Pilot Flies A Plane In Microsoft Flight Simulator Vs A Real Plane

"Let's never do that again." Join Stephen Maltz, Certified Flight Instructor with Academy of Aviation, as he takes us through a real Cessna flight and sees how it compares to Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Credits: www.buzzfeed.com/bfmp/videos/...
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MUSIC
Licensed via Audio Network
EXTERNAL CREDITS
Academy of Aviation
www.academyofaviation.com/

[@joachim2464]

I bet that AI rudder assist is on in the settings. Given that all the notifications are on. It seems like there has been no effort to make sure the sim settings are put on realistic before they put a real pilot on there

[@FuyukiSakura]

Not even telling him that he can depart from the terminal. What a joke lol

[@elliott7268]

BuzzFeed being BuzzFeed

[@kingpin6989]

I mean, it's Buzzfeed. Quantity > Quality is their motto.

[@garmezon9502]

well thats buzzfeed for you

[@mariohnyc]

If you had someone to properly setup the accessories and game (and provided rudder pedals), the pilot could have gotten a much better and accurate experience.

[@DOGOID]

and a better computer.

[@HolyGunsmith]

They gave the poor man a laptop and cheap peripherals.

[@coolcat-nq4mj]

BuzzFeed is just an arcade cannel what do u expect lol

[@gabrielcraciun2936]

And start from taxiing. You can taxi if you choose to do so.

[@xdo0b]

yeahj

[@TheOmnipotentOtter]

I want Stephen to casually explain everything to me like this. This was so fun

[@buzzfeedmultiplayer]

He's got that "pilot-voice" on lock!

[@JabinesJd]

@@buzzfeedmultiplayer nahh

[@robozzy7858]

@scallops01 mayybee

[@sir_frogs_4184]

@@robozzy7858 posiblyyyyy

[@deanking8492]

Totally hey...we are such nerds 🥳😁😁👍👍👍

[@JeskidoYT]

He's a lot happier when he's outside lol

[@buzzfeedmultiplayer]

He was in his element outside! As soon as we saw him on the runway he was ready to go!

[@nodramalama9531]

@@buzzfeedmultiplayer that's cuz u fucked up the video and misrepresented the sim thus spoiling the fun for him a bit Pilot saved the video tho

[@myrondcunha5670]

@@buzzfeedmultiplayer You guys get way too lazy with your content. None of your stuff is worth watching anymore.

[@cptunderpantz9273]

Come on, you couldn't give the professional pilot some rudder pedals?!?!

[@jonc2914]

Professional? Relax, he only gives flight lessons lololol.

[@NelksLife]

@@jonc2914 that means he’s a professional. Don’t hate so much. Go to therapy.

[@matteo5033]

@@jonc2914 You're probably an aviation academy washout lololol.

[@vinylrabbit7295]

His problem was with the controllers he was using in the sim not with the sim itself, give him some good rudder pedals a good yoke and throttle and it would have been a different experience for him. Granted nothing beats the IRL experience.

[@ogrish76]

Adjusting the sensitivity can make it much less "squirrelly" and more realistic.

[@calogero3232]

I like how people let them play without actually knowing how to set his sim properly and use only low cost supid plastic controls, really accuarate goodjob...

[@danprocaccio]

Gotta tweak that sensitivity. MSFS sensitivity is WAY too high as default.

[@JimNortonsAlcoholism]

Agreed.

[@elmars302]

I think that the "sensitivity" came from the cheap yoke, not the game. Personally I use a joystick, and I can get a pretty good control IMO...

[@fierox88]

Yeah and although you probably never get it to real life changing the sensitivity in game (you can) etc might help somewhat with these controls. Plus ground handling of the planes probably also need some tweaking. I believe this was discussed by Asobo recently, i'm sure we will see improvements at some point.

[@Manok420]

that "cheap yoke" prob cost more than your joystick

[@Aadilf1]

@@Manok420 Looks to me like the Logitech G Saitek yoke which is a pretty cheap entry level setup.

[@Manok420]

​@@Aadilf1 op's "joystick" is probably also an entry level, i know the yoke is not crazy expensive but the price of op's joystick and the yoke are probably not that far off, so pretty bold of op to say that its a "cheap yoke"

[@Aadilf1]

@@Manok420 If OP is calling the logitech yoke cheap then it does suggest that his joystick is better/more expensive than it

[@GrumpyOldMan9]

Next time you do the effort of going through a comparison, make sure you have those flight sim rudder pedals.

[@AcademyofAviationFlightSchool]

This was amazingly fun! Thanks to Sylvie B. and Buzzfeed for having us!

[@SeudXe]

All the problems he had could have been solved had buzzfeed set the simulation up properly for him. A bit disappointed.

[@airste172]

There's something really disingenuous about this video. This guy acts like he's never even heard of simulation while the flight school where he works uses a Redbird simulator in the training of their students. I also have to wonder why he was given a simulator setup to try that wasn't properly calibrated and without adequate controls like rudder pedals.

[@MrJacob-fm9is]

I thought something was weird but then after he landed irl way off the centerline I knew.

[@joshualewinzzz]

Great video. Would love to see more of these

[@explainfromgoogle]

i love those series

[@DanD9969]

I think the thing that was most different for me (after years of doing the flight simulator thing), and transitioning into a real cockpit is the tangible feedback that you get in a real plane. MSFS and XPlane are definitely much less "on rails" than older flight simulators were (newer ones do a bit better at simulating that flying is more like sailing than driving a car), but in a real plane you can actually feel the plane respond when you get slow for-instance. The simulated G1000 definitely made me more prepared for that experience (I'd say I was about 80% there the first time I used it). II feel like flight simulators a great way to keep skills semi-current in your head. Rental rates can get expensive, and unless you're independently wealthy or fly professionally, you're probably not going to be in the cockpit every day.

[@kconrad5893]

Um, have you never heard of real motion simulator seats? 🙄

[@rrocketman]

Thanks very much for this, great one guys👍

[@pratt8064]

Now lets see a Microsoft simulator pro fly a real plane!

[@nunyabusiness896]

FWIW I've heard/seen flight instructors from various videos say people that train realistically on flight sims can fly the whole plane their first time out. It seems the path to success is: 1) use a realistic sim with most/all assists off with a somewhat realistic controller 2) research realistic techniques or watch instructional flight videos so you aren't doing things incorrectly 3) not be someone prone to motion sickness. Some people that are great in sims fall apart when real g-forces and turbulence come into play. The top iRacing driver, Greger Huttu, threw up on himself when they put him in a real Formula Mazda, the video is on youtube. That said, his base driving technique was fine, he just couldn't handle the real physical stress of motorsport well and possibly freaked himself out at the danger of hitting a real wall. A great sim pilot might similarly get sick or stressed when put in a real plane as the added jostling of real flying may be something they don't cope with well.

[@naughtybunny7100]

​@@nunyabusiness896oh no i want to be a pilot and i have motion sickness so bad...😭 i even throw up when plane started to climb

[@black168382]

I wanted to see him land in the game lol

[@petercheng6211]

I like how he’s not using a desktop and the fan is running louder than the propeller

[@Kermit_the_DILF]

That’s my boy Steve! Proud of ya

[@Shannonbarnesdr1]

yes, you can set your sim up to where you do everything from pre flight checks to full taxi from apron, to taxi way to lining it up on the runway

[@sr22gts]

He gets a like just for the wink alone.

[@cpy]

Somebody tell this guy about Flying Eyes glasses, so he doesn't have to do the typical "put glasses above my headphones so it doesn't break the seal" move

[@cpy]

@💋 Sweety Hotgirl • Vlogs I think you replied to the wrong comment, and also I think you forgot what youtube account you were logged in as lol

[@annal3870]

I play this in virtual reality and real player controlled air traffic control so it's almost identical to real life! As soon as asobo integrates motion controls you'll be able to use your real finger to push buttons too!!

[@joshuagavaghan224]

Except irl, the pilots don't attempt to head butt you with a 747 rolling at a 90 degree angle and stalling out hahaha

[@Relco12]

almost identical to real life! because your hobby is your job

[@apogee9973]

Not even close to identical my friend.

[@nunyabusiness896]

@@apogee9973 Why not? I can't wait to hear your gatekeeping nonsense answer.

[@apogee9973]

@@nunyabusiness896 Nonsense? How exactly is MSFS close to real life ?

[@franciscomanrique1822]

5:35 can´t even maintain the center line both real life and sim.

[@Hedgeflexlfz]

I noticed that on landing too, couldn't maintain centerline

[@davidclark39]

You mean 7:35. Jard to do on the sim with the settings that sensitive

[@allanshpeley4284]

The last dude I want in the pilot's seat is one with a diamond earring.

[@rehakmate]

You could've given him a Honeycomb yoke at least. Miss me with that saitek 45 degree rotation

[@young4k725]

Legendary bro

[@mikeflippo6273]

WOW!!! Check out that big CZ in his left ear!!!!

[@Bankai339]

Congress on 10 million subs in advance

[@neness6620]

i refuse to live in a world where a pilot wear a ear diams

[@EllyTaliesinBingle]

Aw, dude you can change flaps on the throttle quadrant with T1 and T2 if they left it in default configuration.

[@JaPanda625]

Yooooo I live 10 minutes away from that airport he flew in!!

[@Jay-go3il]

Love this video 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@VPR-rt5oy]

I'm thirteen I've already flown a cessna in aviation camp just made enough money to get a pc and wanted to get into the flight sim just wanted to know if it would be realistic or not and this gave me a great perspective so thanks!

[@damuffinman6895]

Bruv who needs a sim when u can do the real thing. Thats pretty cool that youve flown a cessna

[@russellthorburn9297]

Ya, I have to agree with others that setting a real pilot up in the simulator with a low quality system and using default settings and no pedals was a poor choice. I know he could have done MUCH better because I can do MUCH better than he did (in the sim not the real plane).

[@hvacmike1175]

I got my ppl in 2001 my daughter was 10 years old at the time and was using the original msfs with a all in one usb yoke. She would fly the caravan with float for hours at a time. She went with me on a 2 hour cross country flight FXE TO CHN she wanted to fly so I let her take control. I hate to admit it but she held course and altitude better than I did. This was her first front seat ride in any plane. I thought she would get her ticket as well but never did.

[@senuauwu]

We need more Microsoft flight simulator videos Please

[@buzzfeedmultiplayer]

As long as we get to also go in a real life airplane, we just might make more!

[@phlyermc7547]

This is a absolute joke! Putting a pilot in a PROPER flight sim like XP11, giving them PROPER gear like the honeycomb or yoko yoke, and a set of rudders, slap in a much better flight model and BAM, thats a comparison. This is equivalent to seeing if F1 2021 is realistic by giving Lewis an xbox controller

[@yornav]

And put him in VR. That's an even better comparison.

[@9999AWC]

XP11 is good for IFR flying, but FS2020 simulated weather and VFR flying far better. They're both the same level. A PROPER flight sim is those fully articulated ones that are actually FAA recognized and used to train airline pilots.

[@Nathan_Jay]

Been there done that, it's pretty similar other than no head tracking in FS2020 for a home simulator

[@Nathan_Jay]

@Evelyn Zoe idk I've never needed em when flying with my A20s

[@chagito1113]

"Real KZbinr plays KZbin simulator"

[@charleswillis7004]

1:48: for me, when i an driving/riding/flying a vehicle, i always use first person. Adds more fun to any game.

[@awesome9174]

You VR instead, it makes it 100x more realistic.

[@gdkfonzo6656]

@@awesome9174 also spend 10x the money on a vr ready gaming pc a vr headset

[@awesome9174]

@@gdkfonzo6656 You can get both for around a combined $1000. Pretty cheap if you ask me.

[@gdkfonzo6656]

@@awesome9174 a vr headset and a vr ready gaming pc for 1k dang

[@buzzfeedmultiplayer]

Imagine doing this all in VR...

[@coffeebot3000]

Always wonder how these videos that have a real pilot fly a sim expect a legit comparison without rudder pedals. It's like "Real race car driver races sim - Without an accelerator pedal."

[@andylin8388]

hey this was actually pretty decent

[@cedarbremner8750]

You know they serious when the game be looking more realistic than real life...

[@JerryGreuel]

To compare more fairly, the pilot should have done the following before the flight: 1. Had Rudder Pedals 2. Had a VR headset (Quest2) 3. Calibrated correctly Of course a laptop screen with no rudders and a trim wheel won’t seem realistic. Duh. Try flying a real 172 without rudder pedals, no trim wheel, and wearing side blinders around your eyes on and tell me how realistic that is. I suggest addressing the items above and try the comparison video again. I would really enjoy seeing that one.

[@planegeek5143]

I'm curious why a CFI landed 20 feet to the left of the centerline

[@AFinePieceOfAss]

I was thinking that too. Like go around lol.

[@apogee9973]

Do you fly airplanes? Have you landed center line 100% of the time, in crosswind conditions?

[@apogee9973]

@Velo its a small plane, doesn't really matter

[@apogee9973]

@Velo I am saying centerline doesn't matter in smaller planes. What is your solution anyway? revoke his license for not landing center line in this one demonstration? Your ludicrous dude.

[@saithamaa]

@@apogee9973 you can say it's a small plane so it doesn't matter if he is on the centerline but every single pilot, not just CFIs, are trained to always maintain centerline. Beacause if you land 20ft off the centerline and just go "It's fine, it's a small plane it doesn't matter" you will have trouble landing a bigger plane in the future because you never really cared to try and land on the centerline.

[@gameplaydrive]

Ofcourse he is not real pilot because he is wearing Wayfarer glasses instead of Aviator.

[@jesusfreak7777]

He needs the peddles for his flight simulator 2020. He had his screen sideways and that's a No Noo!. I believe with couple more flights on the sim then he should do another review. 😊 Overall Great video!!. Please do an update!

[@dictionaryguy5521]

didnt even give the poor guy pedals

[@Antonio.1225]

i’m doing my ppl at FRG (republic airport in farmingdale) right now!!!!!

[@caribbaviator7058]

One thing that we will never get in the sim compared to real life is that cushion of air (ground effect) you experience during landing.

[@marineaviator4799]

i was curious what brand and specs of the laptop he is using on msfs2020

[@TastyHusbands]

You should get Airforceproud95 to do one of these

[@phasespilly6106]

Gets this dude a better computer

[@jackr4442]

as someone who wants to be a pilot this was a very interesting video

[@zmmr]

yeah same here

[@JoelEverettComposer]

A.) Is it on Expert? and B.) Good Grief- he really needs Rudder pedals.

[@swax7124]

why do you remind me so much of that medicine doctor guy

[@pilotsam30]

What laptop or tower are you running the simulator on?

[@leighvanheerden2596]

Yoo bro has the same setup as me 😂😂

[@MercuryCircuit]

Are you playing the sim on a ZX Spectrum? Looks like you are getting 15 to 20 fps. It's amazing on a high end system. Yet to do VR yet but I've heard good things.

[@SheenylHassan]

This dude definitely has 5 different kids around the world.

[@MrRobloMan]

Bruh you guys need to use a better PC. This was laggy af.

[@Gonee_]

Microsoft rn be like: Write that down write that down

[@LegoTale2591]

dont you wish there was wing view for the bigger planes :( i miss that because its on the flight simulator x

[@Helo1able]

Agree 100% with JedStrogan! My neighbor flys the 737 he tried the MFS-X with Saitek X-52 with rudder pedals. He said it was okay, but felt just like he thought a video game should be. A video game. Fast forward to my new Xbox Series X with ThrustMaster T.Flight Full Kit X, hooked to a 78"in. Samsung UHD 4K Curved TV. Invited him over after I had spent a few hours setting up the control sensitivity. Long story short... He said, short of the simulator movement, it was as close to perfect for a simulator that didn't cost upwards of 10 million+ dollar's. He gave it an 8/10. He said add the environmental effects against a plane during takeoff, flight, and landing, he'd give it a solid 10/10.

