So how realistic is FSX

[jieitai]

Also using paintball as a comparison, it's a game. Sometimes games can be taken too seriously.

I don't understand the importance of V speeds anyway. I take off a 737 between 150 and 190 kts. Done. Why is the V speed that important in a game?

In my short time in the cockpit, I was taught "take off at this speed, land at this speed". Simple. Done. V speeds are complicating a simple task.

[Brett_Henderson]

That's fine.. I'm not going to argue with you..

[Slotback]

Honestly the default aircraft are pretty much pinball machines compared to the real thing. They don't stack up well; they're like the default Cessna but faster. If you get a nice aircraft, freeware included, then it's as realistic as you want it to be depending on how you fly. That ranges from very realistic, to arcade. It all depends on you. If YOU want it to be realistic, then you're going to need to learn this stuff, or get the flight computer to tell you; or something like that. Numbers are easy. You don't work much out yourself.

150 - 190 knots is way too fast for a 737. Tires would probably explode; MSFS doesn't simulate that. Again, it's as realistic as you want it to be.

[tcco94]

[quote]No room for anger here..

[SubZer0]

My brain is already being filled with Japanese and Korean, don't need to add a truckload of math and numbers to it.

languages and aviation?

[Papafox]

Jieitai,
I have over 10,000 hours in light planes (owned a Great Lakes biplane for 16 years) and flew as captain for a major airline in narrow-body jets. MSFS is realistic enough so that many airline pilots and retired airline pilots enjoy flying it.

That said, there is much room for improvement. Stall and spin behavior is not yet modeled nearly as well as we'd like. Most MSFS X aircraft require that you hold a little rudder in the direction of the turn to keep the ball (of turn coordinator or needle and ball) centered, and this is just plain incorrect. Some rudder is needed to counteract adverse yaw from the aileron when the turn is initiated, but at cruise speed there's no reason why one needs to hold rudder in the direction of turn once the bank angle is stabilized. Also, most MSFS aircraft do not slip properly (holding the left wing low while applying right rudder to keep the plane from turning, etc.)

Don't forget noise, vibration, heat, bad air, and g-forces. Cockpits in some of the unlimited air race planes at Reno get well over 100 degrees during a race, these guys are pulling 5 gs or more, if you get in the bad air behind another racer you can be rolled slightly inverted or worse, the roar is loud, and if things go wrong you can die. Your heart is beating a lot faster in a race plane's cockpit than when you're flying a sim. From that regard, the realism is somewhat lacking, but the aircraft performance (bank angles, zoom capability when an engine fails, etc.) are not bad.

Realism depends greatly upon the particular aircraft you are flying. I enjoy aerobatic flying and putting on low-level airshows in my sim, and the Extra 300 which comes with MSFS X has some real issues, particularly in slips. On the other hand, the Extra 300s which come with the Acceleration add-on fly much more like the real thing (yes I've flown the real Extra 300L). Be sure to choose an Extra 300 with the alternate paint schemes to get the better flight modeling.

My buddy retired as #2 from American Airlines, and his favorite ride is the Captain Sim F-104 in MSFS9. Unfortunately they did not port this plane over to MSFS X. The real F-104 required nearly 15,000 feet to complete a 180 degree turn from downwind leg on a simulated flame-out approach. Captain Sim is very close to the real F-104's performance in this regard. Other F-104s we've tried glide far too well and we're still looking for a suitable F-104 for MSFS X.

My niece and nephew are about to both learn to fly, and I'm giving each some sim time in MSFS X before they begin their lessons so that they get the concepts down beforehand. I will also ask them to practice on their sim between lessons.

That's my 2 cents worth.

[Brett_Henderson]

Pretty creative spam

[cause88]

I must admit that since the early days of flight Sims, like back when computers still ran on DOS programs, I have been a

[Brett_Henderson]

Go here..

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


and ask away  :)

[Ang2dogs]

The only problem I have as far as realism goes, is that I can't feel the pulse of the aircraft ( movement, vibrations, G force, effects of the wind & weather ect. ). Other than that, I think the check rides are a pretty good indication on how good you are, cause just to get your private pilots certificate in this sim was pretty challagen,Ya gotta know your stuff to earn it, it ain't just gona be handed to you. Ya gotta understand, this not a video game, it's a simulatour, were after a while you'll eventually get to the next level only if you know your stuff, not by learning repetitive play as in most video games or for that matter learning cheats. It seems that most of us on this site take it seriouslly and play it as" REAL as it GETS ". It's only as real as YOU wanna make it, so do the best you can and have FUN!

[skunker]

I am a student pilot in real life. I have 10 hours in a J3 Cub and around 2 hours in flying "spam cans" (C150s, Cherokees) (i'm in my 20s). I find FSX much harder than in real life for some reason.

FSX fails in the crosswind simulation. To me, the crosswinds are much more different in real life than in the sim.

[lunitic_8]

wow this post has been really helpful to me because i REALLY WANT to become a pilot and work for an airline 8-)

[Papafox]

Skunker,
I think part of the problem with crosswind landings in FSX is that the mechanism of slip is gorked in most planes and you can't do a proper wing-low crosswind landing. If you have the Acceleration add-on, you might try one of the jazzed up Extra 300s, because they slip much more like a real plane.

[Papafox]

Lunitic_8,
Have fun with your current login callsign for now, but I think you'll need to modify your nickname prior to becoming captain of the big iron... "Ladies and gentlemen, our crew today is First Officer Justin Case and Captain Lunitic." Just an announcement might result in premature deployment of the escape slides.
Cheers

[lunitic_8]

Lunitic_8,
Have fun with your current login callsign for now, but I think you'll need to modify your nickname prior to becoming captain of the big iron... "Ladies and gentlemen, our crew today is First Officer Justin Case and Captain Lunitic." Just an announcement might result in premature deployment of the escape slides.
Cheers

no worries mate my real name is Chad 8-)