MS FS 2004 and flight instruction

[mlsa]

Good Morning Everybody

I just found this wonderful site yesterday and joined.  Looks like everybody is having a blast with the simulators.

I've had a private pilots license since 1975 but haven't flown in years...wife...kids...money...it's not a poor boys sport.  I do still have my license but just not current.

I've never lost the 'want to' and would love to start flying again.  I would love to use a flight simulator to teach me the basics again.  I have FS 2002 but the 3rd disk won't load onto my new laptop so I"m looking into getting another flight simulator.

I know FS 2002 had student pilot instruction within it.  CAn anybody tell me if FS 2004 does?  Since I have to buy another simulator I thought I would upgrade.

Thanks for any info you can give me.

David

[JBaymore]

David,

Hi and welcome to SimV.  Glad to have you here.

Yes, FS2004 has a flight instruction section.  I used to have FS2002 and the new one is better than the old one.  

FS2004 is a HUGE improvement over FS2002, in my opinion.  Even as the stock version.  However, I have mine now  "tricked out" with a ton of payware like Ground Environment Pro, Flight Environment, FSGenesis terrain mesh, a number of payware major airports, Aerosoft's AES services, Real ATIS, and so on.  

Adding all that kind of stuff makes is really nice.  But it does drive up the cost.  But not like real flying does!

You can also look at FSX........ the newest version in the MSFS franchise.  Be warned that to get it to work well, you need a GOOD machine.  Before purchasing, read a lot of posts in that forum section to get a feel for what it takes machine-wise to get good performance.  Read anything that NickN posts.

If you want to teeter on the edge of real versus simulated...... and real budget versus simulated budget ....... drop down to the "Home Build Cockpits" forum section and see where the REAL nutcases here at SimV hang out.

So, welcome again.

best,

....................john

[Felix/FFDS]

Welcome back to the madness....

Unless your current system cannot run FS-X decently, FS2004 has a good "learning center".

Of course, as you are aware, no dinky flight sim entertainment program is going to be a "real"  flight simulator, but I think you can easily get "back to the basics"  with the flightsim series.

FS-X has a "better"  set of lessons, in my opinion, and serves as a refresher course.

There is a book that has been published that guides the (real life) student pilot through taking advantage of FS-X as a learning tool for real world flying.

Good luck!

[Brett_Henderson]

Regardless of the version you end up with.. take a look here, too..

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 1208113107

Feel free to ask and contribute, as you go  :)

[beaky]

Regardless of the version you end up with.. take a look here, too..

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 1208113107

Feel free to ask and contribute, as you go  :)

Welcome to Simv, and welcome back (I hope soon) to flying!

You'll definitely want to check out the thread indicated for "training within FS9" tips, as the sim's own flight lessons are, IMHO, very odd and not very helpful (although the exercises have some merit).


My situation was similar to yours- I had to lay flying aside for about 4 years, and got into FS9 during that period. If nothing else, flying the sim got me all excited about flying again.

More advice: whatever you do, don't lean on the sim too much to get back into shape. Although it's great for practicing some things,in general it is not quite realistic enough, hence the lack of  official FAA approval.
So be sure to get a current FAR/AIM and Pilot's Handbook (or whatever they call it now), and start lurking around the AOPA website, or the "blue board" spinoff, Pilots of America... lots of current pilots out there would be happy to advise and assist you. And even if all you do is read others' posts, you will learn a lot, and be inspired, too.

Yet more advice: not being rich myself, I feel your pain... and the bad news is that flying has gotten a whole lot more expensive than it was in the 70s... hoo boy...
BUT- if all you want to do is start flying again, there are still deals out there.... shop around, maybe join a club... and ASAP, I'd advise you to dig up $50 or so and take a "discovery" flight. You don't have to do your BFR first; just go and get some dual. They won't care if you're a PP holder.