If I can fly the chopper in this game, does it mean I can do it in real life too?

[EtherealN]

There's a huge amount of commonality in components between russian aircraft, as is also the case with american aircraft. :)

[mdee]

No, you can't. If someone tells you otherwise, it's either a lie or that person has no clue.

Edited April 9, 2010 by mdee

[S77th-konkussion]

If put in the classic storyline of being forced to fly & eventually land a plane- You'd stand a better chance of getting it on the ground, and surviving the crash, than a non-simmer. LOMAC could help you with the basics of stick & rudder flying, but is nearly useless in terms of knowing the actual positions of critically needed systems, Not to mention using them. (you don't get a custom "profile" in a real aircraft)

 

DCS on the other hand- yep. That's got to be a lot better.. You actually have a slim chance of NOT fireballing into the runway. IF the WX is good. IF there's nothing wrong with the plane..... Avoid boarding planes with a pilot if he looks like he may not survive the flight, mmkay? None of us is as good as we think we may be. (real aviators excepted)

Edited April 9, 2010 by S77th-konkussion

[JasBird]

Interesting discussoin going on here. I myself used to work for one of the biggest helicopter schools in the US, and here is my opinion.

 

I had a lot of experience with flight sim before I started flying helicopters and it really did help me IRL. Mostly because I didn't have to think about how the controls work etc. The problem with RL is that it takes time to build up the feel/response of the controls and this differs from every helicopter type. You can watch an experinced pilot with a lot of hours flying a new helicopter type and the first few hours you can usually see him struggle a little in the beginning, not being able to hold a steady hover and especially on pick up and set down to/from the ground.

 

When you start out with helicopters you start out with the ones that are most difficult to fly. Most likley the R22 which is small, basic and sensitive helicopter. Astar (350), Bell 207 etc are much easier to fly. One of the guys at the school used to fly Apache and Cobra and he said they are much easier to fly than the R22.

 

At the school I used to work for the goal was for a student to be able to hover within 10 hours, solo before 30 hours and get the PPL(private) at around 65 hours. This was with the R22. I first did my trainning in Australia and there we used the Schweizer and there the normal was more hover within 5 hours, solo around 15 and PPL around 55 hours.

 

Since I have some hours under my belt, I find it more difficult to fly helicopters in a sim than IRL. Reason for that is that I have no sense of movement and limited vision in a sim. IRL you can feel in you pants and on the controls what the helicopter is doing and because of the lag in the controls you make corrections based on feel. In forward flight it's not so bad but it's not so easy feeling sideways movement, a little up and down etc in a sim. In a sim you kinda have to see the movement before you can react, and since there is a little lag in the controls you are always chasing it a little.

 

Just to give a short example. Any of you guys and girls in here with around 40 hours RL in a helicopter, should be able to stay in a stable hover above the ground. Look at another point on the ground say 10 feet away. IRL it's easy quickly going to that spot and stop in a stable hover in any direction you like. In a sim I find these things really hard.

 

Got a little carried away here, sorry for messy post.

 

Cheers

[msalama]

None of us is as good as we think we may be. (real aviators excepted)

 

(*NOTE* A digression ahead, please use a detour if feeling apprehensive.)

 

Real aviators? Hah, not even them, although that has admittedly gotten much better over the years. Hey, it's not called a COCKpit for nothing ;) (j/k)

 

Professional pilots _are_ of course very good at what they do per se, but one still sometimes hears of, say, certain Far Eastern airlines with non-existent personnel and cockpit resource management practices and policies where the captain is virtually a dictator. And thus whatever he says, no matter how wrong, always goes without exceptions! Now I'm not sure how much of a problem this is anymore, but I seem to remember going through an Air Koryo(?) accident investigation report years ago where the sole culprit was a bone-headed skipper PIC who didn't believe a) what his systems were telling him and b) what his 2nd officer was telling him. Result: a fatal crash with some 100 people or so dead, including the said bone-headed skipper and the rest of his crew.

 

Not putting anyone down here, mind you. It's just that none of us is infallible in the end, professional or not...

[Frederf]

All this talk has really made me want to get my hands on a real Ka-50 ^.^

 

I hear an R22 can be much harder than the more sophisticated helicopters with automatic throttles and such.

 

I can certainly attest that after getting experience and comfort in the real thing, flying simulators is lacking in a way that makes it harder than the real life aircraft. I wouldn't same that same statement without the italicized portion though.

 

The best pilots are characterized by an innate desire to keep improving, willing to doubt one's own abilities, and learning. I've heard that a pilot that stops learning is no longer a pilot.

 

Back when I was in training there was a big push in the aviation press about professional-level CRM being very heavily emphasized. Mostly it was to counteract the old way of doing things in the 50s-90s where the airline captain was put on such a pedestal that both he would not ask for help and would be unlikely to receive help from copilots or controllers. There was an accident about lining up on the wrong runway where copilot didn't mention or mentioned too weakly that what the captain was doing wasn't right since that schism was there.

 

They tried to instill this idea into us at the beginner level, not only copilots but passengers and people you can reach over the radio. It can be quite intimidating up there with 30+ year vets talking with you and it's extremely tempting to be prideful even when it's not the safest thing to do.

 

I like the old joke: "How do you know if there's a pilot at your party?" "He'll tell you."

[Booger]

All this talk has really made me want to get my hands on a real Ka-50 ^.^

 

I know right? Or any helicopter for that matter. I've flown in them many times, only once in the front.

 

I've always enjoyed the fixed wing, but as a child watching shows like A-Team, Airwolf, Blue Thunder, etc (shows/movies that glamorized helicopters) and constantly seeing Cobras flying around, there's always been that interest.

 

Still though, flying fixed wing but a rotor fanboy, I can appreciate (as I'm sure many others) the difference between desktop simulators and sitting in the actual aircraft.

 

I've heard that a pilot that stops learning is no longer a pilot.

 

Yeah, they're then called "Engineers" :lol:

[EtherealN]

On the whole "as good as you think you are", here in sweden at least we have a little "pilot proficiency system" that lists the things you should keep in mind extra hard as you fly - kind of like "this is what you probably have to work on" based on a couple variables.

 

There is no point on the scale system used that has an entry saying "nah, you're fine". There is ALWAYS something, and realizing that is the one best way to stay alive.

[Frederf]

I don't think I'll ever fully give my heart over to the rotor-wing camp though.

 

 

:love: