Those magnificent men
Writing about web page http://www.almat.co.uk/
For my mumbleth birthday I was given a "trial lesson" certificate for Almat Flying Club based at Baginton. That was a while ago, and I finally got around to arranging it last weekend. But there was too much wind and low cloud, so it was postponed to this Saturday. But there was too much low cloud, so it was moved to Sunday morning. And the weather was just about perfect. A little overcast, which apparently means no thermals, and so a smoother ride. The cloud was a bit low, still – I flew through some at 2500ft. Towards the end of the lesson the sun came out, making the view just about perfect.
The flight was booked for a 2-seater Cessna 150, but ended up being in a 4-seater Cessna 172. It lasted for an hour, going East to Northampton, South(ish) over Silverstone and West to Banbury, North to Daventry and Rugby, and West following the M6 for a bit until finally turning South-West back to Baginton. Not bad for just an hour! And apart from the first and last 5 minutes the instructor was completely hands-off (but not feet-off, of which more later).
I have flown MS Flight Simulator for years now, so had a reasonable idea of what the control surfaces were and what they did. Much of that was flying a Cessna 172, too, so it was interesting to compare it to the real thing. In fact, the experiences were very similar. The real plane is smoother and less twitchy. Keeping it straight and level is easier (or would be if only the air would keep still – I tend to fly the simulator with the wind turned off:-). You get a much better view out of the real plane. You can look around in the simulator, but it isn't the same at all. Especially as the scenery around here isn't very realistic. The lack of view in the simulator means I tend to concentrate too much on the intruments. Flying by eye, and by feeling the motion of the plane (not possible with MSFS!) makes for a smoother flight, too.
Turning a plane requires using hands to operate the ailerons and feet to operate the rudder. I've usually flown the simulator with "auto-rudder" turned on, so I just have to roll the plane and the rudder takes care of itself. When flying the real thing, you don't get this option. I sometimes forgot, and the instructor supplied the feet!
Still, I was surpised at how realistic MSFS is. I have heard that pilots studying for their private pilot's licence use it to get in some extra practice cheaply. Now I see how useful that could be. I might be tempted to get some rudder pedals now…:-)
I could get seriously interested in flying. It is very liberating. Flying around this morning there were few other aircraft about (we saw two in total), so there was not a lot to worry about except deciding where to go. And despite the engine and wind noise, it is surprisingly peaceful up there. If only it didn't cost so much. Christine Smith has previously mentioned how much it costs to get a private pilot's licence. Unfortunately, I have other priorities for my money, so I'm not likely to follow her into the air. I may never do it again, and have to stick to simulators in future.
If you ever get the chance, I recommend having at least a go. But be prepared to get hooked!
Steve Rumsby
26 Sep 2004 17:24
| 
Tags: Flying
| 
Comments (9)
| 
Trackbacks (2)
| 
Report a problem
Loading…
9 comments by 5 or more people
[Skip to the latest comment]Steven Carpenter
Sounds like fun – helicopters have always been my dream but controlling one of those is apparently much like trying to tap your head and rub your tummy at the same time.
26 Sep 2004, 20:02
I always wanted to do the helicopter licence, but a chopper pilot I was talking to about it a while back suggested doing the fixed-wing license first, then helicopters. You've already know all the stuff about rules of the air and navigation and so on, so the second class of aircraft is quicker… but helicopter hours are even more expensive than fixed wing :-/
26 Sep 2004, 20:10
Steve Rumsby
MS FlightSim does choppers too. Yes, it is a lot harder. I haven't yet succeeded in a controlled flight (take-off, small circle, land in one piece). So long as the helicopter does what I expect it to do, I'm fine. As soon as it starts misbehaving, I can't get it back, and I'm lost.
I'm reasonably good, now, at rescuing a virtual Cessna from all manner of mishaps, especially when my 7 year-old daughter says, 'Daddy, I think I'm going to crash…' Stalls, spins, engine stalls, etc. All from the comfort of my own PC. But a chopper – once it is gone, it is gone…!
If I had the choice, I think I would go for the chopper licence too, in the alternative universe where these things were affordable…!
27 Sep 2004, 09:32
Christine Smith
Glad you enjoyed it – a trial lesson was how I got hooked
Would you mind letting me know what version of Flight Sim are you using and can you recommend a good control wheel. I've heard CH (I think that's the make) are the best but very expensive and I really would like something a bit cheaper. Anything to keep the no of flying lessons to a minimum!
