-----------------------------------------------I can't say their experience with the simulator makes them any better prepared for flight training than someone who never has used a flight simulator. Students with this kind of backgroundinvariably concentrate exclusively on instruments instead of looking outside, and have deeply engrained, improper procedure habits.-----------------------------------------------Thats really interesting...even more so because you are not the first instructor I have heard to say that! I can understand how FS9 simmers would be all heads-down in a real plane after staring at a 17" square with 80% of it taken up by a panel! Probably pretty hard to get them to break the habit and look outside (whats the fun if you dont look outside!)Patience...FlightSim will come into its own with the arrival of affordable VR-headsets :)

I am not a real pilot,and i did not sleep in a Holiday Inn last night.(i might,however,be forced to do that tomorrow,as i'm flying a looooong flight.)I have been simming since FS95,and i'm not stopping just yet,but have to agree with Mark:focus on one plane,learn it's tricks,instead of flying everything you like(in the beginning).i (shame on me) only learned about the internetwith FS2000,and i've done many an autoland with 767 PIC.i did not learn to FLY before i went on VATSIM though.one atc dude asked me if i wanted a visual,and me,being the noob i was,cheerfully agreed.He then brought me in on a 4 mile final,i was too high,too fast,not prepared,i.e,too dumb to fly it.i've never made a bigger virtual hole as that eve,and that sent me right back to school,too,to learn how to really fly,instead of punching knobs.I suddenly wondered what the fun was of letting a simulated computer land a simulated plane on a computersim.nowadays,i'm primarily flying my big love,the DC8,as well as the WP-3D(i just love the muppets,and the A/T,too :))and sometimes the DC9 and 727.For vfr/low and slow stuff,the DC3 has high Mark's( :D ) in my book.and if nothing else,at least it keeps the aircraft folder size tiny,and the gaugefolder clean :)cheersJP.

You can find many good, free sources of information about real-world aviation on the Web. Here are some good places to start:Learning to Fly: http://www.aopa.org/learntofly/AOPA has created a special page for Flight Simulator aviators, which includes links to a variety of good information:http://www.aopa.org/special/microsoft/flightsim.htmlYou can learn much from the free online courses and information available at http://www.aopa.org/asf/You do not need to be a pilot or an AOPA member to use these resources.I especially recommend the Safety Advisors (http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/advisors.html), which also serve as excellent overviews and training supplements.Online Resources: Start with http://fsinsider.com/articles/bestfree-add-ons.htm, which will lead you to many useful sources of information. Some of the links in that article are broken (the FAA just updated many of its Web pages), but you can find the FAA Training Handbooks mentioned there at:http://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/You should start with "Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge"(http://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/handbook/). The updated version of this standard text covers the knowledge required for a private pilot certificate, but it also includes much useful information about flying turbine aircraft.To learn more about how to fly, see the "Airplane Flying Handbook" (http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircraft/airplane_handbook/)The "Instrument Flying Handbook" and the "Instrument Procedures Handbook," both available at http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/ will take you through the knowledge required for flying under IFR.-ExtraPilotCertified Flight Instructor

It really depends on the type of simmer. All my life I've flown more out the window than using the instruments.Even now I tend to look out the window 80% of the time and only glance at the instuments (or scan) as required. I've developed a way to efficiently maintain altitude, speed, heading (track), keep turns coordinated etc whilst using the VC in virtually every aircraft I fly (especially RealAir's Spitfire, SF260, and various others). If you sim it's quite important to follow real-world technique in instrument scanning whilst enjoying the sights that are there to enjoy!James

