hills in hilly Kentucky. 16KY.