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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.

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

Key Takeaways:

  • A study by the Flight Simulation Association indicates that home flight simulation significantly reduces the flight training hours required for pilot certification, with users needing 5.5 fewer hours than non-users and nearly 20 hours less than the FAA average.
  • Home flight simulators provide a valuable tool for practicing procedures, preparing for cross-country flights, and troubleshooting issues in a low-risk environment, reinforcing learned concepts and building muscle memory.
  • Beyond pilot training, home flight simulation, especially when combined with virtual ATC services, serves as an effective resource for training and potentially recruiting air traffic controllers.
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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.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

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