Real life flying vs Virtual Reality - Oculus Rift DK2 / FSX / FlyInside FSX

Comparison of flying a Cessna 172 in virtual reality vs reality. Cessna 172SP in real life, A2A 172R in FSX on the DK2 using FlyInside FSX. Works really well! The plugin "FlyInside" is currently a free beta download, highly recommended! flyinside-fsx.com/

[@2002drumsonly]

A follow-up comment. The video holds up as one that is truly unique and enjoyable. This video is my favourite VR video of all time. 10/10. Extremely well done and displays that one does not need a $3500.00 rig and expensive VR unit to fly a study sim. Brilliant and educational!

[@mdbuehler]

I'd forgotten this is even up there, thanks! As a follow up I've since earned many ratings, became a an instructor and then joined an airline. I still practice in VR to this day for new types, new routes, new airports and instrument work (HP Reverb and MSFS 2020 now). The technology is better than ever and incredibly close to real life :)

[@mdbuehler]

I've been using this awhile now, and it was a BIG help transitioning to a G1000 Cessna 172 SP, and a G300 Cessna 162. By the time I was in the real thing, I already had the layout of the cockpit sorted and was very familiar with the PFD / MFD. Works great, highly recommended! Will get an updated video together for the 1.0 version in the 162.

[@antbear13]

One of the very best videos I've seen on KZbin. Really gives the viewer a good understanding of the user experience this setup gives.

[@BETTER.ART.]

What a time to be alive!

[@2002drumsonly]

Wow! You did a fantastic job with the comparison of VR vs reality. Thanks for posting.

[@MarCuseus]

An amazing tool for learning! Whether it's flying or driving a car.Great video! :)

[@zutrue]

Many thanks, sir for a video that is exactly what I had been searching for. I am a student pilot coming from playing flight sims to actually making the move to taking flight lessons. I had been on the fence as to purchasing the oculus rift. I had already purchased trackIR for the head movement. Now after looking at your video as well several others, I have to decided to take the oculus rift plunge. Thank you and Happy flying.

[@n721sw]

Such a great video, thank you for putting this together and posting!

[@Deadeye313]

this video convinced me to preorder the oculus rift. can't wait to use it in FSX.

[@ReallyVirtual]

WOW!!! I'm getting the Vive pretty soon and have been flight simming for a long time. Tacoma Narrows has always been a favourite of mine since the old Flight Unlimited 3 days. To actually see the real thing and be able to instantly identify terrain features has completely blown me away. I guess this is a testament to the power of modern computers. Only flown once for real in a C152. The instructor was very impressed with my flying despite having never set foot in a real plane before. Other than the real life motion and the heighted sense of danger, the only other real difference I noticed was the turbulence when I brought the plane in to land as I flew over a tarmac road at the threshold.

[@TheTriamigos]

Love flying in and out of Narrows. Cool video!

[@oscopin74]

I've been watching your vr flight videos ever since pre ordering the oculus cv. I have a saitek x52, not near as cool as your flight sim gear but I gotta tell ya, man. You have me as excited as an 8 year old waiting for Christmas morning! I've always enjoyed flight sims and I really hope vr sets like the oculus or vive drive up the demand for them again. Thank you for posting these videos! Good stuff!

[@PrettyNeatVR]

Great work as always!

[@mall115]

Amazing viedo man! congrats!

[@ahmbouth]

nicely done, great job ;)

[@roberttucker1527]

This is really cool. Very good!

[@InterceptOne]

Student pilot here, great video!

[@mistagodsoldier52]

Awesome Video :)

[@GahMehGrrrr]

Awesome. Thx for sharing.

[@BamTechVids]

not an easy vid to make. well done.

[@AC-pm7sn]

Nice, I've been to Tacoma Narrows a few times. I actually did a lot of pattern work up there while I was in training. I fly out of Olympia. I've noticed some boats like to get close to the airport and plane spot :)

[@calebbaudia]

This just shows how much realistic X-Plane 11 is

[@theoldar]

FlyInside and VR is fabulous. When they can get the resolution at a little bit higher level it will completely replace simming with a monitor.

