Hi there! My name is Dave, and I'm from Western Washington!  As I'm sure many of you are, I'm a pilot.  I have my Commercial ASEL/AMEL Pilots Certificate and Instrument Rating.  I primarily fly Cessna 172's for fun, and I'm type rated in the Cessna Citation CE-525 series jet which I fly fairly often as well.  I am just starting out with my first real flight simulator and am pretty excited!  Like JUST starting out haha!  So far, I think I've made my mind up to use MS Flight Sim 2020.  I plan to use a 60ish" TV as primary, and maybe a 32"-40" on either side.  Nothin too crazy, but I plan on purchasing a throttle quadrant (maybe a Thrustmaster TCA Boeing), and Logitech Flight Multi Panel Autopilot Controller.  I would also like to have 4 speakers (2 front, 2 rear) for some kind of sound effects.

My primary reason(s) for the SIM, are for Instrument proficiency, and fun.  I'll probably be driving y'all crazy with questions, but I'm pretty excited to start putting this together!

Anyways, have a great day/night!

Welcome to Avsim. The best sim site on the web. 

Welcome to Avsim!  We do have a very active MSFS forum here.  I'm not sure how well developed IFR flying is in MSFS, but I'm sure that some of the MSFS users here can answer such questions.

Welcome to Avsim. There are indeed many real-world pilots here on the site as well as many pure flight simmers, but of them all, there is a wealth of experience and knowledge to benefit from, not just in aviation, but with the computers, hardware and software which makes it all tick, so you're definitely in the right place.

As you note, aside from the fun aspect, the fidelity of flight sims these days means they are great for a bit of instrument and procedure proficiency. There are quite a few of us who use or have used them for real-world-related training or familiarity of things. Some of the reall 'hardcore' flight simmers you find on here probably know more about the real things than the ones who are flying them for real. 🤣

Edited August 30, 20223 yr by Chock

Welcome! Must say, after a bit over 25 years that Avsim has lived and breathed, I am stunned that your username of SeattlePilot was open and available! I believe there are quite a number of pilots here from that area.  Congratulations, your first step here was a big win!  Again, welcome!  As you get your head into it here, keep us up to date on what you are flying in the sim, and where.  And check out the Avsim Screenshots forum.  It is full of great screen shots as well as ideas.

Edited August 30, 20223 yr by fppilot

15 hours ago, SeattlePilot said:

So far, I think I've made my mind up to use MS Flight Sim 2020. 

Good choice!  Just make sure that your PC has 16GB of RAM and 8GB of VRAM, or better and a decent internet connection.

Add a 500GB SSD or bigger and you are set!   The multi screen stuff can come later after you get your bearings..

The default C172 is quite good and comes equipped with a G1000 which is currently being enhanced by the "Working Title" team so that it operates like its real world counterpart..  An alternative fun plane for your IFR training would be the payware RV14A which can be equipped with a GTN 750 NXi.. which is the airplane I fly most often..

Head over to the MSFS Forum for further questions, and feel free to contact any of us via PM.. We are a friendly bunch 😉

On 8/29/2022 at 5:35 PM, SeattlePilot said:

I primarily fly Cessna 172's for fun, and I'm type rated in the Cessna Citation CE-525 series jet which I fly fairly often as well.

The Working Title team is also upgrading the CJ4 Citation for the fall... which may be of interest to you.. 😉

Thank you all so much!!!