19 hours ago, GoranM said:

but if I, or any person with common sense, came across a pilot on a commercial aircraft, who said he got his training from MSFS, I'd be looking for another airline or another pilot.

I have the metal MSFS2024 bag tag from the collector edition attached to my flight bag which jangles as I walk through the terminal. I’m just waiting for the day a passenger stops me and asks me about it😄

Edited June 11, 2025Jun 11 by jon b

3 hours ago, psolk said:

MSFS also lacks the instructor panel required for proper training unless I missed it in the sim which is highly possible.  

Indeed MSFS 2020 and 2024 lack an instructor panel by default.

However, some time ago I heard about an external tool called FS-FlightControl, but I don't recall reading anything about it here. I have no idea if it's good or bad, or even if it's a scam or anything like that. Anybody ever heard about it ?

1 hour ago, jon b said:

I have the metal MSFS2024 bag tag from the collector edition attached to my flight bag which jangles as I walk through the terminal. I’m just waiting for the day a passenger stops me and asks me about it😄

This post made my day, LOL. 😄 :Edit Please folks do not take these flight sims too seriously. They are for entertainment purposes only.

Edited June 11, 2025Jun 11 by JBDB-MD80

What about ...?

 

😃

14 hours ago, tonywob said:

The problem with using flight simulators is that those who go on to do real flight training often end up taking their bad habit of staring at the instruments too much with them.

Part of me wonders if this was more of an issue when we only had 2D cockpits that took up over half the screen. Or maybe an issue for those who go straight to flying heavies instead of put-putting around at 70kts in a 172. I'm sure it depends on the person, but I don't remember it being a habit I had to break, any more than looking at the speedometer too often when I first started driving.

2 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

The main consideration would be isolation/security, so as with Microsoft 365, the .mil would likely need their own private instance of MSFS.

I think the main issue is MSFS is designed to be on the cutting edge and is continuously updated. They would have to break out a completely separate "long-term service branch" of the sim that basically stays static to keep from breaking things. Probably more realistic for them to license out part of the code or engine like they did for P3D vs creating something themselves.

1 hour ago, Funky D said:

I think the main issue is MSFS is designed to be on the cutting edge and is continuously updated. They would have to break out a completely separate "long-term service branch" of the sim that basically stays static to keep from breaking things. Probably more realistic for them to license out part of the code or engine like they did for P3D vs creating something themselves.

.mil/.gov already have their own Microsoft 365 cloud instances.

A similar setup for MSFS shouldn't be any more trouble.

MS will be interested due to more .mil $$, plus the cachet of providing training tools for .mil.

.Gov will be interested because, well, they're always looking for new ways to shave IRL training costs & risks while increasing experience fidelity.

 

10 hours ago, jon b said:

I have the metal MSFS2024 bag tag from the collector edition attached to my flight bag which jangles as I walk through the terminal. I’m just waiting for the day a passenger stops me and asks me about it😄

When they do, may I suggest a response?

"I don't talk to NPCs."

3 hours ago, martinboehme said:

When they do, may I suggest a response?

"I don't talk to NPCs."

Then I guess I supposed you missed the joke. Lighten up already

Edited June 12, 2025Jun 12 by JBDB-MD80

2 hours ago, JBDB-MD80 said:

5 hours ago, martinboehme said:

When they do, may I suggest a response?

"I don't talk to NPCs."

Then I guess I supposed you missed the joke. Lighten up already

My post was an attempt at humor that obviously went wrong. More dead on arrival than deadpan, I suppose.

Trying to explain a joke is never a good idea, so here goes nothing: I understand @jon b is expecting some day a passenger will see his MSFS bag tag and ask him, in jest, whether he did his pilot training in MSFS. I was trying to suggest that he could stay in character and act as if he thought he was just playing a computer game by implying that he thought the passenger was an NPC.

No offense intended -- I apologize to anyone who did take offense.

Edited June 12, 2025Jun 12 by martinboehme

4 hours ago, martinboehme said:

My post was an attempt at humor that obviously went wrong. More dead on arrival than deadpan, I suppose

I followed you 👍 obviously a misunderstanding somewhere.

