TV Station investigates in-home flight simulators

[hopskip 253]

Facts of the matter doesn't matter. Media hype like this is rarely good for the hobby. Flying has a danger element in peoples minds and airlines and aircraft manufacturers will often resort to symbolic actions to show that they take security seriously. I'd be very surprised if we will ever see another authorised sim addon from Boeing after this.

 

Better not train Airline Pilots anymore, otherwise they might learn how to fly a plane.

[Finnerz 2]

 

 

Absolutely. I'm just waiting for the day when the flight attendant announces both pilots have succumbed to food poisoning, and is there anyone onboard who owns FSX or P3D. I'll stand up, reassure my frightened fellow passengers with a winning smile, and resolutely make my way forward.

 

I'm repeating myself a bit so sorry about that, but I expect many in this community would be able to land a 737, 777 and perhaps a few others on a runway with an ILS with ATC guidance, but not be able to accurately use it as a missile as some seem to think: a PMDG simmer would stand a better chance of saving a jet than crashing a jet!

 

 

 

(Obviously I mean crash in the sense of 9/11 - even an airbus can be crashed in to ground if you really want to.)

[ClearedtoLand 149]

Facts of the matter doesn't matter. Media hype like this is rarely good for the hobby. Flying has a danger element in peoples minds and airlines and aircraft manufacturers will often resort to symbolic actions to show that they take security seriously. I'd be very surprised if we will ever see another authorised sim addon from Boeing after this.

 

Indeed, but there is also much room for stupidity. As it stands, doubts are cast over the use of a flight simulator by the captain of MH370, who, as yet, has not been proven to have been the agent of disaster. But for all the hype about the dangers of flight simming as a tool for enabling terrorism, nobody in the media seems bothered by the really big elephant in the room. The guy was a trained pilot, not merely a flight simmer. Would he have been able to hijack the plane without the use of a flight simulator at home? Yes. Is a flight simulator an essential tool for hijacking a plane if you are its captain? No.

 

The fact that the media makes no effort to actually analyze the situation rationally is a damning indictment of the standard of journalism. That people are falling for this nonsense without even resorting to token critical thinking is further confirmation of what science has been showing us for the past 50 years about how people think. We are not given to rational thought, that requires effort to overcome the mental shortcuts that are hardwired into our brains. There should be an inverse Pulitzer Prize for journalists who exploit people's psychology for tv ratings.

[hopskip 253]

 

The fact that the media makes no effort to actually analyze the situation rationally is a damning indictment of the standard of journalism. 

 

Developing Story on CNN:

 

Boeing 777 aircraft will struggle to maintain altitude once the fuel tanks are empty.

 

 

Real CNN, not "The Onion", or CNNNN

[Paul K 1,336]

a PMDG simmer would stand a better chance of saving a jet than crashing a jet!

I think it's probably safer to say that a PMDG simmer would stand a better chance of saving a jet than someone who was completely uninterested in flight simming, or aviation in general. But by what degree ? How much depends on the ability to carry over the knowledge gained from a flat screen in a calm environment, to a real flight deck in an emergency ? And what state of mind would you be in, if you were suddenly thrust into such circumstances ? I daresay its a question that occurs to everyone who uses a flight simulator.

 

All I know is that having landed my Boeing 727 on the USS Nimitz, using the rear air-stairs as an arrestor hook, the ladies would find me irresistible.

[z06z33 763]

Facts of the matter doesn't matter. Media hype like this is rarely good for the hobby. Flying has a danger element in peoples minds and airlines and aircraft manufacturers will often resort to symbolic actions to show that they take security seriously. I'd be very surprised if we will ever see another authorised sim addon from Boeing after this.

Yes but sims have positive influence on pilots. I used sims when I was working on my instrument rating to save money that way I had some idea of what to do when I went up with my instructor and wasnt burning $6 a gallon gas just learning the basics. My Dad used the old Fs2000 PSS 747-400 to practice before his checkrides. So sims help the public not hurt them. FS had nothing to do with the crash the media is just gripping at straws.

