Flying 20 Club, Inc.

Flight simulators and instrument proficiency

by Dave McCormick, former member
updated by Jose Helu

I was inspired by a conversation I had with George Butterfield who recommended that I buy a yoke and pedals to improve the realism in using a flight simulator. Before, I was using a joystick and it was a mediocre flight experience. George said that he tries to fly at least one approach per night to keep sharp. After buying the yoke and peddles, I have found that this has greatly improved the experience and utility of my flight simulator (I use Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 Professional).

AvWeb posted an online article on the use of PC flight simulators to help you maintain proficiency, especially for IFR proficiency. (however the link is broken and the webmaster can't find the article just yet - stay tuned!)

Recommended uses of the simulator:

• Improving or maintaining scan and coordination
• Testing out approaches to unfamiliar airports
• Flying approaches to minimums
• Systems failures
• Weather (turbulence, wind shear, rain, ice, etc.)

I found that in flying the approach to an unfamiliar airport this summer in the week before the trip allowed me to find subtle features on the approach chart that I missed initially and to anticipate things much better. I think it’s a very cheap way to stay proficient. And where else are you going to be able to press “pause” when things start going badly?

Relatively cheap yoke and pedals for PCs

Unless you are loaded and can spring for the Elite simulator and hardware package, the next best thing has to be using a cheaper PC flight simulator and buying a yoke and peddles. Avshop.com sells a nice, relatively cheap set of controls from CH. The products are:

1. CH Flight Sim Yoke (3-Lever USB) sells for about $120
   
2. CH Pro Pedals USB sells for about $120
   
3. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 Professional (now superseded by MS FS 2004)
   As of October 2005, you can buy MS FS 2004 individually for $30 or as a bundle with the yoke and pedals above for about $250. Avshop.com sells a whole range of other flight simulators as well.
4. More products of this type may have come out since the article was written.
   

Note: If you go the USB route, you may need a USB hub to increase the number of USB devices that you can plug into your PC. These run about $40-45 at CircuitCity ( there is a powered USB hub at Avshop for $31. For users of older PC’s without USB connectors, there are also “gameport” (serial port) versions of the yoke and pedals that are slightly cheaper, but you will need more than one gameport to use them in combination.

Archer II for Flight Simulator 2002

Flight1.com has a Piper Archer II add-on plane for Flight Simulator 2004 (which also works with MS FS 2002) for about $20.00. It is one of the most realistic planes (see picture below) that have been produced for Flight Sim 2002/2004, with many very nice additional features that make this a perfect addition for those of us in the club who fly the Archers. For example, they have adjustments for 0-3 passengers, and you can set the weights of the pilot and pax, so that performance changes with different loading.

If you have any questions about the flight simulators, please feel free to contact me.

David McCormick
dsmccormick@gmail.com