Realistic Instrument Training using MSFS 2004

Ray Andraka writes:

The controls don't behave differently (unless the airframe is iced up),
but you are neglecting the fact that the pilot is part of the control
loop.

No, the pilot is independent of both the controls and the instruments. He is
the interface between the two domains, not part of them.

In VMC the input to the pilot is far different, with considerably
more information and lots of subtle cues than it is when in IMC. In
IMC, the total input to the pilot is through a few instruments.

Yes.

Peripheral vision won't help you keep the wings level like it does in
VMC. Because there is much less information available to the pilot, and
his sense of balance can betray that information, it is far more
difficult to maintain the control of an aircraft without the visual cues
you get in VMC.

It is far more difficult for the pilot to decide what control inputs to make.
The control inputs themselves are the same.

This isn't about basic aircraft control, it is learning
to correctly interpret the instruments to replace the visual cues.

Yes.

I suspect when you are flying your MSFS you are relying more on the
instruments than a real pilot does in VMC, because simply put you don't
have the visual cues on a 2D screen that you get when sitting in a real
cockpit.

Agreed.

You are most likely compensating by using the instruments more
than you would in a real airplane, probably without even realizing it.

Probably.

As a result, when you go IMC on the sim, it isn't as big a shift for you
as it is for a pilot in a real airplane.

That depends on what the pilot of the real airplane is accustomed to. Some
real pilots might well be instrument oriented, too, especially if they fly
large aircraft (and particularly if they have learned to fly _only_ large
aircraft, which is difficult in the U.S. but not out of the realm of
possibility in other countries).

Try this: cover up or turn off
the instrument display while flying VMC on the computer. See how well
you fare compared to when the instruments are there. Now try flying
into a simulated cloud with the instruments still covered. Tell me how
long you last before you hit the ground.

Hmm ... interesting. I'll try it.

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