Boarding with engines running

Kobra writes:

Well, I didn't say "sudden".

True, but sudden movements are hard to avoid in small aircraft except in
perfectly still air. They are sudden in comparison to, say, a 737 or 747.

They are just more responsive.

They respond more quickly, true.

A better
analogy would be the difference between driving a Mustang verses a bus or
tractor-trailer. Both can be fun to drive for different reasons, but the
handling is far different.

Exactly.

Probably not like a pro and not immediately, but your experience in a sim
will definately give you an advange over someone completely new to flying.
You will pick up on things more quickly. But be careful though, simmers
learn some bad habits too that start to become engrained and then are harder
to shake then someone completely new. For example...simmers tend to stare
at their instruments too much and have difficulty learning to fly by looking
out of the windscreen. They therefore "chase needles" quite a bit at first
in their begining lessons.

I try to look out the window in the sim. It's not very easy, which is why
simmers tend to avoid it. I have the twist axis on the throttle set up for
horizontal panning, though, and that helps a lot, as now I can look at the
field as fly a pattern. It would probably be easier with semicircular canals,
however.

Hardware like TrackIR is supposed to make this easier, but I'm wary of
installing even more hardware, and I don't want to slow sim performance
further, and I don't like using the virtual cockpit.

If you do take a lesson someday you will need time to adjust to the
sensations of flight and sight-picture. The sim and the real view out of
the windscreen are a bit different.

No doubt. I don't anticipate that it would take very long; probably like
moving from one type of motor vehicle to another.

The first thing you might not like is if there is some mild turbulence.

I don't like turbulence. I don't like the feel of it, and I don't like having
to fight with it.

That is something simmers don't have to deal with and the sim can't
simulate well.

I've heard that MSFS not only simulates it less than ideally, but it also
exaggerates it.

It can be annoying, but it is a
true part of real flying that must be dealt with by pilots of all
disiplines.

It can be avoided by not flying for real.

Maybe not anytime soon, but I would bet dollars to dougnuts that you will
someday have a good income.

I used to have a good income. I don't now.

Wealthy is relative. I have an middle class income, but I skimp over here
to spend more over there. IOW's I budget for flying.

Nobody with a middle-class income today is doing that. What used to be the
middle class in the U.S. today is now just scraping by. It might have been
possible in the 1960s, though.

Really, hmmmm... you paint with a broad brush my man to say, "I hate to
travel..."

In my case, it's entirely true. I don't even like to go out into the suburbs.

A statement like that can only be made by someone who has limited
experience with traveling as an independent person.

I've travelled a lot, always on business because I won't travel voluntarily.
I was on my own each time. I hated it.

Maybe it has to do with lack of money or maybe you hate being out
amongst people.

It's just a hatred of the overhead of travel: trips, hotels, logistics, and so
on. You spend the great majority of your time with these and very little time
enjoying the destination. Some people don't care about that, but I do. And
even then, should you really come to like it, it's extremely temporary, and as
soon as you are even remotely settled in, it's time to go home.

It all seems very wasteful and stressful to me. The best way to exclude me
from any type of competition or contest is to offer a trip as the grand prize
(unless it is convertible to cash).

What are some of your negative experiences with traveling that you base your
attitude on?

All of them. Flying, trains, ground transportation are all immensely
time-consuming and frustrating. Air travel is the worst, and gets worse every
day. Staying in hotels is very unpleasant. Eating at restaurants is
time-consuming and expensive. Trudging around to see all the required sights
is boring. For me, all these factors significantly outweigh the advantages,
and so I do not travel.

Where did you travel and with whom?

Mostly on business on my own. My jobs required it. My managers knew that
there was no point in asking me to travel, since, if the travel was optional,
my answer was automatically no. And the destination didn't matter.

How do you feel about people in general?

Something I must deal with to get by.

These are really rhetorical questions and more for you
to contemplate than answer.

They seem very philosophical in a discussion of aviation, although I suppose
the question of travel cannot be avoided if you are flying for real.

--
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