http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=70917#entry767687

 

Just as any of Chuck's Articles !

 

And yet another very interesting article at the .org by Phillip, co-author of the FF 777 and upcoming 757, who just got his PPL :-)

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=70126#entry761025

 

I do believe that, contrarily to what most tend to defend, having good PC-based flightsim experience does help you learn how to fly for real, snd not only proceduraly speaking, but rather in the acquisition of good flight techniques under the most different situations!

 

The only difference between flying a good flight simulator and flying in RL (when simple controllers are used), in as far as my personal experience of almost 33 years goes, is that it is a lot easier to fly for real... Only your fears, stress when you start flying / instruction can illude you to think differently, IMO....

 

And yes - if you really learn how to fly in a good simulator, it'll be piece of cake when you go real....

Thanks for this insight from a RL Pilot and an avid simmer!  Gives meaning to us that are "landlocked"!

 

John

As far as I'm concerned....................it's all baloney, to leave a flight sim alone, until you solo. It's baloney to not use a GPS in real life, until you get your PPL. In fact, I believe it's stupid to leave the GPS home on a few cross countries, just to remember the old school ways. What it really comes down to, is that a lot of current flight instructors, aren't really up to speed on what's available for desktop simulation.

 

 

And, I like reading Chuck's articles too!

 

 

My motto: If an instructor tells you to throw the GPS into the backseat, with a smirk on their face, then throw them (the instructor) out!!!

 

 

L.Adamson --- known to tell instructors, they don't always know what their talking about.

And Goran says someone's working on a new Garmin for X-Plane. Good deal!

And Goran says someone's working on a new Garmin for X-Plane. Good deal!

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this is what Laminar hired Philipp for. The GPS is long overdue and will be welcomed when it arrives.

As far as I'm concerned....................it's all baloney, to leave a flight sim alone, until you solo. It's baloney to not use a GPS in real life, until you get your PPL. In fact, I believe it's stupid to leave the GPS home on a few cross countries, just to remember the old school ways. What it really comes down to, is that a lot of current flight instructors, aren't really up to speed on what's available for desktop simulation.

 

I'd rather fly with a pilot that has trained and practices _all_ navigation/flight planning methods, including GPS, and that has been trained to never be behind the aircraft, regarding navigation and situational awareness.

 

But if you feel safe to fly with a pilot that, from day one of his flight training, has always and only arelied on GPS, good for you. :smile:

But if you feel safe to fly with a pilot that, from day one of his flight training, has always and only arelied on GPS, good for you. :smile:

 

HaHa +1

 

Philipp says on his xplane org profile:

 

• Location:Frankfurt, Germany/Columbia, South Carolina

 

Is that Laminar's place in South Carolina? He surely is talented and must be luck for Austin.

But if you feel safe to fly with a pilot that, from day one of his flight training, has always and only arelied on GPS, good for you. :smile:

I didn't exactly say that. :smile:

 

FWIW, a study was done a few years ago, in which new students started with Garmin 1000 equipped Cessna 172s, and the other half of the test group started with the traditional six pac. Since the Garmin students were able to throw some navigation into the first lessons, they completed their PPL, sooner than the others. IMO, a Garmin on day one, is a good deal.

 

As far as relying on GPS, I never did equip my airplane with nav radios. I'm not flying IFR, and it would been a waste of money. Many others, including some airline pilots I know, have done the same. I always pre-planned long cross countries with charts and pencil lines. I'll then have the charts on the knee board. Considering I've used GPS since 1993, I know the failure rate. It's seldom to nothing. As I've said before, one of my main interests in "flight" has been the why's and prevention of controlled flight into terrain. I'll read about every accident from the 1920's to the present, if it involved a working airplane flying into an unseen mountain.

 

As I walk outside every day, I look towards the east, at a snow covered mountain peak (Lone Peak), into which a Boeing airliner disappeared for six months in Dec. 1936 on a flight from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. Because of radio error, it flew eight miles east of course, and hit the mountain around 4:10 am. The momementum, pushed it over the peak, and fell into a basin 500' below. It was then covered with snow. Since some area residents heard the plane fly over, the search started there. But they found nothing, except for a few broken tree limbs, and some scars on rocks. Emelia Earhart even flew here, to look for the plane. Searches continued towards Las Vegas. Six months later, two letters were found on the mountain, which lead searchers back to the area. The wreakage was located in June of 1937.

 

 

 

This is just one example of many in my area. And of course, there are many more, around the world. With todays technology, a simple handheld GPS will easily prevent this type of accident. A Garmin 1000 in a 172 does more.

The moving map GPS I carried easily shows these mountains at a glance. It warns me with audio. It displays weather patterns for hundred of miles in all directions, as well as all the military and airspace boundaries. Instead of trying to triangulate positions from OBS settings and a chart, I know what I need in a glance, and can keep my eyes "out" of the cockpit. By comparing GPS position to what I saw on the ground, as well as the chart, I always knew exactly where I was. If the GPS suddenly went blank, it wouldn't matter. Besides, I carried a backup GPS, as well as a hand-held nav/com.

 

 

But.........if you listen to some "old school" instructors, it the same old " just blindly follow the magenta line" type of bull, that spills from their mouths. It's as if they can't teach a student how to use GPS and maps at the same time. In some cases, the instructor themself, just isn't familiar enough with the GPS to be comfortable with it, let alone a few brands that a student might bring along. Luckily for myself, my intrument instructor was fascinated by my new Garmin 195 back in 1996/7, that had overlayed approaches. That was new tech back then, but very accurate. For many years since, the IFR overlays were removed from portables, because of legal reasons. This same intructor has flown Boeing 737s for the last 14 years, and we still discuss the accuracy and reliability of the GPS. His Boeings use GPS as the main navigation source.

 

 

To get back onto track...............yes, use flight sims for navigation, and especially when new simulated GPSs are released. And say "yes" to using a flight sim, for more than just navigation technique. You might not have the "feel", until you've gained some flying hours. But it's not all seat of the pants, anyway.

 

 

BTW--- on our RV experimental forum, someone posted some pics, of a flight he just took across the American west, to spot the old airmail routes from the 1920s. Numerous pics, had the concrete arrows, and wooden ruins of the spot lights, that use to dot across the United States. Now, that's old nav technology. Some would probably feel that VORs would just be cheating...., and condemn the removal of "the real way to fly"...

 

L.Adamson

Never did I  believe, nor did I imply that a flight simulator would qualify one to be a RL pilot.  Jcomm did not either.  He said that it could reduce the amount of time needed to proceed through the courses which are, and should be, the standard.  At 70 years of age, I am not about to tackle the RL requirements or expense.  I have found flight simulation a great way to "play" in an area into which I will never really experience - not discounting all the hours I have flown in the left seat of helicopters and the right seat of a friend's C172.  I have learned much about navigation and peculiarities of various aircraft (no real pilot can have the experience of "flying" so many variations).  I am thankful for the many hours of development those who brought flight simulation from a bunch of white lines on the screen to what it is today.  Yes, Microsoft left the arena, but only after having developed a first rate system (although much criticized) and x-plane (also criticized) is making strides to develop in an area in which there are, frankly, not many players when considering the whole scheme of the software entertainment (or as P3D says, training) field.

 

No, no one who is not licensed to fly should consider themselves able to jump into an airplane and fly, but I think that if my friend should have a medical emergency, I would at least understand what he (or someone on the radio) was telling me to do so that I could, at least, try.

 

John