I took my 1st flight lesson! How does real life compare to MS Flight Simulator?

[@Andromedon777]

I am a commercially rated pilot with my cfi oral done and waiting on the flight due to weather. I have msfs at home with vr. While aerodynamics is not perfect, the sight picture and running procedures is where simming helps. I can get unlimited flights in to practice something over and over. I can nail a power off 180 because of the technique I perfected in msfs. I perfected landings because of the sight picture and speed control I practiced in the sim. And most importantly, emergency ops. I've improved what I'm looking for and what not to do when "engine out"

[@HandheldObsession]

Excited for your journey. My career as a pilot started while I was playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 and a friend said “if you like flying so much on the sim why don’t you do it for real” in the back of the instruction manual for MSFS 98 was a coupon for a $29 30 minute discovery flight. I always joke that it was the most expensive $29 flight I’ve ever taken because after that I went to flight school and became a commercial pilot.

[@Andromedon777]

Congratulations on following your dreams. Inspire the next generation

[@jonathanparle8429]

Although many people say sims are inferior to the real thing in terms of actual flying physics, it really depends on the software and the simulator setup. If, for example, you buy products from A2A which effectively have their own highly advanced flight modelling and you have the spare $10K plus (in addition to the computer hardware itself) for a serious force feedback yoke and pedals, then use a good simulation with accurate weather, you can get a good way there - at least the same as we currently manage with racing sims where sim drivers are now transitioning very easily to the real thing. They still do not get all the way there in terms of flight physics of course - even the most advanced ones are still slightly too forgiving - this applies even to the Level D commercial sims as well.

[@pigsnack]

Welcome to your new very expensive obsession. There is no comparison between sim and real. The noise, the motion, the sense of danger. The most fun I have ever experienced.

[@musclemark2710]

My boy you are brave to fly a plane ✈️ god bless ya!

[@renealarcon3970]

Difference , in real flying you live or die in 3 dimensions. Been flying for 15 years, love it. Good luck. Cheers.

[@donaldhoudek2889]

I purchased my first MS Flight Simulator when MS introduced it way back when, and I was at a training class in Seattle WA at their school. I still have my last version Flight Simulator 2004. My first plane that I took lessons in after ground school was the Cessna 150 and then we switched to the Cessna 172. It may be hard to believe I preferred the Cessna 150 over the 172. I just liked flying it more. I was about to do my solo, but ended up in the hospital having a heart valve replaced the other repaired. I lost interest in getting a license and just would call my old instructor and go up flying as a student when I needed to fly. The first thing the instructor said as we were coming for my fist flight landing was let the plane land itself, just power down.

[@markpalmer2562]

Congrats on starting your journey! Getting my license was one of the most fulfilling thing I have accomplished in my life. I found that during my training, MS Flight Sim is good for trying out the theory (knowledge) of how a plane may react to various inputs based on what I learned in my ground studies, but it wasn't helpful for the execution (muscle memory) that is eventually needed.

[@LoganEakins]

Congratulations on your journey. Seems positive that you were able to land the plane on your first outing! One thing that took me a while to realize is that EVERYONE...everyone at your flight school, your CFI(s), and your FAA DPE that will give your your check ride...wants you to succeed in your training and get your license. However, they wont let you move to the next step until they're convinced that you won't injure yourself or anyone else. Trust your instructor. Don't beat yourself up over holding altitude or landings too much. There is only safe and unsafe. Your instructor will let you know.

[@rsaunders57]

As someone who worked in the commercial flight simulator industry for years, Microsoft Flight Sim is only half of a simulator. It does a great job of control input to visual output, but the force output side of the system is missing. Sure, no house is going to have a motion base for G input, the seat of your pants is in a chair. That makes flying a light plane much harder, as you noticed that the feeling of being buffeted is very valuable feedback. I've held some force feedback systems, but I don't think the simulator software has enough channels of force output to really respond correctly. For each motion, you need force feedback that's calculated based on the force on the control surface. That force is constantly variable, and the fluid mechanics calculations to compute it are expensive so there isn't much motivation to add that to the code without actuators that can let the pilot feel it.

[@Andromedon777]

I like force feedback but some sims, like the ones at ATP where I train, have garbage rudders that take more force and a longer time to use/correct on the ground than in real life

[@dave4shmups]

Lon, congratulations! That's wonderful! I never played any of those flight games that you mentioned in this video, but I did play a lot of Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Simulator on my Dad's Macintosh 512K back in the late 1980s. I loved it! CH Products actually made the official 3DO flight stick, so they've been around for a while. Here in Denver, rough air coming off of the mountains is the main source of turbulence.

[@davidbowne122]

Inspiring video. Thanks for sharing your experience of learning to pilot an aircraft. Look forward to seeing more on this adventure.

[@calvin1man]

Welcome to flying!! I also fell in love with flying through Microsoft flight simulator. I find whilst flight sims can't replace flying in reality for the manual handling aspect, they work great as a procedures trainer, especially for instrument flying (also for VFR if you have representative scenery).

[@Cartoonman154]

Well done.

[@traviscunningham_1]

Awesome update, and cool comparison from game to real world. Good luck on the new hobby!

[@TenOfZero1]

Oh, that's so cool! I'm really happy for you.

[@Nedski42YT]

Congratulations Lon! I've been a passenger a few times in small planes in CT several times. On one flight the guy did a hammer-head stall then looked at me and asked if I was okay. I said "Do that again!" He did better, he did a loop! I got my first PC in 1984 from a place in Bridgeport. I picked a PC clone so I could do two things, update my resume and play MS Flight Simulator. I also played several of the LucasArts games. X-Wing, Battle of Britain, SWOTL, and Falcon. I have both of those CH flight controls. I call the rudders the n*t crushers. Can you guess why? Could/have you made a video about running DOS games in a Windows 10/11 DOS box? Thanks. Scott Manley says "Fly Safe."

