Staying aligned on final approach

About 40 years ago I flew Cessna 150s and 172s for a time. It seems to me that it was much easier to keep the real thing aligned with the runway on final approach than it is in MSFS2020. Keeping the F18 aligned is a nightmare. Is my recall faulty? Does anyone agree that the simulator is more difficult? Or do I need to revisit my control settings?

I tend to agree with you. In cockpit view I keep trying to line up using the aircrafts centreline, rather than "between your legs" as someone put it - not at all natural to me.

 

Try to ensure the runway you are approaching is straight up and down from your viewpoint and keep it there. This tends to work for me but often the ATC winds don't necessarily agree with what is actually happening and I find I'm drifting again.

 

It was certainly easier to fly the actual aircraft; I used to fly a variety of GA stuff including light twins.

I flew 172s and PA28s about 15 years ago. I always thought some things are easier in the real thing, and others are harder.

 

However lining up was about the same difficulty for me. Maybe the hornet is just more difficult than a skyhawk (hehe, does that even need to be said)? Can you line up a skyhawk relatively easily?

In real life you have a LOT more visual cues for positioning. Even though things such as TrackIR help that orientation, it's still not as easy in a sim, except perhaps in the multimillion dollar units the airlines use.

 

So no, your perceptions are not wrong. One thing that helps, once you are on final approach is that the runway out ahead of you should be pointing straight up, like a clock at noon, not at even a slight angle. Also, make SMALL corrections -- people sometimes want to overcontrol.

In real life you have a LOT more visual cues for positioning. Even though things such as TrackIR help that orientation, it's still not as easy in a sim, except perhaps in the multimillion dollar units the airlines use.

 

So no, your perceptions are not wrong. One thing that helps, once you are on final approach is that the runway out ahead of you should be pointing straight up, like a clock at noon, not at even a slight angle. Also, make SMALL corrections -- people sometimes want to overcontrol.

 

Zoomng OUT not IN, may improve your perception and with it, anticipation. Being able to properly see an airfield or airport is as much about peripheral visions as it is angular perception.

Larry is correct, but I suspect it is the least of your issues.

I agree, I guess IRL we have peripheral vision and just a generally better awareness as well. Either way it definitely feels easier flying the real thing

I remember one of my instructors about 20 years ago when FS2000 was out and it was all the rage with home sim hobby aviators. Most of us who flew real world aircraft learned long before home flight sims started becoming more realistic at least in visuals and instrumentation starting with FS98. He would always groan when taking on a new student for flight lessons if said student bragged about learning to first "fly" in a home PC sim like FS or ProPilot (remember that?) with a joystick.

 

Long story short, the students would have to unlearn bad habits and then relearn all over again what they learned wrong (example: rudder control tied with roll is not very realistic in any FS even to this day). They also had a hard time adjusting to the movement of the aircraft in the wind because in the sim it didn't bounce around as well as adjusting for real world depth perception on landing after many hours of staring at a small CRT screen!

 

He compared it to someone learning how to swing a golf club all wrong growing up and then going to the pros for advanced lessons. He found it much easier to take on a fledgling student with zero home PC sim experience - like most of we middle-aged guys did long before FS became a home sim staple with the hardware goodies like yoke/joystick and rudder pedals controlling it. Now that's not to say MSFS or Xplane or any previous PC based sim isn't an asset for learning because it most certainly is for the likes of VOR and NDB navigation for Xcountry training as one example. Something you can't really experience in ground school studying a 2D book with diagrams. You can also get a basic idea on flight dynamics and how an aircraft is controlled. But that's about as far as it goes.

Edited December 21, 2021 by N069NT

the students would have to unlearn bad habits and then relearn all over again what they learned wrong

That process is not great for either the CFI or for the student -- it takes time and effort that are not needed for the scratch student.

 

He found it much easier to take on a fledgling student with zero home PC sim experience - like most of we middle-aged guys did long before FS became a home sim staple with the hardware goodies like yoke/joystick and rudder pedals controlling it.

All too true. Also trying to get their heads out of the cockpit, away from the gauges, and looking around out the windows took time and effort.

 

To some extent that's true today, though many (not nearly all) of today's simmers have some good online help and don't have quite as much of a problem as most of those early simmers.

 

You can also get a basic idea on flight dynamics

Though sometimes misleading, depending on the specific aircraft model in the sim -- some are pretty bad in their behavior. The default Cub and DC-3 come to mind, among others.

 

In any case, the sims are EXCELLENT procedures trainers, especially with a little online help or when used to supplement what the CFI and ground school teach them about procedures. But it's all too easy to misuse the sims, especially with no or improper guidance, when it comes to real world flying.

Also trying to get their heads out of the cockpit, away from the gauges, and looking around out the windows took time and effort.

 

Oooff, I was guilty of this. I'll never forget my instructor nagging me incessently to get my eyes out of the cockpit.

Oooff, I was guilty of this. I'll never forget my instructor nagging me incessently to get my eyes out of the cockpit.

 

And this is part of why I always covered the instrument panel with my coat during the last air work and TO&L with my students before they soloed -- to be certain that they could do it all without the panel. If properly trained it's not difficult at all.

 

BTW, I was never fond of touch and goes for a student when they were learning takeoffs and landings. A full stop/taxi back gave the student time to reflect on what he had done right and done wrong, and gave me a chance to critique the most recent circuit, without the major distraction of having to contend with all manner of things that he was trying to learn, including the hurry-up of cleaning up the aircraft to get it from landing configuration to flying configuration. Plus, he learned about flying the aircraft to a full stop and taking off from slow taxi or stop that way, helping to build proper habits -- and this was doubly valuable in tailwheels.

 

And the bonus is that it didn't take more actual hours to do it that way (obviously fewer times around the patch), and they were better trained in the very beginning and the very end of the flight.

Oooff, I was guilty of this. I'll never forget my instructor nagging me incessently to get my eyes out of the cockpit.

 

You and me both. I was hauled-over for scanning the instruments - and forgetting to look outside. I learned from that...