I just had the most wonderful Saturday afternoon.

I earned my PPL in 1983, acquired 165 hours VFR in increasingly complex aircraft culminating in time in a Beechcraft Debonair, then gave up the hobby in 1987 when kids arrived. Wife was nervous she would be left a widow and the kids seemed more important to feed vs. buying avgas.

I've been in the IT business, so I've had pretty stout computers and have gone through the gamut of FLY, MSFS, MS Flight, and X-Plane in the ensuing years. As much as people moan and groan on here, you have to be honest and respect the fact that we humans have created something incredible in these products. Even with all its warts, the new iteration of MSFS is wonderful and has captivated me and fed the aviation bug.

Two weeks ago my son told me to make sure I was going to be available on December 3rd, which was yesterday. I figured he had some delivery to the house like the Omaha Steaks he had sent the prior year. Imagine my surprise when the owner of a local flight school called me to tell me my son had purchased a discovery flight and a block of hours with an instructor for me to use.

At first I was a bit apprehensive, as the last time I had flown IRL was thirty-five years ago. But after digging out and blowing an inch of dust off my ancient logbook I headed to the school. It was a beautiful day in Fernandina Beach, FL, so this was looking promising. I pulled up the FBO, looked through the fence at the Cessnas and Pipers, and stood there a minute asking myself if I still had any skills or would I make a complete fool of myself if the instructor let me handle the controls.

 After a minute or two this Cessna 172 comes bouncing down the tarmac, wheels into the parking spot, and this kid in shorts, topsiders, a tee shirt and a big mop of hair - younger than my son - hops out of the right seat. Boy did I feel old at that point. So when he came into the building to introduce himself I said, "Bet I'm the oldest guy you have taken up on one of these flights." His reply was, "Nope, had a guy who is ninety on one of these flights recently." I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the prospect of a 90 year old in the air.

After showing him my old logbook we boarded the Cessna - which looked a lot older than its 2007 vintage. I had forgotten what a beating flight school aircraft take. He put me in the left seat, and as I looked at those old steam gauges, the Garmin, and all those buttons and switches, I wondered how I managed to feel so incredibly confident in that cockpit so many years ago. We went through the checklist, fired the thing up, and as soon as we got on the taxiway he told me to take it. I didn't expect that, and there was so much play in those rudder pedals and the brakes were so touchy I was all over the place until I figured out the quirks of that airplane. You literally had to dance with the pedals to keep the thing on the centerline.

I don't want to make this thing War and Peace, so I will suffice to say I had a ball. He handled the radios, he let me take off and he gave me the RPM settings for getting the thing to level flight at pattern altitude. We flew around about 45 minutes doing some sightseeing with me handling most of the action, then came back to the field for some touch and goes. He did the first one, then gave me the controls after we got back in the pattern and told me to try it. There was some major pucker factor involved, but I managed to get a chirp off those tires! I went around one more time and we came in for a full stop, with me again pulling a pretty decent greaser. I was so excited!

I taxied the little bird back to the school, doing a much better job this time of keeping it on the centerline, pulled into to the ramp, and he parked it once we were inside the fence of the school. I was so exhilarated at that point. And the best part is I now have a new entry in my logbook 35 years later of 1 hour instruction, 1 hour PIC, and 2 landings. How cool is that! I cannot wait to go back to get current and give this real life thing a go again.

I just have to make one other comment. There seems to be this ongoing debate as to how realistic the sims are as compared to real life in terms of feel, handling, performance, and turbulence. I was up there an hour in the middle of the day, and it was perfectly smooth over the ocean. When we came back over land the thing started bouncing around quite a bit. And this was on a very benign day. So if anything, the bumps in the sim might be understated. Regarding handling, a real aircraft seems much easier to trim and stay at trim than all the stuff I've flown in the new MSFS. And as far as performance, unless you have some kind of 6DOF chair there is no way to simulate the acceleration of full throttle on the takeoff run, the feel in the seat of the pants in a turn, the pitch down feeling with full flaps. Finally, there is no way to simulate the reality and knowledge always in the back of your mind that if you make a mistake or there is a failure the stakes are quite high in a real aircraft vs. the simulator.

However, at less than $200 the sims are a fantastic value for the money and my instructor said that most of the kids coming to learn are very advanced by using home simulators. That can only be good for our hobby and for the future of aviation in general.

In the interim, back to my shiny new Cirrus Vision G2...in the sim of course.

BT

Edited December 5, 20223 yr by Jaxsimmer

Great post! I rescinded my license in 1985 when I had two young kids and switched employers. The new employer, as had the previous employer, provided life insurance at 2X annual salary, which I will say was significant for the time.  But the underwriter for my new employer's coverage would not underwrite coverage for persons holding a pilots license or involved in skydiving.  It took me almost a year to recind my license and expunge the record of a license. It was an arduous process, as is most dealing with government agencies. 

I too turned to flight simulaton.  The "Paul Harvey's Rest of the Story" is that new employer was an automobile and powersports manufacturer, and I retired from that employer after 25 years from their motorcycle division.  During that 25 years I logged just under 90K miles of motorcycle riding, most as a part of company business.  Personal purchase of life insurace was similarily affected by motorcycling.  Go figure!

That employer is now a well recognized and leading aircraft manufacturer of light personal jets.  Despite the irony I have cheered on the development and certification of their aircraft models.

