Flight-Simulator Enthusiasts Confident of Real-World Skills (wsj.com)

Two anonymous readers share a report: When the ground-services employee who stole a turboprop airliner last week declined air-traffic controllers' piloting advice, saying he had played videogames, it was no surprise to some devotees of intricate home flight-simulation programs [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; an alternative source wasn't immediately available.]. Such software can mimic many phases of aircraft operations, including takeoffs, as well as how to respond to heavy weather and emergencies, pilots and software makers say. The simulators are also more affordable than pursuing a pilot's license and can help satisfy a lifelong obsession with flying.

Last year, two million units of vehicle-simulation games for PCs and consoles were sold world-wide, the most common being flight simulators, according to the market-research firm NPD Group. Home programs have evolved over more than three decades. They can represent all types of aircraft, from wartime bombers to modern-day passenger airliners. A setup can cost a few dozen dollars for a videogame to thousands for software with intricate renderings of cockpits and real-world environments. A new conference called FlightSimExpo held in Las Vegas in June drew around 1,100 people, its organizers said. FlightSimCon held its sixth annual gathering in Dallas in June, according to its website. Many hobbyists say they don't think of simulators in the same vein as traditional videogames, because they aren't trying to rack up points or compete. They simply focus on flying.

Comments

Real Pilots train in them...

[bobbied]

Of course they are useful to non-pilots for training, real pilots train in simulators, especially for practicing the dangerous or simply procedural things. I learned how to fly various IFR approaches, going though the procedures at home instead of paying for flying hours in real aircraft. Saved me a bundle.

However, they do not train you on what it really looks, sounds and feels like when you fly. There is a lot of information you need when flying that comes from the seat of your pants and though the windscreen that is really hard to simulate at reasonable cost at home. Also, it's really hard to accurately simulate the visuals during approach and landing, especially when you get into the ground effect just before touch down. It's just not the same.

Re:Real Pilots train in them...

[jellomizer]

There is the human factor as well. While using a simulator, there is no fear of death or injury. When you are actually flying, then the gravity (no pun attended) of the situation is in play. A muscle memory action in a simulator becomes a deliberate action in real life. Where shaking from turbulence or g-forces from the flight will affect you in ways that actual real life practice is needed.

VR tiddies = competence

[PopeRatzo]

I'm sure people who jack-off a lot to porn think they'd be pretty good at sex, too.

RIP Skyking

[ArylAkamov]

He is a snapshot of the state of society. For that hour, he was more free than any of us will ever be.

Re:RIP Skyking

[Anonymous Coward]

Disagree. He was one of the many people of the present day who think that being sad is a legitimate excuse to commit a serious felony and cause a massive public calamity. Let's not forget that he destroyed a multi-million dollar piece of machinery because he was sad and wanted attention, in a way that could have killed hundreds of people.

Not to be a dick, but I don't think we should be condoning behavior that essentially boils down to "if you're ready to end your life, then it's totally fine to turn life into a game of grand theft auto and cause a massive and absurdly dangerous calamity that might kill people."

Re:RIP Skyking

[kaizendojo]

Not to be a dick, but your comment "because he was sad and wanted attention" is completely dickish.

There's a major difference between 'being sad' and suffering from depression and having a psychotic break, which is what happened to this poor bastard. Despite obviously not thinking clearly, 90% of his flight time was over uninhabited areas and water. That's not to say that there wasn't a risk or that he didn't spend any time of areas where people were, but going out in a blaze of glory and taking people with him was clearly not his intention and if you listen to the actual ATC radio in its entirety, you can hear him say so as well as apologizing to everyone.

I don't think anyone was condoning his behavior, but to say he used "being sad is a legitimate excuse to commit a serious felony and cause a massive public calamity" is not only a dick thing to say, it's misunderstanding the REAL issue at hand, which is the sad fucking state of mental health in this country.

Re:Trainers

[Monster_user]

Flight Simulators include training on the controls, mechanics, and physics. The goal of flight sims are to be as true to life as possible. The interfaces used by Flight Sim players are typically very similar to the real thing. All of this means that skills acquired in a flight sim are supposed to translate to skills in actual aircraft, that is the point.

Most shooters are not simulating the aiming and firing of a weapon. They are merely doing an entertaining "arcade" variation where a targeting cursor appears in the middle of the screen. At best you might argue that there is some training in maneuvers and teamwork, but these are most often against unconventional enemies which require different tactics. Furthermore, most tactics are, over the course of time, highly optimized for specific situations or maps, and are not designed to improve survival and success outside of that specific scenario. This is kind of like the difference between studying for a test and studying for success. Additionally, the "respawn" mechanic drastically reduces the cost of "death", encouraging extremely risky tactics on the battlefield (such as using explosives to achieve greater height when jumping).

TL;DR, Flight Sims are documentaries, FPS games are unrealistic action movies.