[@DaviLu]

very interesting direct comparison

[@rotegate77]

+Davi Lu iI AM A SOUTH AFRICAN AND I WOULD LIKE TO BUY THESE GOGGLES PLEASE HELP ME WITH A SUPPLIER TO ENABLE ME TO PLACE AN ORDER. [e-mail] PLEASE PLEASE

[@DaviLu]

Sarel Pretorius !? shop.oculus.com/en-us/cart/

[@mdbuehler]

In the air at 1:40 :)

[@trinityhunt7770]

www.leapmotion.com/product/vr check this out see if it works for aircraft sims

[@sebastiankoh5465]

thanks dude! you saved my time

[@menohaveaname]

This is an amazing video. Do you use any kind of environment mod or is that vanilla? (it sounded like, based on your narration, that it was all vanilla)

[@tuanphoria9162]

this is awesome, could you put list of parts that you used to build this setup?

[@andrewwilkey6195]

when im flying in real life i like to use saying like cigar and gump then back them up with the check list, and there is a lot of stuff i put to memory

[@Dev_skoll]

I did this using TileProxy, And wow its that much better to almost being real, when using tileproxy the ground references are 1 to 1 identical. Consider installing it, you'll be amazed

[@littlerhino2006]

Thanks for the review sir! Definitely going to take a look...still hoping X-Plane gets Rift support though

[@mdbuehler]

+Ryan Nelson I'd read X-Plane still had it in the works, but they were holding off until the SDK from Oculus quit changing so much. There was third party support for it on the DK1, and I used it a lot. Sadly nothing for the DK2 yet. Hopefully soon!

[@f15sim]

+mdbuehler The OpenGL version of the SDK kept crashing hard and Occulus didn't seem terribly interested in getting it fixed. :(

[@f15sim]

Great video! If you ever want to drop by f15sim.com, just yell. You can fly into KPLU and I'll come get you - I'm ~7mi south of there. You might want to get yourself a Leap Motion Controller. Daniel has done an excellent job on the integration so far.

[@mdbuehler]

+f15sim Very cool project! The work with Leap looks great, very tempted to pick one up. Next time I'm down at PLU I'll let you know.

[@PotatoMaGobinus]

Some say he never went..

[@SHOCKSTRUT]

Wow, nice video! your graphics are great. I installed fly inside and I'm using the oculus cv1 but my graphics aren't this nice at all. I have an i7-5960 with two GTX980's in SLI. I don't think my settings are correct. Anywhere I can go to get correct settings?

[@ntme9]

We need a glove now!

[@andymcevoy4553]

Another enjoyable video mate, nice one :) May I ask, what would you have mainly on the checklist? Whats the most important things to have for a newbie like myself to get started? Thanks!

[@mdbuehler]

+Andy McEvoy Thanks! The page I use most is this one, it has most phases of flight in it : i.imgur.com/YtpsYF1.jpg But if you want the whole thing : imgur.com/a/n4wpQ Save them all into a folder, open it with the image viewer in windows, pass it through in FlyInside, then you can use the left - right keys to flip through each image, page by page. Works great!

[@andymcevoy4553]

+mdbuehler Thank you.

[@33protoman]

haha I thought this area looked familiar, I fly around narrows and south toward alder lake all the time. I didn't have sound on for this video but read in the comments this was in the north west and could tell on the video.

