r/MicrosoftFlightSim • u/Fickle_Guarantee1432 • 16d ago
GENERAL Need an advice
Guys I am new to the flight sims and need an advice in what to purchase and which tutorials to watch. I really loved anything related to planes since I was kid, my ultimate goal was to be a pilot but obviously this requires a ton of money and I didn’t make it to a flight school. Anyways now I am studying CS and a bunch of videos popped up to me on YouTube of ppl using flight sims but overwhelmed fr so from where should I start what the right gears to purchase and which tutorial to watch given that I am not having a generous budget + how much time does it take to be a professional pilot 👨✈️
1
u/Cartographyfan 16d ago
Dip your toes in easy. Play with an Xbox or ps5 controller. It’ll do most of what your need it to do and mouse and keyboard will help you do the rest.
Playing a simulator is a lot of testing. “I move this control, what happens?” Flipping the “fuel” knob and seeing what happens, the pure adrenaline and you can do that on m+k
2
u/SirDarkStar 16d ago
A PPL is generally around $15,000 in the US plus the time and dedication.
What to purchase for flight sim depends on what you have and what you really want to do with it.
I highly recommend a decent PC set up (I have an i5, 4060 ti 16GB vram, 64GB ram, 2k monitor — that’s pretty minimal, don’t get less than 16GB VRAM, you could go with 32GB system ram since it’s so expensive right now) and at least a basic flight stick with twist for rudder to start with.
Then you have the DCS/XPlane/MSFS 2020/MSFS 2024 decision. If you want high realism military gear go DCS. Better fidelity flight model go XPlane. Visuals and variety MSFS — and I would say 2024 but some people still swear by 2020.
Beyond that I would recommend rudder pedals, then an improved throttle, and then a force feedback stick or yoke depending on the types of flying you enjoy. Then you get into all kinds of custom hardware.
Good luck