What we have in simulation is just what we have.  It has come a long long long way since the mid 1980's, as we have both found.

Edited December 5, 20223 yr by fppilot

6 minutes ago, fppilot said:

Great post! I rescinded my license in 1985 when I had two young kids and switched employers. The new employer, as had the previous employer, provided life insurance at 2X annual salary, which I will say was significant for the time.  But the underwriter for my new employer's coverage would not underwrite coverage for persons holding a pilots license or involved in skydiving.  It took me almost a year to recind my license and expunge the record of a license. It was an arduous process, as is most dealing with government agencies. 

I too turned to flight simulaton.  The "Paul Harvey's Rest of the Story" is that new employer was an automobile and powersports manufacturer, and I retired from that employer after 25 years from their motorcycle division.  During that 25 years I logged just under 90K miles of motorcycle riding, most as a part of company business.

That employer is now a well recognized and leading aircraft manufacturer of light personal jets.  Despite the irony I have cheered on the development and certification of their aircraft models.

Go figure!

Great story as well. How funny, as I wouldn't get anywhere near a motorcycle - too risky for me. LOL.

But I can easily say this.  In regard to both aviation and motorcycling, an old motorcycle advetising tagline applies to both:

"You meet the nicest people..."

2 minutes ago, fppilot said:

But I can easily say this.  In regard to both aviation and motorcycling, an old motorcycle advetising tagline applies to both:

"You meet the nicest people..."

Definitely true. The one question I have after all these years is how much does the $100 hamburger cost now?

1 minute ago, Jaxsimmer said:

Definitely true. The one question I have after all these years is how much does the $100 hamburger cost now?

The same as it always has cost, adjusted for inflation.  LOL!  Same for pancake flights!

51 minutes ago, Jaxsimmer said:

. And as far as performance, unless you have some kind of 6DOF chair there is no way to simulate the acceleration of full throttle on the takeoff run, the feel in the seat of the pants in a turn, the pitch down feeling with full flaps. Finally, there is no way to simulate the reality and knowledge always in the back of your mind that if you make a mistake or there is a failure the stakes are quite high in a real aircraft vs. the simulator.

 

If you fly sim long enough your brain will compensate what you are missing from RL flying and adjust your sim perspective accordingly!

26 minutes ago, Jaxsimmer said:

Definitely true. The one question I have after all these years is how much does the $100 hamburger cost now?

I just got my PPL few months ago and have been enjoying my $100 burgers ever since. Based on my current flight club's rate, 172 is $120/hour wet, and normally the burger/cake airports are about 1 hour flight (Hobbs time). So, the $100 burger today is about $250. 😀

 

 

I returned to flying after a 20 year break and boy had I forgotten stuff. Made me realise how important check rides really are.

I must say, confident as I am as a sim pilot, real world flight in something I am unfamiliar with is still nerve wracking.

Then there was the time I stood under the nose of a real world Sea Fury in a hangar in SE QLD and looked up at it and simply thought "Well I might fly these online fine, but there is no way in hell I would even attempt to taxi this thing, never lone take off".

 

 

Thank you for sharing your Great experience BT !

Delightful read to start a new day, at the end of which I plan to be able to make even if just a small hopp in one of my preferred aircraft in MFS 🙂 

👍

Edited December 5, 20223 yr by jcomm

Probably the best post I have read all year. 

Thank you BT for that uplifting experience! I'm a bit of car enthusiast myself,  as well as an aviation buff and my kids bought me a day's training and instructor accompanied race track experience in my Mustang. I was footing it with a couple Porche GT2's and while they were lapping me on a regular basis to be racing on the same track as these guys was such a buzz! So I know how you feel when this kind of stuff happens. Sensibly unwilling to think it will be a walk in the park but then you surprise yourself and come away with a feeling and experience that will bounce around you for the rest of your life!!

Similarly, like many of us maybe, I too had give up private flying (didn't attain my PPL) because of marriage and raising child commitments meant money had to be spent more wisely,  so to hear you are going to give it another crack is fantastic and I wish you all the best.   

Finally,  I think your assessment of our flight sim is bang on too.  I know it's not perfect but they have done a sterling job of modelling the aviation experience and we find ourselves in very fortunate times in this regard.

Thanks for the story BT 👍

Cheers

Terry

 

Thanks for that OP! It was a great read.

15 hours ago, Jaxsimmer said:

Regarding handling, a real aircraft seems much easier to trim and stay at trim than all the stuff I've flown in the new MSFS.

BT

Great to read content like this! For me, this is one of the main characteristics that separates the highest quality aircraft from the others in the sim. As in real life when you reach your cruise altitude, you gradually take your hand off the stick/yoke and begin to trim the elevator for level flight. With stable wind conditions, when the power is set and the control surfaces are trimmed, the aircraft should hold the altitude really well. One of the first things I do in the sim is take the a/c up, set the power and then let go of the stick or yoke and only move the trim controls. This really defines great flight dynamics in the sim!

PS I felt your excitement in your words! Cheers!

17 hours ago, sd_flyer said:

If you fly sim long enough your brain will compensate what you are missing from RL flying and adjust your sim perspective accordingly!

I'm waiting for all you guys (and gals) to say VR works perfectly with no stutters or issues with XYZ hardware and then I'll jump in. Maybe that will compensate for the lack of kinetic effects in a fixed sim.