Hacker News Reader

Comment by iguanayou | Hacker News Reader

As a pilot, I use VR with the XPlane flight simulator and it seriously feels like I'm in a real Cessna. True, the flight controls are a little off (for example, stalls and landings don't feel like a real plane), but other than that, everything is absolutely spot on.

It's a great way to scratch my aviation itch and is also great for practicing procedures, especially when paired with a live air traffic control network like PilotEdge. My brain seriously forgets that it's a simulation when I'm in it.

This could be a way to revolutionize flight training, and make it more accessible. The entire cost of my PC build including VR gear and software is a fraction of what real-life flight training costs.

View on HN

Since the release of the original Oculus I’ve been curious about this. I fly for a living which is a very rewarding and satisfying way to earn a paycheck but it does come with some monotony and takes away some of the ‘fun’ that can really only be had from GA flying low and slow and taking in the scenery. I’m not able to afford an actual aircraft yet but I’m wondering if a good VR simulator set up could scratch that itch.

I guess it depends what kind of flying you do in the sim but do you find it still provides a fun factor? Like is it immersive enough to go fly around in the mountains? Or hop around some lakes in a seaplane? Is manipulating switches and buttons other than the primary controls cumbersome within VR? I remember the original ‘virtual cockpits’ in MS Flight Sim and planning around go find the right switches and buttons to click really took away from the experience.

I’m really interested in this idea but haven’t found a setup to try out and I’m hesitant to spend a bunch on it just to test it out.

You don't get any of the "seat of the pants" feeling of course, and the graphics, while super impressive, don't compare to real-life low and slow VFR flying (although hopefully MS Flight Sim 2020 changes that). It doesn't replace the real thing.

BUT I enjoy flying VFR in busy airspace with the PilotEdge network, and also IFR flying. For the communications and IFR flying, the mental tasks you do in the sim are identical to what you do for real. After an ILS approach to minimums in the sim, I feel like I got a workout. It definitely keeps my head in the game.

The controls become second nature very quickly.

I think this is where I diverge from the Flight Sim community. Most sim-ers are searching for realistic IFR, busy airspace, ATC, and airline/commercial type operations because it’s something that is basically not an option without a career in the field. This means most of the development work focuses on that type of flying. Plus it has commercial applications, like use in training simulators.

As someone who has a career in all of this I just want a way to fly low and slow without dropping $20k+ on an aircraft plus all of the other ongoing expenses and time that incurs.

MSFS2020 certainly looks promising but so did FSX. I suppose I’ll just have to continue waiting until the VFR experience improves or I can afford an aircraft.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

What is VFR and IFR??

I know nothing about flying but it's something that I am always thinking about learning, but if VR is good enough to scratch that itch, I'm up for it.

Briefly, VFR = Visual Flight Rules. You control the aircraft by looking outside. IFR = Instrument Flight Rules. You control the aircraft strictly by reference to instruments (you need to do this in clouds, for example, when you can't see the horizon).

As iguanayou already pointed out it’s the type of rules a flight is flown under. As you might imagine it’s far easier to simulate IFR flying because it’s largely technical and about animating gauges as there’s little to look at outside when you’re in the clouds or even just high altitude.

VFR on the other hand is all about visual reference to what’s outside. To truly have a VFR experience in a sim you would need incredibly detailed rendering of the outside world which is very graphics and memory intensive. FSX from Microsoft came close but at the time it brought most hardware to a crawl with the settings dialed up and then MS abandoned the franchise.

If MS pulls off their new sim well we might finally be there where a decent VFR flying experience can be simulated when combined with a head mounted display that lets you easily look around out the windows. Time will tell though. I just read something today saying 40 FPS at 4K on a GTX2080. That’s pretty intense.

Thanks for the responses!

can you describe your setup in more detail?

Sure, it's a scratch-built PC (i7 / 2070 Super) with an HP Reverb, which is a lightweight VR headset. I use a physical yoke (Honeycomb), rudder pedals (Thrustmaster), and throttle quandrant (Saitek), but everything else in the cockpit can be manipulated with the VR controllers that come with the headset.

You just interact with the cockpit as you normally would, pressing buttons, pulling levers, and twisting knobs.

In the virtual cockpit, there is a tablet app that displays all of your maps/charts/checklists/reference materials. Works pretty slick.

How is the resolution/screen door effect of that headset? I use an original Vive with VTOL VR and other games and while they are still very fun and serviceable, I just built a new PC so I could purchase an Index when they go back on sale. I'm hoping the bump in resolution is as significant as I've heard

The resolution is good enough to read all of the gauges easily. It won't look as nice as a good monitor, but the immersion more than makes up for it. I do notice a screen door with the Reverb. Not bad, but it's there.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com