Is microsoft flight simulator X on complete real settings harder than actually flying?

Question

I'm talking about a single engine cessna. I've flown a real plane and then flight simulator x on real settings and it's harder on flight simulator X.

Answer 1

The first 3 answers are all correct and cover all of the bases.

Except they all forget that if you crash in a real Cessna you have a real problem. If you crash in a Cessna on MS Flight X you can reset and try again and again with no pain or expense.

Do you play any other video games? They can be difficult. Shooting games can be much more difficult than shooting in real life. How many monsters have you tried to kill lately?

So with all of that in mind I still think flying a real airplane is harder because of the consequences of failing.

Answer 2

This is a tricky question.  If you take away all the real world things you have to normally worry about, like ATC, traffic, weather, safety, etc and only compare actually flying a real plane vs a simulator, then the simulator is usually harder to fly.  Simulators tend to be unstable and you loose the seat of your pants feeling that you get in a real plane.  This is one reason why many real pilots hate simulators...they're harder to fly and feel nothing like the real thing.  This is even more true with a plane like a Cessna which is a very stable and easy plane to fly.  This is why I think flight simulators are so valuable when learning to fly just by reference to the instruments.  They're harder to fly and require a quicker instrument scan.  They also teach you that "less is more" when it comes to control inputs.

I've found this to be true in everything ranging from MS Flight Simulator, up to the full-motion simulators used at the airlines.

Answer 3

I've found X Plane is a little harder in the sense that you don't have any 'feel' with the controls.  I've only played Flight Sim once and it was the same way.  Doing aerobatic maneuvers is harder on the sim than in real life, I assume that's the way they were programmed.  But as far as the other flying stuff like you have to worry about like traffic, weather, fuel, etc. its much more demanding in real life.  If you crash on a game you restart on a runway.  No restart in real life.

Answer 4

It is certainly harder in some respects.  If you've learned to rely on visual cues and motion of the aircraft to help you fly—which is not unusual if you are flying under VFR—the absence of these in the sim will make flying more difficult for you.  If you routinely fly under IFR in conditions of poor visbility in real life, the sim will probably seem easier, since you have all the advantages of instrument flight (a complete suite of instruments that always work), but not some of the key disadvantages (movement of the aircraft that might cause disorientation).

From what I've seen and heard, VFR pilots may find the sim more difficult than real life; IFR pilots may find it easier.  Perhaps this is linked to the fact that the sim is better at simulating instrument flight than visual flight.