Just out of curiosity...

[Wing Nut]

Has anyone ever flown a route in a small plane, then gone home and flown the same route in FS to see how it compares?

[Politically Incorrect]

Yes.

I have used FS9 to help me in pilot training, a lot of good and useful information you can get out of it.
Many times after a lesson I would get home and fire up the sim and redo the route flown. And especially if I had a few faulty landings I would sit for hours practicing. Although it isn't exactly reality you can get a pretty good idea of what to expect.

[Scottler]

What do you think I did the moment I got home from my first lesson?  lol

Visually it was rather accurate.  The only thing missing were the senses of depth and feel.

[Fozzer]

Hi Kevin...!

Yes...!
I have flown in the real Cessna 152 from my local airfield to my home town, around 19 miles distance by road.
The flight was MUCH quicker in the real aircraft than following the exact same route, following the road, using Just Flight's VFR Photographic Scenery, and the Flight Simulator's Cessna 152's at the same speeds.
I was really surprised at how quickly I arrived at my destination in the real Cessna... ...!

The REAL GA aeroplanes always seem to travel much faster than the FS models over the same distance... ...!

Cheers all...!

Paul.

P.S. perhaps the time passes quicker because of the concentration involved in the real aeroplane...?
...there's a thought... ...?

[Politically Incorrect]

Visually it was rather accurate.  The only thing missing were the senses of depth and feel.

Exactly, and depth perception is one of my weakest points! So unfortanately it also one of the things that I can't practice in FS9.

[OTTOL]

I use it to re-try approaches that I screwed up in the real airplane!!  :-[

On the other end of the spectrum...........Sometimes I will fly to airport that I have never been to before, as preparation for the "real" flight. Obviously the land detail isn't the same at some of the remote spots but it's surprising how much it helps nonetheless.