Donny AKA ShalomarFly 2 ROCKS!!!My dad is a pilot, but I never touched the controls in his planes. Can't even remember the tail number to the biggest plane he flew, a Rockwell Turbocommander 690 but the controllers and dad shortened it to Sixteen Echo. Maybe not proper, but I actually can't remember him ever saying the whole tail number to anyone but Clearance. Blew my big chance to touch the controls on a flight from Montreal to KPHL, had some sort of pressurisation problem. For reasons known only to her my stepmother passed my brothers and sisters who were years older plus in various stages of flight training and shoved the second O2 bottle to my face- ~9 year old me. My dad had a canula on, but the first thing I saw was his head slumped backwards over the seat. I had read Airport, and grasped the problem, but my oxygen starved brain thought it was a higher priority to follow my father's instructions to keep my seat belt on. After an interminaable delay after I picked up the airphone I finally convinced an incredulous police dispatcher I really was in an airplane with a problem and needed ATC patched in. We were cleared for imediate descent.My hobby was studying pics of panels, including my Dad's. I told my stepmother to pull back the big levers, wait for the horn, (stall) flip the switch that said "ALT HLD" and to start the reverse procedure at 14,000 feet. Gave her a quick lesson in finding "Point to any big guage. UP one OVER two" and reading an altimeter. Wound up fairly close to 10. Dad came to first, then diverted to Queen City Municipal, where he thumped it down, but we all lived. No brain damage that we notice.When I got older, I took lessons here and there, but never soloed. I don't want to make it a carreer and my income only justifies simple remote control planes and simming for a hobby.I do cheat sometimes, I may wish for realistic sysyems but if a plane lets me get away with firing up two turboprop engines without external power or pause to recharge the battery I usually do. I bust IFR minimums, especially if I am familiar with an area. I'm the type who somewhat routinely edits real weather to make it worse at my destination.I guess I'm in the "frustrated real world wannabe" category of simmer.Best Regards, Donny:-wave

I have a grand total of about 3 hours in a T-34C (though I did get to do a couple of barrel rolls, which I guess is fortunate).I started out with FS 2.1 on the PC. It was about the only real graphics game at that time (this was on a black and white (actually, black and green)monitor). I think the game tended to get me to focus on the "knobology" and navigation, rather than airmanship. I simmed through FS5, but shifted to a different computer O/S, (FS5 sort-of ran under windows 3.1 emulation, but not good enough so I put it aside). When I bit the bullet and loaded up Win98, I got back into simming with FS98. I think I still like to concentrate on the nav and instrument elements, tothe detriment of actual flying ability. So I like things like the LDS 767. scott s..

I am VFR SEL pilot got my wings in a Piper cherokee in 1969, then we (2 other friends and I) bought an Arrow (the originl one) which three months later we traded it for a low hours Bonanza A36 (400 hours). I am a member of ABS (American Bonanza Society and of AOPA. I started flying war planes F22, The Janes series,Falcon, etc and then took up the civilian route with Xplane since my Computer was an Apple and that was the only one available to us. Switched to FS98 since I got tired of the constant update operation that Austin Meyers directs, and I was already deep into PC's. Then I joined TWA VA which went caput,and Meridian VA accepted my flown hours and there I have been learning a lot as well as in the Forums , this one, and simflight.I must say that belonging to an excellent VA like Meridian has been really a Plus for me. They are estrict but have an excellent Board of Directors, Hub Managers and Technical People.I have been to several Bonanza Society meetings, the best one being in Vegas. Simming has taken me to Orlando , Dallas, Seatle with the old Microwings every two years Meeting (now non existant and replaced by the AVSIM Conference-I guess- which I have yet to attend one!!).I am sort of Ecletic when it comes to flying and do jets (PMDG B737NG favourite) as well as GA (A36 from Dreamfleet being my favorite), as well as Lock-on and the new Falcon 4. You see I am retired so I have time available.......I have an American license as well which I got in Bridgeport Connecticut. I have flown in the NY-Connecticut Area, the Florida area (got some IFR training at Opa Locka just to be prepared in case I got into Clouds).I once got my bi annual review at Orange County Airport (John Wayne) and went as far as Catalina Island.I had been out of Simming for almost three years waiting for a liver transplant (all I did was read the forums and do a lot of downloading) which luckiy turned out fine after three Surgeries.I am back in business and gradually flying again with Meridian which nicely gave me a really exteded LOA (leave of absence).In Venezuela in year 2000 a few of us (including a fellow Meridian Pilot) we founded the Venezuelan Association of Virtual Pilots and Controllers of which I am the Managing Director. Sort of like AFL CIO for Fliying in Venezuela. Out of that we now have severals VA,s the biggest one being an Affiliate of TCA (Trans Caribbean Airways) called TCA Venezuela . I has a bout 200 memnbers.Its President is also in charge of VATSAM (SouthAmerica Vatsim).Our ATC has people on line (VATSAM, VATCAR) everyday but Fridays (TGIF). Do come this way. WE want you to visit our country.Edmundo CardenasCaracas, Venezuela