What to Expect
The flights are aimed at novice simmers who are wanting to take their skills to the next level. If you're already able to taxi, takeoff, land, and conduct basic enroute navigation, you're ready to begin the program.
Each flight will take 2–4 hours to complete, depending on your experience and how much time you spend with the briefings. The more effort you put into reading and understanding the material, the more you'll get out of the program.
The content focuses on operations in the U.S. National Airspace System, but many of the concepts discussed are equally applicable to IFR flying around the world.
Although you should be able to fly these flights using any simulator with full IFR support, the program has been designed for pilots using Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane.
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. During WINGS flights, virtual air traffic controllers act as "instructors", monitoring pilot performance and providing feedback in real time as each mission is completed. Anyone can participate in WINGS for free by joining Boston Virtual ARTCC. Visit bvartcc.com/welcome for more information.
Flight Simulation Association thanks Boston Virtual ARTCC for their contributions to this program!
To make the most of this course, you should:
Pick the Right Airplane
Learning Flight 1 is an introduction to VFR operations and can be flown with a General Aviation aircraft.
Learning Flights 2-5 focus on IFR operations. For those, you'll likely need a payware add-on aircraft that has modern RNAV capability, a programmable GPS, and up-to-date navdata.
For all flights, choose an aircraft with power: you'll be flying 100+ NM flights over 13,000 ft. terrain!
Know Your Aircraft
This program teaches navigation, not flying. It assumes you're already familiar with your simulator and aircraft.
Before attempting these flights, you should already know how to taxi, takeoff, and land, and maintain target altitudes, headings, and speeds within reason.
Additionally, you should be able to program your aircraft's GPS and use all aircraft systems without requiring assistance.
Consider Realistic Air Traffic Control
The default simulator-provided air traffic control (ATC) won't be able to handle the types of instrument procedures discussed in this course, and shouldn't be used.
Consider flying with real, human controllers so that someone can monitor and provide feedback on how you execute procedures. See our Online World Guide for options.
AI-based ATC solutions like SayIntentions.AI or BeyondATC may also be useful.