To begin with , there is nothing like flying for real .  Taking off on a hot bouncy day and finally getting to cool smooth air is heavenly .  I was just a private pilot and flew many hours just " around " and never got an instrument rating .  A dear dear friend of mine who lived in Ft. Worth , Texas and flew for American told me that instrument flying is the real " plum of flying "  .  I can now appreciate what he was saying .  I love this simulator and has been so fascinating to fly an ILS for the first time and break out of the overcast to find the runway -- somewhere !! HA !!
For those of us who cannot afford to fly for real , or have physical conditions which preclude piloting a real plane ( or both as in my case )  , the simulator is quite a blessing . 
I recall how much trouble it was to open up heavy hangar doors , attach tow bar and pull the plane out , clean all of the plexiglass , check tire pressures , check oil level , check fuel qty . , drain fuel and check for debris or water , check battery water level , check controls , etc.  Not all had to be done each time , but all safety procedures had to be followed .  Then there was vacuuming the plane , washing , topping off the tanks after each flight so as to avoid moisture condensation , annual inspections , flight review every two yrs. plus a flight physical , dreaded AD notes which were usually expensive such as shot peening the propeller hubs on some aircraft , AD  notes on mags , and on and on and on . 
I would finally take off and it was either too hot , too cold , too windy , too bouncy , too noisy , or ??  Noise is a real fatigue factor  !!  I kept wishing they would invent some sort of little black box that would " absorb " some of that racket !! Then you always have to consider some sort of failure which might necessitate a forced landing so I found it difficult to relax completely .  You gotta love it to do it and I did for 39 yrs. !!!  I almost forgot that I also had to mow my runway and be careful of wildlife while flying from a country strip .

As I said , the simulator is quite a blessing and I do enjoy it so very much .  MY dream was to be an Airline Pilot , but that may have been a disappointment because I am sure most of the sheer joy of flying would have been consumed by procedure and computations .

Jamie

Quote:


I let the flight computer do the computing and AP flying the procedures 

Aren't I spoiled 

Saratoga ,

I am delighted to hear that being a professional commercial pilot does not take the fun out of flying .  I have never experienced anything like the feeling one gets in a jet on takeoff ( like the ones you fly ) when the wheels leave the runway .  Nothing like it !!!! 

The dear person of whom I thought so very much , and is now gone ,  was Randal Loftis who flew for American .  His son John now flies for American and was another like yourself -- born to fly .  I had two other friends who flew for American & with whom I have lost contact -- Joe Mitchell and his wife ( a hostess ) - -Jackie .    I miss them all . 

The point I was trying to make about the Simulator is that it truly is a marvel and wonderful for those of us who can no longer fly .   We need to appreciate it for what it is and also appreciate the efforts of the many tireless programmers who help to make it so fantastic .
Deep appreciation for this extraordinary web site , and those who contribute to make it all that it is ,  is also in order .

Thanks to all ,

Jamie

Saratoga ,

Wish I could have been your co-pilot .

Jamie

Saratoga ,

I am sure I would have loved either with SSP ( Saratoga the Superb Pilot ) , but I am more the airline type .  I was just now flying the wonderful Rockwell commander 500 Shrike .  Years ago I owned a 520 and loved to fly it , but the noise level was horrendous !!!

Jamie

Well, nothing really approaches reality. But for the sim, that's top of the line flying right there. Something airplane pilots can do that isn't simulated, small most people would think but we notice it, is feeling the nosegear lock down. Nice little bump, no need to check that light! Other little things, the one that comes to my mind is the incessant buzzing Embraer 120 pilots are so familiar with. The captain's altimeter has a habit of randomly buzzing. Something that is annoying and entertaining at the same moment.
One of the things that really makes the approach seem wonderful is being able to have full vision. You know sitting in your computer room, you can see that screen and runway in front of you. But sitting in my cockpit, I can see everything from the runway, to the autopilot, the main gauges, my copilot's gauges, the overhead panel, throttles, sides of the runway, all of that without ever looking around. That's probably the biggest thing I notice, the lack of surroundings.

Ahh up the realism some more!

Something else I love doing, renting a 152 Aerobat (that was the best rating I ever got) and just playing around. Going and having some fun. Or going for a ride in the Extra 300 the mechanic at the airport owns. Beautiful plane.