General? Hi guys, seems like a great time to get flying!

[Matt5 0]

Hi guys, my name is Matt, and I’m from the U.K

I’ve had a passion for aviation all my life, and my dream was to go down the aviation route career wise, but academically I just followed a different path, not that I have any major regrets, but for me now the dream of being a commercial airline pilot lies in simulation.

I dipped my toe in the water of flight sim about 5 years ago, but tried to fly the big airliners far too soon with only basic understanding of the systems behind them. I found myself overwhelmed and gave up whilst trying to piece together knowledge of things like FMC setups and flying SID/STARS from YouTube videos without ever really having cut my teeth in any sim based GA tutorials.

I’m planning this time to take things more progressively and get some time with humble FSX tutorials and books and work my way in as any real pilot would, and hope it stands me in better stead.

With the promising trailer for the new MSFS, and the bright future that appears to showcase, as well as advances in immersion possibilities with VR, the path ahead looks very appealing and exciting to a newbie simmer / returning enthusiast, and there’s arguably never been a more inviting time to jump into this hobby.

Hopefully this time the journey lasts a little longer, but I look forward to the challenges and rewards ahead.

Matt.

[188AHC 2,138]

Welcome Matt. We have many forums covering all the major flightsims and helpful members in case you have questions. Enjoy. 

[kowen 64]

I did the same thing and I run in cycles, like a lot of us. I’ve been engaged heavily now for the last 3 years with the goal to eventually moving over to the heavies and I have not touched one yet. I think there is a lot of overlooked aspects in GA that is equally rewarding as flying to heavies. Some recommendations:

-          Find yourself a good A2A aircraft or two and get comfortable with them.

-          Practice and master the basics, straight and level flight, climbs, descent, landings, ETC.

-          Do true VRF flights, dead reckoning and pilotage. You will be amazed by how fun it can be when you leave the GPS out of the aircraft.

-          Move on to ATC, VATSIM or Pilot Edge. You don’t need to go full IFR yet, keep it simple.

-          Find a reason to fly. FSEconomy, Air Hauler, others are external programs that give you a reason to fly.

-          Put some music on and enjoy it!

I think sometimes we try and shoot straight for the SID/STARS and commercial aspects of flight simming and forgot that lollygagging through the Rocky Mountains in the A2A Comanche without autopilot, listening to your favourite tunes can be equally if not a more rewarding experience.

Give simple a try. 

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

6 hours ago, Matt5 said:

 

I dipped my toe in the water of flight sim about 5 years ago, but tried to fly the big airliners far too soon with only basic understanding of the systems behind them. I found myself overwhelmed and gave up whilst trying to piece together knowledge of things like FMC setups and flying SID/STARS from YouTube videos without ever really having cut my teeth in any sim based GA tutorials.

Matt.

That’s an all to common occurrence in the sim world Matt. A lot of users who just got into the hobby want to jump right into complex machines like the stuff from PMDG and FSL, while not having a basic understanding of airmanship. They end up a lot of times getting frustrated and have to ask 100’s of questions that they would have probably known if they started from the beginning.

I always recommend that it should be approached like it would be in real life. You start with small a/c, get your private ticket, then get your IFR rating, move to twins/multi-engine planes, get your MEL ticket, then get your commercial and ATP ticket. Then go to airliners. By the time you go though the correct process you’ll know a lot more and have a good background at actually flying and navigating, rather than just programming a flight computer and using the autopilot, not having any idea how anything works should it fail. It would be like going from the couch to running a marathon, usually you start with 5Ks and work your way up.

Welcome to Avsim!

[Matt5 0]

Thanks for the welcomes guys!

I've got a mid range PC for now, I've got funding to upgrade but there's no need for it just yet, I've got FSX-SE, which I've read has a pretty good inbuilt flight school, and that'll run smooth as can be, so no point spending any money on an upgraded computer until the occasion calls for it.

The only area I'd like to spend is on a yoke and throttle (and potentially rudder pedals, but is now at the start the right time for them?). Unsure whether I want to go for a stick, or a yoke, so am open to advice on that matter?

Previously I used a modest MS Sidewinder joystick, but I'd quite like to mimic the input control of the corresponding aircraft I'm likely to fly. So assuming for example I'm starting in sim life with a Cessna 172, and progressing further on into Boeing aircraft, I'd be better starting, and sticking to a particular method of input?

Or am I overthinking this? is switching from a stick to a yoke, or vise-verse at a later point really not that big a deal?

[charliearon 3,017]

If you have already played around with a joystick, then if your desire is to fly something like the C-172 or similar type GA aircraft, I would think it best to go with the yoke, throttles and pedals.  There are plenty of payware quality freeware aircraft available so money can be spent where it is needed.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

2 hours ago, Matt5 said:

The only area I'd like to spend is on a yoke and throttle (and potentially rudder pedals, but is now at the start the right time for them?). Unsure whether I want to go for a stick, or a yoke, so am open to advice on that matter?

Previously I used a modest MS Sidewinder joystick, but I'd quite like to mimic the input control of the corresponding aircraft I'm likely to fly. So assuming for example I'm starting in sim life with a Cessna 172, and progressing further on into Boeing aircraft, I'd be better starting, and sticking to a particular method of input?

 

Whatever you do make sure to get a good set up rudder pedals because you’ll need them for whatever you fly.

Between stick and yoke is a hard one because if you go with a yoke and end up wanting to fly helicopters down the road it would be difficult with a yoke and would also be weird if you want to fly fighter jets with a yoke.

I’ve always went with a good quality stick, separate throttle assembly and rudder pedals that way I can fly just about any type of aircraft I want. Although if your sure you’ll never want to fly choppers or fighter jets you could just go with a yoke.

 

[somiller 694]

To this day I'm still using a MS Sidewinder Force Feedback stick, until I can afford something proper (Brunner stick or yoke). As far as whether to buy a stick or yoke...I have flown Piper Cherokee 180 (yoke), Piper Commanche 250 (yoke), Piper Cub (stick), Pits S2B (stick), NA T-6 Texan (stick) in real life, and have found that transitioning from one to the next was naturally intuitive. The point is, buy whichever you want, and don't worry whether you're missing out on realism.

The suggestion to get a GA aircraft or two from A2A is spot-on...there are no better, but then to get the full benefit of the flight dynamics it's important to get pedals. Suggestions would be MFG Crosswind, or possibly the new Thrustmaster TPR. There are certainly better, more expensive options beginning at about $500 or so, but probably not practical early-on.

My most important suggestion would be to go SLOW with addons like weather, traffic, or environment tweakers such as PTA or some of the REX products. The problem with too many complex addons early in your sim career is that you spend too much time messing around trying to get, and keep a bunch of ancillary addons working, and very little time flying (like many of us here who've been doing this for years). If you're thinking of switching sims in the near future, to either P3D or X-Plane, I wouldn't buy any/many scenery addons (unless they're cross-platform installers), and any aircraft you buy may or may not require a repurchase for the new sim (I believe A2A aircraft would be new purchase).

Kind Regards,