[@richpaul8132]

Excellent video! I'm 'one of those' hard-core FSX hobbyist, (for the last 7 years), and as one, I have $$$$ in flight sim add-on scenery, aircraft, textures, etc., etc. In addition, I learned how to build my own computers so that I could build a system that could handle the HDR add-ons at a minimum of 30fps, and at maximum resolution, (4096). Of course, I use that same computer for my daily work but the flight sim hobby motivated me to put $$$$ into building and rebuilding my system. OK, so knowing that, I wonder if you can say whether or not Oculus Rift DK2 could match my computer's performance when it has to face some of the highest definition scenery, aircraft, (cockpits), water, air, etc.? If it helps in the determination, I run my flight-sim CPU & GPU overclock profiles (i7-4790K @ 4.9Ghz & Nvidia -1070 @ maximum OC speeds all of it water-cooled of course). Your video is good but I think you were running the FSX default settings and scenery. If so, than I would assume the resolution is 1024 and the terrain LOD is 4.500. I'm basing that guess on what you said the frame rate was, (75fps, I believe). Even if you are, the fact that you can get the entire 360 degree 'sphere -view' is one of the most important points that you've clearly made. Great Vid, (thumbs up vote)! Rich

[@FireFiveStar]

so if you were in a heavy you could get up and walk back to a cabin (until you walk into a wall)? that's pretty tempting, cant wait to get my hands on it next year

[@mdbuehler]

+function86 Actually yes you could! Now I want to get home and try that :)

[@tmektmek]

Wow it is pretty amazing how similar the two are. Given that FSX is almost a decade old is there any upcoming flightsim on the horizon that would be a modern replacement for it?

[@mdbuehler]

+tmektmek X-Plane 10 is very good, and is supposed to have native Rift support at some point. Prepar3d is another good one, essentially FSX being further developed by somebody (Lockheed Martin I think). FlyInside works with Prepar3d already from what I understand. I'll have to try it myself.

[@SecretGrenadeStash]

Instead of using those flight sim controllers, can you use the vr controller to handle the yoke and switches on screen?

[@stephencorcoran9070]

How do you operate the physical flight-sim controls (like master switch, radio stack, etc) when you can't see them? By feel?

[@GranTurismoFanWorlD]

there is one mod for better atmoshpering scattering, it makes the experience a loooot better.

[@N75911_]

Seems like this would change the sims that the US military and commercial airlines have been using by a lot.

[@seniorpz1969]

but whats it like having to switch back and forth from your control setup and radios ect, back into fsx? do you have to take the VR off then, select what you want then put it back on? I would like to manually select my instruments, not with the mouse.

[@jazz-meister]

Quick question, when I click fly now all I see in the headset is the fly inside menu and I can't get inside the cockpit. What am I not doing thanks

[@safarieten]

Hi mdbuehler, Thanks for a really fantastic video. I know you were only demonstrating this software, but this is a really excellent tutorial of a basic Flyinside setup. This is unfortunately lacking as detailed instruction manual from the developers, and because this is a totally new experience, from fellow You Tubers. I do think that a small follow up tweaking video to this would be very advantageous to many VR simmers out there, especially if you have continued to use this software and FS when you are flying ? I am rather caution about connecting a Leap Motion (still boxed) because I get the feeling that this maybe "buggy", or at least not very responsive. What are your thoughts on this?? Again, thanks for a really informative and helpful video.

[@mdbuehler]

Thanks! I'm still flying with it :) I have the CV1 and the Xplane 10 version as well. Working on my CPL right now and using the 172 RG to get all the manuevers down / flows for complex aircraft. Also used it in transition training to my RV4. VR training really does translate well to real life. I got halfway through making another video before the weather in Seattle went extreme awful that I am meaning to finish up (added Pilot Edge in too, works great!). If I get that to a presentable state I'll add on some tweaking info as well. I didn't go far with the Leap since I had the physical controls. Muscle memory is suprisingly precise in reaching for things! I did plan on demoing that in the video though, so will have more to comment on it by then.

[@safarieten]

Hi mdbuehler, thanks for your quick response. Good look with your CPL. I wish we had VR and P3D when I was flying. Strangely enough, I find the VR experience equally as immersive, but maybe not so demanding. If you think it's worth it, I will give the "Leapmotion" a try. I'm just a bit weary about Velcro on my CV 1. I've finished tweaking my P3D, and I'm starting again with Flyinside and Leapmotion. Thanks again. Halz und Beinbruch !!

