Can a msfs sim pilot land a real one? - video

[Mike S KPDX 597]

Came across this and thought I would share it.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by charliearon
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[Dermot McClusky 494]

Interesting video. From what I can tell he hasn't actually used a flight sim for some years (mentioned playing when he was younger), so it's more like seeing someone who doesn't use a simulator try to land a plane. I know Airforceproud95 who, despite the antics, has some skill w/ sims, actually did decently in a simulator like this.

[sd_flyer 6,023]

The correct header should be: can pc sim pilot land a motion sim aircraft 🙂

[JDWalley 354]

2 hours ago, sd_flyer said:

The correct header should be: can pc sim pilot land a motion sim aircraft 🙂

More like "can a person who played flight sims as a kid (probably only using default aircraft) be able to handle a full-motion simulator?"

The number of ways this video is half-(word not allowed) is almost beyond counting.  First off, the way this sort of question is normally asked (as in the setup here) is whether a person who uses flight sims could land an airliner in an emergency.  Assuming that the person in question had any sim experience with study-level airliners, they would obviously go for the first scenario -- get on the radio and get instructions on how to proceed to an airport with suitable weather and a Cat III ILS, and then do an autoland.  He did so, and got the aircraft down safely.  Mission accomplished!

Since that is obviously not the result that the video wanted to emphasize (after all, they wanted to go on and on about Dunning-Kruger), they have to raise the stakes to where no one in that emergency situation would be ever think of going: having the non-pilot hand-fly the airliner.  Even so, he did manage to get it down, but was told "you crushed the landing gear," without any mention of the actual landing rate, just letting him ad lib that "the plane slid on its belly and burst into flames."  Maybe, maybe not.  What about giving us the exact figures, so we could determine how damaged the gear really was?

And the "best" is yet to come, where a non-pilot, with zero IFR training, is expected to hand-fly an airliner to a landing where the cloud base is at approximately 30' above the runway surface.  Ever hear of the term "minimum?"

If this (word not allowed) me off, it's because it seemed to me that they went into this "investigation" with their minds already made up and the conclusion fully-scripted, and then staged the "test" to get the results already decided upon and wrap it up in a smug little bow for the public to gobble up uncritically and consider themselves thoroughly educated on the subject...which, ironically enough, is an even better example of Dunning-Kreuger.

BTW, if you want to see someone with actual current experience in PC flight sims take on a much more difficult task in a similar environment, check out Airforceproud95's experiment: 

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by JDWalley

[Chock 17,769]

Looking forward to watching the other side of the coin in an equally compelling: 'Can a 737 pilot configure the GUI of a flight sim?' video; where many pressing questions are answered and valuable insights into hardware USB connections, null zones for Saitek throttles and such, are finally put to rest for inquiring minds. 😉

The answer to this oft-recurring poser is of course, yes some PC sim pilots probably could land a real 737, and some couldn't. A successful outcome would largely depend not upon someone's knowledge of the aeroplane and the controls, but rather their ability to remain calm in a situation and when in that situation operate the radio to gain some assistance and make correct decisions and control inputs. Ironically this is not something even a multi-million Dollar full-motion training simulator can in fact simulate, since the only actual danger there is present with a full motion simulator in a test such as this, is that you might bang your knee on the central pedestal when getting out of the pilot seat of a 737, maybe get your hand smacked by the spinning trim wheel, or possibly trip up on the steps when coming out of the thing.

These potential minor hazards are not likely to generate much in the way of stress or concern, the testers would perhaps need to hold one of the sim pilot's friends or relatives hostage at gunpoint and threaten to shoot them if the sim pilot didn't land the sim aeroplane perfectly. This  might then come close to simulating the gravity of finding yourself having to land an airliner 'for realsies', using a full-motion simulator, and since this isn't a very likely scenario, I guess we still don't know for sure.

[MUC1 27]

I already did so. Trained with a friend using P3DV4 PMDG 737-800. At Lufthansa Training Center in a Level D Simulator we where able to do a start up from Cold&Dark, Preflight, EDDM to EDDF and back and set it to Cold&Dark again. Absolutely no problem. Doing this in real life with presure of unpredictable instructions of ATC and so on, it is another challange

Edited July 7, 2022 by MUC1

[flyingpauls 66]

I bet a lot of simmers can fly the plane they studied realistically, and land a motion simulator. In the real plane, it would depend on the stress handling of the person. But I sincerely hope that this has not to be put to a RL test ever. So far, it did not happen. I, for sure, would select a long runway and auto-land.

[SAS443 1,703]

1 hour ago, JDWalley said:

Airforceproud95's

He is a commercial pilot afaik? (at least his bio says so). Meaning he is far and beyond more capable than any PC pro pilot™ on these forums. 

[JBDB-MD80 1,469]

19 minutes ago, SAS443 said:

He is a commercial pilot afaik? (at least his bio says so). Meaning he is far and beyond more capable than any PC pro pilot™ on these forums. 

I think so, he just goofs off on Youtube from time to time with some multiplayer in FSX/MSFS. Hes capable when serious.

