PeterYour analysis is absolutely spot on! Those able to cope would be those able to compartmentalise their thought and process functions best, this is the ability to deal with one thing at a time, logically and therefore avoid the overloading and "freezing up" situations that you mention. Of course as trained piots we are taught to do this and the ability to handle the situation depends to a great extent on the individual. So of course as you say, the right person under the right set of circumstances would perhaps get away with it. However if the situatuation were to change in any way the outcome may well be different. I, like yourself would probably be able to cope with most situations depending of course whether there was any damage to the airframe involved. However my sim time is minor compared to my real world flying hours. Those in the opposite situation would find things remarkably different and like you say, there is no pause button in real world flying!It's an interesting discussion topic of course, lets hope we never have to find out if it's possible for real!CheersTimEHAMhttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Are you guys hiring?!? ;)

All you people who think they could land a real airliner with only Flight Simulator experience are DREAMING! I'm a licensed pilot in GA aircraft and I know I wouldn't be able too so I am dam shore someone with Flight Simulator only experience couldn't!And if someone does manage in a real simulator remember, its still only a simulator! If it was for real you would be so scared and probably messup big time from a panic attack! I bet 99% of you with only FS experience couldn't even land a C150 without killing yourself!I personally think fs feels nothing like the real thing on approach and flare! You don't get ground affect and surface winds and they play major factors in the round out and flare. So how can you have a feel for correcting these affects when fs does not simulated them. Also on your final and flare, the ailerons don't do jack because of the slow airspeed. your control comes from the throttle, pitch elevators and rudder!Even if you did manage to setup an autoland your not flying it are you?Your nothing but dreamers!

Well Guys I'm about to find out just how plausible this scenario really is. I am to be at the UAL training center in about 2 hours. Now given this wont be really flying AND there will be a qualified individual very closy by I'm pretty sure will be giving commentary, I actually feel pretty confident I and all my 400+ virtual passengers will walk away none the worse. But then again, if it really is an excersise to see just how well a simmer could do without ANY direction, the odds decrease. We'll see what happens and I'll report back this afternoon or evening on my experience. Jay Eklund - Pilot 4332Senior VP Denver Operationshttp://www.pacificwestairways.com

This is very interesting.My sister works at Lufthansa and i have the great chance to be part in a "refresher" of 2 Lufthansa pilots.Lufthansa pilots need to do a "refresher" every 6 month for training in a simulator.Well we had 1 hour briefing before, talking about VNAV and LNAV and blah blah and i could follow 90% of what they were talking about.Then we entered the simulator and everything looked very familiar.Then i was able to fly the 747-400 simulator at the co-pilots seat.The instructor setup clear weather and the pilot did the throttles and pedals. I was "flying" the bird.Being airborne i was suddenly totally lost and got some kind of "tunnel view".I had no idea of what to do or where to fly. Only with the help of the pilot i was able to "get back online"!So for the question "could someone land a real plane" - forget it.Yes of course i was landing the 747-400 "on my own" but at the same time the pilot did the radio, flaps, throttles, FMC. There was no wind, no clouds.They told me to pull the stick at 50feet and of course i didnt push it hard enough so the pilot really DID push it or we would have hit the runway really really hard LOLSO again, i say there is no way someone here (i am talking about pure Flightsimmer) could land real plane. There is too much things you had to do.greetings

I'm confident that, if I flew a real plane, none of my passengers would be in a position to criticise my flying.:D :D ;) Victor

I would also be interested to know when the simmers are placed in the Real sim to try their hand how will their landing be dealt with?Will it be a case of having the aircraft setup on finals in the landing configuration at the correct speeds and on the glideslope in daylight and good weather or at FL370 somewhere unknown in the dark with typical cloud at destination with only the simmer left on his own in the cockpit?He would then have to make his own radio calls and take the aircraft from FL370 to an airport and in a position to make a landing unassisted by others.Even in this situation there will not be the extreme fear and stress as at the end of the day its only a sim firmly fixed to the ground ;-)Even as a current Citation Rated Pilot I wouldnt guarantee my own efforts would bring a 747 down with all tyres intact ;-)Peter

I thought I wouldn't be able to hack it in a level C when a church member friend that flight instructs at the FAA gave me a few hours with him in the 727 sim. I blew his mind how well I flew it after flying Captain Sim for 300 hours. I shot a Cat 3 manually on raw data with 50 ft rvr and nailed it. He blew an engine up on me and I still stuck it right on the centerline. All that is not to brag, but I do believe experienced simmers could pull this off. I thought landing the 727 was a lot easier than my 182! But again, you would need som familiarity with jet engines and how they spool up to power, especially the older ones.

...but imagine you could do it...OMG, you would be rich and famous and all girls would like to meet you.You'd be in the Late-night show and really famous.and all the $$$s you spent on FS and all the addons would have been worth it LOL

Go get 'em Jay!!!

