Can someone with no training, no hours, only flight simulator experience. Takeoff and land a Cessna172?

[Bandit]

[media]http://youtu.be/jJT_CACIZqs

[BradB]

Thanks Mark for sharing this video .

John

[John Lovell]

That was quite something and he did it. Was a little wobbly and at the final of the approach, seemed just slightly high, but there was heaps of runway to use.

Thanks for sharing

[boetie]

Thanks Mark. That guy did us simmers credit!

[troppo1]

I went solo in a 182 after only 4 hrs real time and 4 years sim time. can be done

[DjMatty2k9]

Wow that guy's done us proud!

Cheers,

Matt.

[Benny]

I had my private pilot at 22, did my commercial over a few years ($$$) at (24-27), so I did the opposite, came to FSX in 2000.

Ugly at the time and not so realistic. For me, now with FSX and addon airplane and scenery i find it very realistic.

My last flight is last year, I did a bit of FSX before over the runway I use in real life. I simply use the stock FSX 152.

Did a circuit at 1000 feet, turn in base at 600 and 500 for final. I use 10 knot of slight cross wind (typical of this airport).

Conclusion, it's 80% realistic.

[Dr_Watson]

Sure they can, I done it in 1999. I was 24 at the time. I had been flying flight sims since ZX spectrum days when I was maybe 11 and I had some hours solo flying RC aircraft. I also had 45min in a glider in Scotland, flying around 80% of that flight (1st time in the air at the controls of anything).

I went to Silicon Valley for training on some Semiconductor machines, I had plenty spare time, so had a look through the yellow pages in the hotel room, called a flight school at KRHV Reid and arranged to go down for a 30 min flight, starter flight, introductory flight, call it what you want, I wasn´t sure what it would involve, but for 40 bucks I couldn´t complain.

Anyway, I arrived there, met a really nice Indonesian American guy as my instructor, he asked me my experience and I said a few hours in a 152 a while back, that was a lot of rubbish, and I know it was risky but I said it so he would skip the begginers lessons etc. I never mentioned Flight Sim flying, well, I maybe did but not as an excuse that I know it all.

So we started the walk around and pre flight checks, this was complete new to me! I didn´t know that you did that, so that was a nice experience and really fun, he let me climb all over the thing, check fuel contamination etc, but always explaining everything in detail. We jumped in the cockpit and I was amazed at how small it felt, how old it looked, like a 1970 station wagon interior, all beige and musty. We started the engine, he gave me some tips on hand position on the throttle, and asked if I´´m happy to taxi and takeoff and I said yes, then he told me to call the tower etc and I was like, what the heck, thats pushing it, so I asked if he could do that which was fine. Taxi was great, easier than flight sim, controls are smooth, no sudden jerks, I didn´t stick exactly to the yellow taxi line so he corrected me for that.

Takeoff was amazing, full throttle and the first thing was the pull to the left, wow, thats not in flight sim, correct with the pedal, a little too much, over correct and now heading to right of centre line, correct again, so a lazy zig zag but nothing extreme, then the best part was the rotation, just a gentle movement back on the yoke and she floated off the runway, nothing like the glue effect of flight sim where the front wheel pops off the runway. Takeoff was RW 31L or R, can´t remember, the climb out was great, the turbulence from the day meant you actually had to fly the plane, that was a great feeling. I was concentrating on instruments a lot, and got told off a little for not sweeping the sky in the area before the turn, I picked that up quickly though, a left turn after takeoff and heading towards a lake to the south. I done some nice coordinated turns and headed south at around 3000ft.

Amazing to watch the aircraft landing off to the west at San Jose, the haze was cool. Then he tested me a bit with some 360´s where he didnt want more than xxx ft lost or gained, can´t remember how much 50ft perhaps, I done that perfect, then on to steep turns which were great fun. Then some stalls, climbs etc, then we headed north and spent a few mins trying to spot the airfield through the haze, I spotted it first, lined up on 31R and flew the approach, that was great fun, the landing was good, I felt for the ground and stalled in just before touchdown, a bit of a bump, then another small mistake was that I was pressing the brakes slightly before touchdown, I didn´t realise that at the time. He hadn´t touched the controls since engines start.

An amazing experience and I was really chuffed when we got out the plane and he said he would be happy to take me on and could get me to solo in less hours due to my experince..cough cough. But I was back in the Uk a week later and didn´t stay near enough to an airfield to take up the hobby (southern scotland is a but sparse).

I was back in the USA a few years later, done same thing North Las Vegas field. But this time is was 44 deg C, I had just ate a burger, the plane was boiling, the young instructor done some stunts involving negative G and my day was ruined, felt awfull, managed to hold my food down though!

That first flight though was an experience I will never forget, feels like yesterday, not 15 years ago!

[tuisong]

Thanks Mark. That guy did us simmers credit!

Yes thanks Mark,I agree with Graeme. Just goes to show FS is not just a game.

[Yak-52]

I had a similar experience to Dr Watson.... I went for a trial lesson at Goodwood in 1999, with many years of sim experience but never previously at the controls of a real aircraft. The instructor asked me if I had flown before and I told him I flew a sim regularly. He did the radios, but I had control for the whole flight and took off and landed without too much hassle - I remember looking across at him on finals and he was slouched back with his arms folded !! Really makes you feel alive..!

I subsequently went on on to get my PPL ( at Gillespie Field in San Diego ) and currently fly PA-28's and an Aero AT-3 out of Fairoaks, and own an eighth share in a fantastic Yak-52 based at Popham.

Anyone know when Popham and/or Fairoaks are due to be released? Can't wait to get my Virtavia Yak-52 out of the hangar !

[Matthew Kane]

If anyone recalls Colton Harris-Moore aka The Barefoot Bandit also flew numerous aircraft he stole without any lessons and no instructor. He says he read manuals, watched a dvd and played Flight Simulator. Lucky he didn't kill himself but he is now serving 7 years in the state pen.

[JimmiG]

I went for an introductionary flight in a Tecnam P92 several years ago, my only real-life flying experience. Took a little while to get used to the controls (like when you're trying out a new FS addon aircraft for the first time) but I felt I quickly got the hang of it. Didn't get to do the take-off and landing, but climbs, descents and a few shallow turns all went as expected, and holding the altitude and heading wasn't too hard. I felt I could have put it down in one piece if I had to, but it would obviously have taken many hours of practice to get it right. The overload of flying the plane as well as doing everything else by the book (checklists, radio communications, instruments, navigation etc.) would have been too much for sure.

[Gary D]

I wish that there was a FSX back when I started flying.. I soloed after 20 hours of dual back then.. but it would of been so much easier for me when I went on to get my commercial license and instrument rating if I had the desk top flight simulator of today...I have offen said that if you could do it correctly within FSX then you could do it for real and this proves my point thanks for sharing this video.

[miloguy]

wow , that's an awesome video , thanks for sharing ,

would love to try that one day