Hello guys!

A few days ago, I managed to build my home SIM setup (yoke plus rudder pedals), and this is my first time using one. I built my SIM setup because I want to stay proficient while not flying during winter and adverse weather and to practice multitasking and muscle memory. I have logged only 10 hours of flight time in RL. That said, you can see I am at the early stage of my flying adventure.

Yesterday I bought and installed MSFS 2020, I installed also an addon - an airfield for GA where I do my real-life training and I was flying a similar aircraft (C-152 in sim, C-150 in RL) to create the most realistic replica of real training experience because this is the only reason why I am using the sim.

I follow the same procedure in traffic patterns as in real life, the same altitude for flaps retraction, the same altitude for the crosswind, downwind, base, and final turn. The same RPM management as in real life. The same speed (Vx and Vy) management. Carb heat on, flaps down, 1700 RPM decrease like in RL, etc. You get the point.

The duration of traffic pattern in sim is about 5 minutes, and in real life is cca 8 minutes. I can feel that in the sim things are going much faster, I climb much more faster than in RL. And this is not something I was looking for.

I am aware that different weather conditions can affect a/c performance, but the sim/RL difference here is quite significant.

I have turned off all assistant options.

Is there anything I can do to improve my sim experience or do I just have to accept that sim doesn't mimic RL as much as I thought so?

Thank you for your answers.

Regards,
CC 

 

 

The sim is just using maths on a 1:1 scale with real life so there is no reason it should be going faster than real life.

I can only think if you’re doing real world circuits at this point in your PPL training you’ll have an instructor onboard and a full tank of fuel. Maybe your simulator aircraft has you solo with less gas and that’s why it’s climbing faster ?

The default C152 can be greatly improved by a free mod. This might help your numbers?

 

Maybe the engine of your real life 152 is not the youngest any longer? The sim always assumes factory new.

48 minutes ago, jon b said:

The sim is just using maths on a 1:1 scale with real life so there is no reason it should be going faster than real life.

I can only think if you’re doing real world circuits at this point in your PPL training you’ll have an instructor onboard and a full tank of fuel. Maybe your simulator aircraft has you solo with less gas and that’s why it’s climbing faster ?

Good points, thank you. Yes, I haven't soloed yet, and since this is the first time I have used SIM, I haven't focused on the fuel quantity but I will look into it for the next time.

 

48 minutes ago, flyingscampi said:

The default C152 can be greatly improved by a free mod. This might help your numbers?

 

Thanks for the link, but I get a 404 not found error.

 

30 minutes ago, Farlis said:

Maybe the engine of your real life 152 is not the youngest any longer? The sim always assumes factory new.

Definitively it is not the youngest engine but the difference is still too big.

 

Looks like the app is abandoned, here is a working download:

 

59 minutes ago, Micko said:

Looks like the app is abandoned, here is a working download:

 

I think version 2.0.6 was the last version I downloaded, and I believe it was the last published.  Working link below.
It was taken off fs.to due to the dispute over rights a while back, which seems to have blown over now, but definitely upset a few people at the time.  
https://drive.usercontent.google.com/download?id=1p-AMljTyoRahm2_FS9nhKUyTyvwHdLbO&export=download

Also, the legendary @ryanbatc fixed the flickering bug with the TDS.
https://flightsim.to/file/48858/tds-gtn-750xi-cockpit-integration-for-jpl-c152-v2

This is still one of my favourite aircraft in the sim.

 

Getting back to the question of why your pattern takes only five minutes in the sim, versus eight in reality, I think the most likely explanation is that you're inadvertently flying a tighter pattern in the sim. The next time you're up with an instructor, take a look at exactly where you're making your turns, and compare that to the sim. Maybe you mistook one visual reference point for another?

Other than that, if you're flying the same ground track at the same speeds, the time it takes in the sim should be the same as in reality. 

Edited November 11, 20241 yr by martinboehme

I'm not sure how you taught to fly traffic pattern, but I know that beginners usually starts with wider traffic pattern and gradually (as they get comfortable) get it more tight ! Sim may give you a little different visual que and so you may not do it exactly how IRL even thought it may seems like you do! Also some airplanes especially ones that used for initial training are badly beaten up. So unless engine was recently overhauled most likely cylinder compression is low and so power output.

Then there little tweaks like after market muffler or depending what propeller. For example propeller could be adjusted to be a cruise prop, climb prop and in between which makes slight difference how airplane preform in climb or cruise .

 

Thank you so much, fellas, for your responses, thoughts, and links! I appreciate it.

@martinboehme It could be that I fly tighter patterns, and somehow runway looks too close in the downwind phase. Today it looked much better, maybe I was just bad at flying in the beginning. The airfield is located near Zagreb, Croatia, so it is quite obscure and I don't think ground visual references are useful here because I don't think they match reality. Some of them do, but most don't. 

Immediately after rotation (50 kt), in my RL training, I gently release back pressure and lower the nose to gain Vx. In the sim, after rotation, I don't do that but my speed increases which is not logical to me, so I pull the yoke aft to lose some speed. This is how I got my VSI instrument to skyrocket and how I gained the first 300 ft AGL much faster than in RL. I usually make the first turn 500 AGL or 900 ASL. The second turn I can visualize by 45 degrees related to the runway. 

@sd_flyer Yep, this C-150 is quite old and a lot of students had their training on it. But thank you too for all the ideas, now I get the bigger picture. 

The point made about weight is also important.  I can absolutely verify that on the day of my solo the aircraft (C152) became a hot-rod when my instructor got out.

He warned me about this, saying: "The aircraft, without my weight, will climb faster, respond to control inputs quicker and glide longer."  He was absolutely correct and I'm glad he warned me.  After I got used to the difference it was a blast.

Well.

What's your altitude over runway threshold as you depart IRL.

And what is the same altitude in FS, same speeds and all? Are you flying solo?

My experience is that FS is little faster, but mostly due to slightly over powered engines. I turn Crosswind leg much sooner in FS than IRL.

My circuits are usually 4-5 minutes but I have a habit of close patterns I think.

 

@SAS443 Today my pattern looks much better than yesterday,  I guess I just need practice. Although I still have the feeling that is much faster than in IRL other guys made some very good points up there. I just have to consider them.

All in all, after my 2nd day of flying the sim I think this was a good investment from my side, it is very good to build up your muscle memory and multitasking. 

One more thing. I have a bug in my heading indicator. Is there any addon out there I can use because it helps me a lot IRL?

2 hours ago, bobcat999 said:

I think version 2.0.6 was the last version I downloaded, and I believe it was the last published.  Working link below.
It was taken off fs.to due to the dispute over rights a while back, which seems to have blown over now, but definitely upset a few people at the time.  
https://drive.usercontent.google.com/download?id=1p-AMljTyoRahm2_FS9nhKUyTyvwHdLbO&export=download

Correct, that's the one if you click the link at the end of the thread.

I want to strongly caution against using sim to practice pattern on 2D screen. When I started my PPL training few years ago I had incredible difficulty to land, and I really believe that part of reason is that I landed so many thousand times in the sim on 2D screen in the past 20 years, my visual perception of runway during landing is really skewed. Took hundreds of real landing for me to finally get my visual aligned with real life landings. 

I'd strongly suggest flying VR for pattern practice, as VR replicates a nearly 1:1 visual of real flights. It's incredible. Also, if you use ForeFlight connect it to MSFS, so you can see the exact track of your sim practice which can be very helpful. 

Edited November 11, 20241 yr by FlyIce