[@nunyabusiness896]

Yeah, MFS-X leaves a lot to be desired for realism. MSFS 2020 and Aerofly FS2 (or 4 now, but haven't played it yet) are my go-tos for realistic flight. Lots of people clamor for X-Plane 11 or DCS, but they're both UI/UX nightmares and just don't offer the streamlined experience MSFS and Aerofly offer.

[@ms_oneword5284]

You could go VFR and navigate through landmarks but what about IFR On the cessna 172?

[@jg5001]

It's easy to set waypoints in the glass cockpit. For IFR with no glass cockpit in the plane, VOR can be used.

[@bobbybarr3367]

Steveo killed it!!! Best CFI on LI!

[@shannonlinquist2649]

That's weird. either they have a slight prevailing crosswind or he favors the left side of the runway.

[@armadildo6468]

As he explained during takeoff, because of the torque of the engine, the plane will want to deviate left so you have to add right rudder. Tbis can be lessened by lowering the prop pitch before takeoff to allow more efficient movement of air against the plane at low speeds. After takeoff the pitch can be changed back at high speeds to push asuch air against the wings as possible as engine torque is no longer yaw wise but roll wise.

[@davidclark39]

@@armadildo6468 Do Cessna 172 have prop pitch?

[@armadildo6468]

@@davidclark39 no. They have a fixed propeller which means it will always need rudder adjustment at takeoff. Newer planes have prop pitch adjustments but most basic training planes will not. Most commercial prop planes will have such settings to make takeoff and landing as smooth as possible.

[@kevykev7772]

how did you guys not provide rudder pedals..??

[@taylorsmith4229]

Why is a CFI landing so far left of the centerline? He should’ve been correcting while entering ground effect or done a go around.

[@b.b.b.b.b.b]

Could you react to "meet the medic" It would be funny

[@thunderpop20]

Superman belt buckle

[@jibba0202]

Someone please tell him you can get rudder pedals for the sim.

[@Chris-ou5sd]

3:14 that is my old middle school wtf

[@mentlegen8187]

its bad when a game looks more realistic than real life

[@GeoZero]

Did he play that on full realistic settings??

[@nicks4597]

I dont like the wobbly bobbing in fs is there a way to turn it off?

[@noxii5191]

Nice

[@thunderpop20]

Green eye I like to get into it I’m buying the game soon

[@murrethmedia]

Yeah, I think this guy would have had a much better experience on the simulator if someone had showed him how to adjust the sensitivity.

[@pokkogamer]

You should do person who has 1000 hours on microsoft flight simulator fly plane

[@nathanarmitage1751]

I'm one year away from starting my pilot training. I'm excited but at the same time really nervous. Quick question if I'm going to be a pilot should I stop gaming? It's one of my hobbies.

[@wingculture]

How’s the training going?

[@jacobbarron3265]

I would ride with a guy that crashed twice from engine problems. People got nervous when he would tell them but would you rather ride with someone that’s never crashed or some that has twice and never got injured

[@lewisner]

In about 1984 I had a friend who was a computer programmer and he excitedly asked if I would like to see his flight simulator. "Er OK" I said and he showed me his computer which was a beige CRT black and white monitor and the flight simulator was all little white lines and dots. I asked if he wanted to go out for a few beers and he said "No, I am so into this !". Got to say I wasn't impressed.

[@9999AWC]

7:20 bruh he's not even centered on the runway. That wouldn't pass a commercial fight test...

[@apogee9973]

Okay, correct "technically" but in practice that doesn't happen. It was a gusty day with crosswinds and he landed slightly off, was it great, no, but so what lmfao. Its a small plane you don't haft to land center line.

