what jet for a beginner

[wiwalde]

have been checking out the crj, 777 and a320neo, all look great. but what jet would be good for someone with no\little jet experience. have mostly been flying GA's, I have desent experience with the autopilot and gps, but are new to fms and airliners in general.

 

[ryancz]

I would recomend the CRJ, Javier has a really good tutorial, the manual isn't too long, and it is where new recuits start at the airlines too.

Good luck!

[hobofat]

If you are willing to purchase a plane, then I would also recommend the CRJ-200 by Javier.  I also do mostly GA flying, but the CRJ is one of my favorite planes so I splurged on it.  I did the tutorial flight multiple times, messing a lot of things things up, but getting better each time, until I was able to do the full flight successfully.  The manual covers all the systems, and my knowledge of how jets work, while still rudimentary, is far higher than before.

 

The CRJ lets you update the FMC with Navigraph data (you have to have a Navigraph subscription, but it is worth it), ensuring that you can use updated actual real-world charts. If you are blessed with an ipad, you can even run the FMC on the ipad.  I don't have one, but I would love to simply for that alone!

 

Also, the CRJ as a short-haul plane means you'll actually be able to mimic real flights even if you don't have all day.  Do some Hawaii inter-island flights, you'll be busy the whole time, and still be able to eat dinner with the wife and kids (or parents, if you are the kid!).

 

Last but not least, support for flying this plane is really good on this forum.  If you can't find the answer in the manual (and do read the manual first), Javier, Phillip, Cameron provide professional support, and other knowledgable end-users will take care of you.

 

It really is a ground-breaking plane for X-Plane - you'll get a lot of hours returned for your money spent.

[wiwalde]

thanks alot for taking your time to reply ryan and hobofat!

 

a trip to hawaii sounds good, i will go with the crj =)

[howardthepilot1999]

x737 is a good start.

[wiwalde]

x737 is a good start.

 

thanks, i will check it out once i get the hang of the crj-200.

[Andyrooc]

The only problem with the CRJ-200 and it's FMS  for me is the inability to load a flight-plan that you've designed in a flight-planning tool. Every other aircraft (jet) seems to have an ability to load a .fms file, which means you can use any flight-planning tool that can output a .fms file. The other thing to look at is the difference between cockpit realism and screen usability. This is dependent upon your system and controllers and your comfort with moving about a 3D cockpit.

 

One thing about a jet is it's really good to have a decent checklist. I've lost count of the number of times I've forgotten to put the seatbelt sign on!

[Mario Donick]

What does "little to no jet experience" mean?

 

I'm just asking because when I first tried to make the "transition" to jets (many years ago, still in FS2000 and later FS2004), I had no idea of what that would mean. I actually tried to hand-fly and land jets like I did with my beloved Cessna C172. Soon I realized that I would not be very successful with that.

 

1. I was unused to the much higher speeds and the slower maneuverability, and initially had problems keeping heading and altitude. I then discovered that it makes more sense to use the ALT and HDG functions of the autopilot ...

 

2. Even with that, I was not able to land successfully, because I had no idea of NAVAIDs and ILS, and did not know that approach charts exist which clearly show how to approach the airport, when to descent etc. When I discovered that, it took some time to understand all that stuff.

 

 

So, what I want to say ... if you know about (1) and (2), I think you can safely buy one of the payware jets you mentioned and dive into their systems.

 

But if you have flown so far more or less intuitively, without knowing about (2), you should first learn (2) before spending money on a plane you might not use successfully for a while.

 

In any case: if you don't want to spend money, a good starter plane is the Freeware Falcon 7X. It does not burden you with complicated FMC stuff, but it still "plausible" in its functions. I used the 7X to get back into jet flying when I started to use X-Plane.

Edited March 14, 2013 by mariodonick

[wiwalde]

What does "little to no jet experience" mean?

 

I'm just asking because when I first tried to make the "transition" to jets (many years ago, still in FS2000 and later FS2004), I had no idea of what that would mean. I actually tried to hand-fly and land jets like I did with my beloved Cessna C172. Soon I realized that I would not be very successful with that.

 

1. I was unused to the much higher speeds and the slower maneuverability, and initially had problems keeping heading and altitude. I then discovered that it makes more sense to use the ALT and HDG functions of the autopilot ...

 

2. Even with that, I was not able to land successfully, because I had no idea of NAVAIDs and ILS, and did not know that approach charts exist which clearly show how to approach the airport, when to descent etc. When I discovered that, it took some time to understand all that stuff.

 

 

So, what I want to say ... if you know about (1) and (2), I think you can safely buy one of the payware jets you mentioned and dive into their systems.

 

But if you have flown so far more or less intuitively, without knowing about (2), you should first learn (2) before spending money on a plane you might not use successfully for a while.

 

In any case: if you don't want to spend money, a good starter plane is the Freeware Falcon 7X. It does not burden you with complicated FMC stuff, but it still "plausible" in its functions. I used the 7X to get back into jet flying when I started to use X-Plane.

 

hmms, i guess im at 1.4. ils i understand. i will have to get a better understanding off navaid's, approach charts is totaly new to me.

thanks for the pointers, i will digg some more into point 2 =)