Originally Posted by
rickair7777
NOOOOO! This is a very bad idea for the vast majority of students. PC based flight sims are horrible for hands-on, stick-and-rudder skills...you will only develop and reinforce not-quite-realistic-enough muscle skills.
RickAir7777: I agree with you, and am suggesting Flight Sim in a very narrow, specific application.
Specifically, the original problem was described as "inconsistencies"; not knowing what to set the VOR to, not knowing the difference between COM and NAV, Active and Standby.
These are things that are difficult to discuss in detail while in the pattern.
And trying to discuss them on the ground is hard because none of the needles actually move or respond.
This is the only reason I'm suggesting Flight Sim in this case, and it is NOT for stick-n-rudder skills.
In the computer, you can pause a particular display and ask, "Why is the needle pointing this direction? What does it mean? Which way do you expect it to move in the next minute? Let's un-freeze the game, and see if you're right..."
Flight sim is bad for many things, I understand, but for looking at a cockpit that actually responds, and playing with knobs to see what happens, I think it is actually a pretty helpful tool,
but only in the right specific conditions.