Flight-Sim Enthusiasts Confident of Real-World Skills Sarah N. WSJ

[Christopher Low 5,352]

I would argue that whether there is a connection between this incident and flight sims or not is totally irrelevant. Idiots can kill people with cars. Does this mean that we should ban everyone from driving cars?

For the record, I am not able to read the article. Every single link takes me to the "subscribe or login" page.

[ErichB 3,639]

“I could taxi a plane out to the runway and get it up in the air,” he said. “I know how to control autopilot and everything.” 

This is what makes me cringe.  Saitek controller experts claiming actual ability.  Understanding the principles of how something works and actually operating the real equipment are two different things.  It's this kind of cock-sure attitude about assumed actual skill that gives us all a bad name - especially to real world crews.

[Chock 17,769]

Yup, taxying an aeroplane - particularly an airliner - is a lot harder than people might imagine. For example, you should have heard the unflattering comments we were all making the other night on one of the stands at EGCC as we watched what was clearly an inexperienced pilot taxying an A330 onto the stand. Pretty unfair to be honest, the A330 is a very big aeroplane and I bet I couldn't do any better lol. This was whilst using the safedock system too, which gives you steering cues and distance to go information. He turned way too late onto the stand's taxi line and barely managed to get it straight enough for the air bridge to connect, and even then the safedock was displaying a 'too far' message. We were considering not putting the air bridge on the thing, getting a tow bar out and a tug and backing it up a bit to straighten it. Some pilots are very good at it and can really nail it onto the centreline easily, but it's not uncommon to see that 'too far' message up on the safedock board although there is a bit of leeway in it, so the airbridge will normally go on.

Richard Russell was trained on being the guy in the left seat on the brakes for tow offs, so he would have been familiar with the steering tiller and the brakes, but even then he was apparently riding the brakes too hard when on the runway and when lining up for it, presumably because he wasn't sure of the throttle settings, as evidenced by another aircraft crew reporting that his brakes and tires were smoking when he was on the take-off roll.

If he'd really cooked those brakes badly and heated up the tires too much, then retracted them whilst they were still smoking, it could very easily have been 'game over' much sooner and I should imagine if there's anything left worth examining in that wreckage of the landing gear, it would show that the landing gear and tires were not in great condition after that kind of treatment.

Edited August 17, 2018 by Chock

[charliearon 3,022]

12 hours ago, Bills511 said:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/flight-simulator-enthusiasts-confident-of-real-world-skills-1534446556
Need a subscription to WSJ to read article. ☹️ 

• Tech

Flight-Simulator Enthusiasts Confident of Real-World Skills

Some have cockpit replicas at their homes; experts worry after man who stole aircraft said he learned to fly with ‘videogames’

 

 

 

 

By

Sarah E. Needleman and

Andy Pasztor

Updated Aug. 16, 2018 5:52 p.m. ET

 

When the ground-services employee who stole a turboprop airliner last week declined air-traffic controllers’ piloting advice, saying he had played videogames, it was no surprise to some devotees of intricate home flight-simulation programs.

Such software can mimic many phases of aircraft operations, including takeoffs, as well as how to respond to heavy weather and emergencies, pilots and software makers say. The simulators are also more affordable than pursuing a pilot’s license and can help satisfy a lifelong obsession with flying.

Last year, two million units of vehicle-simulation games for PCs and consoles were sold world-wide, the most common being flight simulators, according to the market-research firm NPD Group.

Josh Edgar, a 25-year-old technology consultant who lives in Dallas, recently spent about $500 on a flight-simulation setup. He said that when he was in grade school, an airline pilot let him briefly step into the cockpit. “Seeing all the lights and switches definitely piqued my curiosity,” he said.

An aviation enthusiast’s flight simulator setup in his home. Photo: Sarah E. Needleman

Howard Penley, a recently retired United Airlines captain, said passengers who once toured his flight deck often would remark on the complexity of all the buttons and dials. More recently, he said, they began inquiring about specific controls and procedures such as landing in limited visibility.

