Obsession with complexity?

[gizmosellsbunnys 106]

GA planes only ones I fly in fsx get vfr sectionals mountains or follow roads, rivers, railroads in c152 or c162 actually learn alot about navigation and geography. Sad, people overlook vfr ga flying its actaully easier to have short flights with ga. Jets are not my cup of tea cant see Mt Rushmore or view Grand Canyon .

[Kosta 122]

So what do you guys think? Have similar experiences to share?

 

Indeed I do.

Since I received my yoke and fixed my TQ on the appropriate height, I've been much more into GA flying than previously with a joystick and a TQ in a bad position. I can't explain it really why, but now I'm doing short hops and I do find myself discovering new ways of flying.

That been said, I've often flown tubes by hand, quite a long time after takeoff and also before landing, usually whole approaches.

Still, I have little problems flying GA even - but maybe I should have someone take a look at my flying skillz :Nerd:

[Dave Feldman 3]

Hey Rob maybe we need a RealAir 172 to pratice with?! LOL. Yeah hand flying GA is great fun.

 

Regards,

 

Dave.

[BartEnder 2]

My way of doing business in FSX is flying from airport to airport in JS41 or some heavy stuff, but every hub I visit, has a small strip pretty close to it (just enough to grab a taxi and move there). I rent an A2A Cub, Milviz Cessna 310, sometimes some vintage plane and do a fly for an hour or two. Sometimes with passengers, sometimes alone (to practice maneuvers my passengers would not like to experience). If one do know the physics of aeroplanes in depth, one have to refresh the knowledge from time to time. I usually prepare a flight plan for my VFR flight. When the weather is bad (and I mean really bad), I will take IFR certified plane and practice long touch and go for a few times, every time with different STAR (not just the approach)

[Nuno Pinto 1,394]

I started with the GPS about 3 years ago. I began flying online, avoiding controllers as i could, and there i was, following the default FSX GPS flight plans (having no idea what was an airway) and manually controlling the climb and descent of the jetliners i flew back then.

 

Then i started learning the wonders of the CDU (that drives the FMC). Oh my God, i could fly everywhere and even dared to start talking to ATC online!! I was so much in control of my airplane!! (yeah right...). Then i found out about the rankings in IVAO (where i fly online) and started thinking "why not, it would be nice to have some virtual wings".

 

I started studying in a more serious way (i also had training from my division staff - real pilots and ATC) and got my vPPL (mind the "v" for virtual). This training and vPPL involved the basics of flying a GA, Cessna 172 in this case, and learning about the various types of airspace, IMC, VMC, QNH, QFE... all that stuff you have to know about to fly for real. Wow, did that feel good :)

 

Later on, i got the instrument rating training (known as SPP or Senior Private Pilot in IVAO), which i completed successfully and managed to take the exam and pass it. I now knew how to properly intercept a radial or fly a QDM/QDR, manual flying of a SID and STAR, knowing about altitudes and chart reading. I even cared about what was the METAR for a given aerodrome so i could prepare my approach correctly. Now things were getting REAL fun!

 

I'm now in the process of getting my vCPL, or virtual Commercial Pilot license. This will be about the same as the SPP training but with a jetliner like an Airbus A320 or a Boeing 737, or even a Fokker/Embraer. Circle-to-land, VOR and NDB approaches, Go Around procedures, bla bla bla. The fun just increases and knowledge as well :)

 

I look back to the days of the GPS and i get a grin on my face... With all i've learned in these 4000+ hours online and with all the studying i went through, i can now fly almost everything you throw at me (the darn Cessna 750 is quite complex to manage!) and i can have fun with any aircraft, whether it has a GPS, basic VOR radios or an FMC - It's a nice freedom feeling!

 

I find myself flying most of the SIDs and STARs "manually", following the ND path and VOR radials with the HDG bug, paying attention to altitude and speed restrictions, quite different from 3 years ago.

 

This is most of my virtual flying history until now. I'm also taking ATC training, but that's not what i like the most :)

 

Cheers!

