Easier In Real Life?

[willg]

microsoft flight sim seems just a little too hard and unrealistic, ive been speaking to some pilots I know (many being rookies) who say that its far far easier in real life. The planes just dont perform like they do in real life apparently - often too responsive.

I'd like to know what other people think, as i for one just feel microsoft flightsim isnt as realistic as it should be, landings for example are far easier in real life but in fs there just always so hard and complicated.

[Jared]

What kind of controller are you using in the sim? I've got a friend who has a controller which is pretty tough to use, whereas at home I've got a yoke and some pedals and it is fairly easy.. ;-)

[willg]

oh a CYBORG 3D Twisting Joystick, (might get a new one though as the drivers seem to have dissapeared everytime i restart my pc, have to reinstall the darn thing every time i wanna use it  :()

[Yurei]

yes the controller is a good point. also, what aircraft are you mainly flying? flight dynamics vary in fs (and in real life too obviously) and some planes tend to be overreactive

Edit: sorry posted at the same time as you willg, you don't neccessarily have to get a new joystick you know

[willg]

mainly smalljets (i.e the one on my sig, bae146's and fokkers)sometimes mooney bravos too though.

[Saratoga]

Well in stock stuff, yes the planes I have flown don't react right. Something is just strange, not so much the overreactantness (word?) , but it just feels...weird. I dunno how to explain it better really. The 757 and 767 I spend my time flying (in sim most of the time and all the time in reality) fly pretty much perfectly from what I can tell, but the panel is lacking and that kills the flight experience.

The 737 does seem a little light on the controls, but I don't have a force-feedback joystick, so that's probably why. I've flown with FFB before, and it makes the experience much much more realistic.

[willg]

(this may be due to the fact that im not actually inside the aircraft)but, considerign the weight and power of planes, they shouldbt be like little feathers in the wind. I mean, after dragging 767 to the point where its lined up the runway, then making tiny adjustments, it shouldnt forever drift of course,  and move around as much as it does, its hard to explain what i mean but the planes jsut dont feel as heavy and sluggish as they should be.

[Nexus]

I find it much easier in real life. Especially when delaing with rudder movement. I have a hard time to kick out the crab in the sim, while in real life it's no biggie, really  ???

[GWSimulations]

mainly smalljets (i.e the one on my sig).

Is that an Embraer 170?

Where did you get it?

[Rocket_Bird]

Theres ups and downs in flight simulator.  In real life you get the feel of the plane, and everything is as mother nature (and the aircraft manufacturer lol) makes it.  

I wouldnt necessarily say its easier in real life, real life can be challenging as well, there are things that make the flight sim hard though.  Like already mentioned, the rudder movement is easier to control in real life (kinda, i find a bit hard in real life anyways cuz im short and the seat doesnt go quite far enough in the planes i fly ).  Trimming seams to be a bit easier in real life too.  

In any case, both sim and rl have their challenges.  Landings in flight sim seem really simple to me, in real life you can feel the cushion when your flaring, but its easy to mess up if you dont pay attention too... and that would be a real bad day.

[willg]

good to see some people agree with me, ive been saying its easier in real life for years  ;)

maybe we could all try and make a patch which changes the flight dynamics or something.

ive also set the sensitivites of rudder ailerons and elavators to virtually unresponsive, it gives the game a good effect and seems to make the plane steadier  :)

[beaky]

As a RL light single pilot, I found the stock C172 just too oscillation-prone, esp. in yaw. Damn near impossible to trim for level flight, too (despite much experimenting w/settings).
However, there are add-on aircraft and tweaks out there: The Real Air C172 is just about right: trims, taxis, and slips very much like the real thing. I highly recommend it, although it desperately needs a repaint, IMHO (purple?!).
There are many other "harder than real life" factors in FS9, but handling is #1.  

[RollerBall]

Hmmm.

One of my interests in the sim is to try and make the planes I like fly as close to real life as I can by tweaking the FDE. I've just uploaded a Cessna 340 twin (340_upd.zip) which is a very nice model created by a guy called Brian Novick. Also did an update of Rick Sasala's Gulfstream 4 if you want a jet (GulfIV_fs9.zip) both here at SimV.

I've never flown either although I have flown a couple of twins but I've had some very complimentary emails on both including from real airline pilots. I've tried to address the issues you mention with both. Maybe give em a try.

The only thing I would say is I've built in stronger inertail forces especially in pitch and roll and I can't see how you can experience those without having a FF joystick.

You might be interested in the following which is part of an email I sent someone who asked about the Cessna's handling

..........

Re the flight characteristics, the only (few) twins I've flown in real life have been 'heavier' with more inertia than I originally found the Cessna to have. FS always makes aircraft skittish especially in pitch (I think because it's a 'game' and they want to make landings especially more challenging) whereas we know that really you can set revs, flaps and trim and more or less sit back on the GS with a few minor corrections to keep it all OK. Same goes with level flight - you shouldn't need constant manual control changes to fly straight and level and planes like this one especially aren't influenced by every, even the lightest, buffet.

So I guess that's what I was aiming for - not everyone's cup o tea I'm sure and we mustn't forget that the characteristics in the sim are also influenced by your settings and the actual joystick you're using.

[Rocket_Bird]

Its not to say that being good at flight simulator will necessarily make you good in real life though.  The flight simulator realm displays theory, real life displays practice.

The real air c-172.  I dunno if its just me, but to me it doesnt feel right either  ???  Well its fair considering its in flight simulator... but yeh, i dunno, i can say the same for the stock C172...

[Gary R.]

I would say the benifit of real life flying other than the fact that your inner ear becomes a flight instrument is that seeing out of the cockpit is also easier.  Of course, things like track IR have sort of improved that.  MS's flight dynamics system is primitive and clunky because it leaves the dynamics up to human interpretation.  While I like MSFS for the appearence and the systems simulation of some add-ons I enjoy the flying of X-plane more.  I usually fly smaller GA aircraft in X-plane of military mostly because they don't have the benifit of sub-panels and complex aircraft just don't look realistic with everything crammed into one main window.  But the dynamics are superb.  The best single improvement MS could make with FS would be to develope their own version of the X-plane Blade Element application which surveys the design of any aircraft and produces a correct flight dynamic.  It works. Manufacturers use Xplane for testing, it's earned several FAA PC training certifications.  All because the flight dynamics are correct.  Bit, MS will never put the effort into these things as long as their customer base does not insist on it.  Instead, they will just keep making more a prettier bridges  ::)