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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 (FSA) indicates that pilots who supplement their training with home flight simulation achieve certification with 5.5 fewer flight training hours than those who don't, and nearly 20 hours less than the FAA average.
  • Home flight simulators allow learners to practice critical procedures, prepare for cross-country navigation by recognizing landmarks, and safely troubleshoot issues in a low-risk environment, reinforcing concepts and building muscle memory.
  • Beyond practical flight skills, home simulation (especially with virtual ATC) helps develop communication abilities and is considered a valuable resource for air traffic control recruitment and training, despite not fully replicating the "seat of the pants" feel of real flight.
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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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