Introduction

Welcome to FSA’s Learning Flights!

These five flights are designed for flight simmers who want a crash course—hopefully not literally—in safely operating aircraft within the air traffic control system. Whether or not you fly online with human air traffic controllers, this program will take you from flying simple VFR closed traffic patterns to complex IFR procedures like instrument approaches, SIDs, STARs, holds, and more!

This educational course is designed for serious flight simmers who want to take their simulation flying to the next level. The flights are written for a relatively novice simmer who is able to taxi, takeoff, land, and conduct basic enroute navigation already. If you're at that level, you’re ready to begin the program.

Each flight will take you between 2-6 hours to complete, depending on how much time you spend reading the briefing materials and how much you already know. For example, if you’re an instrument-rated recreational pilot in real life, you likely already know most of the VFR subjects discussed in the first flight. If you’re getting into flight simulation for the first time, you may spend more time on every flight reading, watching, and searching.

Based in the U.S. Rockies, the flights offer scenic views of stunning terrain and challenging, high-level airport operations. Because the flights are conducted in the United States, the content here focuses on operations in that area. However, many of the concepts discussed are equally applicable to IFR flying around the world.

If you want to learn more about U.S. airspace requirements, flying full instrument approaches, and flying RNAV ‘descend via’ procedures, FSA’s Learning Flights are for you!

To make the most of this course, you should:

The first Learning Flight is an introduction to VFR operations and can be flown with a General Aviation aircraft. However, subsequent flights focus on IFR operations. For those, you’ll need something that has modern RNAV capability, a programmable GPS, and up-to-date navdata. Most default flight simulator aircraft aren’t ideal for this. Also, you’ll also need something with a bit of power to it: you’ll be flying 100+ NM flights over 13,000 ft. terrain!

MSFS Examples

PMDG 737
Fenix A320
FlightFX SF50 Vision Jet

X-Plane Examples

Hot Start TBM 900
iToLiss A319
FlightFactor A320
Zibo Mod 737-800X
AirFoil Labs King Air 350/350i

This program teaches navigation, not flying. You should already know how to program your GPS, use flaps and aircraft systems, and taxi, takeoff, and land safely, particularly at high-elevation airports. This means you should be able to do the following before attempting these flights:

Start up, taxi out, and take off without reading or requiring any instruction.
Operate the landing gear, flaps, and other control surfaces without assistance.
Fly the aircraft (either visually or by means of instrumentation) such that you remain within:

+/- 100 ft. of a target altitude.
+/- 10° of a target heading.
+/- 10 knots of a target speed.

Safely fly a visual or instrument approach to an assigned runway, and land on that runway.
Taxi the aircraft to a parking spot, and shut it down, without assistance.

Want to lean more about simulator flying?

Join VATSIM and look at VATSTAR’s flight instructor-based training.
Purchase Airline2Sim’s video tutorials for aircraft and airports.
Buy Gleim’s X-Plane Flight Training Course.

The default simulator-provided air traffic control (ATC) won’t be able to handle the type of flying discussed in this course. However, there are some great options for free and paid virtual air traffic control you might consider. Of course, you can also do the flights offline—just make sure to disable the default ATC.

VATSIM

Although ATC coverage isn’t guaranteed, the network is free to join and available to anyone. For more information, visit our Online World Guide.

PilotEdge

For a paid subscription, you can receive ATC coverage from PilotEdge from 8am–11pm Pacific Time, 7 days a week. The Learning Flights are located within PilotEdge’s "Western US Coverage Area", meaning you will receive at least enroute VFR and IFR service for each flight. Visit PilotEdge for more information.

Each flight contains recommendations for add-on airport scenery for pilots of Prepar3D and X-Plane. However, you may also want to consider an update to the scenery across the region for the best visual experience:

For Prepar3D pilots, consider Orbx’s Global BASE, Global VECTOR (upgrades textures, autogen, coastlines, rivers, etc. using real-world data sources) and their NA Central Rockies region, which provides coverage for the first four flights. A discount on all of these products is available to FSA Members.

For X-Plane pilots, high quality orthophoto scenery is available for free at this link.

Remember that these flights are about simulator flying, not real-world training. The concepts we’ll discuss (in very limited detail) are for flight simulation use only and can never replace real training from certified professionals.

Although you should be able to fly these flights using any simulator with full IFR support, the program has been designed for pilots using one of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Prepar3D, or X-Plane.

About Boston Virtual ARTCC

FSA’s Learning Flights are based on Boston Virtual ARTCC’s Wings Over New England (WINGS) program, a much more comprehensive set of training flights. With Boston Virtual ARTCC’s program, certified air traffic controllers act as "instructors" during each flight, monitoring pilot performance and providing feedback in real time as each mission is completed. Anyone flying Microsoft Flight Simulator, Prepar3D, or X-Plane can participate in WINGS for free by applying to join Boston Virtual ARTCC. Visit http://bvartcc.com/welcome for more information.

Boston Virtual ARTCC has also produced a free series of "Ground School" resources designed for flight simulation pilots. These hour-long briefing seminars cover common flight simulation subjects, specifically designed for pilots flying online with air traffic control. Throughout this program, applicable Ground School seminars are linked for pilots who want a little more detail on the material covered.

Flight Simulation Association thanks Boston Virtual ARTCC for their contributions to this program!

Ready to get started? Click here