Survey: Home Flight Sim Helps Prepare Real-World Pilots

A new survey says flight students who supplement with home flight sims are able to shave almost 20 hours off flight training hours from the FAA average.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, May 31, 2024 at 03:27 PM ET

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Pilots can get valuable practice on simulators. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

A new study by the Flight Simulation Association reveals that pilots who supplement their training with home flight simulation receive their certificate with 5.5 fewer flight training hours than non-users, and almost 20 hours less than the FAA average.
Home flight simulators are highly effective for practicing procedures, preparing for cross-country flights (including navigation and troubleshooting), and developing communication skills with virtual air traffic control in a low-risk, pause-able environment.
While not replicating the exact "feel" of real flight, home simulation helps reinforce concepts, build muscle memory, and is even identified as a potential pipeline for air traffic controller recruitment and training.

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One of the common challenges with learning to fly is that unlike learning to play a musical instrument, more often than not you cannot practice what you learned at home. That is, unless you have a home flight simulation set up.

While the time “logged’ using X-Plane or Microsoft Flight Simulator doesn’t count toward the required time for a certificate or rating, and it won’t give you the kinesthetic feel for the aircraft, it can still help reinforce concepts learned in lessons.