28 Sep 2004, 13:21
Steve Rumsby
I use MSFS 2002 professional, which is better than previous versions in ways I now forget. No doubt 2004 is better still. It doesn't come with a Cessna 150, unfortunately. The smallest is a 172 (which turned out to be handy for me!). There are bound to be places to download a 150 if you want one. (What a strange thought…)
I wasn't that bothered about realism when I bought my current stuff, so I actually fly with a stick (MS sidewinder 2, bundled with my copy of MSFS 2002 in a deal from dabs.com) not a yoke. The difference was easy to adjust to for the purposes of a trial lesson, but perhaps not so good for proper flight practice. I have no experience with yokes, I'm afraid. You'll also need pedals for ultimate realism. I've got a twist action on the stick for rudder control, when I can be bothered to untick auto-rudder — not a habit you want to get into. With a yoke you're probably reduced to using keys for rudder control if you don't have pedals.
You might also want to enhance the scenery for around here if you're going to do lots of practice out of Baginton. The standard MS scenery is not that great. Baginton has two runways for a start (which it doesn't really, does it?). But you do have to taxi over the grass patch by the air ambulance station to get to the end of the runway (don't forget to cross onto the grass, and back off again, at 45 degrees, will you), which is a surprising level of detail. The buildings aren't that far off either, I guess. Still, having more easily identifiable roads and other landmarks makes the approach easier to get right. Unless I'm just circling the field I have great difficulty finding the runway again without the help of the GPS (yes, it has a virtual GPS). Have a look at the VFR stuff from Just Flight.
28 Sep 2004, 13:57
Nick Kaijaks
Sounds like the real thing was a ball! I've been flightsimming for a few years now, and I'm still waiting for my birthday present flight from Cov airport :-)
I've got the CH yoke, and I found it made a massive difference compared to stick flying (at least for GA/heavy planes!). Because you can make smaller tangible movements, you get a lot finer control – so it's a lot less 'waggly' in flight. I've recycled the pedals from an old USB racing wheel to do rudder, which is wrong in terms of feel, but is still better than keys (and a lot cheaper than another 100 quid for the CH pedals!)
I run FS2004, which I find much better than FS2002. I got really hacked off with 2002's habit of freezing the display for a tenth of a second now and again, while it did some processing. Meanwhile, you'd be moving the control surfaces, and then get a huge visual 'jolt' when the sim decided to notice. MS did a lot of work on smoothness, so FS2004 is really smooth by comparison, degrading the visual model on the fly where necessary to preserve frame rate and responsiveness. The biggest downside from FS2002 was the loss of the printed manual!
Oh yes, and you can download Cov airport scenery from flightsim.com, along with Thomsonfly re-painted 737s. I've not seen any protesters for download though :-/
28 Sep 2004, 15:32
Steve Rumsby
Don't wait – buy your own…!
I tend to only fly light planes (Cessnas and Lears). I did notice that flying the real thing was smoother than the sim. That despite the fact that the yoke on the real plane seemed to be more sensitive than the stick on my PC. I don't think I'll splash out on a yoke just yet. I don't fly a simulator to experience real flying, but to experience the freedom to explore the skies. I enjoy visiting the virtual world in MSFS, especially those parts I've been to for real. I have a tour of the US in progress visiting all the airports I've been to as a passenger. This started on the West coast and is currently stuck in Minneapolis due to lack of time. I need to head down to Austin, TX and then up the East Coast as far as Nashua. Then, in a brilliant example of bad planning, the final stop is Kona, HI!
I've been looking for an excuse for an upgrade – thanks!
Great – thanks for the pointer. I'll head there right now…
28 Sep 2004, 16:16
Logan Barrett
Hey people….I am 15 1/2, I have been obsessed with flight simulators for 5 or 6 years now. A few months ago I began training for my Private Certificate. The simulator alone taught me so much that my instructor insisted that I don't need to take the ground school courses! Imagine that! Seriously, if you like the flight sims, get up there for real, try the real thing. You wil be amazed at just how it does compare. Happy flying!
01 Jun 2006, 02:33
Matt Brown
yep, almat are very good for trial lessons. i took one there and amnow doing my ppl there. and i regulary(pretty much every day) use msfs. its very realistic. take a look at vatsim.net. i takes a while to get into, but its a network for fs with airtraffic and real world radio telephony.
14 Apr 2007, 12:54
Add a comment
You are not allowed to comment on this entry as it has restricted commenting permissions.