Question: Who would you rather have, a PPL or Sim Pilot?
OK this is a response to the question that started being discussed in another thread: http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9811 and also to the letters in last months and this months 'Pilot' magazine in the UK.
The scenario is some in flight emergency has incapacitated the crew of a major heavy aircraft. Say a modern 747. Who should be in the cockpit? Would a PPL with 150 hours VFR on light singles be better than a FSX pilot who spends his whole life flying the PMDG 747?
Last month in 'Pilot' the letters page included a response from a sim pilot. His contention was that the PMDG sim pilot would have the best chance. Modern aircraft he contested are not just about being able to fly. Its understanding the complex systems that make up the cockpit, and if you press the right buttons they will pretty much land themselves.
This months 'Pilot' has the opposing view from a PPL with many hours both real and simulated. Pointing to a crashed aircraft which DNA showed was being flown by the chief steward after the crew were incapacitated by a pressurization problem. He wanted to know where the sim pilot was planning on flying so he could video the ensuing crash. His article ended with the question; Why do we pay pilots so much if you only have to push a few buttons? (They get paid for the times when the buttons don't work and you need a real, experienced and skilled pair of hands in my opinion.)
Personally I feel the PMDG pilot has more chance than the PPL. True he does not know what its like to fly an aircraft 'for real'. True things happen very fast, and there is no pause button. Then again he knows where things are in the cockpit. He can use the radios and call for help. He can program an approach and let the plane fly itself onto the runway. It may not be pretty, but he will get the aircraft onto a runway with all the emergency stuff ready for him.
The PPL wont have used any of this stuff, and a 747 does not handle like a piper. If he cant get his head round the auto pilot he wont have anywhere near as much chance as the PMDG pilot. There is hundreds of thousands of pounds of high tech computers there to make flying safer, but it wont do it if you dont know how to use it.
The question is really a moot point in that if both these people were on board, there are 2 seats in the cockpit. Really you want them both, the PPL to 'fly', the PMDG pilot to operate the buttons and radios.
Still I am interested in what others think. How far can simulation take you? Who would you choose?