Grounded Pilot » learning to fly http://www.groundedpilot.com A New Pilot's Taxi To The Runway Thu, 18 Aug 2011 03:39:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Seven Fundamentals of Flying to Master http://www.groundedpilot.com/2008/12/10/seven-fundamentals-of-flying-to-master/ http://www.groundedpilot.com/2008/12/10/seven-fundamentals-of-flying-to-master/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:30:08 +0000 Brian http://www.groundedpilot.com/?p=16

I read an article from AOPA’s Flight Training magazine talking about the checklist of seven basic skills to master as a pilot:

Rudder control
Pitch control
Ground track
Altitude control
Planning ahead
Aileron control

    All of these skills are covered in the book Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Real World Pilots, which I discussed in my last post.  Prior to reading the book, I could never figure out why I could not properly align my airplane with runway when flying with real world weather (crosswinds).  Nor did I know how to correct my flight path to compensate for this problem (slips).  Something else I noticed when flying with the realism settings turned up was that the airplane would have a tendency of drifting to a heading left of my desired heading.  This was caused by P-Factor, and can be corrected by using a little rudder.  Also, I was always wondering why the aircraft would start drifting to the left of the runway during takeoff.  Again this can be corrected with a little rudder.

    So if you have a chance, check out the article, there’s a lot in there to learn that will help your simulator flying.

    ]]>     http://www.groundedpilot.com/2008/12/10/seven-fundamentals-of-flying-to-master/feed/ 2     Learning to Fly With Microsoft Flight Simulator X http://www.groundedpilot.com/2008/12/10/learning-to-fly-with-microsoft-flight-simulator-x/ http://www.groundedpilot.com/2008/12/10/learning-to-fly-with-microsoft-flight-simulator-x/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:39:56 +0000 Brian http://www.groundedpilot.com/?p=5 Since I lack the time, the money, and the knowledge of how to find a flight school that would fit my schedule, I have resorted to learning to fly using a flight simulator.  The book that I’ve found and have chosen to walk me through each of the nuances of flying is the book, “Microsoft Flight Sumlator X For Pilots: Real-World Training.”

    As I have worked through the first couple of chapters, I have to give this book credit for its emphasis on teaching the reader to watch for visual queues outside of the plane.  Non-real world flight simulator pilots will probably never realize this, but flight instructors often notice that simulator pilots who become real world pilots often spend too much time looking at the instruments.  For example, one valuable thing this book as taught me is to focus on a object out side of the plane and apply enough rudder to keep that object still.  The object should not move until the ailerons are returned to neutral.

    Still, a flight simulator won’t beat the real thing, but it’s better than nothing!

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