Scenario-Based Training with X-Plane and MicrosoftFlight Simulator: Using PC-Based Flight Simulations Based on FAA-Industry Training Standards

I am a private pilot and have been an avid flight simulation user for years. I found this book to be a very valuable asset in my flying toolbox. Good pilots are always learning, but it is easy to fall into a rut or just need a little extra structure to your practice and training. Bruce's book allows me to exercise the skills I learned when getting my PPL in direct alignment with FAA recommended training principles. With references to multiple FAA publications as recommended readings, exercises that build on each other, and real world scenarios it has proven to be a fantastic tool to strengthen and reiterate the skills and knowledge needed to be a competent, safe, and confident pilot (or simPilot). All of this at home, reducing both my cost for instructor time (because I'm more competent at reviews/etc) and aircraft time! Highly recommended.

Kudos to Bruce Williams for an excellent compilation! This is by far the best, most thorough written authority on today's home PC flight simulators, skillfully incorporating two of the best most popular sims (X-Plane and Microsoft FS) on two different platforms (Mac & PC). Mr. Williams masterfully covers everything you need to know --in user-friendly, informative chapters-- about training in the FAA scenario-based method using your PC. I've been flying PC sims since the original Bruce Artwick MS Flight Simulator in the early 80's, all the way through Fly! and X-Plane 10 today. This is the best book on the subject by far, and you can tell lots of work has gone into it. It's thinly reminiscent of some of the "let's pretend..." scenario books that were released in the early days of MS FS, except those were more in the realm of game guides. This book, though, is serious stuff. You can tell Mr. Williams and team has put lots of tedious work into this one. If you're looking for a How-To on operating the sims themselves, this isn't really it; this guide lets you learn technique from the FAA publications that real-world pilots do...but then has a true-to-life flying lesson awaiting you with each chapter. You'll be taught. You'll be briefed. You'll be held to FAA standard. The author's team has also filled the book chock with websites, notes and tips on how to find the best, most current online resources for your training. They've even created a partner site where you can download everything you need to make this program work best-- from charts to free FAA guide downloads and more. The only minor "cons" to this book: Mr. Williams' partner site for this book includes downloadable scenario files for your sim. For X-Plane, these only work up to "X-Plane 9"-- but X-Plane 10 is now the newest release. So if you're like me who has the most current XP version, you're stuck to reading the book only and either not using his scenarios or setting them up in X-Plane 10 yourself. Hopefully the team will create scenario files for XP10 soon. Another improvement that could be made is that too many times in the book there is repeated reference to the partner site or a particular download or app. They probably could have saved lots of paper by consolidating these references into an iconic sidebar a la some of the "Dummies" books. All in all, though, a great buy if you're serious about learning to fly, increasing proficiency, or enjoying your PC sim the way real pilots enjoy their planes.

Arrived in perfect condition, and not only reads well and covers excellent information, but also contains the sites to a large number of related locations where a person can find (usually free) details on information some people would not be interested in. If you only want to get more out of your sims, it does a great job. If you want to be a pilot, stay up to date, or look into it, the mentioned sites contain things like free FAA manuals and related materials. I was unable to continue my flight lessons 20+ years ago, and love following the profession from the different angles. Unless you have mastered bot sims, you can learn from this.

These books don't explain how to setup flight simulator to get you going with flight. some of the problems and how to fix them. If your equipment will not work prpperly one could loose interest in flying I think. Ken Murray

A great training aid again by Mr Bruce Williams. I would highly recommend this latest training program to any pilot who has access to a computer. This also applies to any "Sim Pilot only", as it helps to master required skills. This is a followup to his "MS Flight Simulator as a Training Aid", which also provided both VFR/IFR Scenario-Based Training. I have flown most of those training flights many times and still gain something to improve my skills. I have not attempted any flights from his new effort yet-still reading the manual. Will be going online to "wily.com" to review and download scenarios once completing review. R.E. Fogle

Excellent book or the flight simulator. Very helpful in the effort to become very accomplished as a pilot in such an environment.

A good (but slightly dated) book for anyone interested in using their home PC for flight training. I learned to fly gliders using Condor software before getting my glider rating, and have flown extensively in X-Plane while training for my Private Pilot certificate.One key consideration that I could not find mentioned in the book is that anyone using a simulator for training should always sit down to the computer with a "real plane" mindset. Doing things like taking shortcuts with procedures, or flying the simulated aircraft as if it were part of a computer game defeats the purpose of training to ingrain muscle memory and create good decision making skills. Act like it is real, and you'll feel like it's real. You can however use the sim to experience situations you would rarely if ever practice in real aircraft, such as attempting the "impossible turn" back to the runway at 400 feet AGL. The age of the book also means it omits key facts about the software it references. FSX is no longer supported and has become stagnant, while X-plane continues to improve in both fidelity and user interface. This means that for X-Plane 11 users they will have to manually enter the situation's initial conditions and not rely on the downloadable situation files. It would be nice to see a revision of this book that updates this.

Bruce Williams was the subject of an interview I wrote after chatting with him when he made his anual migration from Seattle to Boulder City, Nevada, wher he keeps his airplane in the winter months. His book is easy to read and is very clearly written. He is an excellent instructor of aerobatic flying.

Die beinhalteten Szenarien sind mit aktuellen Flugsimulatoren, z.B. xplane 11, nicht verwendbar, da sich das Datenformat in den letzten Jahren erheblich geändert hat.

Il libro e' sicuramente un ottimo aiuto per chi vuole fare pratica sui simulatori. Chiaro, semplice da seguire, consente di utilizzzare un intelligente metodo didattico

very informative and excersises will be great to do.

THIS IS A VERY GOOD BOOK, WITH MANY CLEAR AND CONCISE ILLUSTRATIONS. THE METHOD USED FOR EXPLAINING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN REAL FLIGHT TRAINING AND P.C. BASED SIMULATION , USING ALL POSSIBLE SCENARIOS, IS EXCELLENT: INFORMATIVE AND EXTREMELY HELPFUL. THE MANNER OF WRITING IS EASILY UNDERSTOOD AND FOLLOWS A LOGICAL SEQUENCE OF FLIGHT PROCEDURE AND ORDER. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO POTENTIAL "REAL WORLD" TRAINEES AND TO THOSE WHO LOVE AVIATION BUT WILL BE CONFINED TO P.C. BASED SIMULATIONS. DEFINITELY ONE FOR THE ENTHUSIAST'S SHELF.

An excellent companion to earlier edition.