[@klemenjesenovec8863]

Should i buy used DK2 or wait for the CV and then sell the DK2 and buy CV? I'm really interested how big of a difference will CV make in FSX or in my case P3D

[@UnresolvedExternal]

WHAT JOYSTICK/PANEL/THINGS ARE YOU USING ON YOUR DESK? LOL

[@samyosef]

x plane 11 does not pick up the headset on dk2, what run time are you using, I have 0.8 installed pleas help.

[@Lawh]

How is using the yoke etc with the goggles on?

[@15LVV]

Most importantly.. Where'd you get that awesome pilot chair?

[@mdbuehler]

Craig's List. Somebody had it sitting in their garage. It had been removed from an F-106 when it was converted into a drone.

[@franciscojmercado8538]

Now, this is what I call chair flying! I'm getting a Vive and I'm on my 13th hour towards my private. I loved your setup!This would save me so much money in flying lessons. Could you post the links on how to get a so just like yours? Or at least how to get as close as possible to what you've got?

[@mdbuehler]

It was a big help with my PPL and my instrument rating :) This other video covers the gear (partway through) and most of it I picked up off of Ebay to keep costs down : kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWGQhoVpe7t7Z6c

[@franciscojmercado8538]

+mdbuehler Thanks so much! Yeah this is definitely going to help; the checklist feature is pretty awesome, it seems. I fly out of the PNW too, down south from your stomping grounds out of KHIO in Portland area. Any ideas on how to practice radio communications? I'm having some trouble getting the hang of my CFI is constantly making the calls because I just fumble so much on the ground and tower frequencies.

[@mdbuehler]

I did my long IFR XC to KHIO :) The PNW is such a nice place to fly. I went over to Omak yesterday from Tacoma, amazing how the scenery changes once through the pass. For radio, I struggled mightily with it and my instructor jumped in all the time at first as well. Part of it is just knowing what they are going to ask / what the responses are, and that comes with experience. For practice, I would (and still do) practice reading back clearances every so often while driving to work. The way you talk on the radio isn't natural speaking, so practice repetition actually helped me quite a bit with talking and using the lingo comfortably. If you have a simulator setup, Pilot Edge is a GREAT tool! Real ATC in your flight sim, live people, other sim pilots on channel, etc. You have to fly in CA, but that in itself is great practice for later when you leave the known airports and procedures you are used too. They have a free trial I believe, and the "ATC" staffers understand you are learning so no worries if you stumble or make a mistake. They will help correct you so you improve. A very good learning tool, and 100% like real life (frequencies and all). I also listen to Live ATC.net in the car (I have a long commute lol) so you hear all the back and forth between ATC and other pilots. Great way to pick things up. Pilot Workshops has a number of training videos you can watch that cover flights and all the radio interactions that happen. Real World Coast to Coast was a great one. For other training too, Pilot Edge (the atc program) has training videos as well that were GREAT for VFR charts / airspace explanations, etc. Better than a lot of the paid for training materials I bought. All worth a look :)

[@franciscojmercado8538]

Thanks so much!! You have no idea how much all this information is going to help me. I'm already on it! Have an awesome day!

[@mdbuehler]

Good luck! It gets easier. After enough practice you'll sound like your CFI casually chatting away with ATC, and chuckling to yourself when you hear the next new student going "Tower uhhhhhhh Cessna Z 2500 Mike East ummmm.... I mean AT 2500 with Mike... hang on... " because we were all there once :) Then you'll start your instrument rating and go through it all over again!

[@virtualcarrierwing3429]

Great video. lol I sure hope you didn't step out of the real aircraft with the engines running?

[@TestChannel804]

Hello +mdbuehler, what happen when your FPS drops below 75? Or have you constantly 75 FPS? Do you think, that FlyInside will work with the Rift CV1 and 90 FPS? Thank you.