Sheesh. I didn't ask you if you thought >I< could do it - I asked you if you thought >you< could do it.Personally, I think I could do it, regardless of whether you think >you< could or not. If you have so little confidence as "real world pilots" that you could even do it, I'd hate to fly with you.The correct answer is:"I don't know".To suggest automatically that of all the talented and experienced simulator and simulator/real-world pilots, not one could do it, is not only nonsense, it's the type of outlook that gets real-world pilots killed.You have to remember that not all people react to emergencies by becoming a frozen lump of a seatpresser. Some people are actually able to perform under pressure - not you guys, I guess!Have fun!Andrew

Peter,I really enjoyed your post. Makes a very very good point.I totally 100% agree with you. That's why some are pilots and some are not! No argument about this.The situation described by the poster is never going to happen. But IF, and just then... Don't you think that a serious (I emphasize that) flight simmer could get the job done? Of course with the guidance of a trainer over the radios. I can't think of any serious simmer not being able to tune 121.50 and make a destress call!Weather and 'real feel' is an enormous factor. That's why I say if the situation is normal. If you are indeed at FL370 and the nearest airport has bad weather, I'm sure one will be able to do simple navigation to another destination and setup the approach with the help of the trainer.The most important factor the the factor of fear as you mention. I really don't know how one can react. It depends to each invdividual and how well one can control those feelings.On the other hand IF such a situation does occur I'm sure there would be a lot more chances if a flight simmer tries the trick, instead of someone who knows absolutely nothing about aircraft and flying.Even the very small experience of flying a static, 'no feel' flight simulator is better than no experience at all. Don't you agree?The thread is quite hypothetical, though it has one good goal. It keeps the interest to the hobby alive! LOLGeorge DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

Well I would sure be able to give it a really good shot on the NG! 1] FLY the aircraft. 2] Turn on the A/P, ALT HOLD, HDG SEL. 2] Get vectors to the nearst airport for a ILS approach. Select VREF for rwy. 3] Adjust the dam seal lol. 4] Set final app course and tune NAVS to ILS rwy. 5] Catch LOC, one dot high flaps 15 gear down. 6] Pray that G/S captures and do not forget to arm the second A/P! 7] Looking good, OM final app flaps speed VREF + 5, A/T ON, speed selected, spoilers ARMED, set miss app altitude on MCP, hand on throttles with TOGA ready in case it goes bad. 8] Start crying and praying at the same time lol...Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4][h3]P M D G's 747-400[/h3][h4]coming to a runway near you[/h4][/font color]Caution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)AMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | Maxtor 6Y080M0 SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 | Windows Xp Pro | Windows Xp Pro 64 |

Since we seem to be repeating most of the sentiments contained in the previous threads, let me resurrect the one below from a previous discussion, which I thought added an interesting wrinkle. This perspective assumes you're in U.S. airspace, but the concern could be similar elsewhere.Before you even get the plane near an airport, imagine what response you might get from ATC and the Dept. of Homeland Security when a commercial flight (and a major one, at that, since we're talking about a 747, and for that matter, since it's a 747, it's probably a foreign carrier) stops responding to ATC (when the pilots become incapacitated), and then eventually they hear an unfamiliar voice on the radio reporting an "alleged" emergency in the cockpit.The first thing that becomes clear is that at the very best, you're going to be watched closely to see how well you follow their instructions. And there's no way you'll be directed to any major commercial airport -- more likely the most remote one available with a sufficient runway. Would they risk letting you near an air force base for landing? Would they sacrifice the availability of an ILS, if necessary, to avoid the risk that you might not be trustworthy once you get near a large population? Can a 747's autoland function get you close to touchdown without ILS?And then, what happens after the F-16's get within range, and for whatever reason you can't, as directed, make the plane turn away from its trajectory toward downtown Chicago in time?

I agree with Dean, I used to be too confident in my abilities and then I flew a real aircraft, what I learned is this.......without rudder pedals the average simmer would probably be lost. Of course if the weather is really good his chances are greatly increased. Now if a simmer was proficient in the use of pedals, or especially had a little time in a real plane I think that the chances of a decent landing are pretty good with help via the radio from controllers. I can tell you right now that another poster in this thread is dead on right too, it would depend on the persons ability to deal with stress, it is not like they would be able to saunter up to the cockpit and calmly take the controls and land it like they do it every day, the stress factor would be enormous, especially if they had family on the plane. People can learn a lot from sims but there are key factors missing from the sims experience that would totally prepare an average person to take the controls of the real deal and pilot it like a pro. It would be interesting to see a study done to see how realistic a scenario like this would be, I have no idea what the numbers would be but I can tell you right now that some simmers could do it and some simmers would fail, but it is not as easy as many people think it would be. Best Regards,Philip Olsonhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg