Are Flight Simulation Games a Gateway to Becoming a Real Pilot?
I recently started a part time job at a flying school. A few weekends ago, a prospective student popped in to find out more about learning to fly. A great part of my job is sharing my passion for aviation by showing people around the hangar, the aircraft, and answering any questions they may have. A topic that came up was Flight Simulation games . Specifically, was Microsoft Flight Simulator and other related software realistic, and would it help with real training?
I’ve been an avid “simmer” since the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 and have spent many, many hours flying around the virtual skies. I still do, albeit much less these days. So I thought I’d share my thoughts on flight simulation games and look to answer the title of this article, and also share some of the conversation I had with the prospective student.
What do the controls feel like in a real aircraft compared to flying at home with a yoke or joystick?
This was a great question. The easiest way I could describe the difference is that when you fly for real, you feel a lot more. When you fly at home with a joystick or yoke, you make inputs to move the flight surfaces of the aircraft like you would in the real thing. But you don’t get a sense of how the aircraft is reacting.
In the real aircraft, you get a lot of feedback through the flight controls. You can feel when the aircraft is flying fast (controls feel firm and require effort to move), you can feel when the aircraft is flying slow, or even approaching a stall (controls feel loose and easy to move). You can feel the wind, updrafts of warm air, and many other factors, all through your hands and feet.
This feedback really influences how you handle the aircraft too. When gaming, you won’t think twice about aggressively levelling off the aircraft, or performing a steep bank turn. In the real world, being too enthusiastic with the controls can often lead to you leaving your seat or being reacquainted with your breakfast!
Flight simulation games will give you an understanding of what flight controls are and what they do. In the real aircraft you’ll feel what they do.
Does flying on instruments in flight simulator help with flying for real?
This question took me right back to the start of my flying training. During the earlier lessons, my instructor would keep saying “look outside the aircraft, we’re visual pilots”. What he was referring to was my tendency to fixate on the instruments and forget about what was going on outside.
Flight Simulation game developers go to great lengths to recreate every aspect of an aircraft both inside and out, especially the instruments. So you will find your eyes drawn to them.
When you learn to fly, you’re taught to spend most of your time looking outside of the aircraft to spot other aircraft, obstacles and landmarks for navigation. You then check the instruments to make sure that everything is as expected. If later on you want to get an instrument rating, you’ll be spending most of your time looking at the instruments because you can’t see anything outside!
Flight simulation will give you an appreciation of what instruments are and what they do. In the real world, instruments will become something you check periodically rather than focus on.
Is VATSIM good for learning how to talk on the radio?
If you already know what VATSIM is, skip to the next paragraph. VATSIM is a service that connects your flight simulator game to a network of other pilots and air traffic controllers. You can see each other, you can hear each other. You’ll receive instructions from available ATC units. It really does add another layer of realism to the game. I’ve tried to keep it brief there but visit VATSIM’s website to find out more.
Having used VATSIM quite a lot, I can attest to it being a very immersive experience for virtual flying. But, when you start learning to fly for real, you soon realise that it’s quite different. Online flying networks tend to focus on IFR communications whereby ATC issue clearances, and pilots are controlled with headings and altitudes. In the real world, a lot of the time, you’ll be conducting VFR communications. The concept is the same but the phraseology differs. As a private pilot in the UK, you often spend a lot of time in uncontrolled airspace. As the same suggests, you don’t have to speak to a controller, but there are services, like Lower Airspace Radar, that you can utilise during your flight. You will operate in controlled airspace from time to time, and certainly cover it in your private pilot training.
Another thing to bear in mind is that being a virtual air traffic controller is a hobby. VATSIM does require controllers to undergo training, and the training is extensive! But it’s all for the purpose of simulation and enjoyment when flying virtually.
Online flying networks will give you experience of listening to and talking on the radio in a static environment. In the real world you’ll be using different phraseology in a dynamic environment.
Conclusion
I genuinely believe that playing Microsoft Flight Simulator gave me a good foundation for learning to fly. It helped me get core concepts and understand different terminology. But flying for real is very different. Sure, I can perform an ILS approach in a Boeing 737 in fog when sitting at my desk, but when I was handed the controls of a real aircraft for the first time, I quickly realised I had a lot to learn.
My approach to flight simulation games throughout my training was to use it as a resource for occasional practice. I’d get the debrief from my instructor and write it all down in my journal. When I had some spare time at home, I’d “re-fly” the lesson in the simulator*. I did this very sparingly, as it’s easy to create bad habits.
Now that I have my pilot license, I’ve done nearly all my practice in the real skies and use Flight Simulator as a place to fly upside down in a fighter jet! So if you’re looking at learning to fly or just want to feel what it’s like, get yourself down to your nearest airfield and book a trial lesson. I promise it will be an unforgettable experience!
*It goes without saying that flight simulation games should not be used for real-world training. Be sensible and use common sense.
