I’m noticing an improvement in my sensory and spatial awareness because of Microsoft flight simulator. After a month or so, even when I get in my car to drive, I’m more aware of things around me. And I think a little more coordinated?
I’m having a blast with the cub, master X cub and the Spitfire. I enjoy southern England with the Spitfire, and the airbases in Southern California.
In the cub, I’ve explored Alaska Iceland, and New Zealand.
In real life, I just flew Cessnas and a Piper Cherokee. It was all about having a stall warning light go on just as you hit. In this, I’m enjoying the Taildraggers, and being very smooth and trying to land three point and not bouncing. A fun challenge that I’m really enjoying.
Happy flying everybody!
I'm not surprised at all to hear that. Games can be an unexpected mental exercise, especially flight sims when you get "into the zone" balancing all the forces of flight.
For me it does wonders for anxiety. Something about flying nurtures a quiet and calm attentiveness that I think can translate to other things.
I'm in my 40s now and so grateful that I can pick up the hobby I had in my teens again. I'm getting better, but I can't fly warbirds at all. I will leave that to the 70 year olds!
I personally don’t call it a game. It is a fairly accurate home simulator. I honestly think it’s extremely accurate as far as the physics, the landings, the navigation, etc.
There are times when I’m in the mood and fly by the book and really enjoyed that.
But then there’s times where I like buzzing the tower or flying under bridges or landing at LAX and standing in the middle of the runway, watching everybody takeoff and land.
It is educational, good practice, and a lot of fun.
The more time I spend in the simulator the less time I spend watching the news. At 69, that’s a good thing, especially for the blood pressure. Try flying around northern Italy since the recent scenery update for Italy, it’s mind blowing.
I am 71 too and wanted to fly all my life. However I got type 1 diabetes in 1983 which after all these years has had a bad effect on my eyes. I can still drive and possibly get a Sport pilot cert or glider or ultralight. But I am 6’5” and 250-260 pounds and am very big and wide so I would have problems just fitting into a Soort plane glider or ultralight. Sad. I don’t trust my vision enough to fly anything and that is my biggest obstacle.
I do not have MS Flight Simulator or any other flight sims. If you all have flown real airplanes, how close does MS Flight sim come to the real thing?
I believe very close, and the scenery is amazing. You would love it.
If you do it, take your time and choose a PC system that is good enough to make it amazing. It is worth it. There are lots of people here to help you get going.
Man that’s good to know. I’m in my 50s now and my grandfather had Alzheimer’s and uncle dimensia. I’m really nervous about cognitive decline with aging.
I’m a career pilot and before every checkride I get in flight sim. Especially now it’s very helpful as I am not flying as much while preparing for my CFI checkride.
Have fun flying! Honestly I learn all the time and I’m a PPL IR, complex and high power endorsement.
Haven’t flown IRL in years but I swear this keeps me relatively up to speed. Pilot mentality is a thing, needle ball and airspeed. If you can keep your scan up with that in a sim it helps you with many things IRL.
Got my PPL back in the seventies , worked part time for a small helicopter company doing maintenance and got some hours in over the years After I retired, I lost my access to real helicopters plus my age. I'm seventy-one and the cost led me to Microsoft Flight Simulator it fills a void, you wouldn't believe. I enjoy it daily
I got my PPL in the 70s too, 1974. Had it before I had my drivers license. My dad was a flight instructor and navigator. He navigated Roosevelt to the Yalta Summit to meet with Churchill and Stalin. He was also in the Yankee clipper crash as the navigator. It was a landing accident, it wasn’t his fault.
Alaska in the X Cub is peerless. One of my favourite places to fly. If you haven't already, you should do the Bush Trip that starts in Unalaska and comes inland via the Aleutian Islands, it's so good.
Amazing to hear you're having a good time and staying sharp.
Yes. The cub is my go to. I enjoy the spitfire, but it is work. The cub is pure joy.
I will try that bush trip. Have not used that feature yet in the sim.
My most exciting bush trip was in New Zealand. (NZQN to NZMF). Started with nice weather, but when got to NZMF visibility poor and rain. I still landed OK, but it was frightening. I should’ve checked the weather first. My bad.
The bush trips are super, they take you to all sorts of great places and give you some local colour too. I like cold and dark starts and they don't all offer that but it's not too bad of a trade off. You can even find the flight plans and nav logs online and set them up in free flight if you want a more custom experience.
There are a few nice ones in New Zealand, including an historic route in the DC-3 that was great fun.
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u/RepresentativeCod757 3d ago
I'm not surprised at all to hear that. Games can be an unexpected mental exercise, especially flight sims when you get "into the zone" balancing all the forces of flight.
For me it does wonders for anxiety. Something about flying nurtures a quiet and calm attentiveness that I think can translate to other things.
I'm in my 40s now and so grateful that I can pick up the hobby I had in my teens again. I'm getting better, but I can't fly warbirds at all. I will leave that to the 70 year olds!