Although I only know what NPC’s are because I’ve heard my kids mention it

On 6/10/2025 at 1:24 PM, abrams_tank said:

I just saw a thread in Reddit where MSFS 2024 is being used as a tool to teach private pilot students:

Sportys has a 42 page flight training guide and practice objectives based on MSFS2020, they adopted that pretty fast when it was released. 

On 6/10/2025 at 1:34 PM, GoranM said:

But it doesn't count towards flying hour

But it does count toward expanding ones knowledge base, especially when you can practice navigating along specific landmarks etc. in a "VFR" sim because it looks so much like "real life".

Sportys even built their freeware airport to go along with their sim training for their online PPL school. 

https://www.sportys.com/digital-i69-msfs2020.html?srsltid=AfmBOoq1SJ8lF1JjS2neWsdjmRYnws8IQcMWtcKzgdzlZocq0lEohgho

 

 

 

4 hours ago, OverTheEDJ said:

Sportys has a 42 page flight training guide and practice objectives based on MSFS2020, they adopted that pretty fast when it was released. 

But it does count toward expanding ones knowledge base, especially when you can practice navigating along specific landmarks etc. in a "VFR" sim because it looks so much like "real life".

Sportys even built their freeware airport to go along with their sim training for their online PPL school. 

https://www.sportys.com/digital-i69-msfs2020.html?srsltid=AfmBOoq1SJ8lF1JjS2neWsdjmRYnws8IQcMWtcKzgdzlZocq0lEohgho

 

 

 

Are you saying MSFS is a reliable source of real world landmarks that can be used for real world navigation, that can be applied to a pilots knowledge base? 

I wouldn’t say that about ANY flight sim.  Not a single one. 

Edited June 13, 2025Jun 13 by GoranM

1 hour ago, GoranM said:

Are you saying MSFS is a reliable source of real world landmarks that can be used for real world navigation, that can be applied to a pilots knowledge base? 

I wouldn’t say that about ANY flight sim.  Not a single one. 

For Pilotage / VFR...?

I've been in quite a few debates with MSFS guys about vanilla X-Plane 11 being entirely adequate for Pilotage / VFR.

After all, XP 11 & 12 are far more detailed than typical aeronautical charts.

And obviously, MSFS is far more detailed than XP.

My personal definition of Pilotage limits landmarks to prominent geographic and anthropogenic features rather than some MSFS guys who love "that little red barn at the corner of the cornfield" - because what happens when that's all buried under snow...?

But yeah, and for any first world area especially, the modern sims are more than good enough.

2 hours ago, GoranM said:

Are you saying MSFS is a reliable source of real world landmarks that can be used for real world navigation, that can be applied to a pilots knowledge base? 

I wouldn’t say that about ANY flight sim.  Not a single one. 

Actually, I would disagree with that statement.

My 'nemesis' was a DR VFR Navex set by my Instructor at the flight training center I was attending.
This was in the days before GPS and any internet based satellite imagery.
The NavEx was to fly to 'Gluepot' using DR. Gluepot was a couple of tin shacks in the middle of a very large featureless bushland, covered with trees no higher that the shacks, and almost non existent tracks meandering through the thick bushland.

I first tried this in XP11, with poor results due to the lack of geo-spacial resources available at the time.
MSFS2020 (after WU's) made this possible for the first time, and the experience has been improved in MSFS2024.
For the first time, using MSFS, I was able to fly this challenging NavEx with the landscape and features exactly as was experienced in real life, adding to the complexity of the exercise. It was the blending of all what little landmarks there were in real life and in the sim that made it so realistic.

To this day, recreating this NavEx (with my instructors very strict requirements on accuracy of time keeping, navigation and fuel tracking) brings back memories of anxiety to nail it to hist satisfaction.

Edited June 13, 2025Jun 13 by c912039

13 hours ago, martinboehme said:

My post was an attempt at humor that obviously went wrong. More dead on arrival than deadpan, I suppose.

 

Your post was in no pun intended so don't take it too seriously. Lets just move on please.

Edited June 13, 2025Jun 13 by JBDB-MD80