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

Handling a plane in real life is totally different to what you actually handle on a PC screen. A VR headset helps a little, but for me the clarity isn't there to make it seem like I am there yet. Also, unless you have a Brunner (of which I have nearly pulled the trigger on), then you don't 'feel' the forces of the plane. Every plane feels the same. I do have experience of flying the piper warrior in real life in my local area.  If I load same or similar plane in a sim, it just isn't the same. 

Simming is great. It's probably good for learning procedures. And I would imagine a small amount of people can translate the sim to real life. But for the vast majority, flying in real life is a completely different animal compared to simming. Speaking from real life experiences. 

[jcomm 5,882]

One thing is, almost, for sure...

I seriously doubt an MSFS / X-Plane / Aerofly FS / DCS / IL-2 / Condorsoaring / "name it desktop flightsim"  virtual-pilot who has never flown a glider IRL would be able to takeoff with a common Club class ( not even more complex ) sailplane, being towed, on a day with some wind / turbulence even well within operational limits, and I seriously doubt a landing could be performed either, not to mention following the tow plane...

Flying after cable release would be a not so difficult task for sure with the exception of the very unfamiliar need to properly use the rudder in a sailplane...

Some 20 years ago I was away form soaring for quite a while. During that hiatus I kept using desktop flight simulators, and it coincided with my top in spent time and brain cells schedule for such an activity, having "spacialized" in airline flying. I could probably handle any tarditional Boeing or Airbus airliner, new some SOPs by memmory, almost being able to cite the page numbers :-). Around 2000 I even had the chance of a 1 hour full flight simulator session at TAP Headquarters where a CAE Airbus sim was used. I did make 3 takeoofs and landing in adverse weather conditions, including a landing in LPMA 05 with near limit x-winds !!! I was an hero !!!!

Then came the day of my first re-qualification glider flight. It took place at Sintra Airbase in an AS K-21. The tug was a Rallye ... I will never forget that experience... The instructor, a Portuguese Airforce pilot, who knew I was a "seasoned" glider pilot from the early eighties asked me to takeoff in full control...  Well, the guy in the tug really didn't help ( was probably happy to make me suffer 🙂 ), and truth is that after the first turn from takeoff I passed the controls to the instructor and felt so ashamed that I could well have taken the decision to put an end to my project of glider re-qualification ... Thanksfully the instructor was a very competent one, and after the 2nd flight he decided to put me to proof and exited the cockpit while I was going through the checklist .... Wow!  It was back to 1980 and my first solo flight 🙂

So... for some aircraft / weather scenarios, etc,... I do believe it's possible, but not for all ...

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by jcomm

[SlowFlyer 78]

PICTURED: Passenger who landed plane in Florida without any training after pilot passed out (dailymail.co.uk)

Not 737, but in a smaller GA plane, maybe. 

I would not want to be on any plane with an unskilled pilot flying, but if a person has used flight sims/games and that person can keep his head without panicking, has some knowledge of how to use flaps, throttle, has an idea of what the sight pic should be when approaching the runway, what an appropriate landing speed should be, not stall the plane, maybe. Might crash it, but over a person who has never used a flight sim, i think the odds would be better. 

Maybe they would crash it, but I think a person who has had some experiences using a flight sim, has driven a car so they know about spatial awareness, (and most importantly, doesn't Panick), i think you have to give credit to people ability to get out of awful situations. 

But panicking and freaking out in dangerous situation can be very fatal even if you are a skilled person.

[threexgreen 3,133]

I'll say upfront that I've never been in a full motion airline sim, but I'm still pretty confident if not to say 100% certain that I could fly a full motion sim just fine. Depending on the aircraft I know all the procedures by heart and I also fly in VR so I'm getting the 'be there' experience. My guess is the flight model in the full motion sim would probably be closer to reality than even the best aircraft addons, but other than an initial 'get used to it period' when the full motion sim behaves a little differently while simulating flying through an air mass I don't see why anything other than this would be different in a full motion sim vs. flying on your PC in VR. Which is why I was disappointed to see what the video above actually shows, because I was expecting they put a desktop sim pilot behind the controls of a real GA plane with an instructor in the other seat ready to take over any moment.

Putting a desktop sim pilot, even if not so seasoned, into a level-d sim is a bit unentertaining. I didn't watch the video but I'm sure most if not all seasoned desktop sim pilots wouldn't have much if any trouble in a full motion sim. Put them in a real airliner instead and I'll certainly be watching that!

[james42 257]

I spent a few hours in a BA 747 full motion sim a few years ago with a training captain. After probably 500 plus hours flying the PMDG 747, It all felt like second nature to me. We ran through the pre-flight procedures and pushed back from T5 at LHR. I taxied to the runway and we took off for a short flight over to BHX. We did everything by the book, running all the checklist etc. As i came in to land, I disengaged the autopilot at about 1000 feet just like I would do in the sim and proceeded to land. It felt like something id done 1000 times before which I think goes to show how advanced and accurate our simulations are now. After this we tried some emergency situations like engine failures at V1 and 3 engine landings in high crosswinds. All so much fun!   

[Patco Lch 1,459]

I think it was Stalin or Lenin who said “ nothing focuses the mind more splendidly then the thought of impending  death.”