FS Vs. Real Life

[Mistral]

I was just wondering how the Jets on FS compare to the ones in real life. If i could fly a 747 in FS would i be able to do so in real life (bar ATC). Just something i was wondering cause i found flying light aircraft in real life a whole different experience.
Any real pilots feel free to shed some light.

[Woodlouse2002]

No you wouldn't. If you find light aircraft different enough think about how different the 747's going to be.

[beefhole]

No.  I'll tell ya, it's sooo much different in real life, even just GA.

[Mistral]

Well thats put an end to my dreams

Can anyone just elaborate on what is actually so different, is it the flight dynamics, or the method of navigation etc.

[C]

Most of the time in real aircraft you're using visual cues which you cannot get in FS most of the time...

[Felix/FFDS]

Mistral - would you TRUST your airliner to someone like Charlie or myself who think that the epitome of flight is a Gladiator?

[Woodlouse2002]

Mistral - would you TRUST your airliner to someone like Charlie or myself who think that the epitome of flight is a Gladiator?

I'd like to see you throttle your 747 down to a cruising speed of 200mph.

[Craig.]

apart from the main buttons in flight sim, i would like to see anyone with no real knowledge even try to figure out what some of the key buttons do. think of it like trying to parrallel park an 18 wheeler when all you have driven is a car.

[Rocket_Bird]

Hehe, the first time I went in the seat of a 737, I was overwhelmed!!  No I  dont think would not be able to operate one even if I was elite at FS.  Maybe do a few turns in the air, but other than that, no way.  Theres like hydraulics, pressurization, buncha boost pump buttons and switches, even the throttle quadrant scares me!  Plus the flight yoke is huge!  Even looking for the inverters and the avionics, whew....

Plus I think actually flying it is a whole different experience all together.  The first time I flew a cessna 172 I got a little choked at first myself hehe (actually flight simulator helped a lot)

[Saratoga]

I could take ya up in a 767, configure everything for you, and hand you the controls. If you had flown a realistic one, you could turn and climb/descend. You could even probably fly a halfway decent approach. But there are just so many things missing from the sim. You could fly it though, I would just have to work every switch and little gadget you have never heard of.

I know a pilot for a major airline (won't mention it out of respect, but it is in business and starts with a D) who shuttled a 737 to the airplane graveyard and his copilot traded seats with a ridealong who flew in the sim. He said she could fly fine (this way back when 2000 was the best thing), albeit uncoordinated and not used to the controls (duh). She flew all the way 'til the approach and did some stuff with the flaps and gear, but he said he wouldn't trust her to crash land it even.

[chomp_rock]

Not another sim vs real life thread, I've had just about enough of these

The simple answers:

FS isn't even close to real life and the average sim pilot could not land a 747 or any airliner for that matter without proper training.  

[Nexus]

I could fly it by using the autopilot, but that's as far as I would go.
I'd never attempt of landing manually, as it would be too hard.

[Saratoga]

Could you Nexus? Sure the Cessna autopilot is a perfect recreation, but setting up my 767 to fly an autoland with all three autopilots is semi challenging. You find me an addon that has all three coordinated autopilots working together to complete a task, then I'll believe it. It's so much more complicated in reality.

[Felix/FFDS]

Saratoga - If you setup the autopilot and autoland, I'll fly it .. (until the autopilot cuts out, then I'll gladly give it back to you)

[Nexus]

Could you Nexus? Sure the Cessna autopilot is a perfect recreation, but setting up my 767 to fly an autoland with all three autopilots is semi challenging. You find me an addon that has all three coordinated autopilots working together to complete a task, then I'll believe it. It's so much more complicated in reality.

yeah, I managed that quite well in an A320 sim 4 years ago (time really flies  :( ), so the 767 shouldn't be any more harder to execute a LAND 3, or should it?
Level-D sims 767 has all 3 autopilots modelled, and yes you must activate them all to be able to autoland (active fail safe mode)  :)