[COBS 25]

On a recent thread a guy commented on getting into Flight Simulation and enquired about addons ,

one suggestion was REX , it amazed me , how is REX or any eye candy going to teach someone to fly,

we seem to be fixated on that eye candy and top shelf aircraft.

 

My response on that thread was :-

 

Quote.

If you are serious about learning to fly , then try the following.

 

1. as Don said start with a slower aircraft initially

2. try hard to avoid bad flying habits which will be impossible to shake off later on.

3. stick with one plane initially.

4. get very familiar with the cockpit and panel , know what and where the instruments are , learn your switches.

5. accept that it is a step by step process.

6. try to understand that straight and level flight and turning level flight are vitally critical.

If you don't get these two right , then the rest is a waste of time .

My advice is if you are not determined to get these two right then give up all thoughts of flying.

They are critical and fundamental cornerstones to all your flying.

7. Practice precise straight and level , repeat it till you get it right.

8. Practice precise level turns , again repeat til you get it right.

9. Practice climbs and descent from straight and level at one altitude to the same at a 2,000' diff Alt, be precise

 

Sounds easy , try it , it's not easy to do accurately.

 

An example : Straight and level at 4,000' on a heading of 320 degrees at a airspeed of 120 knots , try holding all three figures

accurately at the same time for 10 to 15 minutes.

Repeat that exercise until you can do it precisely.

Then bank the aircraft 30 degrees and do a 360 degree turn accurately maintaining your nominated altitude ,

and your nominated airspeed and bank.

Repeat it all till you can consistantly do it accurately , it's not easy but its important

Learn to trim you aircraft accurately and fast.

 

There are other steps or elements to learn but the above are the important ones.

 

Remember that eye candy and REX type addons will not help make you a better pilot ,

ignore them till much latter on.

 

End Quote.

 

I also suggested that he start with the quality SF260 as a trainer aircraft rather than his

preferred choice of a more complex F-16 or F-18.

 

Cheers

Karol

[gizmosellsbunnys 106]

GA advantage is can fly 30 minutes land at with basic traffic patterns rural airports in most places. Tube flying have to more precise I respect those pilots as my attention span could never do FMC flight plan or do precise instrument approaches. Fly with ch yoke and rudder pedals around small airports. Rarely fly above 10000 feet and favorite plane cessna 120 its flapless plane it requires good trim and power techiques to land it.

[Chock 17,769]

I'm more inclined to fly stuff in FSX that I would never get a chance to fly in real life, so that tends to be old classics, airliners and helicopters, and that is less about an obsession with complexity, but rather an interest in stuff which I otherwise would not normally be let loose upon. Having said that, since I do fly in real life, and that mostly on gliders, I am a pretty decent pilot, thus I'm certainly not avoiding the basics - any glider pilot worth his or her salt will tell you that they would never fly a sloppy uncoordinated turn and lose height because of it, since you generally have to work hard to gain that height in the first place. That's just one of many reasons why flying gliders tends to make you into a good pilot, but back on the topic at hand...

 

Many of the glider pilots I know are, or were, airline or military pilots, and they all say that they enjoy flying gliders because it is about skillful stick and rudder airmanship along with less constraints on where you can fly, rather than systems knowledge and staying on airways to a schedule. I've seen more than one high time jet airliner pilot make a crappy landing in a glider when they are new to it, just as I am sure I'd probably make a crappy landing in an airliner in real life when being used to flying smaller stuff. Thus they are very different disciplines, but it would certainly be unfair to suggest that the skill levels to fly an airliner are lower than they are to fly a GA aeroplane, they simply require different skills much of the time.

 

Generally speaking, I'll only do an automated landing in an FS aeroplane if the weather visibility is so poor that there is no option but to do that; otherwise I would always hand fly any approach and in fact I very often hand fly SIDs too. Basically because it is more fun to do that and requires more skill from you, but you only have to look at the number of people asking if CS, JF and MILVIZ were going to put FMCs into their B737-200s to know that there probably is a lack of basic flying skill among many simmers who fly heavy metal. Personally, I think they are missing out on much of what flying is about.

 

Al

[AliB 0]

Good topic, thanks Jaggyroad..

 

I fly everything, can´t get enuff!

