Microsoft Flight Simulator X is a very popular flight simulator for windows but can you use FSX to learn how to fly in real life?
I think that depends on what you are trying to achieve, FSX definitely has some things that will help you to develop your real life flying skills, however there are somethings that I don’t think FSX can help you with. For instance FSX will be hard to learn how to do step turns on because it cannot replicate the G’s that are in effect during the turn. It also would be no good at being able to replicate the amount of back pressure needed to do a climbing turn.
I think if you treat FSX as a way to practice procedures trainer you will be surprised at how capable it really is. Just don’t expect an airline to handover the right hand seat because you have 1500 hours on FSX.
Below is a list of what I think FSX is both good and not so good at. When I say not so good at that doesn’t mean I think the sim is useless at it. I just mean it is hard to replicate on the computer.
FSX is good for
Practicing your instrument scan
Learning the controls of an aircraft
Navigation
Instrument flying
Flying a route before you do it in real life
Learning procedures like taxi, ground and ATC.
Learning the configuration of a plane at each stage of flight.
System failures, ie engine failure.
FSX is not so good for
Take offs – You just don’t get the feedback and behavior of the real plane. The Cessna 172 on FSX’s performance is nothing like the one I flew in real life. The climb performance on the sim for instance doesn’t match the real life aircraft.
Landings – Same as take offs, after doing it on FSX and doing it in my Cessna 152 it just really is not the same.
It can however help you with learning the picture you need to have when coming in to land.
Spin, stalls, steep turns, climbing turns – You don’t feel the sensations and forces on the body that you do in a real plane.
Getting a feel for the feedback of an aircraft
Learning the effects of weather on an aircraft
Pre flight checks
A good thing about FSX is that you can make it look pretty realistic from a visual point of view. There are many excellent paid add ons however if you don’t want to spend extra money you can make visual improvements for free. Here is an excellent YouTube video on how to make it look better without spending a penny.
Microsoft Flight Simulator X is also regularly on sale for just £3.99 when steam have their sales so it will not cost you a fortune to purchase. It also has been updated and recompiled by dovetail games to run on modern systems and the multiplayer has been changed to run through steam. I own the original flight simulator x and it has been a mainstay since it was released.
I would say it is essential to get a joystick / flight control system to use with the game. I personally use the Thrustmaster Hotas X which works really well with the sim and also has a separate throttle. It is available from Amazon.
So to conclude, I think Microsoft Flight Simulator X is a tool that can help you with certain parts of your training and is defiantly worth a purchase. If you want to learn to fly for real, get to your local airfield and take a trail lesson and sign up for a PPL (Private Pilots License).
If you have signed up for a PPL you can defiantly practice parts of it using FSX. Infact FSX is also really good when you come to practice instrument flying also.
