Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots Real World Training

Comment: I can only describe this book as excellent. For anyone wishing to become familiar with the knowledge of the intricacies of real world aviation by using Flight Simulation X, I heartily recommend this book to them. It is written in a manner which is not only easy to read, but is profusely illustrated with photographs, diagrams and charts in an order which makes great sense, and which provides not only a lucid learning experience, but one which is highly enjoyable.
I found this book to be a great read and, as an aviation novice, one which I would consider to be invaluable as a reference, to be used many times, now and in the future.
In my opinion it is a "must buy" for any would-be aviator.

Comment: I am a computer consultant trying to set up FSX for a friend to brush up on his flying skills. For a novice user of FSX lessons referred to in the book are not easy to find and this proved too frustrating for my friend and he decided not to use FSX at all.

Comment: This is a "must have" for all serious Flight Simulator X users. It will guide you in how to download many great educational scenario-based real world training flights. The trainig flights are added directly into your FSX "Free Flight" menu making them easy to recall. I sure wish I had the resources of Flight Simulator X and FSX for Real World Training when I was undergoing flight training 43 years ago.

Comment: When I first looked at this book what really came out was the fact the authors recognized that Flight Simulator 10 (FSX) offered limited ability to view your surroundings. A reality which resulted in many users of FSX focusing excessively on instrumentation which is the exact opposite of expectations in real world flight unless of course your flying under instrument flight rules.

Upon getting started with the book I decided to take things from the beginning even though I had previously mastered the basics of flying real airplanes. I can without doubt tell you this book brings a new vision to FSX and presents learning how to fly from a far different perspective than the tutorials and missions alone which come with FSX.

The way the authors have presented the material teaches the importance of focusing on whats outside the aircraft. This is so very critical if you plan on flying real aircraft. Critical for your safety, getting to your destination (VFR), and the safety of your aircraft, other aircraft, and everything on the ground including other people.

I can only applaud this approach to flying with FSX. Frankly I believe the way the authors present development of flying skills is a better approach than that deployed with FSX because it brings the importance of focusing on activity outside the plane into primary consideration. Isn't this why we fall in love with flying for the most part anyway? Think about it when you made the decision to learn to fly was it based on the planes dash board and controls or being able to sail effortlessly through the sky and marvel at the beauty of the clouds and the scenery below?

The one thing which I did have a desire to change when first beginning to read the book was to use a different plane other than the Piper Cub. A plane which was more sophisticated, faster, and complex to fly, but that's when the reasoning of the authors became fully understood. Picking the Cub as the trainer was more a necessity to teach us focus on the skill and art of flight and in the real world.

I was also very impressed with the fact that the book went beyond FSX and simulator flight by providing the details of differences between simulators and flying real airplanes. Simple things like the actual engine start procedure for the Cub were pointed out for example as was discussion of back pressure on the stick or yoke differs away from simulation in a real plane. Discussion of readjustment of FSX control settings were presented to help readers master the skills being taught. All of this is essential to those using FSX who desire to fly the real planes. This kind of instruction helps us understand why simulators are a great learning tool and also where they fail to paint the whole picture of flight.

For the downside I felt it would be advantageous to have had color photographs of images in FSX. Those color images however were presented as downloads from the publishers website along with simulation scenarios to be loaded and used while practicing what the book presented.

If the photos had been in color and a few other small details of how to setup of the down-loadable files had been present I would have given the book 5 full stars. Let there be no doubt as to the teaching intent and presentation of the words, for that I do give this book a full 5 stars relative to the audience to whom it is targeted. This is a should read for anyone who has an interest in learning to fly a real plane and who desires to use FSX to help them augment the learning process. Sharing what you are learning with your flight school instructor is a great idea and giving them a copy of the book to read and follow along with you is even better.

This book along with the instruction which came with FSX will go a very long way to helping any new pilot and it is also a good refresher for those who have already learned the flight skills.

Comment: Hi,
After reading all the glowing reviews on this book I happily bought it for my son along with the Saitek yoke, throttle and Flight Sim X software.
Well, the program loaded and runs well on my sons pretty darned high end computer. BUT when I got to the book, pg 33, where he was actually going to start learning (via the book), we went to Free Flight then Load as instructed, but there was nothing to load. No Chapter 02 First Flight or anything else. Nothing there to load at all.
So, I'm stuck. If anyone can help me, I'd greatly appreciate it.
will change my rating if i can get it going,
ps,
computer is running Vista 64 bit, quad core, if that matters