sim experience
Yeah, I had them pull an engine right after V1 on both the md-90 and an outboard on the MD-11. Went through the emergncy x-list with the PNF. Cranked in the trim. Otherwise it was a lot less benign than I thought. Also, had a a fire after takeoff, heavy turbulence used trhoghout for the challenge, (again not as bad as I thought, but I guess you are 150 ft from the wing root, so it's not that bad to the pilots when compared to a 4 seater), ILS's down to minimums at night and day in IMC I hand flew everything with three instructors behind me. Refused to let them use the autopilot with me. Wanted to see if I had what it took. I used autothrottle, and of course I had the co-pilot to do perform the tasks, but I had to call out the flaps, gear, arm speed brake, etc. It was a lot easier to hand fly than I thought, including capturing the GS and LOC, even with one engine out on the MD-90. As one of my instructors said a year ago, they told him at FS VEro, "it's all about the trim!". So I basicall used the trim after rotation to 16-18 degrees, didn't overcontrol, and was smooth....Not to mention a nice 5-+degree flare, and let it settle down...no 172 stall horns...
Finally, had to get over use of the rudder on final. Instructor told me that he could see that I was a small plane pilot. After one approach, lost the urge to touch them, except to kick the plane back after a crab with a 12 knot cross wind. Overall, the HSI, and all instruments were exactly where I expected them after using add-ons in FS2k2, and getting some flows and X-lists off the internet, while studying panels off of the Aviation Picture sites. The only thing that took a minute or two to get used to was the inertia when taxiing. 5 knots seems a hell of a lot faster when you are moving a 200k lb bird. Not to mention making sure not to over steer the tiller. Screeching tires and a bucking plane, make for unhappy passengers...
P.S. The FMC was even easy to use after learning the one on the PSS Airbus product on fs2k2. Easy to program SID's, STAR's etc.
It's amazing what the computer can do for a pilot thes days...
Well, I highly recommend the FS Boeing experience for any pilot above say 100-120 hours. Otherwise, you are not smooth enough, and you will overcontrol the plane to the point of them putting you on the autopilot the whole time.. Boring...I know it's realistic in the real world, very little hand flying. But for this one experience, where you can't kill yourself, and you have no passengers, it's a great challenge to see if you can handle the plane smoothly..
