I have about 2000 hours of flight simulator time starting from when it first came out. I really miss Meigs field.
I signed up for private pilot lessons.
The first day with the instructor I did a walk around inspection, started the plane, talked to the tower, did a taxi and takeoff.
The instructor let me fly for a while then put me "under the hood" so I couldn't see, said "It's my airplane", took control and flipped it all around, and then said "Your plane". The flight controls were all I could see. I could see that I was in a dive with rotation so I cut the throttle, centered the stick and kicked opposite rudder until the rotation stopped then regained level flight.
The flight instructor said that was "pretty good but could be better". I asked him if this was a first-day test for a private pilot's license. He was shocked. He thought I was going for an instrument rating. I pointed out that this was my first time ever in a small plane and first time ever as an actual pilot.
The lessons got easier after that :-)
So, yeah, if you spend a year's worth of time in the sim it will help a lot.
I signed up for private pilot lessons.
The first day with the instructor I did a walk around inspection, started the plane, talked to the tower, did a taxi and takeoff.
The instructor let me fly for a while then put me "under the hood" so I couldn't see, said "It's my airplane", took control and flipped it all around, and then said "Your plane". The flight controls were all I could see. I could see that I was in a dive with rotation so I cut the throttle, centered the stick and kicked opposite rudder until the rotation stopped then regained level flight.
The flight instructor said that was "pretty good but could be better". I asked him if this was a first-day test for a private pilot's license. He was shocked. He thought I was going for an instrument rating. I pointed out that this was my first time ever in a small plane and first time ever as an actual pilot.
The lessons got easier after that :-)
So, yeah, if you spend a year's worth of time in the sim it will help a lot.