[@mdbuehler]

+TestChannel804 It does some weird magic (asynch time warp). The game for me runs at 40fps, then it fills in the missing frames to make appear to run 75fps on the DK2. If the "real" fps starts to get too low, you do notice some stutter even with the "magic" trying to fill in the gaps as it can only do so much. Interesting point, at 90 fps it will have more work to do. It will be one of the first things I try when the CV1 arrives, so I'll be sure to report back.

[@samyosef]

Cheers for the vid, how is the resolution on the DK2.

[@mdbuehler]

DK2 resolution is OK, they notably improved it with the CV1.

[@thenoobletlego]

Hey mdbuehler, what yoke system are you using? I have the Saitek system, but I feel like it's garbage. The pitch is constantly sticking and jittering when moving the controls, and it just feels very unrealistic. I've seen some force feedback units, but they're over $1,000. I'd rather put that money into my IRL flight.

[@mdbuehler]

+Todd Martin I hear you on the Saitek, I had that yoke too. Even after trying all the internet mods it still stuck and was "jerky" as well as too sensitive. I picked up a Cirrus "Mooney" yoke off ebay. Set me back several hundred, but it is PERFECTLY smooth, even the tiniest of motions. Also has progressive springs to increase resistance (much heavier than Saitek) so weight feels like an actual Cessna. If you sim a lot, they are worth the extra money. It isn't force feedback, but still feels correct with the springs. Use buttkickers for the other sensations.

[@thenoobletlego]

+mdbuehler Right on, thanks for your input and quick responce. Ordered an Oculus and the yoke you suggested. Thanks for the videos, love it.

[@mdbuehler]

+Todd Martin Great! You'll be quite happy with it :)

[@naijapilotxmax6006]

Is this an app in the phone or how did you do it?

[@deimos2k6]

I bet it could be even better in prepar3d!

[@markm75]

And actually a tad better in XP11 now too. Though the VR is more shimmery due to AA killing frame rate in XP than P3D (at the moment).

[@DrWenChannel]

Thanks for sharing this video! Does anyone know if the "Flyinside" support FSX Steam Edition? Thanks!

[@sorinpetrica3]

will fsx run on oculus rift cv , I've tried but no luck, elite dangerous works flawlessly, war thunder, DCS, so beautiful! ! can you help me with fsx, what settings do you use? thanks, Sorin.

[@mdbuehler]

Yes, download "Fly Inside FSX" and install that first. It will configure everything for you, then when you launch FSX with the Rift connected it will put you into VR mode. It is a great product!

[@sorinpetrica3]

+mdbuehler hi, I got it going , I'm running titan x in sli , I ran the default graphic settings, in sli getting flickering so I switch to single card and it's fine the only thing is I wanted to know what graphic settings are you using I'm getting kind of low FPS, 45-50 titan x shouldn't be this low, any information would be greatly appreciated again thank you in advance

[@Elios0000]

im a die hard X-plane fan you just sold me on P3D with a rift lol

[@mdbuehler]

+Elios0000 I was originally an Xplane-10 flyer too :) Still do, but this way is really cool!

[@Xtw0lf]

So I need all that flying kit?

[@grahamboaviation]

Nice! How did you get the tpm to work?? I just got it and it moves the aerelons and rudder! Please help!

[@mdbuehler]

+grahamboaviation I set it up under axis configuration in settings. Delete anything they are currently configured for then reassign them to the correct functions. I still get a weird view change to tower the first time I touch the mixture, but then it behaves just fine after that. A little quirky :)

[@grahamboaviation]

What is the axes called? And thank you

[@jeffreynelson2660]

I bought fly inside, and am using it with Steam FSX, it works. But sometimes there is a problem: The MR Dell headset puts me about 10' above the airplane instead of inside of it. It also does this with the Aerofly flt sim. Any suggestions?

[@mdbuehler]

In FSX you can map keys to move yourself up / down / left / right. For some airplanes I found the head position off, so map these out to the directional keys on your keyboard (easy to adjust by feel) and you can "correct" for it starting you wrong. You can also wander around the larger airplanes this way, or sit in the right seat to be a CFI, look out the cargo door of the C17, etc

[@jeffreynelson2660]

Thanks for the reply, I will try it.

