TheAviator
Charter Member
Yes can help
I am currently taking private pilot training in the UK, flying out of Cambridge airport (EGSC), in PA28 Warriors. What I have found is that flying a flight simulator (I have P3D) is not helpful to do in advance of learning the maneuver, but it is helpful to practice the maneuver after you have already been taught it properly by your instructor in the real aircraft. However, I think for this to be the case you need to have a simulator aircraft that has similar control panel and similar flight characteristics to the actual aircraft. I have the A2A Cherokee - not exactly the same as the warrior, but have discovered by comparison that the flight characteristics are nearly the same (approach speed, rpm settings, flap performance...). You also need to have a yoke, throttle, pedals, and trim wheel in my opinion for it to be helpful. A lot of proper flying is flying straight and at altitude, and you need all of these to simulate the difficulty of doing this in the real aircraft. In particular, trimming the airplane is fundamental, and you really can't do it without a trim wheel. I fly P3D over ORBX FTX England and UK2000 VFR airports, that has a reasonably accurate version of EGSC. These are close enough to help in practicing taxiing, circuits and landings.
A lot of what I practice is staying at circuit altitude (1000 feet QFE at Cambridge), how far to fly the downwind leg before turning base - reducing power, setting flaps and trimming for descent - judging when to turn final. The A2A Cherokee flies accuratly enough also to help in practicing the landing itself- judging the right altitude to flare.
I am currently taking private pilot training in the UK, flying out of Cambridge airport (EGSC), in PA28 Warriors. What I have found is that flying a flight simulator (I have P3D) is not helpful to do in advance of learning the maneuver, but it is helpful to practice the maneuver after you have already been taught it properly by your instructor in the real aircraft. However, I think for this to be the case you need to have a simulator aircraft that has similar control panel and similar flight characteristics to the actual aircraft. I have the A2A Cherokee - not exactly the same as the warrior, but have discovered by comparison that the flight characteristics are nearly the same (approach speed, rpm settings, flap performance...). You also need to have a yoke, throttle, pedals, and trim wheel in my opinion for it to be helpful. A lot of proper flying is flying straight and at altitude, and you need all of these to simulate the difficulty of doing this in the real aircraft. In particular, trimming the airplane is fundamental, and you really can't do it without a trim wheel. I fly P3D over ORBX FTX England and UK2000 VFR airports, that has a reasonably accurate version of EGSC. These are close enough to help in practicing taxiing, circuits and landings.
A lot of what I practice is staying at circuit altitude (1000 feet QFE at Cambridge), how far to fly the downwind leg before turning base - reducing power, setting flaps and trimming for descent - judging when to turn final. The A2A Cherokee flies accuratly enough also to help in practicing the landing itself- judging the right altitude to flare.
