Flight Pro Simulator

Flight simulation training is used around the world by governments, industry and training facilities for private pilots. Those in aviation have come to rely on simulator training to teach new pilots how to fly, to enhance the skills of existing pilots, and to allow pilots to train in different type or class of aircraft in a safe and economical manner. Flight simulators have the capability to teach millions of people how to fly any aircraft being used in the air, including the MIGs, Boeing aircraft, helicopters, and yes, even dirigibles. Flight Sim software can train you and others how to fly for both professional and leisure purposes. If you are interested in online games, flight simulator software allows you entrance into the exciting world of flight previously only experienced by pilots. Click Here to review one of the most popular online flight simulators available!

Most of what I will call, ‘professional simulators’ have what is called Instructor Operating Systems. Such systems allow an instructor to quickly create any type of environmental condition, be it normal or abnormal, imaginable to test a pilot’s skills under specific scenarios.
As you can imagine, this software is very comprehensive, the controls even look and feel realistic. What you would experience while in a real aircraft can be experienced with a flight simulator. Aviation simulators offer you a wide variety of terrain, accurate runway markings and linkage to the global time zones. Wind direction certainly matters when flying, as well as, the slope of a runway, and such things are taken into consideration. To deliver the full impact of flying, programmers incorporate climatic and seasonal changes into the design as well.

Also, with new, readily available mapping and imagery, simulated flight mimics actual situations with amazing accuracy. If you are a gamer it is the most authentic game you can buy. If you are a pilot looking for some additional experience you can create complex scenarios, record them for review, and then go fly them again. If you simply want to see what it really looks like down below? Pick a destination, fly there and just take a look, and see actual trees and lakes, buildings and roads. Thus, flight simulators offer as close to real life flying as we can get while sitting back at home. Click Here to read about the feature filled simulator I chose!

A Personal Story

Although, I recognize the popularity of online gaming and include it in my discussions of flight simulators, my interest is that of a pilot. I enjoy the ability to fly into an airport that I have never been to, following the approach through weather, accurate lighting conditions, listening to control, etc. I also appreciate the simulators capability to create training scenarios that can be practiced without the risk inherent in actual flight. This is perhaps the biggest attraction of flight simulators to me. It comes from situations I have been confronted with in my past. One example occurred several years ago and found me at a fairly high elevation, making a downwind approach into a confined LZ next to a radio tower. The approach was to follow a narrow service road down a very sharp ridge line into a clearing next to the tower. There was room to either park a vehicle or land a helicopter; with not much more room for anything else other than for the picnic table you had to watch out for. It was windy that day, but my approach went without incident. To take off, I could go to my right, which was my weak side. I would need to clear support wires and some fairly tall trees. With the wind picking up I was concerned about this direction because I would have no place to go other than the trees if there was a problem, and at the tower’s elevation I had limited power. It was much easier for me to exit to my left. The tower sat quite close to the edge of a very large escarpment with few obstacles in between. I was up and easily cleared the cliff edge, which is when the wind hit me. The wind was expected, however it was much stronger than I had judged it would be. I found myself in a situation where I was losing 2,000 vertical feet per minute, with limited available power, definitely not what I wanted. Years earlier, I was close at hand when on different occasions three helicopters, operating at high elevations didn’t have anywhere to go, and were forced down by the wind. One was a Huey and needed a Chinook to pick it off of the mountain. In my case, I was away from the face, over a valley, with enough elevation to have the time needed to fly out of the bad air. Settling with power is not a comfortable situation and it is not particularly easy to intentionally induce, but after that flight it was something I did. I wanted to practice, to reaffirm my confidence that in a similar situation I would fly out of it.

To the opening question of whether flight simulators offer real flying experiences. Nothing matches an experience where the margins are thin and the consequences of error are extreme, however with the sophistication of flight simulators today you can put yourself in the pilot seat and enjoy the exhilaration of flight, or the intensity of an in flight incident. I personally recommend the use of flight simulators. You can easily find information about them online and choose which one is the best fit for you. Click Here to read more about FlightProSim, the flight simulator I chose!