When prodding the more recent guests about their cockpit know-how, Mr. Penley discovered it usually came from home flight simulators. Starting a Boeing 737 requires “an exact sequence of events that must be performed correctly and entirely from memory. I have no doubt that these sequences could be learned through exposure to a sophisticated computer program,” he said in an email.

Home programs have evolved over more than three decades. They can represent all types of aircraft, from wartime bombers to modern-day passenger airliners. A setup can cost a few dozen dollars for a videogame to thousands for software with intricate renderings of cockpits and real-world environments.

A new conference called FlightSimExpo held in Las Vegas in June drew around 1,100 people, its organizers said. FlightSimCon held its sixth annual gathering in Dallas in June, according to its website.

Many hobbyists say they don’t think of simulators in the same vein as traditional videogames, because they aren’t trying to rack up points or compete. They simply focus on flying.

Frank Safranek, a 59-year-old computer artist in Escondido, Calif., used to attend conventions annually and now belongs to more than a dozen online flight-simulation groups. He said his passion for flight simulators goes to his childhood.

A rendering of a plane in a flight-simulation program. Photo: Frank Safranek

“It’s probably from building plastic models when I was a kid, before we had computers,” he said. “Now computers allow you to realize that dream without having to buy or rent an aircraft or pay for lessons.”

Some hobbyists control their virtual aircraft with hardware that represents throttles, control yokes and other cockpit controls—and even have full cockpit replicas.

Unlike the hobbyists’ systems, the multimillion-dollar simulators used to train commercial pilots closely replicate vibrations from turbulence, stalls that rob wings of lift and other sensations that can’t be duplicated at home.

Hobbyists say they generally prefer flight simulators for computers over consoles such as the PlayStation 4, as PCs can have more power to produce on-screen visuals in better detail.

Richard Russell, the Horizon Air employee at the controls of the stolen aircraft last week, died when the aircraft crashed on an island in Washington State. His roughly hourlong flight at the controls of the 76-passenger Bombardier Q400 was punctuated by extreme rolls and steep dives—not the typical maneuvers practiced by hobbyists in flight simulators.

Josh Nunn, 26, a chemical engineer in Greenville, S.C., has never set foot in the cockpit of a passenger airplane, but he is confident he could fly a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 thanks to his videogame skills. He spent two years flying those craft in the flight-simulation PC program “X-Plane” from Laminar Research.

A screen view of Prepar3D, a simulation program.

“I could taxi a plane out to the runway and get it up in the air,” he said. “I know how to control autopilot and everything.” Laminar Research didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Industry and law-enforcement officials worry people without flying experience could learn to operate aircraft, given the accuracy of flight-simulation software and the manuals that sometimes accompany them. Safety experts also worry aviation buffs might feel unduly confident about real-world hazards if they somehow manage to get behind the controls of an actual plane.

“I’m very concerned about copycats” repeating last week’s incident, said Jim Hall, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. The episode “should prompt stepped-up government efforts to determine what’s above our heads.”

The stolen aircraft last week near Seattle, as if flew over the Puget Sound region, piloted by a Horizon Air ground-services worker who died when the plane crashed after about an hour in flight. Photo: john wauldron/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Subtleties of real flying can be lost inside a home, said Charlie Gregoire, president of Redbird Flight Simulations Inc., which makes advanced replica cockpit hardware.

“Imagine learning to drive a car playing ’Forza,’ ” he said, referring to the racing videogame.

As good as simulator technology has become, psychologists and safety experts say, no home-video scenarios are able to truly replicate the adrenaline rush and cockpit confusion in a true emergency. In extreme cases, pilots have only seconds to scan their instruments, switch between various computer readouts, discuss the situation and take action—as the cockpit fills with a cacophony of klaxons, chimes and other distracting warning sounds.

—Alison Sider
contributed to this article.

