All

I'm gonna step in here and actually 'defend' some of MX's comments (I
can't believe I'm doing this).
Yes he can be a pain in the arse on this and other forums but some of
his comments do bear some form of
'sense'. How MANY of you who denounce what the 'simulator' does have
actually USED it with quality
payware addons aircraft? Just because it doesn't cost 100million,
doesn't have a hydraulic platform and isn't
accredited as a licensed training aid by the FAA (or whoever) does not
mean it doesn't have a purpose. Sure it
CAN be used casually as a GAME but can also be used to supplement any
real life training.

MS Flight Simulator in it's default (out of the box) infancy is pretty
useless and Microsoft have themselves to
blame it's demise for bringing the title into the 'Games' range. I've
been using it for 5 years now and will
defend it's merits in aiding and supplementing flight training. Sure
it will NEVER takeover from real life
training but it DOES help!!

There are many software vendors who make extremely accurate and highly
detailed aircraft which can be
purchased seperately and can cost more than FSX itself. Perhaps the
leading supplier is PMDG who have
accurately modelled the 737NG-600/700/800/900, the MD11 and the Queen
of the Skies 747-400. ALL these
aircraft come with at least 95% of ALL systems modelled. If you just
used the 'default' aircraft I would whole
heartidly DEFEND everone of you in critising FSX as these are
extremely basic and most systems are not
modelled or very poorly so.

Here are two of the most detailed and respected aircrafts available:
http://www.precisionmanuals.com/priv.../fsx/744x.html
http://www.precisionmanuals.com/priv.../fsx/md11.html

PMDG have REAL qualified commercial pilots on their team with years of
experience respective to the
particular aircraft they are designing. They help in the modelling of
the systems and flight dynamics etc.
I have the PMDG 747-400 which models everything from the Primary
Flight Display, the Navigation Display,
EICAS and all its associated warnings and status displays for engines,
fuel, hydraulics, doors, electrical etc.
EFIS with Map, Approach, Plan and VOR modes of display, decision
heights and Baro pressure can be
entered too, the Mode Control Panel is fully functional with Heading
Select, IAS/MACH Speed Control, Flight
Level Change, VS, altitute, bank angles, Flight Director, Approach and
Localiser capture switches, VNAV and
LNAV are also all modelled. Fuel systems, hydraulics, pressurisation,
autopilot, autothrottle systems, the
FMC is also FULLY functional and incorporates the latest AIRAC Cycles
(903 current) containing all
navigational waypoints, VORS, NDBs, SIDS, STARS etc etc. Full routes
can be programmed with
corresponding DEP/ARR routes, speed and altitude contraints can be
inputed, INIT/REF can be entered with
Zero Fuel Rate, Gross WEIGHT, COST INDEXES, T/O Thrust derates, Climb
Thrust Derates etc etc and
generate the correct wet or dry V1, VR and V2 speeds. VNAV can be
controlled for climb, cruise and descent whether it
ECON (based on Cost Index) mode or manual, Fixes can be added, Holds
can be programmed, Route and
Legs pages can be shown on the FMS and if the EFIS is set to PLAN
routes can be stepped through on the ND
like the real thing. Inertial Reference System is functional and GPS
giving accurate global positioning.

Real life start up procedures HAVE to be followed to enable it to
start from a Cold and Dark status from
initially enabling the battery switch, through to demand pumps, egine
driven pumps, fuel control switches,
bleed air switches etc etc the list is endless. Failure to carry out
the procedures in the correct order will fail to
start the aircraft.

What I DO know is that if I sat down in a real life simulator I WOULD
know how to operate a large proportion
of its systems. I DO know how to read the PFD with it's speed tapes,
compass rose, pitch bars, mode
annunciator. I DO know that on takeoff the aircraft will pitch the
nose down at 1000AGL (or a manual entry in
the FMC) and start to increase in speed, I know that flaps will be
retracted when their limit speed is indicated
in the PFD, I DO know that when I select Flaps 5 that the engine
thrust will change from Take Off Thrust to
Climb thrust. I DO know all the effects the MCP will have over the
automated route in the FMC. I DO know
how the use the ND, I DO know how to programme the FMC and the effects
of most of the pages. I DO know
how to set up a Standard Terminal Arrival with transitions in the FMC
and enter ILS frequencies and radials.

If this 'Game' was SO pathetic then how is the above possible? I know
the effects of moving the yoke, rotating
the yoke controls the ailerons and also produces yaw which is why the
rudder should be used at the
commencement of a turn (coordinated turns). I know pulling back or
pushing controls the elevator control surfaces
at the tail of the aircraft. I know the effects of using the elevator
trim in controlling a constant climb or descent or for level
flight. I know that Pitch controls airspeed and thrust controls
attitude.

This 'humble and pathetic game' taught me all that and when I stepped
into a REAL Cessna last year to begin
my flight training it was ALL very familiar. I knew what every gauge
did, every dial, I knew how to tune the
radios and Nav radios, I knew how to tune a VOR and intercept and
track a radial, I know about DME etc too and NDB's.

I knew that if I gently pulled back on the yoke the aircraft would
pitch up, the altitude would increase and the
airspeed would decrease. I knew that if I rolled the aircraft my
heading would change and the aircraft would
yaw and start to descend as we lose lift under the wings due to the
position of the ailerons and I would have to
pull back a little on the yoke to produce a level turn.
Again ALL learnt from MS Flight Simulator.

As MX was saying airliners ARE following an Active Route in the FMC
for 90% of their flight and this, subject to
complications or standard ATC restrictions, requires very little
input. Sure you'd be ****ting your pants IRL
but ATC COULD assist you in bringing the aircraft down via the MCP and
clearing the skies of any conflicting traffic. Headings can be given
to vector you,
speed intermissions and altitude and VS speeds can bring it down all
via the autopilot. The NAV/RAD page
on the FMC can easily be setup as instructed and the aircraft can be
vectored by ATC on an intercept course
for an ILS CAT3 runway with autoland with all three autopilots
enabled. The 747-400 has autoland
capabilities with LAND3, Rollout and Flare armed. Spoilers can be
armed and Autobrakes which will bring the aircraft
to a complete stop. Yes hand flying a descent profile would be next
to impossible for a novice but MX is
refering to autoland capabilities of the majority of aircraft.

There are MANY pilots both in the general aviation and commercial
fields who use FS to supplement their knowledge and
enjoyment of aviation so could you fine people please give us a bit of
slack. MX has unfortunately destroyed
ANY credibility the sim has but insinuating it's the be-all and end-
all and all that's required to become a real
life pilot which it isn't.

All I'm demonstrating is that it CAN help even a novice to understand
the complexities of aviation as it did for
myself so deserves some credit rather than simply be denounced as a
game like some shoot em up.

Ibby