[Neil MacG]

Jim,

Its not a major problem. You have to bear in mind that despite all the technology were running MS Windows systems. They break from time to time! As long as you don't make a regular habit of disappearing or leaving your a/c unattended....

But then... what do you do in the real world when you're in the circuit or on a XC Nav and want a waz.

Neil

[Steve Morley]

The group I have just joined has a "Lord John" thingy in the back.

It touched my bag the other day. Uuuuugh!!

I'll get me own ta.

[JIM]

Niel,

I've always thought the document clip on the kneeboard would help me out in that department

I have heard tell of a student on the qualifying cross country getting so engrossed in the planning/preflight of a particularly long leg, that he forgot to go for a waz before leaving.... sometime into the flight things became desparate...after scrabbling through his flight bag all he could find was an empty crisp packet....After filling this as much as he could, he opened the DV window to throw the contents out!!!

The results are best imagined rather than described

Steve,

The 'Lord John' has piqued my curiosity: any chance of a piccy??

[Adam]

Here you go


and the female adapter too!

[JIM]

Cheers Adam!!

Perhaps it should come as a freebe with FS2004.... The female adaptor could cause some confusion in an unpressurised a/c above 10,000ft....

[Peter Pan]

Most instructors I spoke to said it was a hindrance. I have a fast PC, all the VFR scenery and some add-ons for the local airfields around here. I probably spent 2-3 hours on it at most during my training and found it little or no use. I think it would be good for my IMC rating but it just didn't 'feel' like an aeroplane for the PPL.

Maybe if you only did one lesson every couple of weeks or more it may be useful to keep you r hand in but the FI's at Barton reckoned that FS jockeys flew with their head in the cockpit on instrument and not keeping a good lookout and not flying by 'feel'.

My 0.2c worth only!

P-Pan

[Neil MacG]

PP,

From a VFR point of view I agree that there is a a tendancy for many people to use FS the wrong way. Many people start off using it as a game, practising IFR flying way before they ever understand what limited use of instruments a VFR pilot needs.

I made a conscious choice to use FS for VFR purposes about a year or so before I ever had the chance to start flying for real. With the aid of friends who were pilots, I made an effort only to fly GA types and fly by visual references.

I haven't encountered any criticism of my real-world technique even though the instructors know of my use of FS.

It has to be realised that FS as a VFR aid IS limited. The lack of feeling in the "seat of the pants" necessarily makes it so. But I have found it valuable for practing the following techniques:

1. R/T - this has been the BIGGEST benefit. Getting over the fear/embarrassment factor of talking to someone in a different "language" and getting this technique engrained in the mind. But of course as mentioned before you need to use the services of the online flying community (http://www.vatsim.net and http://www.cambridgeflyingclub.com)

2. Procedures - As you say if you don't fly that often, going through the procedures (FREDA, BUMPFFICHHLC, etc) while handling the workload on the simulator helps to also engrain these procedures so that the amount of time re-practicing them while paying lots of dosh in the realworld is reduced.

3. Using the VFR scenery - practicing Nav exercises. In this regard most of the valuse is in the pre-flight planning, going through the process of getting real-world NOTAMs, WX from the metoffice and then checking the accuracy of the nav against the VRPs in the Flight Sim. In some way its a bit like flying on a day with poor Vis. You can't see the VRP's until you're nearly at them, but it's quite a nice feeling having plotted the track/headings etc to find that after x planned minutes since the last VRP you are actually overhead your next one.

So horses for courses. If you've got the right PC kit and the right discipline to use FS in a constructive way I think it can add value.

Neil

[Mister Monty]

JIM,

I've come to a decision.

I'm going to get my desktop mended and fire up the FS.

I wasted too much time being unsure of sequences in my last lesson. I need to engrain these things into my head by repetition.

I'll use the FS just for the drills though, I won't kid myself that It'll give an accurate feel for flying.

Now I just need to find a place that can do it immediately, cheaply and ignore the dodgy stuff on my hard drive

[Ian Melville]

MM,
You don't need MSFS to learn the actions and checks, do them in your head. Find somewhere quiet, shut you eyes and visualize flying the circuits. Speak out loud the checks etc Oh and make sure the flying is spot on.
Many people like top sportsmen use similar technique before competitions etc.
Don't make the same mistake that I did an tell my instructor that I had been practicing circuits in the bath. Had him in giggles imagining what I had used for a control column

[JIM]

Mr.M,

'dodgy stuff' ,I have no idea what you are talking about..... .

Having got a few hours under your belt, I'm sure you will appreciate very quickly what is useful at what is not in FS. I have to say that, for me, the pluses have just about outweighrd the minuses.

Ian,

I agree with you also. I have sat in the airfield carpark going through what actions I will take in the circuit + emergencies prior to lessons in my head. I have also been known to go down motorway slip roads with right hand on an imaginary throttle quadrant..... telephone conversations no longer contain the phrase 'pardon?' but 'say again'..........Mrs JIM 'have you put the bins out?'
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