Home simulator

[Bernie Knight]

Hi all,

 

I recently participated in a discussion on the use of a flight simulator and their advantages.

 

The particular software used was passenger jet airliners - not something I plan on doing soon

 

But I'm interested to hear if anyone uses a simulator to hone those skills or just pass the time.

 

I would be very interested in software that has small aircraft.

 

What hardware is best - seat, stick, monitors and drivers. Do you use an X Box etc.

 

Thanks in advance for any ideas or discussion.

 

Safe flying.

 

Bernie

 

 

[nickduncs84]

Useful for ifr procedure practice but not much else. The flying of the plane isn't very realistic but the procedures and equipment are. I use a pretty powerful pc with 4 monitors. Main view on 3 and instruments / gps on the 4th. In hindsight don't worry too much about the main view unless you're doing it for fun. 1 screen for the main view and 1 for the panel would be fine. There are a few options for software. Microsoft flight simulator fsx, p3d or xplane are the main ones. I am using p3d as I couldn't get fsx to work properly with windows 8

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Thanks Nick for the reply.

 

I was keen to hone my skills with finals, stalls, aerobatic etc.

 

I was interested to hear if the rudder pedals, stick etc was realistic and comparable to real flight.

 

Obviously I would set up a chair and frame to mount the stick, rudders, monitors and computer.

 

The conversation I sat in on was about a home simulator that had software with airliners etc so caught my attention as a training tool rather than a game or 'toy'..

 

I know a home simulator will not be the quality or detail of an airline simulator - never know though..

 

 

[nickduncs84]

I have the rudder pedals, yoke and panel. The issue with the flight controls is that obviously there is no feedback so they just feel sloppy all the time like they would on the ground in a real ac. So it may be a minor help but for the things you mentioned, I don't think it would add much.

 

 

[red750]

This is a bit different to a home flight simulator, but there is a Boeing 737 simulator in Melbourne CBD that anyone can fly, just for a bit of fun. You can take two friends as "passengers" at no extra cost.

 

30 min for $195, 45 min for $245, 60 min for $295.

 

See link: http://www.adrenalin.com.au/melbourne-cbd-flight-sim/vic-melbourne/air/15073

 

There is another out at Niddrie (near YMML or YMEN) which is a little cheaper 30 min $150, 60 min for $250. Get a video of your "flight" on MicroSD card for $30.

 

http://www.jetflightsimulatormelbourne.com.au/

 

 

[Yenn]

I used X plane years ago and made a Corby Starlet on it. It flew very much as the real Corby flew, but I didn't have good enough rudder control to take off without flying all over the place. It did give an idea of the attitude to fly upside down and stalled very much at the correct speed. Defifntely more useful for IFR training. Using the Microsoft 2004 simulator I am hopeless at flying the C172, which is one of the easiest planes to fly in the real world.

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Thanks guys for the feedback.

 

I was just talking with another pilot who has a simulator at home and he also felt the realism - flare, landings etc were not felt through the unit, as the simulator is not set up on a linked seat that has hydraulics etc.

 

Quite an expensive simulator for cars can see users tossed from side to side in corners and under braking.

 

Again, sounds quite expensive to achieve this level of realism.

 

I may just stick to doing circuits to hone those skills.

 

I'd did see the simulators and software can dollar add up - may be cheaper to just do a dozen circuits each week for a month

 

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

Safe flying.

 

Bernie - for your responses and feedback...

 

 

[ben87r]

By the time you get a sim that's "realistic" you are into the tens of millions. I've used a $5m fixed base sim and, still, was vaguely realistic at best. Procedures tho, a few thousand dollar sim is very useful for that.

 

 

[Admin]

I think sims are great and whilst i don't have one at the moment i still have all the pedals, yoke, software etc. For me they are for 2 reasons, 1 for fun and 2, they are great for doing navs because with say fx and good scenery, you can do navs as the roads etc of the scenery match your maps

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Thanks Ben and Moderator for the replies.

 

It makes sense re the Navs etc.

 

Can you get local software or are only generic software packages available. I thinking a NAV over Victoria would be really a benefit but over the Washington City centre is another thing..

 

What pedals, yoke etc is suggested. I have surfed the Gamesman etc. whom have Daitek or similiar brand..

 

Thanks guys again.

 

Bernie

 

 

[mAgNeToDrOp]

For Australian scenery you can't go past these guys https://www.fullterrain.com/ in combination with aussiex.org scenery.

 

I use their scenery along with the tecnam Eaglet from Ant's airplanes