"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
Gig 601XL Builder writes:

Sensations are a HUGE part of flying.

Perhaps they are for you. They aren't necessarily that way for
everyone.

That's where you're WAY wrong. I only have the basic instruments in my
plane. I have airspeed, needle and ball, altimeter, tachometer, VSI,
magnetic compass (I now have a working gyro compass. Just got it a couple of
years ago.), and oil temp and pressure. Notice there's no artificial
horizon. I've only had one real flight that approached the sim experience.
That was a flight from Block Island to Barnes. One slight turn after takeoff
and a straight, hands-off flight practically to touchdown. It was the
smoothest air I've ever flown in. I've also had flights where I had a hard
time changing frequencies or getting my hand on the throttle I was bouncing
around so much. I've been (as a student) kicked into a 45 degree bank by a
gust on short final that had me looking another pilot on the apron in the
eye. My recovery from this attitude depended entirely on the physical
sensations + visual cues. Instruments would have been useless. If you have
any aversion to feeling alternately weightless and extremely heavy, you may
not react properly. If you can't handle a roller coaster, stay out of a real
cockpit or only fly on the calmest of days.

Vision-
The average person has between 170 and 175 degrees of vision and uses it
all
in real flight.
In SIM flight depending on screen used you might have 90 degrees. Yes
this
can be improved but the cost is significant and I'd guess the vast
majority
of MSFS users don't have multiple monitors.

I have 360° in MSFS.

I've been really tempted to get those 3D stereo, head tracking goggles. I
think that would really enhance MSFS (and the function is enabled in MSFS).
I'd like it even better in MSFS Combat.

In real flight you feel the stick or yoke and the forces acting against
it.

That depends on the aircraft.

You also feel the aircraft moving and changing direction.

Unfortunately, you cannot always trust what you feel.

If you can combine it with visual cues, you most certainly can.

This movement when backed up with visual clues, either from outside the
plane or instruments help you finely control the aircraft.

Or, more specifically, the visual and instrument information allow you
to control the aircraft. The movement isn't always trustworthy.

Unless IFR, the instruments are only a backup and verification tool. You
keep your wings level by looking at the wingtips. You hold altitude by
developing a sight picture over the nose. You briefly scan your instruments
to verify and refine altitude and heading.

In sim flight there are no forces acting on the stick/yoke with the
exception of springs or in the best case force feedback which doesn't
simulate reality well at all.

That depends on the aircraft being simulated. Cirrus aircraft use
springs, too.

But the control forces are also there, and they vary under varying
conditions.

With a proper set up I'll give the sims a real A+ on this issue and will
say
that it is damn good a simulating reality.

Not that the drone of engines gradually driving you deaf is terribly
useful to flying.

That's what headphones are for. They actually cut out over 30 db, depending
on the brand. Active NC does even better.

mike