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Which flight simulator

B

Bavafa

Well Known Member
I have never used a flight simulator and know very little about them. I am thinking of getting one for the purpose of practicing IFR. I see that SimWorks has a nice RV10 simulator but I think it only works with MicroSoft simulators. Does anyone know if X-Plane has any RV in its database or if SimWorks will work in X-plane as I have heard it is better than MSFS.

Any Thoughts or advice as to which is better, MSFS or X-plane.

P.S. I don't want to spend a lot of money to get a system and hoping to run it on my laptop which has multiple monitors.
 
Bavafa said:
I have never used a flight simulator and know very little about them. I am thinking of getting one for the purpose of practicing IFR. I see that SimWorks has a nice RV10 simulator but I think it only works with MicroSoft simulators. Does anyone know if X-Plane has any RV in its database or if SimWorks will work in X-plane as I have heard it is better than MSFS.

Any Thoughts or advice as to which is better, MSFS or X-plane.

P.S. I don't want to spend a lot of money to get a system and hoping to run it on my laptop which has multiple monitors.
Click to expand...
I've got both X-Plane and MSFS and for IFR training, I have found that X-Plane is superior. Even though the graphics in MSFS are better, I found that X-Plane does a much better job for IFR procedures and fidelity of the instruments.

I used Version 11 of X-Plane extensively in 2021 when I got back into flying after a 30 year break and it was extremely helpful for me to get to the point where I was able to get signed off for an ICC (Instrument Competency Check) since I had my instrument rating from 30+ years ago. Even though hand flying the sim can help with building a scan, it is rather twitchy so I used it mostly on autopilot to practice instrument procedures. For a while, I also signed up for PilotEdge (the ATC network) which does a great job of making it more realistic.

A couple of additional points:
- Since this was before I got my RV-10 last May, I did my instrument training and ICC in a G1000 C-182 and the X1000 replica in X-Plane does a pretty good job of getting the main items correct for navigation, flight planning, approaches, etc.. Well, that doesn't translate very well to the AFS+Avidyne instrument panel in my (and probably a lot of other) RV so I have found it to be less useful since a lot of instrument practice in a sim is around getting very comfortable with the "buttonology" of the avionics suite. That having been said, if your plane has a Garmin suite, there will probably be a better fit because I think they have a couple of choices of "glass" Garmin panels.

-X-Plane 11 does not have an RV-10 in the standard set of planes so I bought a 3rd party RV-10 (I forget the name now) but candidly because of the earlier point, I haven't spent much time doing instrument procedures in it. I have used it more to try VFR procedures like power off situations on takeoff, etc. Also, given that the variable costs of owning the plane are quite a bit lower than the fixed costs, I do my instrument training in my plane for the light IFR flying that I might have to do here in California (and it's a lot more fun!). If I was going to be doing heavy IFR with lots of clearances, I would probably spend more time on the sim with PilotEdge.

- X-plane 12 does include an RV-10 (I haven't upgraded to XP12 yet). I remember seeing some other threads in VAF with other folks' experience with the RV-10 in XP12 so you may want to search for them.

- There is a web based course offered by Pilot Workshops (https://pilotworkshop.com/products/getting-started-with-simulation/) which was extremely helpful in getting me going with XP. It is $99 and was well worth it. It helps with basic things like installation and also the add-ons that make for a good experience (joysticks, PilotEdge, etc.).

- I normally run XP on a Windows desktop but I have successfully run it on a Mac laptop (which is an additional selling point for XP if you have a Mac - MSFS runs only on Windows). Also, I found that MSFS has these large downloads for their updates and the update has failed 2-3 times which then required me to reinstall MSFS. Since I wasn't using it, I stopped keeping it updated.

Feel free to PM me if you want more details or want to talk about it.

Cheers,

Vas
 
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Suggest you download the trial version of each simulator to see if either will run on your laptop.

