Hi Tony;

Basically what it amounts to is this; and I'll address only the desk tops
here if you don't mind, as these are the simulators most often discussed by
people interested in the "value" of simulated training as opposed to actual
flight training in the air. Although the same factors apply to a military
pilot candidate, the program there is highly regimented and deserves
separate treatment as an isolated issue.
Just addressing the general aviation format, the first eight to ten hours
you spend in an airplane with a flight instructor, or the period before solo
(as the case may be) are perhaps the most important you will spend in flight
during your entire tenure as a pilot. It's here you will become accustomed
to the subtleties involved in the mental, physical, and psychological
aspects of piloting an airplane. It's here that you develop the habit
patterns, reflexes, hand eye coordination, deductive reasoning that requires
physical action, and a whole other mess of stuff with big words :-) There's
a huge amount of "use of the senses" involved in the initial learning
process. It's here that you develop a "feel" for the airplane in it's
environment...and how that "feel" interfaces with what you have to do to
function correctly in this new environment.
A desktop flight simulator simply can't duplicate these things for you. You
have to actually experience them to relate to them. For example, in flying,
we deal with control pressures, NOT control movement!! This is an important
distinction. To make the airplane do something, or correct something the
airplane is doing, you apply a SPECIFIC amount of control pressures to
accomplish this. You don't move the controls a specific amount, because that
amount will differ with airspeed!!!
A desktop simulator can duplicate control movement for you, but it won't
allow you to "feel" the pressures. (Force feedback is a joke for actual
pressures) The result of learning this way is that although you might know
that you need to move the controls a specific way to accomplish something,
you can't feel the effect of what you're doing, and that's bad!!
There's even a limitation on EXACT procedures if you examine the scenario
closely enough. The desktop simulator program, in order to accomodate a
screen projected simulation within specific constraints, displays a panel
that in some cases is simply "representative" of the real thing. This can
also be misleading to a beginning student.
The bottom line is this. The desktops have their uses it's true. I have
found that with proper supervision, they are quite good at allowing a
descent instrument training session. They allow you to practice procedure
that could be quite costly in the airplane. But, as I said before, I would
never use a simulator for a beginning student....EVER!!!
There is, I believe, a future in aviation for well designed flight
simulation. Over time, and with advanced students going for instrument and
multi-engine ratings, I believe these programs will prove quite useful. They
will save the user a ton of money, but again, I stress that this use will
find it's niche in the higher end of the training spectrum and NOT the
initial (before solo) area of the learning curve.
Hope this helps a bit!
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt


"Tony Volk" wrote in message
...
The big problem PC 'pilots' will run into if they have really gotten
into 'flying' the PC is that when they get into a real airplane to
learn to fly the instructor will be concentrating on teaching them how
to control the aircraft by looking !outside! at the real world and not
concentrating on the gauges.

As instructors, I have a couple of questions for Walt and Dudley (I
certainly agree that PC sims are nothing near a perfect substitute for air
under your ass). First, wouldn't flight sims help in the important area
of
understanding the principles of flight? I would expect that compared to
someone straight off the street, someone who had flown sims would know a
lot
more off the bat about the basic physics of flight, as well as how an
airplane works. A significant advantage I'd think (at least during that
stage of instruction). Second, are you referring to PC pilots in general,
or just those that fly commercial flight sims. Questions about required
control pressure would only seem to be valid if you were flying a similar
plane in both (I don't think my experiences flying the virtual Su-27 have
much to do with flying a Cessna).
Also, as far as looking outside goes, I have two general comments.
First, there's a really neat invention that may partially alleviate that.
It's basically a helmet-mounted sight that changes the view on your
monitor
based on how you move your head (within limits). Second, and just as a
bit
of anecdote, I've heard that's actually common amongst USN fighter who go
to
Top Gun (or FWS now) to not look out often enough and rely too heavily on
their radar/avionics. So perhaps the problem isn't limited to PC pilots!
Regards,

Tony