Realism of Flight Simulation - Air and Config files

[kmentt]

Something seems wrong with Flight Sims aerodynamics, physics and the notion of movement in relation to ground.
I have always wondered why. Is it a technical limitation of software? Or are the air files and configs capable of emulating more realism?

There´s no way that when you are taxiing with a 737, or other medium jet and you increase power to start moving, and your wife
calls "hey, you want some snack?", you turn your head to say Thanks!, and when you look back to the cockpit the plane is
rushing at enormous speed even thou had reduced to idle previously. I mean, come on, the enormous mass of the boeing takes much more time to acquire acceleration, its not that fast!

Same thing when making a 360 turn without losing altitiude, the plane turns so fast that if you look at the horizon the landscape
passes at fast forwarding speed of some flintstone cartoon and it gives you blurred vision or a headache.
No...terrain doesnt move as fast as flight simulation emulates.

You are at FL300 and look straight down. Look at the terrain as if when looking thru the passenger window.
In real life its amazing the effect that it seems (because you are so high) that you are not moving at all!
If you are just at 5000 feet and look at a road you will see vehicles as tiny spots that move so slowly they
seemed to be frozen...same with waves etc.

In flight simulator, when looking down even if you are very high, the terrain moves very fast, very unrealistic.
You would say "for a PC game its not that bad"...I agree, but why dont airplanes simulate better how the reals do? Is it possible?

My guess is the following:
Computer games are made by computer programmers.
They submit them for testing to "real" pilots (no doubt) so they can correct feelings, behaviors that pure performance numbers cant do.
But pilots participate only as consultants and in the end they address the main bugs or differences with real life planes and
many small details are left behind. Left to the computer programming tech man to decide.
Otherwise the pilot would have to sit and do all the work himself.

In any case the day some airplane is 100% done by a full pilot who at the same time is a full software programmer, then we would have a winner.

Luis

[schenky]

Are you sure you are running your sim at 1X speed? Just to make sure...

[kmentt]

Yes. Thou back in Fs2002 a good trick we found out that using 1/2 the simulation speed on approaches only, gave a higher sensation of realism.

luis

[jackhall]

luis, I haven't found that to be the case on my system. I don't know what to advise, however. Jack

[kmentt]

Jack
Neither do I.
Next time you go on a commercial flight...mark the time between full power, starting to roll and actual time airborne, then try the same in flightsim. You will see that in any heavy jet in FS you are airborne in seconds (less than a minute), considerably faster than a loaded real jet.

Or better just download one of those videos available on the net where they show landing in a cockpit. Mark the time from the outer marker, then try a landing in the sim.

I found out, regardless of wind, that with 1/2 simulation rate in take-offs and landings I get a much better sensation of flying like real.
luis

[napamule2]

Luis,
Mine don't do that either. Have you had a check up lately? You may have only half a brain in there. Or a half speed brain. Or 1/2 your brain being turned off. One half screeming at the other will do that too (ask me how I know-heehee). (Just kidding-don't have a cow.)

I agree with some of your observations. What to do? Don't DO those things- (haha). It's like when the patient told the Dr that when he lifted his arm that it hurt. What should I do? The Dr said 'stop lifting your arm and the pain will stop! Ha!

I guess in about 10 years there might be a 'more real' sim. But for now we have to live with what we got. It's not so simple to 'program' a Sim, you know. Think again.
Chuck B
napamule

[beana5]

It's like when the patient told the Dr
>that when he lifted his arm that it hurt. What should I do?
>The Dr said 'stop lifting your arm and the pain will stop! Ha!


Try these Chuck! http://www.funny2.com/henny.htm Laughs for a lifetime and any one! He was great!!

Have Fun! Vin ;)

[ladamson]

Since FSX has a built in default Airbus, with wing views; I've used it numerous times for the takeoff roll, climbout, and slow turns.

Looks amazingly realistic to me!

As to GA airplanes, as well as faster high performace models, the effect is quite good too. And I have some that are crafted by pilot/programmers.

Ladamson

[kingnorris]

Solution to this as follows:
Get a real pilot's license, then go and work for an airline.
I'm sorry, but I just hate seeing posts like this.
This is a sim, designed for a home pc system.
This is as close to real flying most of us we'll ever get.
Who cares that the cars don't move real enough, the terrain moves too fast, the water doesn't look good, etc.!?
A real simulator probably would make you happy, but do you have---oh,let's say---about 2 million USD to spend on one?Not to mention room in your house? If not, let's just enjoy the sim for what it is....

[RFields]

You are at FL300 and look straight down. Look at the terrain as if when looking thru the passenger window.
In real life its amazing the effect that it seems (because you are so high) that you are not moving at all!
If you are just at 5000 feet and look at a road you will see vehicles as tiny spots that move so slowly they
seemed to be frozen...same with waves etc.

In flight simulator, when looking down even if you are very high, the terrain moves very fast, very unrealistic.
You would say "for a PC game its not that bad"...I agree, but why dont airplanes simulate better how the reals do? Is it possible?

This isn't an aircraft effect / issue. It's a view issue and the rendering of different objects with completely different characteristics and different physical parameters.

One thing you have to do when looking down is to ensure you are zoomed out so that the eyepoint matches the altitude of the aircraft.

But even then you have a foreshortening effect of the focal length because the game is trying to simulate the 3D effect in 2D.

Also, the top down view in FS appears to be a 'global view' not subject to the same sets of rules which maximize the reality simulator as the normal view from the cockpit and spot around the aircraft.

Another factor is that the human eye is a truely amazing piece of engineering.

Our eye and our brains make adjustments all the time. We have a focal center of vision, and our prepherial vision is never as sharp and well defined as our central vision. Yet in FS and other ocmputer games, it is 100% exactly focused across the entire field of vision.

Now personally, even when looking out of an airline passenger seat at 32,000, the ground appears to be moving quickly under me. Much of that is probably due to the way I learned to look out of airplanes and my perception of what the sense of motion should be.

At 5,000 feet when the SWA plane flies over my home enroute to land at KDAL, I can see cars on the highway and can tell which are speeding and which are not. The reason I can do this is I have an external reference of that stretch of highway and know that when a car takes x time between two positions, it is going faster than the speed limit. I cannot make that distinction in areas where I am not as familiar with the actual road.

It's just another example of how our brains see what we expect to see, rather than what is really there.