I tried both on my ThinkPad X1 which has a version 12 i5 CPU with integrated graphics and neither would run due to the lack of a higher powered graphics card. So I decided to wait until I am ready to start IFR training, and will build a new desktop at that time with a good graphics card to use with the simulator.

Please keep us informed as you made decisions on your simulator system.

Cheers,
 
I have a home sim and I used to run with 3 large monitors and two small PFD/MFD monitors. I use MSFS sometimes, but mostly I fly DCS World (it's a military sim, versus MSFS generally is civilian / non-combat). Never tried X-Plane and cannot comment.

A little under a year ago, my wife got tired of giving up so much floor space in the guest room to a frame holding three 30 inch monitors and bought me a HP G2 Reverb VR headset. Not only did it free up the need for so many monitors, but it improved the sims 10,000%. It doesn't cost much more than a single large, high resolution monitor.

Being able to look over your shoulder with the VR headset to the runway to judge when you are at 45 degrees to your touchdown point, or in the military sim being able to look behind you for another pass at a ground target, adds an incredible amount of realism. The VR also lets you easily look around the cockpit to hit switches. Panning the view with monitors to do the same thing is much more clunky.

All that being said, DCS works 100% perfect, every time, with the VR headset. MSFS works on and off, sometimes taking 5 boots to make sure they handshake correctly, and sometimes gets choppy midflight for some reason. DCS never fails.

You do need some serious hardware to run the VR headset at full max detail, but nothing more than I needed to run 5 monitors. I have a 5 year old i7 processor and a 2080ti GPU.
 
MSFS disappointment

I was really excited when MSFS 2020 came out, because the graphics are amazing, but it turned out to be pretty much useless for IFR practice.

True, it had various airplanes with pretty much the exact Garmin avionics that I use--but none of them were even close, function-wise, to the real thing. At least they weren't the last time I checked, perhaps they've been improved.

Going to go back to XPlane to see how well that works.
 
Xplane and PilotsEdge

Xplane and Pilots Edge work quite well together. I also use a software add-on called Reality XP GTN 650 which has high fidelity for my garmin unit and allows “buttonology” mimicry identical to my plane setup. Very helpful.
Cal
 
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Name change

vas4vans said:
…….when I got back into flying after a 30 year break and it was extremely helpful for me to get to the point where I was able to get signed off for an ICC (Instrument Competency Check) since I had my instrument rating from 30+ years ago……
Vas
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Yes, 30 years ago you had to be ‘competent’ (ICC). But today, you need to be ‘proficient’ (IPC)!!!
 
I use MSFS2020 for practicing IFR procedures. I use it with a Mooney M20R addon plane. It has a Garmin 530 and KAP150 autopilot, both of which pretty much work the way they do in the real world. I know they have addons for GTN650/750 that you can use in planes like the RV-10 or RV-14 addons. The built in ATC is horrendous, but you can use VATSIM (free) or PilotEdge to have a much more realistic ATC experience.

I have also used X-Plane 11 and 12. The instruments work well, but the graphics outside of the cockpit are not great, so that kind of ruins the experience for me. I don't recall how realistic the ATC is, but I'm sure it's on the same level as MSFS.
 
I’m not really up on the current crop of PC simulators (wish I had the time to play with them….but I just don’t….) but years ago, I used MSFS for staying up to speed on my IFR procedures, even though I was staying legally current in the airplane(s). The best way I found was a very accurate and detailed SR-71 model. Things happened REALY fast in the IFR procedure world when you were tooling along at Mach 2+, and it made flying regalia piston airplanes seem like slow motion…. ;)
 
Tommy123 said:
Simulator that are not full motion are not really helpful, without the fear factor.
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I’m gonna disagree. I have a Redbird TD which I use for legal 61.57 currency and proficiency. I find it incredibly useful in that regard. It’s important to understand what a given sim can do and its limitations and manage expectations accordingly.
 
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I found the simulator fairly worthless for private, but extremely helpful for instrument. The ability to hit pause, and figure out what was going on as I was learning is huge.

