Hi everyone

 

Started playing FSX for the first time seriously recently and currently learning VFR flight in the Carenado Cessna 172. I am thinking of "upgrading" aircraft soon but not sure on what the best options are. My goals are to learn IFR flight and ultimately fly some airliners. Does anybody have any ideas?

 

Thanks

Welcome, and beware this can get very addicting!

 

The default C172 is pretty good for learning IFR. Otherwise you might want to move up to a more complex plane with constant speed prop and retractable gear, maybe a Beech Bonanza or C182RG. I use the Bonanza F33A with Reality XP gauges and WAAS GNS 430 and the updated flight dynamics files for a lot of my IFR flights and it's very good. AccuFeel is another great addon which enhances the Carenado planes very nicely.

 

Once you get some practice you can jump into airliners any time but I suppose the usual progression from single prop aircraft is to get into multi-engine props and then maybe small jets or regional airliners before you fly the big airliners. I have the QW757 and Feelthere ERJ v2 for when I want to fiddle around with flying jets and programming FMC's. If you want to try a twin engine prop, have a look at the RealAir Duke or Milviz BE55.

If you want to learn to fly IFR, do it the way its done in real life and learn in the 172 you already own, rather than going straight to an airliner and trying to learn it there where speeds and things will be happing at a much great rate than in your 172.

 

You know the old saying about learing to walk before you run, same holds true when learning go from flying VFR to IFR.

 

Plan a short flight in your 172 from one airport to another, set visibility to 1/2 mile or less all the way up to your cruise altitude so you canT cheat, then fly IFR using VORs or GPS and do an ILS approach and landing by hand and see if you can do it.

 

Once you master the basics and can do it repeatably by hand, then try stepping up to a more complex twin engine prop or jet like the PMDG 737NGX.

 

There was a guy posting the other day who goes by Verybumpy and couldnt understand why he couldnt capture the ILS in the airliner he was flying. Turned out it was due to his lack of understanding the basics of how it works. Happens all the times when simmers try to skip learning the basics in a small a/c like the 172 and go straight into flying airliners.

 

 

Stick with the basics and fly single engine, non-complex aircraft. I highly recommend looking into Angle of Attack's free Aviator 90 program, and if you like it, move on to their Aviator Pro. These training programs mirror much of what you would learn while obtaining a PPL and IFR certification in the real world.