Pilots - Past, Present, and Future

[Randy Tyndall 1087023]

Thought I would pop in here and give my thoughts about being a better pilot in VATSIM. Like many, if not most, who joined I started out the complete opposite of the way flight starts in real life. I wanted to fly the "big tin". I wanted ATC to talk me down from cruise to landing. I wanted to follow the magenta line. I enjoyed it very much. There was a thrill to guiding a 140,000 to 500,000 pound plus aircraft down to a respectable landing at the airfield I had planned. That thrill has ebbed and flowed over the years, however.

 

That was 11 years and 4,000+ hours ago and all in all I think I have done pretty good for it and haven't been too much of a nuisance to myself, other pilots, and controllers. I've learned a lot in those years and hours and continue to learn everyday. I've tried to give back in the form of updated airfields for download, repaints of aircraft I could not find and wanted to have, and maybe every once in a while p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ed on to the m[Mod - Happy Thoughts]es an epiphany or two. The best thing I have learned has been within the last two years however and so I now share it with you.

 

Four years ago I joined a group called FS Economy (FSE). Many of you are familiar with it and probably fly it as well. For those who are unaware, it is a site that allows you to imitate a small "mom and pop" charter flight service...sort of. You can rent, lease, or buy a wide variety of aircraft, mostly general aviation "low and slow" with some more modern higher/faster ones thrown in to the mix. You can likewise build up Fix Base Operations (FBOs) to operate out of and charge for services like 100 hour inspections, equipment installs, and fuel.

 

It has been around since the days of FS2004, or maybe earlier, and if I had to say anything negative about it that would be that the available fields to fly from and to are those that existed in FS2004, using FS2004 ICAOs, and there is absolutely no intent or plan to update beyond that. It can make flying FSE difficult at times in FSX, P3D, and especially xPlane, and even moreso if you have updated nav data and airfield naming. Aside from that, however, I have come to one of my rare epiphanies.

 

As I said, I joined four years ago, but only began flying within FSE in earnest two years ago. Buying the bigger, more sophisticated aircraft is difficult when you first start so your focus is typically on general aviation low and slow aircraft. For me that meant doing a lot of VFR flying in to dicey back country airstrips in Idaho, but you can do this in every corner of the globe. For me, and most, that meant climbing in Cessnas, Pipers, Beechcraft, a De Havilland or two, and even the venerable Ford Tri-Motor that was used quite extensively for this type of flying in Idaho back in the early 1900s. That type of flying is how most if not all pilots I feel get their basic skills from and I have become, I think, a better pilot for it. There is nothing to me quite so enjoyable and thrilling as using landmarks and radials to determine where you are on a Skyvector VFR Chart, setting up trim to maintain level flight without the need for an autopilot, flying overhead the field to see what the layout and windsock tells you before attempting to land, reading charts to determine obstacles and recommended approaches, practicing turns and terrain avoidance, watching for other aircraft as a part of your scan, the whole gamut of things that help you be a better pilot.

 

Those days when I jump back in my Boeing or Airbus I find I am much better at making judgments about the wind, the weather, the terrain, and a variety of factors. I find it far easier to flip the autopilot off and hand fly that big hunk of metal down to my flare and landing. A lot smoother with the throttle. More aware of the limits placed upon aircraft, flap schedules, gear extension speeds, and so much, much more. A lot better with situational awareness. Just...a lot better overall.

 

So, to everyone, as the subject says, past, present, and future. Jump in that GA aircraft and learn or refresh the basics and the transition to, or back to, the big boys will be a breeze. The other pilots and controllers will thank you for it.

 

Randy

[Arthur Melton]

I also enjoy flying the old warbirds such as the B,24,B17,Lancaster, Halifax [taildraggers].using FS2004.Art

[Robert Shearman Jr]

I don't fly in FSEconomy, Randy, but I agree with pretty much everything else you said. I, too, started my flight sim career chiefly as an airline pilot then "graduated" (in reverse, as it were) to single-engine props and other GA aircraft types. And I, too, feel that the confidence, knowledge, and practice I gained from learning and applying basic stick-and-rudder techniques with flight automation disengaged has made me a much better and competent pilot in all types.

 

I encourage any of you who have been flying virtual airliners for months or years, and/or are looking for a new challenge, to fire up a single-engine prop at a small local airfield and do a few patterns then maybe a short cross-country. If you want to kick that challenge up a notch, do like I do and ignore the GPS box as well.

 

In the virtual world, what's old can be new again. Pilots themselves included.

Edited February 23, 2019 at 09:05 AM by Guest

[Lindsey Wiebe 1101951]

Well said gents. I feel a movement coming and a transition to more and more low and slow. Like you both said it makes for better pilots.