I'm not trying to stir up trouble here, but this statement just isn't true. Simulators simply can't replace proper instructions, no matter how many ways you try to justify it. Don't get me wrong as I think that simulators are a fantastic teaching tool, but they need to be used properly. Simulators should be used in conjunction with proper instructions. When used properly simulators should be used to practice and refine what you learn at the field each week. A good instructor will use simulators as part of his training program. He should send the student pilot after each training session with instructions as what the student should practice on the simulator at home. When used like this simulators are fantastic too. But when improperly used simulators can actually allow the student to develop bad habits that translate back to flying the real plane.

Here's a list of some of the "bad" habits one can develop:
1) Failing to keep the plane straight during takeoff run.
2) Climbing out too steep.
3) Not maintaining a constant altitude while turning.
4) Turns that aren't smooth, too sharp, etc.
5) Forgetting that there is a left stick.
6) Not lining up with the runway during landing approach.
7) Using ailerons instead of rudder to make course corrections when landing.
8) Using the elevator to extend the landing when you realize you're short.
9) Failure to learn the signs that a plane is about to stall, and what to do to avoid it, or recover from it.

I can use the MS Flight Simulator to pilot a Boeing 747 from one coast to the other, but that doesn't mean that I'm ready to start a career as a commercial pilot. In the years that I've been instructing I've seen this issue come up quite a bit. I've seen many people claim that they learned to fly on a simulator and they can fly perfectly now. But the problem here is that pilots like this simply don't know what it is that they don't know. I've had many occasions to see such "self taught" students and more times than not they are a complete disaster in the sky, and many times they are a dangerous pilot because they really aren't in control of their plane.


This is another one that I hear all the time, and once again it's not true. If you get bored with trainer because "it doesn't have the same control" then I would pushing the plane or your skills enough. A trainer can do most maneuvers that "more advanced" planes can do, but require more skill from the pilot. Yes a nice aerobatic plane makes it easy to fly advanced aerobatics, but planes like that can make a poor pilot look good. You can fly most of these maneuvers on a trainer, but it's the pilot's skill performing the aerobatics and not the plane. And for this reason I think that trainers something that every pilot should go back to flying occasionally. I've been flying for almost 11 years and I still have the trainer I learned to fly on, and it still goes to the field with me too. It is great fun to take the trainer up and see just what you can get it to do.

As I said above, I'm not trying to cause a fight, but rather I am putting out info based on my experiences as an instructor in this hobby. I think that attitudes about simulators being great instructors can be dangerous for a lot of students. I don't argue that there are a few that can learn on a simulator, but students like that are what we call "natural born pilots" and will learn quickly no matter how they learn to fly. But natural born pilots are definitely in the minority and are probably 1 in a 1000, the other 999 out of 1000 need to rely on more traditional teaching methods. And telling them that all they need is a simulator to learn is actually doing them a disservice because they think they can learn on the simulator, and then are rewarded with a plane going home in a trash bag when they try to fly at the field.

That's my 2¢ worth

Ken