Before I ever sat in the cockpit, I knew what the instruments did and the basics of the flight controls. Using the online air traffic control, I was used to talking to ATC and on my first flight into Class C airspace, I had no problems. Mostly, I found Flight Simulator 98 to be a great program for practicing procedures, though not great at VFR flight. (I understand Flight Simulator 2002 is much better here.) I could run through my checklists and toggle each button or switch as necessary until I was comfortable with the order. I also had learned how to use VOR and NBD before ever flying and was comfortable with wind corrections.
The article "Instructor Report: Silicon Fliers" (April AOPA Flight Training) does highlight that most sim pilots (including me) fly with our right hands on the joystick. Since I don't have a force-feedback joystick, this was actually a plus, as I didn't learn any bad habits with my left hand.
As I start my instrument training, I've gone back to the PC to practice the things that I'm reading about as I prepare for the knowledge test. The only thing I find a fault with for IFR training is that even with third-party add-ons, I've yet to find a good aircraft model that accurately flies like the real plane. Most GA planes in Flight Simulator climb much too well (I can sustain 1,000 fpm in most of the Cessna 150s I've found for long climbs at 80 kt), and so it may be hard to practice setting the power as you might normally do in your own plane. However, I went out with my instructor a few weeks after passing my checkride and completed a few NBD approaches - including procedure turns - without much trouble, because I had practiced on the computer.
I think the sim experience helped me move much more quickly than I would otherwise. Not to brag too much - of course, pilots never do - but I soloed at 8.2 hours and was signed off for my checkride at 40 even (though I actually took it at 42 thanks to bad weather and a badly timed 100-hour inspection), with a Part 61 instructor. I'm sure the sim cut a large chunk of time off.
Thanks for the work on the great magazine. I learn a lot each issue.
Lars Seme
Fort Smith, Arkansas
I really enjoyed the article "The Virtual Blue Yonder" (April AOPA Flight Training). It sheds a whole lot of light on what you can, and cannot, do with a simulator. I was disappointed, however, that you didn't include one of the best - in my opinion, of course - simulators for the home PC in your article.
Fly!2 (Terminal Reality, $49) really is a wonderful sim, with extremely accurate panels (exact) and functional units such as a King KLN 89B GPS receiver and King digital nav/coms. There are many free downloads for it, as well as paid add-ons. If you're a student pilot who wants to practice flying VORs or learn a how a GPS unit works, or just fly around and have fun, you really can't beat it for the cost.
Stephen Samuelian
Via the Internet
In the April 2002 issue of AOPA Flight Training, there was a great article titled "The Virtual Blue Yonder," by Wally Miller. It was a really nice piece. My only comment is that Mr. Miller missed another wonderful sim that's out there. It is X-Plane ( www.x-plane.com ) and it is power-packed. X-Plane not only has a nice set of aircraft to start using right away, it also has the tools to build your own simulated aircraft! It also includes just about every public use airport in the United States. The product is designed by Laminar Research and costs $79.99 plus shipping. It supports a large list of controllers and simulates both fixed-wing and rotorcraft. Check it out, I think you'll be impressed.
Tom Desmond
Aurora, Colorado
Teach Them To Fly
As usual, Budd Davisson shares with us another of his masterful insights of aviation training ("Instructor Report: The Holistic Instructor," April AOPA Flight Training).
Humbly, I would like to add a little something to the point he made about not placing too much emphasis on the rotation speed in the pilot's operating handbook, since there are several variables that affect it. There is also the possibility that the airspeed indicator is not functioning, and the first time the pilot will know this is just about at liftoff.
When a student - or any pilot - asks about the rotation speed of the aircraft we're flying, I (somewhat facetiously) answer that I don't really know...and don't particularly care. After allowing a few seconds for pondering such an answer to this "very crucial" airspeed number, I go on to explain - as Davisson recommends - by saying that when the airplane feels like it's getting close to where it seems like it wants to fly, just lift the nosewheel up off the runway.
Vince D'Angelo
Naples, Florida
Hooray for AOPA Flight Training! Budd Davisson's "The Holistic Instructor" and Ralph Butcher's "Time for Change" are a breath of fresh air and should be required reading for all CFIs, students, and FAA examiners. I especially liked his suggestion that CFIs be able to fly all the private maneuvers without reference to flight instruments. I've been teaching my students this for some time, and the results are tremendous.
On a more critical note, Mark Danielson blemishes an otherwise excellent article, "Understanding Lift," when he states that aircraft do not climb as well at high density altitudes because they have less lift.
The wing produces the same lift at high density altitude as it does at sea level: just enough to hold up the weight of the plane. Airplanes climb slower at high density altitude because they have less power. An airplane climbs because the engine is pro- ducing more power than that required to sustain level fight. The more "excess power" the engine produces, the faster the climb rate; less excess power results in a lower climb rate.
John McMurray
Burkburnett, Texas
Cover Question
I am 16 years old and almost finished with my private pilot course. I'm hoping to take my checkride on my seventeenth birthday and plan to pursue a career in aviation.
After looking at the cover of the April issue, I noticed that the aircraft shown has both large registration numbers (all letters) on the side of the plane, as well as small registration numbers on the tail. The side shows NDGF but the tail shows N93GF. Which is the real N number?
Brant Maune
Defiance, Missouri
Good eye! The aircraft shown is operated by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, thus the letters NDGF on the fuselage; the real N number is the smaller N93GF on the tail. It appears that these markings are not in compliance with all the federal requirements for N numbers, but by virtue of its ownership, this airplane is a public use aircraft that is exempt from compliance with some FARs-including, apparently, those about registration markings.
Ed.
Clarifications
In "Learning Experiences: Analyzing an Accident Chain" (February AOPA Flight Training and April "Letters"), the author states that the windsock indicated a "quartering left tailwind" on final. In the next paragraph, however, his description and actions, and the NTSB's comment, all seem to indicate a right quartering tailwind. Please clarify this "Learning Experience" for this low-time private pilot.
Ken Shute
Columbia, South Carolina
It was indeed a right quartering tailwind. Absent proper aileron inputs after touchdown, the airplane apparently pivoted about its main gear, pointing the nose off the right side of the runway.
Ed.
I was reading the April AOPA Flight Training and had a correction. In "What it Looks Like: Nav/Com Antennas," the antenna in the photo was incorrectly identified as a nav antenna, because it seemed longer. The article failed to mention that navigational and communication antennas have different polarization. Com antennas are vertically polarized (like those in the photo), while nav antennas are horizontally polarized (like the V-type found on the backs of Cessnas).
This arrangement provides a great deal of attenuation between the two modulation schemes. That is why handheld nav/com radios should be held horizontally if you intend to use them for localizer or VOR navigation. This is also the reason you should not expect navigation capabilities when you hook your handheld up to an external com antenna.
Will Powers
Via the Internet
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