Getting the most “sim” experience out of MSFS

[Noel 4,494]

12 hours ago, RobJC said:

I guess i am trying to understand how the process actually works in real life, and then slowly align my workflow towards that to provide the closest simulation experience possible. 

Thanks for the help. 

I'm enthralled with it and far more now than ever before and I've been at it since the beginning.  Not a RW pilot so I'm in the same boat, or should I say plane, as you!

I can heartily recommend adding some teeth into your learning, but not too much!  I used to use FSCaptain in P3D, and now use A Pilot's Life v2 in MSFS.  This adds purpose/meaning to all flights, plus and this is the part most important of all to me:  evaluates and scores every flights.  This keeps me most focused on what matters.   Here's a peak at its scoring criteria, which is of course simplified and basic, but still useful  I don't get tons of 100% flights but my composite average currently is 97.88.  All in all it takes me a good 20 or 25 minutes to get off the gate as I use GSX & PACX along with APLv2 and it really is fabulous.  It just feels complete from cold and dark start, loading PAX and keeping them happy (PACX) to rolling into the gate and deboarding via GSX.  I input all of my flight plan data in the PMDG 738 and AS CRJ700.  The B78X HD mod does this for you from the World Map Planner so I just let that happen and enjoy.

[RobJC 2,069]

4 minutes ago, Noel said:

I'm enthralled with it and far more now than ever before and I've been at it since the beginning.  Not a RW pilot so I'm in the same boat, or should I say plane, as you!

I can heartily recommend adding some teeth into your learning, but not too much!  I used to use FSCaptain in P3D, and now use A Pilot's Life v2 in MSFS.  This adds purpose/meaning to all flights, plus and this is the part most important of all to me:  evaluates and scores every flights.  This keeps me most focused on what matters.   Here's a peak at its scoring criteria, which is of course simplified and basic, but still useful  I don't get tons of 100% flights but my composite average currently is 97.88.  All in all it takes me a good 20 or 25 minutes to get off the gate as I use GSX & PACX along with APLv2 and it really is fabulous.  It just feels complete from cold and dark start, loading PAX and keeping them happy (PACX) to rolling into the gate and deboarding via GSX.  I input all of my flight plan data in the PMDG 738 and AS CRJ700.  The B78X HD mod does this for you from the World Map Planner so I just let that happen and enjoy.

I spent some time looking at career add-ons, and A Pilot's Life v2 caught my attention. Unfortunately it is geared towards airliners, which I am just not ready for. Took a look at OnAir and it looks good, but still undecided. But i like how flights are scored in APL2. Very cool!  

[RobJC 2,069]

22 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Great thread! The possibilities of how to use the sim is endless. Nowadays I do a lot of airliner flying (Fenix, A310). I use the checklists (I tend to forget stuff) but I don't do every single item in the cockpit preparation workflow. I have failures disabled. I also use FS2Crew which adds to the immersion as it simulates multi-crew operations, albeit in a very oversimplified way. 

There's quite a few real airliner pilots with youtube channels so that's a great way of learning more in-depth stuff, including failures. I remember some videos by Into the Blue Simulations, including one with the Black Square King Air where he simulated an engine failure after takeoff from Milford Sound. Very impressive! Also there's a recent one with the Fenix. 

It is pretty insane. You could spend the next 5 years just focused on the PMDG 737 or Fenix A320. And that would keep you super busy, especially once you turn failures on. Or you could spend the next 5 years being a bush pilot, exploring remote areas of the planet. Or anything in between. It can be a bit overwhelming tbh. I decided to really focus on the BS Caravan (love it), and spend more time on everything else. I am still scratching the surface in so many areas, but slowly but surely I am peeling the layers away of this massive onion. 

[Cpt_Piett 4,630]

56 minutes ago, RobJC said:

I decided to really focus on the BS Caravan (love it), and spend more time on everything else.

That is a superb aircraft that I've flown a lot, including many legs on a world tour. It's very different of course from airliner flying, but I appreciate the diversity we have in the sim right now, it's quite amazing. 

I really recommend their King Air which is slightly more complicated to operate, but a fun challenge. 

[RobJC 2,069]

8 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

That is a superb aircraft that I've flown a lot, including many legs on a world tour. It's very different of course from airliner flying, but I appreciate the diversity we have in the sim right now, it's quite amazing. 

I really recommend their King Air which is slightly more complicated to operate, but a fun challenge. 

Yes it is! I have the BS King Air as well. So many planes. So little time! 

[s0cks 116]

14 hours ago, vin747 said:

Well said.. my thoughts exactly.. I do a pretty decent job simulating airline ops from A to B.. but the moment some real life uncertainties are thrown in (like ATC vectoring me instead of my predefined STAR, change in winds causing change in RWY+STAR), AI traffic blocking the rwy forcing a go around and doing a hold, etc..) I'm thrown out of gear and I usually mess things up after that.. the real amateurish simmer in me comes out then.. 😆

I remember a controller on VATSIM saying that he knew a lot of people didn't really know how to fly because whenever he would request the pilot deviate from their filed flight plan many would just simply log off.

Edited December 7, 2022 by s0cks

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

29 minutes ago, s0cks said:

I remember a controller on VATSIM saying that he knew a lot of people didn't really know how to fly because whenever he would request the pilot deviate from their filed flight plan many would just simply log off.

but ... isn't that what real airline pilots do  ???

Edited December 7, 2022 by Glenn Fitzpatrick

[Tork_Curve 27]

I used to be into flying the big jets but since learning to fly myself in light aircraft and VFR I just use the same checklists as the real thing, plan a route using skydemon and link that to the sim. Navigate using real terrain at 3=6000 feet and do 30=60 min hops obeying air space and traffic patterns. Rewarding, helps the real world practice and you get to see the wonderful scenery in the sim.

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Tork_Curve

[FrankPilot 124]

Going back to the OP, I guess I am the opposite as I do not wish to get into great realistic detail on a range of aircraft. So what do I do to keep up the MSFS sim experience? I fly IRL as a VFR-only recreational pilot in a good old C172, including xcountry and controlled airspace, and I partly use MSFS to keep up those skills. I also use MSFS to satisfy my addiction to aviation history and geography and old pics and maps, and I record this in videos - see my signature below. I also fly with some overseas MSFS friends who show me their countries. One of them is a RL ambulance person and he loves doing medical helicopter rescues - sometimes I join in with him. I have my RL EFB on my iPad connected to MSFS so I can practice using it because it is pretty complicated with so many features, and gives me world-wide maps. I also like to follow RL short airline flights from Flightradar24 in MSFS. Of course I fly many different aircraft in MSFS, especially old warbirds, but I do not go into study-level detail. These are the main ways I satisfy my addiction to MSFS without the hard work of trying to make it very very realistic. I like to make it interesting and fun without being a chore. Hope this helps. Cheers.

[RobJC 2,069]

33 minutes ago, FrankPilot said:

Going back to the OP, I guess I am the opposite as I do not wish to get into great realistic detail on a range of aircraft. So what do I do to keep up the MSFS sim experience? I fly IRL as a VFR-only recreational pilot in a good old C172, including xcountry and controlled airspace, and I partly use MSFS to keep up those skills. I also use MSFS to satisfy my addiction to aviation history and geography and old pics and maps, and I record this in videos - see my signature below. I also fly with some overseas MSFS friends who show me their countries. One of them is a RL ambulance person and he loves doing medical helicopter rescues - sometimes I join in with him. I have my RL EFB on my iPad connected to MSFS so I can practice using it because it is pretty complicated with so many features, and gives me world-wide maps. I also like to follow RL short airline flights from Flightradar24 in MSFS. Of course I fly many different aircraft in MSFS, especially old warbirds, but I do not go into study-level detail. These are the main ways I satisfy my addiction to MSFS without the hard work of trying to make it very very realistic. I like to make it interesting and fun without being a chore. Hope this helps. Cheers.

Hey Frank, if i had your experience flying IRL i might do the same as you, because I would already have that knowledge. I might be looking for a change from ultra realism. But I guess i am still chasing the realism. It isn’t a chore at all to me - yet. 

[FrankPilot 124]

22 hours ago, RobJC said:

Hey Frank, if i had your experience flying IRL i might do the same as you, because I would already have that knowledge. I might be looking for a change from ultra realism. But I guess i am still chasing the realism. It isn’t a chore at all to me - yet. 

I think what you are doing is great Rob. Despite what I said, I am very tempted to learn IFR and glass cockpits in the Sim which I do not do IRL. So we are not that far apart! Cheers.

[RobJC 2,069]

40 minutes ago, FrankPilot said:

I think what you are doing is great Rob. Despite what I said, I am very tempted to learn IFR and glass cockpits in the Sim which I do not do IRL. So we are not that far apart! Cheers.

Go for it! 

[Noel 4,494]

On 12/7/2022 at 11:00 AM, RobJC said:

Yes it is! I have the BS King Air as well. So many planes. So little time! 

In past years (FSX/P3D) I had so many more planes than I do now.  Scoring all flights has left me wanting to be proficient in any plane I use and this more than anything keeps me in only a few planes.  Haven't dabbled in Airbus and right now it's just AS CRJ700 and PMDG 738, and on occasion when I want to really relax it's the B78X HD.  I do realize I'm missing some really nice scenery with this use of the sim so will probably get back into some GA flying which I did a lot in past years.  The BS King Air sounds like a winner.

[RobJC 2,069]

21 minutes ago, Noel said:

The BS King Air sounds like a winner.

That and the BS Caravan. Really good!