Hi, I am a college student & l plan on taking the necessary courses to get my pilots license next summer.At this point l know next to nothing on how to fly a plane or how things work, but l know that its something l really wanna do.l plan on flying small personal aircrafts recreationally, but have not completely ruled out becoming a professional pilot (though l think its unrealistic)Anyway, l was wondering if it is worth it for me to buy and use a flight simulator computer program to familiarize myself with piloting and see what its all about.Would it actually help me at all or is it more like a game?If it is worth it, which one is best (l use a Mac, so that limits me).Also, do you really need a joystick for them? I am guessing yes.Thanks for any help at all!

Well, if you are not familiar at all with how the control surfaces interact with each other; how power really works -generates more lift actually; and what the instruments do-yes.
If you expect it to teach air-sense, how to simultaneously talk on the radios while maintaining heading/altitude in a quartering headwind-no.
In your case, MS Flight Sim is probably the best. AFA stick-you actually need a yoke. The vast majority of aircraft you will fly have yokes

YES. At least you will learn something and l guess it is another way to keep your dream alive.
Though it is a game it teaches you a lot BUT knowing how to play it will not give you the capability to fly a real plane. You will still have to go to a flying school.
You will need a joystick though.

There is nothing wrong with using a good Flight Simulator. It may not be a great deal of help with ur initial flight training, because that really needs to be done in a real aircraft so u get the feel for how things work. However, u can use it to familiarize yourself with traffic patterns & other simple maneuvers, but do not expect it to give u realistic stalls, slow flight, turns around a point, etc.

Once u start getting into instrument training (optional once u complete ur Private Pilot training, but well worth it IMHO), that is when the simulator will become especially handy. You can definitely use it to practice navigation by NDB, VOR, & GPS, as well as practicing holds & instrument approaches. l found it incredibly handy while l was working on my Instrument rating, since l could practice all of the procedures l expected to do on my next flight.

You can fly a simulator without a joystick, but it is much better to get one. If u get a joystick, get one that has a twist function so u can use the rudder. An even better option would be to get an actual control yoke & rudder pedals, though they r a bit more expensive. Depending on how realistic u want ur ''cockpit'' to be, there r all kinds of hardware addons available.

Using a Mac may be a bit difficult. l am sure there r some simulators that will work on a Mac, but the only one l am familiar with is Microsoft is Flight Simulator, which l am fairly certain wo not work on a Mac.

While it is certainly not necessary to become a pilot, there is nothing wrong with using computer-based flight simulators (even though many airline pilots think they r just toys & r no good..geez guys, every pilot under the age of 35 grew up playing video games & flight simulators & we turned out fine). l am not sure what is available on the mac, but l do always see one in the Apple store. If not, maybe FSX via bootcamp?

Keep this in mind though. When it comes to actually flying the simulated plane around.it is a toy & nothing more unless you're working on instrument flying stuff. Thus do not go wasting money on a yoke or rudder pedals as a cheap joystick will suffice. What the simulators will help u with is getting familiar with what is in a cockpit & how the avionics/instruments work.

Again, if u do not want to spend the money, do not buy it. There r plenty of pilots who have never touched a PC/Mac based simulator.

Where these things really help is when going for an instrument rating as they help u develop a quick instrument scan.

l would say, if you wantied to be more firmiliar with the insturments, yes. Microsoft flight can be VERY realisistic. Otherwise, ehh, get flightgear (http://flightgear.org). its FREE (!) and opensource, realistic and good.

Flying is going to cost u between 150-200 bucks an hour, so spending some dough on a good flight simulator is well worth it.
The feeling is all wrong, but the simulation, especially in FSX, is accurate. The angles & rate of climb r extremely accurate in the 172sp. The glass cockpit is not accurate, except in display, it does not have the features of the real one, but its a great way to perfect u pattern & even maneuvers.
The last time l went for a check ride, when l was doing steep turns, the altimeter indicated less than a 15 ft deviation, which is amazing considering l had not flown the real plane in several months. Just FSX.
It will help if u use it as a serious learning aid, it will not help to make u get a feel for the plane, which u will pick up quickly anyway.

why does Comair parrot what real pilots say? He is only 15, & just pretends to be a pilot. No wonder he gets so many thumbs down. Someday, when he is a real pilot, he will realize that only non-pilots want everyone to know that they fly. Pro pilots sometimes even lie about their career, since people sometimes say crazy things after u tell them u r a professional pilot. Do not worry kid, u will get it one day.

Personally, l think desktop sims r great. Embry Riddle actually did a scientific study with them, & they found that using a sim made u spend less money on flight training. Of course, some people still do not like them, especially people who learned to fly before there were any computers.

You can learn a lot about the basics with a decent desktop flight simulator. ( MS flight sim is good, & Elite is a 'professional' desktop simulator )

They helped me learn situational awareness for flying on instruments, & l think helped me pick many things up more easily.

l think l would urge u if u use them to ''play'' with the simulator. If u work at it, & r too serious about ur play, u may end up practicing some bad habits that may be difficult to break later.

http://flyelite.com/software.php?product_id=55

l see that all the 12 - 15 year BOYS that plague this category by pretending to be real pilots, r telling u how great a flight simulating computer game would be. If u choose to buy a computer game to play for ur own entertainment that is fine. Do not expect it to teach u how to be a REAL licensed pilot. The controls of an aircraft will give u a completely different experience than a computer game joystick.

You would be better served by finding a quality flight training facility with a certified flight instructer that u trust rather than relying on the advice of a bunch of high school kids.

If u accept the limitations of flight simulation, it can be extremely useful for better understanding certain concepts & getting a better feel for flying when u r not able to practice in a real aircraft.

Desktop simulators such as Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane r excellent. They r most useful for practicing instrument flight; they r somewhat less useful for visual flight because of the limitations of a desktop computer (small screen, limited controls, no motion). However, they r much better than nothing for both purposes & will give u somewhat of a head start.

There r differences between a simulator & a real aircraft, of course, & some of these differences might cause u to develop a bad habit or two (the most common is a tendency to stare at the instruments even during visual flight), but these habits r easy to correct, & you're still better off with a sim & a few bad habits than without a sim & with no knowledge at all of flying.

Unfortunately, the two major sims mentioned above run only on PCs, as far as l know. Both of them r very realistic, which the emphasis on simulation rather than mere gaming. If u fly online with these sims, on a flight network such as VATSIM, u can get even more realism (including ATC communication that is like real life).

A joystick is not essential but it is a very good idea. For more realism, u might also want a throttle & rudder pedals. It all depends on how much u want to invest. Even with the fancy controls, the sim will still cost less than real-world flight instruction, so it is a way of saving money, too, if u can not currently afford real-world lessons.