Flight Simulator bad for beginner pilots?

Question

i heard from a pilot that using a simulator such as fsx can make you develop bad flying habits and a false felling of what flying is like. How is this? any specific examples?

Answer 1

I think it can help familiarize one with the interaction of the instrumentation, and how the controls/throttle work together (or not).  It that sense it would have some value for IFR work.  However, the biggest issue with teaching IFR, is getting the student to ignore his inner ear and follow the instruments-can't teach that via sim.

Yes, it CAN breed some bad habits, as one is not "aviating, navigating and communicating".  Sim's, especially commercially available ones, are just no substitute for the real deal.

Answer 2

it is awesome to make you familiar with IFR procedures.

it is terrible regarding the small planes/ or even helicopters/ handling, ground proximity sensation, and like Aviophage wrote, you cannot pause the flight when you need to relieve yourself in the real life.

we had a great time laughing when our rescueman performed best aerobatics with helicopter in the FSX without really knowing how to hover in the real life. Us pilots we crashed almost immediately

Answer 3

This is debatable.  I think using flight simulators is a great way to learn the ins and outs of flying an airplane, but not so much with the stick and rudder skills.  But for procedures and development a good instrument scan, they're great.

Another area where simulators are great is when getting an instrument rating.  They force you to learn how to fly solely with reference to the instruments, not to mention flying a simulator is typically harder then flying the real thing.

When I was a flight instructor and had a student who had problems with ILS approaches or flying in the clouds in general, I stuck them in our simulator.  That always fixed the problems because it was a pain in the butt to fly!

Answer 4

Believe me, the first time you sit down in a real a/c all that computer time will be long forgotten. You will be focused on what you are doing at the moment. I can't see any problem using a flight sim, if anything it should help famliarize you so that as things which are new and strange to you in the real world will look a little more common.

The one thing I would make clear though...  don't *EVER* tell your instructor... "well... in FlightSim yakyak...it does this..." because he will have a lot of fun telling you "forget it.. this is real world and this is where your head needs to be"

As to COMMERCIAL sims...  uhh...  totally different.  I trained and took my type ride for the ATR-42 in the sim at the schoolhouse in Dallas (Centerport AMR)  and my FIRST Flight in the aircraft, ever... was as Captain of a revenue flight from JFK to BOS.   This is how it works now. Aircraft are WAY too expensive to use for training, so all that is done in the sim, and you start flying the line with an experienced Captain (called IOE for initial operating experience) until he cuts you loose which usually takes around 40-50 hours (about 2 weeks) depending on your company ops specs.

That is EXCELLENT training because they can show you hundreds of situations, scenarios, failures, tricks, traps and makes you a much better and familiar pilot in a very short period of time.

Answer 5

No, just dont think it is an actual simulator. It is a great way to learn navigation and instrument procedures, It doesnt do a good job of the simulating the tactile skills you will need to learn in a real aircraft like landing.

Answer 6

I am glad to get so much agreement from pilots and instructors on here.  I still would prefer for students to get some time--preferably at least the Private Certificate--before they spend much time with the simulators.

Once you are a real pilot, however humble, if you want to use the simulator to polish up your instrument procedures and emergency readiness, fine; go ahead.  In fact I am starting to say they are beneficial for that sort of thing.

I still would prefer not to have a new student who thinks s/he can handle an airplane because of all that great FSX time.  That person is going to be in for some unpleasant reorientation experiences.

If you want to see what I mean about the simulator not teaching you the feel of an airplane, the best way is to go find out.  Take an introductory flight at the nearest airport where flight instruction is available, and you will see the light in a minute or two.

The simulator does not "feel the air" the way an airplane does, and it does not feed back control sensations realistically.  It does not make you responsible for your own safety or that of the general public.  If you need to go pee, you can pause the action.

And I have never seen a person get lost and run out of fuel in FSX.  Not really, so you don't know where the h**l you are and you end up crashing.  That's how and why a real airplane is a real teacher.

Answer 7

I have to say that I am definitely very biased against simulators, especially the kind on your home PC.

The first problem with beginners using a home simulator is that they are self-taught. Many of the bad habits will come from trying to learn how to fly without the supervision and guidance of a flight instructor. You may be doing things very wrong while thinking that you are actually doing them properly. There are also so many possibilities and considerations related to safe flight that an experienced pilot has to teach you.

The next thing I would point out is that there is a huge difference between the sophisticated simulators used by professionals and the computer program you have at home. If you ever have a chance to use a "real" simulator, you will immediately see the difference.

I have also noticed that the physics of the aircraft (specifically for helicopters) are pretty terrible in FSX. I understand that there are additions you can download that more closely simulate the helicopter, but it's still not very good. Plus, most of the time you don't even have real flight controls to use.

The last thing of course is the feel you get from actual flight. Your sight, hearing, and touch will detect many cues from the aircraft that will allow you to anticipate the required control inputs so you can make them smoothly and with finesse. Without those sensory inputs, you will be reacting to the aircraft, rather than anticipating. An aircraft will also often alert you to difficulties before they even happen. If you train using a simulator, you will not benefit from learning those subtle but critical feelings.

I will say that there are a few specific cases where the benefits of simulator training are incredibly valuable.

- When experienced pilots learn the systems and procedures when transitioning to a new aircraft. They can take their time learning every detail about that new aircraft at a much lower cost.

- When a new instrument student has mastered the basics of attitude instrument flight in an actual aircraft, they can benefit tremendously by studying instrument navigation, procedures, and approaches in the simulator. You really have to learn the steps backwards and forwards so you can stay 12 steps ahead during actual flight. The simulator helps do this.

- Emergency procedures can also be practiced very effectively in the simulator. Furthermore, you can reproduce emergency situations in the simulator that would be impossible to practice safely in flight.

So basically, the real benefits of simulators come when learning new procedures and new systems. They are, in my mind, only beneficial to pilots with experience in real aircraft first, and only under the supervision of instructors.

Answer 8

That's a good question.  Professional pilots have some wide varied opinions on this subject, so you will not get a consensus answer.  I believe they are helpful, but in a very limited way.  ERAU did a study once, training some people on fsx type sims, and others starting with nothing like that.  The fsx students did better, especially on instrument flying.  I've never heard of any specific examples of bad habits you can develop, except for things that would happen in an aircraft to a new pilot anyway.  

So, my feeling is that they may help you, and if they hurt, it won't be much of a problem.  I don't think you can learn to fly with a sim program, but you can learn a scan and some procedures and how to read instruments.  It's of limited help, but I don't think it will hurt you when you get in the real aircraft.

Answer 9

Flight simulator will teach you all the wrong stuffs.

Answer 10

For a beginner pilot, the simulators may not be as good. When you first learn to fly, it’s like learning to ride a bike-you have to feel for it. You have to learn the very basics of flying-stick and radar. You have to listen to the aircraft and stay ahead of it. There is a reason that they do not let you fly a Cirrus or Glass Air on your first flight. You want to take thing slow and easy. Learn to trust the airplane and go by your instinct and what the airplane is telling you.

After you obtain your private (Congratulations in advance!), when you go for your instrument rating, by all means use a simulator. I LEARNED TO USE APPROACES LIKE ILS, NDB, and VOR on a simulator (Microsoft to be exact).They are much cheaper than renting an aircraft on an IFR day. Plus nobody will cry on a mishap.

All these are here to help us…BUT DO NOT FORGET.A PLANE’S BEST FRIEND IS its PILOT.

KEEP ‘EM FLYIN’