[@jeffreynelson2660]

It seems like there is a lot of distortion in the Rift, almost like looking thru the wrong end of binoculars. Can this be adjusted?

[@mdbuehler]

+Jeffrey Nelson In the Rift it all looks correct. The lenses to a lot of distorting, so the game is drawn in a way to cancel that out. Looks weird in video capture / on a monitor, but great when actually wearing the Rift.

[@jeffreynelson2660]

I wonder how well it would work with the google cardboard and a smart phone?

[@danoboy19]

do you know if there's one for train simulator?

[@mdbuehler]

+Daniel O'Connor People are able to play Euro Trucker on the Rift, can't see why the train simulator wouldn't work. You'd need either in game support, or a third party drive like Vireo or VorpX. Check their compatibility lists and you may find one that works.

[@NorwegianDrone]

what about that anoying menu can it be closed?

[@mdbuehler]

+Olav Moldestad You can hide it by putting it out of sight. I "throw" it in the back seat, but you can also put it outside the airplane over your head, etc.

[@drak1559]

whats the yoke he's using?

[@markm75]

Wondering the same..

[@essaalomrani9280]

i have the vive and flyinside crashes whenever i start a flight sim!! HELP?

[@mdbuehler]

They just released an update, have you tried that one?

[@essaalomrani9280]

+mdbuehler will try it today thanks

[@dennisvlahos]

Huh ? First time seeing someone praising the resolution of the dk2. Most complain about it !

[@mdbuehler]

+dennisvlahos It is all relative, I started with DK1 and even on DK2 many games don't do text well. Happily readable in the Cessna in DK2 :)

[@MrCaptainDietrich]

can i use any fsx and airplains

[@mdbuehler]

+Dietrich Louw I haven't tried them all, but so far it has worked on every airplane I've tried (including add on aircraft like ASA, Coranado, etc). This is with FSX from Gaming for Windows Live (others confirm Steam works too).

[@SierzantYelonek]

Looks like its a stock FSX . With addons it will look like real and will be more accurate to the real terrain

[@mdbuehler]

+SierzantYelonek Wish I'd remembered to add them before I made this :)

[@conorbryan4718]

+mdbuehler hey would you recommend me buying a Max flight fighter stick ? I need a accurate stick i fly in a formation team on dcs and want a good stick is it worth it for the feel aspect?

[@Edward135i]

Amazing what modders have done with a 11 year old game.

[@adamgardner9852]

Hey tlere. You're So Kiqd. strange injure What's your opinion about it, iuys

[@maydaygoingdown5602]

For me the positioning of the pilot is still to far back from the vc panel, is there no way of positioning the pilot's view from the pilot seating position?.It looks like your position is behind the pilot seat, to far back especially when looking around and especially when looking down. Regarding P3d V3 no has ever managed 90 frames lol even in Vanilla with no add-ons so for me the rift just isn't a viable option considering everyone has a ton of add-ons nowadays. I mean good luck with any form of Scenery or texture add-ons whilst trying to get a steady 60 frames never mind the needed 90 & absolutely rule out any decent aircraft add-on also. And let's be honest no one wants or even likes to fly in any of the flight simm's out there in Vanilla. So for me...Nah it's just not going to work.

[@mdbuehler]

+MayDay GoingDown!! Yes, you can move the seat forward, left, right, up, down etc. View is very adjustable. I've sat back in the cargo area of a helicopter in flight and just looked out the window :) The mirror view makes it look further back than the Rift has you in the virtual cockpit. It uses asynch time warp to reach the frame rate needed. FSX need only run about 40fps, the driver re-uses frames to make that 75 fps and it works incredibly well. Not sure if it can pull off 90fps, but we'll see. Even at 75fps it is very smooth and playable for hours.

[@maydaygoingdown5602]

+mdbuehler Very interesting, what resolution does it run?