 

 

Appeared in the August 17, 2018, print edition as 'Pilot Software Inspires Fledglings.'

[nealmac 260]

That's actually quite a fair article and to be honest, she doesn't paint flight simming in the view that I expected her to. However, cringe moment, at the guy who boldly claims he could fly an A320 or a 737 just because he "flew" them in X Plane. what a word not allowed.

[ErichB 3,639]

40 minutes ago, nealmac said:

However, cringe moment, at the guy who boldly claims he could fly an A320 or a 737 just because he "flew" them in X Plane. what a word not allowed.

To be honest, although the article itself didn't do fligtstimming damage, I think that quote did it all on its own.

[nealmac 260]

5 minutes ago, ErichB said:

To be honest, although the article itself didn't do damage, I think that quote did it all on its own.

To be fair, I think we all have a friend like that. Especially after a few pints 😅

[Holdit 551]

13 hours ago, Cactus521 said:

The media does not understand the hobby,

The media doesn't understand aviation, never mind the hobby built around it. The trouble with articles like this is that there's a danger that some opportunistic politician might fire up the pitchfork-and-torch brigade with something along the lines of "Let's ban all flight sim products so this can never happen again...". A bit unlikely and extreme to be sure, but we live in unlikely and extreme times.

[ErichB 3,639]

1 minute ago, Holdit said:

The media doesn't understand aviation,

Ain't that the truth

[ErichB 3,639]

26 minutes ago, Holdit said:

The trouble with articles like this is that there's a danger that some opportunistic politician might fire up the pitchfork-and-torch brigade with something along the lines of "Let's ban all flight sim products so this can never happen again...

That is not an unlikely scenario at all  - and it's quotes like the aforementioned which is also emblazoned in the title of this article which will ensure that could happen.  That's why I think the article was cleverly written.  Sarah didn't actually write anything damaging.  She let the flightsimmers do it themselves through their own ridiculous delusions.

[n4gix 4,947]

8 hours ago, ErichB said:

“I could taxi a plane out to the runway and get it up in the air,” he said. “I know how to control autopilot and everything.” 

This is what makes me cringe.  Saitek controller experts claiming actual ability.  Understanding the principles of how something works and actually operating the real equipment are two different things.  It's this kind of cock-sure attitude about assumed actual skill that gives us all a bad name - especially to real world crews.

Note however that the fellow quoted said nothing about landing...

...which is kind of important after all!

[shivers9 1,174]

I have always been a bit surprised how many people with zero experience flying think that the Sim gives them the "experience", skills or feeling of flight. I have been lucky enough to do a bit of GA flying as well as some flights in many Air Force planes including the C130 and T38 just to name a couple. I have thought about it often and I really don't think I would enjoy flight sims unless I had the memory of those experiences. I guess those memories sort of fill in the blanks that sim flight presents. Things like Neg and Pos G's and turbulence and how restrained you are in the back seat of a T38 with straps, helment and G suite. The list is endless. I once was in the cockpit of a C130 with an engine fire over the ocean that took way to long to burn out after the fire bottles were used. Trust me when I say that was a busy few minutes up in the pointy end of the bird. Folks who say they can fly from flight sim experience alone are clueless. What they really mean is that they might be able to get it a ways off the ground until it hits something really hard. LOL

[shivers9 1,174]

6 minutes ago, n4gix said:

Note however that the fellow quoted said nothing about landing...

...which is kind of important after all!

Yes Sir and it should be covered in the emergence procedures IMHO!! 🤣

[ErichB 3,639]

13 minutes ago, n4gix said:

Note however that the fellow quoted said nothing about landing...

...which is kind of important after all!

Doesn’t that play even more into the hands of those who fear the sinister intentions of the ‘rogue’ flightsim crowd?

[gpf3m 41]

I fly a real airplane, and one on the computer.  To say you can fly a real one because you can fly one on a computer is only Tomfoolery.

Edited August 17, 2018 by gpf3m