Official Fulqrum Publishing forum - Any Certified Flight Instructors here??

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Any Certified Flight Instructors here??

Ive been thinking recently about taking flight lessons to obtain a PPL. Cost for lessons is the main reason I havent done it yet. Any way the "FAA" minimums are 20 hours with instructor and 20 solo plus like 20 classroom which brings cost to 7K-9K. Ive done alot of cross country flight over the years in MSFS using VOR's and such. Plus hours and hours of IL2 flying. Do anyone think this would help reduce the hours needed to get a PPL down from the national average of 60 -70 hours till completed???

If you decide to do it I suggest you not mention you simulator experience. The IFR will be alot easier for you. Instructors don't have alot of respect for computer simulator flying jocks.

You seat of the pants experience will be most of instructors concerns. The instructor has to get you familiar with Aircraft real world flying.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nearmiss (Post 502106)

What about the instructors who fly simulators like FS and IL2??

Hi Oldschool61, I am a flight instructor but not FAA, based in the UK, I'm fairly confident that the FAA won't give any dispensation on the minimum hours on the basis of MSFS experience, the factors being that MSFS is not an approved FNPT system (flight navigation procedure trainer) and self teaching can not be accepted, you have to admit self teaching makes somewhat a mockery of the many hours of training and regulation that professional instructors have to go through in order to teach to the strict syllabus laid out by national authorities, as Nearmiss says, if you stroll into the flight school asking for dispensation because you play computer games you will instantly lose respect.

I will however say that your time spent on MSFS will almost certainly make the instrument flying side of the syllabus much easier, remember that the hours required in the syllabus are absolute 'minimum' and there is always a chance that if a student struggles along the way then the hours may overrun.

Oldschool have you considered going for a sport pilot certificate, hell of a lot cheaper

http://www.zenithair.com/news/sport-pilot.html

I doubt I could ever afford the cost of getting a PPL but I finally got to cash in my Christmas present from my youngest daughter a few days ago which was a voucher for an hour long flying lesson, bless her little socks. For an extra £16 I was able to upgrade to a slightly bigger plane so she and the missus could come along for the ride. When I say slightly bigger I mean slightly as we got a Cessna 172 which reminded me of getting into an elderly fiat 500 from the 50's, only more cramped.

The weather was perfect with light wind, brilliant sunshine and a smattering of Cumulus clouds.The flying school was based at Exeter Airport and after a quick briefing the instructor took us off and got up to a few thousand feet before letting me take the controls. After countless hours on IL2 I found no problem taking the controls of a real aircraft albeit a pretty basic one and after doing a few manouvers the instructor was happy to sit back and let me get on with it. I followed the A38 South round the Southern edge of Dartmoor towards Plymouth passing over our house on the way. Just before Plymouth I turned round and headed back along the coast flying over Burgh Island, Salcombe, Dartmouth and Torbay. The sea was the sort of colour you would expect in the Caribean. At the Exe estuary we turned in towards the airport begining the descent. As the runway came into sight the instrutor took the controls back and brought us down. I had an ear to ear grin from start to finish.

Apart from the views and the sheer fun of it the best thing I got out of it was comparing a real flight with flying on a computer. The biggest difference I found was the planes movement which took me by surprise. Despite being a calm day there was a lot of bumping and swaying at low altitude in such a small plane that had my stomach struggling a bit to keep up. The girls in the back looked wide eyed and as green as grass and ready to grab the sick bags. This got better once over 3000 ft but even the gentle manouvers I was making with the controls had a similar unsettling effect until we got used to it. It would take many hours of flying before I would be comfortable even thinking about the sort of manouvers in a dog fight! LOL.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingblind (Post 502153)

Sounds like you and the family had a great time :grin:...the plane's movement was one of the best things in the game release. It is the main reason that I still fly the original CLod. When I first went for my PPL I was very concerned with all the violent movement for sure.

Retired CFII, SEL, MEL ATP says "Be Committed."

I instructed in USAF and in civilian scenarios and personally have great respect for the training derived from FSX. If nothing else, it can eliminate those prospective pilots who have neither the discipline or "Air sense" to get through an FAA certified program. That's good, because not everyone can be a pilot (Or a Doctor, or a singer or a good sheet rock hanger...). It is a blessing to find out you really don't want to put up with flight school before you lay out gobs of dough.

FAA never accepted training from other than a certificated Instructor when I was doing it, but a call to any flight school listed in the yellow pages can confirm whether or not that policy has changed. Just ask to speak informally to an instructor. I'm sure they will be glad to answer your questions.

FSX is a good procedures trainer but can never replace the "seat of the pants" experience of the real thing. Practicing radio procedures as well as course intercepts and holding pattern type instruments is a great way to apply all the little instructions found in the Airman information Manual so that you will instinctively know which way to turn, when to start the clock and all that other stuff when you start paying big bucks to the flight school. Simply put, learn what to do in FSX so that you can quickly learn HOW to do it in the rental plane.

Learning to fly is only part of the challenge. After you are given the FAA blessing, you still must be committed and be able to afford to fly occasionally in order to remain legally and skillfully current. If you can't afford to practice after you're licensed, you've just wasted the money on a pilots certificate. Be committed to safe flying before you start spending on what can be a very expensive hobby, or else please don't fly over western Virginia, where I live.

A great time for sure. We are still buzzing about it. Anyone with a licence and gets to fly for real are lucky, lucky buggers.

I mentioned my enthusiasm for flight sims during the briefing and have to say the instructor seemed less then impressed although during the flight he did say I was doing exceptionally well which was quite gratifying.

I do think playing IL2 gave me more confidence taking the controls but pootling about on a jolly is without doubt completely different to getting a PPL. I would absolutly recommend any one to have a quick flight like I did whether or not they intend to take it further as it is such an amazing experience and does count towards your flying time if going for a licence. It also helps if you have a daughter who will treat you.

Just to bore you all further here are a few snaps taken on the wifes mobile phone.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/541/30042013210.jpg
http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/841/30042013226.jpg
http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/194/p3310050.jpg
http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/809/30042013245.jpg
http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/855/30042013230.jpg
http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/822/30042013234.jpg

I agree with the comments above - PC flight sim experience probably doesn't give you much of a head start in stick and rudder flying when you start PPL training.

However, I'm sure that MS FSX or X-Plane would be hugely helpful in practicing instrument flying and using radio navaids etc. I wish I'd had access to a PC with FSX on it when I was doing my Instrument Rating training in the mid-90's! I well remember making cardboard ADF and DI displays so I could practice the mental calculations for NDB approaches. I think a PC sim would have great potential for improving your instrument scan, multi-tasking, division of attention under pressure etc. Save a fortune too - the only way to practice in my day was spending vast sums to do it in the air!