[@9999AWC]

@@apogee9973 Even with gusty conditions you should be centerline as best as possible. And looking at the video it looked quite calm. Whether it is a small plane or not bears no relevance.

[@apogee9973]

@@9999AWC Okay so what do you recommend? We revoke his license because he didn't land centerline? And the size of the plane DOES matter... A small plane doesn't need to be centerline and that isn't a commercial test it was just a demo flight. The centerline just needs to be followed in those much bigger planes to ensure the wings don't strike anything.

[@9999AWC]

@@apogee9973 1. Love how you went to my channel to try and troll there. Newsflash: landing with a stall horn right as you touch down is normal. It's called ground effect. If you were a pilot you'd know this. When you land you're effectively entering slow flight. One of the characteristics of slow flight is having the stall horn on. And on the 172, the stall horn sounds 10 knots above the stall speed. Furthermore, if you do your Vref calculation correctly, you'll have a safety margin while still landing as slow as possible. 2. Considering he's an instructor, I'd suggest he should've retried the landing to do a better one. Landing off-center on a calm day in a public video only shows that if that's the standard he flies at then his students will also accept that as the normal standard. Landing centerline is what IS supposed to be normal. 3. The centerline isn't a mere suggestion. It being a small plane has no relevance to the fact that you are supposed to land on the centerline. Actually, think of it this way; you land off-center when a sudden wind gust blows you even more off-center; now you're off the runway and have to go around IF you can. Don't accept mediocrity in aviation, especially if you're an instructor. If this is how an instructor flies than I wonder how his students do.

[@apogee9973]

@@9999AWC news flash I never land with a stall horn bud, idk why your making this stuff up.. landing ain’t supposed to be slow flight it’s dangerous to land close to stall because you can drop the plane out of the sky and have a rough landing…

[@-whackd]

Why would I even click on BuzzFeed, I should have known

[@RN-hx1rs]

So Flight Simulator is actually kinda harder than a real airplane in a sense (squirrely and sensitive).

[@wmshaksper]

Thank you. This was very interesting and you are a great pilot!

[@astudentpilotlife]

One thing for sure when flying the sim. The sim is alot harder then flying the real plane

[@elliott7268]

If you're doing it wrong

[@astudentpilotlife]

@@elliott7268 nope, we use the FFD and flying the real plane is alot easier. No one like using the sim.

[@9999AWC]

@@elliott7268 Nope I can vouch for this: flying IRL is easier

[@elliott7268]

@@9999AWC i use a combination of different physical controls like throttle quadrant etc. If you set them up correctly and calibrate them you can get something very very similar to the real aircraft.

[@destyrian]

You got a pilot in to compare a real plane and fs2020 and you didn't bother to get him rudder pedals?

[@cpy]

5:35 "...best rate of climb speed..." not "...best way to climb speed..." (Vy)

[@yurikirsanov8763]

That's a CFI mate, don't forget that!

[@cpy]

@@yurikirsanov8763 no, the CFI was correct, it's the buzzfeed transcript that was wrong

[@scottgamedev8542]

How the hell did he manage to run MSFS 2020 on a laptop

[@robertspektor]

The clouds looks better in the simulator :D

[@snip3r416]

U should put this guy for those TikTok trends 📝✍🏻 man there so bad lol 😂

[@frankdelia5292]

*they’re

[@Casperdghost618]

@@frankdelia5292 they are*

[@felobatirmoheb4884]

@@Casperdghost618 thoust*

[@hadleyepstein2249]

Hey Buzzfeed Multiplayer. For your next Professionals Play Segment, why not have real life interior designers play Animal Crossings New Horizons' Happy Home Paradise DLC. I'm curious to see how they would approach it.

[@justin11726]

Farmingdale woot woot. Long Island in the house.

[@manuelkimpel3788]

Please try to land on the highway next time, thank you! :)

[@juliomaldonado286]

Wait how df do pilots practice or know when they are ready to fly?😭😂

[@pirozigzigwam8594]

You fly with an instructor just like you drive with an instructor when you learn to drive 🤦‍♂️