First flight training hours...

[Cairan]

Hi all,

Just to let you all know I've begun to take flying lessons for my private license this Friday. Things went well although the instructor was less than cheerful about me confessing having used Flight Simulator, X-Plane and Orbiter for years. He told me, and I quote: "uninstall all that stuff". :blink:

Yeah, right... :lol:


Anyway, it wasn't my first flight. I did a "Pilot of a Day" session back in 2000, and then took 2 flights with an instructor previously in 2001. As for climbs, descents and turns, I think he was pleased despite his previous comments about flight simulators.

Personally, I can't wait for the flight exercises to get to navigation topics, that's when those years of criss-crossing the Earth (and Solar system) with instruments only will kick in :beach:

 

[reverend]

I remember my first flight lessons too... I also had a problem when I told the instructor I already had logged 1,200 IFR hours in the simulator.

The rest of training was a breeze. I was able to pretty much skip any type of ground school and progress to solo time pretty quickly.

 

[Cairan]

Yeah, I guess the one thing which surprised me this time around was the feelings of accelerations in the 3 axis, specially vertical accelerations, due to mild turbulence we had. The other hours I had logged were in cold winter sunny days, so the air was beyond calm on those days. Friday was less than a few hours before a warm front moved in, so it was a little bumpier.

 

[mrspacely]

Hi all,

Just to let you all know I've begun to take flying lessons for my private license this Friday. Things went well although the instructor was less than cheerful about me confessing having used Flight Simulator, X-Plane and Orbiter for years. He told me, and I quote: "uninstall all that stuff". :blink:

Yeah, right... :lol:


Anyway, it wasn't my first flight. I did a "Pilot of a Day" session back in 2000, and then took 2 flights with an instructor previously in 2001. As for climbs, descents and turns, I think he was pleased despite his previous comments about flight simulators.

Personally, I can't wait for the flight exercises to get to navigation topics, that's when those years of criss-crossing the Earth (and Solar system) with instruments only will kick in :beach:

what a ****ty instructor! he should know that FS is a great familiarization tool, that can and usually often does give students confidence as well. he's just jealous! well congrats on starting!

 

[Cairan]

Did another round of flights this weekend... I live 400 km away from the nearest flight training facilities so I get to "group" my flights in the same day.

Everything went very well... We did basic stuff which appart from having to get used to doing cabin checks for safe configuration of the plane prior to maneuvers and the bumpiness of flying at 3000' in-between weather fronts, I think I impressed the "no-sims" instructor...

Actually, he confessed he does use FS, for IFR flights...

That was after I did four perfect ground taxi runs, did 2 perfect engine run-ups and 3 perfect approach...

Only negative point: he stole the yoke out of my hands and landed the plane harder than I would have if he had let me carry thru the whole landing. That pissed me off! Perfect alignment into a 8 kt crosswind, power off right on the numbers at 10', only to have my instructor botch it up by pressing it to the ground.

 

[ryan]

Why did he say to unintall?

 

[simonpro]

Because flight sims aren't really that much like flying. It's useful fo rthe basic stuff but way too many people spend a lot of time on F.S and then think they're the next Chuck Yaeger, flying a real plane scares the crap out of a lot of them

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Congratulations on taking the step to start flying in real world! I've also limited my flying experience for years to flight simulators and RC flying, but when I actually started flying, it's a totally different experience/feeling. But I have to agree that flight simulators do help in learning the flight basics, and other stuff like getting to know the instruments/etc. But the flight realism itself totally depends on the simulator.

he stole the yoke out of my hands and landed the plane harder than I would have if he had let me carry thru the whole landing. That pissed me off!

But we don't know the whole story about why he took over the controls .
I have had these moments too, but after the debriefing it usually became all clear to me. But actually, it never pissed me off during the flight or anything like that.


regards,
mcduck

 

[Native Son]

Congratulations!

Don't uninstall those simulators. They have helped me through flight training. They may not be the real thing, but they provide many benefits.

Not to boast: My flight instructor asked me why I was one of his quickest students and a good stick pilot. I could only reply with "Flight Sim". And I thought I was pretty bad.

Good luck. Tell us when you solo!

 

[dutchpirate]

Congratulations Cairan! One of my best memories was the first time I did a stall during my power training. I already had my glider license, so my instructor (how had never flown gliders), said to recover the same way, just add power at the end. What he didn't realize is that in a glider, you push the controls ALL the way forward...HARD! Nose of the aircraft went straight down, and even a little past vertical, before we recovered. Needless to say, when referencing exercises I had done in a glider, there was a discussion about the subtle differences between the two:lol:

 

[stjimmy225]

I learnt to fly in a grob tutor and when i was flying solo i got barrel rolled by a spitfire due to their vastly different cruising speeds,good luck for when you go solo, try not to sing all the way round on your first circuit, as is common...

 

[Cairan]

But we don't know the whole story about why he took over the controls .
I have had these moments too, but after the debriefing it usually became all clear to me.

Yeah he said it was because we weren't there in the lessons yet...

I think it's just because he's actually a "safe" instructor, deep down he must have been right as we have not practiced slow flight nor stall recovery yet, but still, he botched it... :dry:

Don't worry, if I screw up I'm not the one to put it under the rug! :beach:

 

[Cairan]

Because flight sims aren't really that much like flying. It's useful fo rthe basic stuff but way too many people spend a lot of time on F.S and then think they're the next Chuck Yaeger, flying a real plane scares the crap out of a lot of them

Amen to that... Indeed it's a whole different ball game up there, with traffic, real chaotic physics of the atmosphere and the fact you can't pause or reload if things go wrong...

 

[reverend]

I think my instructor had a valid argument. I started 10 years back, and flight sims we're not much like they are today. Graphics were terrible, no multiplayer capability, and the physics were questionable at best. I was using MSFS '98 at the time. I got the same response though that they're good for IFR.

Because I had done so much IFR on the sim, and very little VFR, I found VFR really difficult having to look for other small airplanes. I definetley had trouble seeing traffic. Aside from that, it was a breeze. Oh and also i've got a lazy eye, I'm sure that didn't make it any easier to see... I had to get a special waiver for the eye in order to get my FAA med cert.

Whenever I meet instructors that like to think they know it all on, I just bust out talking about how I did a Hohmann transfer to the moon the other day. Thx Orbiter!

 

[Piet Barber]

said to recover the same way, just add power at the end. What he didn't realize is that in a glider, you push the controls ALL the way forward...HARD!

I am a glider flight instructor in real-life and That is DEFINITELY NOT the way I teach stall recovery!:thumbsdown: But one thing is for certain; soaring instruction is different in different places. I'm not saying you're wrong. But jeez. Most gliders recover just nicely with a release of back pressure at the right time.

For the record, I have done ground instruction for gliders with Silent Wings, and found it to be a very good simulation approximation for real-life. It lets me do a lot of things that really enhance the instruction experience and reduce the number of flights needed to solo.

The problem with people flying flight simulators on their own before they come to me is they have all these bad habits that they learned on their own, and it is harder to break bad habits than it is to teach good habits from the beginning.

The worst habit that Computer pilots and power pilot transitioning to gliders is: TURN YOUR FREAKING HEAD AND LOOK OUTSIDE. You guys fly like you have a neck brace on. Eyes locked forward. The perfect remedy for preventing this in computer flying is to use TrackIR, which I have used with students to enhance the flying training experience and to keep them from being neck-brace pilots.

More about that here:
http://silentwings.no/phpbb2/viewtopic/?t=757
http://tinyurl.com/42uug6

(the second bad habit is USE YOUR FEET; power pilot transitions are the worst about this unless they have taildragger time)

So congratulations on moving to flying in the real world, remember your feet are there for a reason, and please look around for a glider. Learn proper scanning techniques and use them. I often hear that if you want to be a better pilot go get a taildragger endorsement, and go do a few flights in a glider.

All that said, and to keep it moderately on topic with Orbiter ... uh ... I'm pretty sure I could land the Space Shuttle if I was ever in a shuttle and the mission commander had a heart attack on re-entry.

 

[dutchpirate]

The best thing that I brought with me from glider training to power was forced approaches. Every approach is a forced approach in a glider!!:lol:

 

[Piet Barber]

Every approach is a forced approach in a glider!!

Exactly, if i ever transition to power, I'm sure that flying and maintaining an altitude will be difficult, and honoring the idea that I can do a go-around.

 

[Redburne]

(the second bad habit is USE YOUR FEET; power pilot transitions are the worst about this unless they have taildragger time)

So congratulations on moving to flying in the real world, remember your feet are there for a reason, and please look around for a glider.

If I'll ever forget to use my feet, I'll be in trouble - especially during take-off and landing ...
(OK, only during take-off and landing - in flight I can kick as much as I want to, it won't do any harm ...)

Ain't flying fun? Once I get my PPG license (some 20 odd flights to go), I'll probably take the next step and extend the license to "regular" ULs.

 

[MattNW]

Never got to experience that myself. When I learned to fly the only flight simulators were the commercial ones that cost millions. Well, actually the first version of Flight Simulator was out for the TRS 80 Coco but that doesn't count. :lol:

Yeah, I guess the one thing which surprised me this time around was the feelings of accelerations in the 3 axis, specially vertical accelerations, due to mild turbulence we had. The other hours I had logged were in cold winter sunny days, so the air was beyond calm on those days. Friday was less than a few hours before a warm front moved in, so it was a little bumpier.

Biggest problem with flying MSFS for me was the lack of acceleration forces. I have to constantly remember to use visual clues instead.

 

[pilotpercy]

The best thing that I brought with me from glider training to power was forced approaches. Every approach is a forced approach in a glider!!:lol:

ditto, i fly a grob 109b mk2, when u whap the engine off (not sure that "whap" is a good turn of phrase in the aviation world) it performs as a modorate glider, if you treat it well. somthing the instructors do very often on currency checks