 

On a more serious note, it seems that it´s a problem in real life too:

 

http://europenews.dk/en/node/50578

 

On a positive note, it´s nice to see a pilot handling an MD80 like this:

 

[Barnstormer1 0]

I go in spurts. Now I'm into Corporate/Ga Charter business.

[PIC007 82]

I just noticed this thread, so true!

 

Heres a story for ya.....

 

I fly online with a group, most of whom have never flown a real plane, and a few who do have a couple of hours. They know I hold a Comm/MEL/Inst ticket so I get a lot of questions usually when we fly. Back when the group first started flying together, about 6 years ago, I didnt know anyone involved except the guy who intro'd me to the group, so I didnt know anyones background or what they did or didn't know about flying, so I mostly kept my mouth shut.

 

We had a few people who liked airliners and bizjets, but most liked flying GA planes down low, so for the most part we just took off, flew around a while while BS'g on Teamspeak, checked scenery, landed, and that was it. Eventually a few started asking questions about "is this ALL there is to flying, it's simple, there must be more, we want to fly like in the real world".

 

They continued this for quite a while, so I started explaining a few things to them and the more I explained, to more eager they were to try it. We are talking about 'procedures' only here, not basic aviation knowledge, ATC stuff. So I launched FSX, selected the 'tower' and got familiar with the radar, interface, etc.

 

When I had it pretty much figured out, a week or so had gone by. We started a MP session, there were 8-10 on at the time, so I had them all get a paper and pen ready, and the first question was 'WHY do we need those?" LOL I explained the sequence of events that was about to happen for their 'real world' experiance, starting with a call to 'Flight Service' (me) for a weather breifing, and the info they would need before calling 'clearance delivery' (me again).

 

They were all in jets, so to keep their initial operating experiance relatively simple, we didn't do the SIDS/STARS thing, just vectors from ATC (still me). As soon as the first guy called CD and I fired off his clearance, it got very quiet :Hypnotized: , then 'it' started... "what did you say?......talk slower......repeat....huh?.....what does that mean?.....do what? Fortunatly I use PTT on TS and I was laughing so hard I was in tears.

 

It took 30 minutes to get everyone airborne and on course, going through CD, ground, tower, departure, center freq's (yes I made them change freq's too). Copying clearances, reading them back, heading, altitude, and speed changes, I gave em the whole 9 yards.

 

Thats was the first and pretty much the last time most of that group asked for a 'as real as it gets' flight, too much work, not enough fun I guess :LMAO:

 

On another note though, I have taught a few 'one on one' friends the 'real' stuff because they were working on their PPL and wanted the help. It does cut down on 'Hobbs' time and saves a few bucks, FSx is a great platform for whatever a user wants it to do!

[Kevin666 2]

You guys should enjoy the simulator in the way you want, and let other simmers to do the same, that's my opinion.

[COBS 25]

A lot of people get into Flight Simulation in a haphazard manner , they want to fly , but where do you start .

In the real world you go through the theory , then you have a instructor sitting beside you guiding ,prompting,

and teaching you through progressive steps.

With flight simulation you are totally alone as you launch into flying procedures in a unfamiliar aircraft without

any help .

It's the thoughtful and thought provoking comments and guidance contained in threads at forums such as this

one that are terribly important to those that wish to enrich their flying experience.

We should not brush off a thread with a one liner comment , rather we need to make a sincere effort to

contribute help and guidance others who choose to enhance both their flying skills and enjoyment of the

experience.

We are all in this together , and should never forget that new comers and others might benefit from our

comments, advice and thoughts.

 

Cheers

Karol

[styckx 1,870]

Good topic, thanks Jaggyroad..

 

I fly everything, can´t get enuff!

 

On a more serious note, it seems that it´s a problem in real life too:

 

http://europenews.dk/en/node/50578

 

On a positive note, it´s nice to see a pilot handling an MD80 like this:

 

 

Great video.. He was working the heck out of that plane... The gum too!

[AliB 0]

Yep, it´s great, he-he!

 

I like this video very much, not so young pilot, with glasses, years of experience, just awesome...