Woodlouse2002 wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2007 at 5:32am:


I would say that FS experience can help a lot more so in an airliner than a cessna.  I have ridden flightdeck on board a 737NG before, and when it comes down to it, it requires very little control input, assuming the user understands how the flight management computer works and where the importants switches, flaps, etc.  As i have had many years of FS experience before I got my license in realworld, I was more shocked on how complex it was to fly a Cessna.  A little bit of wind can blow you right, left, and center.  Applying the incorrect trim can easily strain your muscles.  Landing in a crosswind requires brutally stepping on the rudder pedals at times just to get the thing centered properly, not to mention at the same time you have to be completely aware in class C airspace looking for traffic, not losing altitude, and trying not to get fatally flipped over by a 757's wake turbulence.  One of those things I didnt expect even having flown flight sims    In the airliner world, things are more orderly controlled by ATC, whereas in a cessna, they typically try to slip you in between because you don't have turbofan engines.

Not to say its easy flying airliners mind you, I had a former co-worker once whose played around with an actual 737-200 sim, and to his surprise, it was quite easy for him to break the landing gears when he didnt flare properly on landing.