Re: Where is everyone?
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I'm using FS 2002 while earning my private and I think it is helpful in that it prepares you for what you should be thinking about when taking off, landing, making steep bank turns, operating in slow flight, etc. .... I think it will accelerate my learning process and I'm glad I got it. I've just started out in flight training. I've heard, though, that it's especially good for instrument flight when you get to that point.
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If you've just started out, you'd do well to put FS2002 away until after you've soloed at the very earliest. If you want to practice cockpit procedures, get one of the large cockpit posters from Sporty's. You're learning and practicing VISUAL flight maneuvers right now, and computer flight sims just don't have the visual fidelity to be of much use in that department--because of this, flight simmers tend to fixate on what's happening inside the cockpit when they should be focusing on outside references. You need to learn what a 30 degree bank looks like; you need to learn what pitch for Vy in your airplane looks like. Quite honestly, the only thing I think a primary student should be using a computer flight sim for is MAYBE pre-flying their cross-country flights.
I enjoy flight sims a lot, but there's something called a negative transfer of knowledge which only serves to erode the lessons you learn in the real airplane. When you get into instrument flying, a computer flight sim can help provide a useful mental exercise in maintaining situational awareness, but you're training to be a VISUAL flight rules pilot right now.
Shelf that bad boy for now, stick to the books and the real airplane.