Hello simmer

I was wondering how accurate VFR navigation is in sim timing wise.

I am PPL student and we do navigation flights with 1:500,000 chart. How accurate are timings in sim compared to real life? Is it possible to calculate leg times like in real world?

To sum it up pretty much is real world GS same as Sim GS?

Luka,

I'd say yes. I see now sort of time compression / dilation phenomena in MFS, so, provided you use your charts and plan your flight just like IRL, having the weather ( wind ) forcasts as a base to calculate your corrections, and using your real clock or a virtual one in the cockpit, you should be good.

I've done exactly that in a glider a few days ago, and it worked pretty much as expected.

"Real World Weather" in MFS, away from aerodromes and / or higher than sector altitudes blends with model data, feed by Meteoblue. Their models are pretty much the same that feed many weather forecast sites in the Net. But IRL you use your calculator to train and guess your own numbers. If you do your dead reckoning it'll surely work pretty much like IRL.

Haven't done 100% replicas of my rw flights. But on the simulated flights I am usually within a few minutes of my real navlog. I'd say MSFS is fine for the purpose (assuming estimated TAS and winds aloft are somewhat similar)

Slightly OT: for pure stopwatch and timing purposes, I find the 1:250 000 chart more useful. My Half mill chart was only used on PPL theory exams. All practical flying/navlog sessions were done with the quarter mill (and I still carry them as backup to the garmin EFIS).

Dead reckoning works great in the sim.  I've done pure dead reckoning / celestial nav flights in the DC-6 across oceans, and it's very good.  

Yes. Dead Reckoning is pretty much the same.. I used to do it on the sim, Before I fly to real places, where I have not visited the airports before.  Before I did a flight from DFW to New Orleans with my buddies for Fishing in the bayou, I did a flight with average wind speed. This was using then old FS9/FSX 🙂

Edited February 16, 20224 yr by Manny

Thanks for replies! 

Luka, MSFS is accurate enough to do your practice. However, consider discrepancy between RL beat up airplane you rent for you training and perfectly right off the factory MSFS aircraft with prefect compressions and so on.