-Dan
 
Thank you all for your inputs, a lot of good info here. It looks like my laptop is not quit up in its power to do the sim right. I may need to get a more powerful one.
 
MSFS

I use MSFS and have really liked it. When you connect it to your phone or iPad with ForeFlight it is really useful for practicing IFR flight.
Download or search for some software called FlightEvents and it will send position data to your iPad to really get the flow of your ForeFlight down.

The RV-10 is pretty accurate.

I enjoy looking at real weather around the US, loading up a flight in nasty weather on MSFS and then flying it. I look forward to the day when all the Garmin systems work exactly like real avionics. They are close but not perfect yet.
 
Auburntsts said:
I’m gonna disagree. I have a Redbird TD which I use for legal 61.57 currency and proficiency. I find it incredibly useful in that regard. It’s important to understand what a given sim can do and its limitations and manage expectations accordingly.
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And I'm going to agree with this disagreement. The flight school where I did my training has a full motion redbird, but they rarely turn the hydraulics on since it's getting old and buggy. Yeah, it's a little better when it is moving around, but I still do my 6 approaches every 6 months for currency usually without motion. I wouldn't call that "useless" time spent.

And the VR headset that I discussed above makes it really feel like you are in the plane. Yeah, there is no motion, but after a few times your brain really gets used to it.
 
I've tried them all. I was a fan of X-Plane, but MSFS has caught up and I've switched to it full time for my own IFR training.

IRL I'm flying a 172 with G1000, and the MSFS 172 is an exact match. Coupled with pilot edge it's been unbelievably helpful for me.

I'm not sure how well MSFS will run on a laptop, it is very hard on the computer.

No matter what you use, look into pilotedge, it works with MSFS and Xplane. Excellent service.
 
Bavafa said:
I see that SimWorks has a nice RV10 simulator but I think it only works with MicroSoft simulators.
Click to expand...

I did some beta testing for them on the 10. They put out a really great payware plane. You can integrate it with one of the GTN 650/750 paywares to practice IFR procedures. The downside to MSFS 2020 is their G3X implementation is garbage.

I used to play Xplane and had the velocity twin that had a Dynon panel (close enough to the G3X) and also a GTN 650/750 add. This worked well for IFR procedures.

When I did my instrument ticket I also used PilotEdge.net, but after a bit realized my comms was fine and stopped using it.

At the end of the day I prefer MSFS 2020 mainly for the generated scenery. Not only do I have a full set of Rotary controls (cyclic, collective, antitorque pedals), but I play all on VR with a pretty stout computer. It's insanely fun. I use my copter controls for planes too, but they don't autocenter so it's a bit off.
 
AviatorJ said:
I did some beta testing for them on the 10. They put out a really great payware plane. You can integrate it with one of the GTN 650/750 paywares to practice IFR procedures. The downside to MSFS 2020 is their G3X implementation is garbage.

I used to play Xplane and had the velocity twin that had a Dynon panel (close enough to the G3X) and also a GTN 650/750 add. This worked well for IFR procedures.

When I did my instrument ticket I also used PilotEdge.net, but after a bit realized my comms was fine and stopped using it.

At the end of the day I prefer MSFS 2020 mainly for the generated scenery. Not only do I have a full set of Rotary controls (cyclic, collective, antitorque pedals), but I play all on VR with a pretty stout computer. It's insanely fun. I use my copter controls for planes too, but they don't autocenter so it's a bit off.
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We have to talk ! :D

I've been looking for a couple of sims (one helo and one airplane) for my airport to offer free (like everything else we have here) for pilots to brush up their skills, as introduction to new pilot candidates, and for regular fun when the weather is down.

You are using yours for both airplanes and helicopters PLUS you're using VR goggles, so your setup seems to me to cover all the bases I want to cover. Do you have a website or Facebook page or YouTube video where I can see your system?

Heck, I haven't received my plane yet :( so I'll have to drive to OKC (I was born in Tinker AFB) but you're just 5 hours away driving so I can go anytime.
 
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