boleyd

And the virtual pilot with zero hours is left in a quandry. The probable cause is that some pilots focus on different areas of flight. There are many, and unless there was a "checklist" of regimes the person seeking validation may have only part of the story. A checklist with 1 to 5 ratings of a set of major flight parameters for an aircraft would help everyone, including pilots, to evaluate a virtual aircraft. Further, such a structured setup would also allow the author to make the needed changes to improve performance in a particuarly low rated area. Win-win....

I am guessing that most X-Plane customers are non-pilots. As such they really cannot judge the accuracy of the flight model. This has always been the gap in the suspension of belief needed when using a simulator. In my case I have trouble using an aircraft that has no real-world pilot critique. The fact that it flies seems to be the primary criteria for many. I do not expect that extreme acrobatic performance is a judged objective for a Cessna 152. But its reactions to pilot inputs and weather are things that need to be given some sort of evaluation. Various visual functions (doors, cowls, etc.) are nice but if it does not act ok in a stall then the shadows from the rivets make it a model aircraft on the shelf for display. Real Pilot reviews would be very appealing.