[Oracle427 45]

Absolutely. I'm just waiting for the day when the flight attendant announces both pilots have succumbed to food poisoning, and is there anyone onboard who owns FSX or P3D. I'll stand up, reassure my frightened fellow passengers with a winning smile, and resolutely make my way forward.

And I'll be so nervous that I'll probably stand up and answer, "I speak jive."

[Polar 30]

Lets see, do I have this right: guns, video games, movies and now flight simulators, how about knuckle heads who think they can protect us from everything.  I'm beginning to wonder if a sky marshal should sit up front and in the back on all flights or have a cop in every classroom and school entrance, or in every store, the list goes on.

The news media should understand a few things before they begin to write the narrative and fill those uneducated minds out there w/ crap. :wacko:  God help us

[z06z33 763]

A simmer would have a better chance of being able to program the auto land function as he would know how to use the FMC and actually know what the systems were and would be better able to follow instructions then a person with no flight experience or even a private pilot as most PP's dont even know what a FMC is. But if it came to hand flying a plane a PP would do better.

[simmerhead 885]

The fact that the media makes no effort to actually analyze the situation rationally is a damning indictment of the standard of journalism. That people are falling for this nonsense without even resorting to token critical thinking is further confirmation of what science has been showing us for the past 50 years about how people think. We are not given to rational thought, that requires effort to overcome the mental shortcuts that are hardwired into our brains. There should be an inverse Pulitzer Prize for journalists who exploit people's psychology for tv ratings.

 

We are only partly rational, but extremely cognitively biased, meaning we don't seek out objective facts, but facts to back up our biases. That's why journalism, books and documentary films don't matter much. People can't be convinced to change their minds, even when evidence is staring them in the face.

[Anthony1968 19]

A simmer would have a better chance of being able to program the auto land function as he would know how to use the FMC and actually know what the systems were and would be better able to follow instructions then a person with no flight experience or even a private pilot as most PP's dont even know what a FMC is. But if it came to hand flying a plane a PP would do better.

Having watched many excellent YouTube videos on the subject of final approach and landing in a commercial jet it's incredibly obvious that hand flying a plane to the ground (auto pilot off) is a finely tuned skill. I agree that us simmers MAY save the day using auto land but anything else is the stuff that only dreams are made of. But hey! I dream too. In fact I have every intention of having a go at a real B738 sim just to see if I could, somehow pull it off.

[mrtk311 34]

 

 

I think it's probably safer to say that a PMDG simmer would stand a better chance of saving a jet than someone who was completely uninterested in flight simming, or aviation in general. But by what degree ? How much depends on the ability to carry over the knowledge gained from a flat screen in a calm environment, to a real flight deck in an emergency ? And what state of mind would you be in, if you were suddenly thrust into such circumstances ? I daresay its a question that occurs to everyone who uses a flight simulator.

Don't forget; some simmers like to read up and dive deep into all the manuals and technical stuff that you'd probably won't even see in real life, and some simmers like to just know the bare basics, and then there are the ones in between  ^_^

[Alpha Floor 237]

On the million dollar question "would a simmer land a real airliner without any RW experience", I say it depends on the simmer. The degree of realism that can be achieved on a home PC is high enough so that the serious simmer (the one who studies the manuals) has a good chance of doing it in real life. That being said, this "serious simmer" will usually also have real life experience at least on GA.

 

Pilots are being paid for handling non-normal situations and emergencies. Most of the time their job could be done by a "serious simmer". However, I wouldn't want a "serious simmer" attempting to handle a real emergency.

[Gregg_Seipp 568]

I certainly hope that nobody believes they can fly much of anything because of FS training. That's why there is ground school and flying lessons. Two very different events.

 

It's the same but different for small airplanes.  But you won't really get the 'different' part until you fly a real one and then you go ohhhhh.  I can't speak for big or even medium sized airplanes.  Getting at least to solo in a small plane can make simming even more fun.

 

Gregg

[tf51d 284]

I certainly hope that nobody believes they can fly much of anything because of FS training. That's why there is ground school and flying lessons. Two very different events.

OK I won't ! :Smile: