On 29 Dec 2004 13:33:52 -0800, "Michael"
wrote:

It looks like it will be a pretty good tool for keeping basic IFR
proficiency.

Which it is.

I still don't have the joystick adjusted to where it is realist

And you never will. The sim is always a lot harder to fly than the
real airplane. The aero model can be tweaked for some level of realism
(meaning that the speeds/configurations/power settings you're used to
will work) but control respose will never be right. Force feedback
makes it better, but not good. Making it feel like the real airplane
is not actually impossible, but it's not something you're going to do
with the available resources.

I've used every version of MSFS back to the Sublogic version 1. There
are things that using the sim can help you with, and some things that
cannot duplicate being in the real airplane. But it is a good resource
for practice.



important ones. For that reason I don't recommend rudder pedals
(auto-coordinated turns are fine), fancy control yokes (joysticks are
fine), throttle quadrants or radio consoles (keyboard/screen is fine).
It's a waste of time to strive for realism, because the one place it
matters (the feel of the controls) it's effectively unattainable. The
sim is for practicing scan and navigation procedures.

I noticed a HUGE difference in realism and application to the real
airplane by having the CH products yoke and rudder pedals. It's like
night and day.

I had a 12 year layoff flying the real thing, and in that time I used
flight sim all along. My transition back to the "real thing" was much
easier. I HIGHLY recommend the yoke and rudder pedals.

I also flew the 737 for much of the time. When I restarted real
flying, a 172 seemed slow and easy compared to the speeds and
procedures I had gotten used to in a simulated 737, especially for IFR
flying, approaches and landing. It's like practicing fast pitch
baseball, then going and playing slow pitch softball. Adjust your
timing, and everthing happens slower and at a manageable pace.