[@jdthedjyt]

Best of luck with your flight training, Lon. I got my Private ASEL certificate in 1975. Haven't flown a real airplane in about 4 years, though. I do have MS Flight Sim 2020 to take the edge off, but I mostly fly camera drones now after getting a Part 107 commercial drone license the first day they were offered. Stay with it!

[@johnoconnor3880]

Lon, excellent video!...looking forward to your observations...I hope that you will have the time to delve into the VR application for flight sim, gear recommendations etc.,.thank-you for your time!...jo'c

[@jmcguire56]

Falcon 3.0 was so awesome!

[@shioq.]

🎶 Man has always looked towards the sky And dreamed of one day learning how to fly To soar just like an eagle out of sight They're searching for the secret The secret of flight The secret of flight

[@werecow68]

Highly recommend X-plane over MSFS. The realism goes to 11 wtih X-plane. Look at the Honeycomb controls which have a massively better feel to them.

[@SlateMonster-z4x]

Great! While it may sound expensive, getting a 6 degree of freedom (dof) motion simulator rig ($10k) might be worth it for someone planning to fly or potentially buy a plane. It might even close that gap from your grandfather.

[@jerrygeorgopolis8015]

Lon, Interesting video ! All the best !

[@lapipesmoker3751]

Flight Sims are good for practicing certain IFR skills, but the best way to learn to fly is to fly in a real plane. You can pick up some bad habits using a simulator for VFR training. The number one is keeping your head inside, looking at the gauges instead of outside looking for traffic. I've flown in SoCal for over 30 years, and people are always burying their heads staring at the new screens thinking the ADSB will protect them.

[@garynagle3093]

Have fun on your new adventures.

[@thenungzo]

Very cool! I look forward to seeing more

[@jaredhuang2225]

I have a similar experience with driving simulators, IMO the video game is harder than real life, there is so much more physical feedback from a real car. The only significant difference is on the game I'm more fearless to take more of the curbs and take a more aggressive line since there is no consequence of crashing in the game.

[@schadlarry]

Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, now that brings back some memories.

[@seattime4075]

With motion, Force feedback yokes and rudder, active harness plus Mixed reality VR you can get quite a realistic simulation nowadays. Need deep pockets though 🙂

[@jonathanparle8429]

Exactly. The people who criticise the simulators simply have not experienced them to their full capabilities. You could probably put together a very good C172 or similar simulator for around the price of a new medium sized SUV and for some that is a pretty reasonable cost.

[@somberjack]

Flight simulator: Having a hot cup of coffee at the kitchen table. Real plane: Hot coffee in a paper cup while going 60 mph on a cobblestone street.

[@jothain]

I'd rather see you post them on your main channel, unless you intend to spam it full and constantly with aviation content 😊

[@kenbest7660]

Congrats!

[@ZZFilm]

Love it. Great video.

[@IMDABROWN]

Pilots license has been on my bucket list for 25+ years. Maybe one day before I'm too old.

[@capkingy]

It would be fun to see you take a field trip to the Cambridge, Mass Micro Center. They have an impressive flight and driving sim section. I’ve built my last two PCs from there. It’s a really fun store.

[@FAAMS1]

1 Buy MSFS Fly Realistic pro for added shaking on the wind and hard landings. 2 Buy proper controls sticks and pedals. 3 Use an eye tracker or head tracker instead of a VR headset.

[@jonathanparle8429]

I would actually prefer a VR headset if the resolution and frame rate were high enough but sadly even then there are limitations for eyesight correction and my eyesight is too far "gone" to be corrected using those headsets (I can obviously see perfectly with my spectacles but they have around four differing elements of correction and even without just one of them I would not see well).

[@gudenau]

It would be interesting if you could get in touch with Scott Manley since he recently did this too.

[@youdontknowme5969]

Man & Machine taken to the 3rd dimension 😎🛩

[@dragonflyhk]

So glad to hear that you're pursuing it. Also glad you're not videoing it for clicks and views....

[@diamonddave2622]

I like jumping out of planes but I'm not brave enough to fly one!

[@FAAMS1]

Yes most times with very few exceptions in real life is easier to fly a general aviation plane...

[@jasonluong3862]

In real life, there is no just reload the quarters.

[@justanotherstanczyk]

Since Lon has the flight data, does anyone know if he can feed that data into a sim and recreate the flight virtually?

[@MrTrentCurtis]

Next time bring the radio so you can be aeronautical mobile!

[@graysonpeddie]

Eh... I won't be doing that because of my visual disability. Nope. I'm blind in my left eye and it will be hard for me to see the numbers on the cockpit.

[@lovedfriend2020]

I am number 51!

[@coondogtheman]

Hey Lon I used to live in CT about 15 years ago, in Bolton to be exact. Looking at your map many of those towns such as andover, bolton , coventry and manchester I've been to many of them. Originally from CT too. This was the house I lived in. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqvdh4efZdCFiaMsi=eSOy_YBUFeSxSAlL

[@jollygreen4662]

You did this in Brookhaven?

[@publicmail2]

Get your written done right away...

[@supriyasou3722]

Sorry to be graphic but the flying experience sounds just like sex. You can watch hours of corn but doesn’t really compare to actually doing it.

[@michaelsliwinski8044]

Good for you but I prefer your tech reviews so didnt watch the entire video.