In MS Flight Simulator so far, I noticed that I quickly developed a habit of flying almost 100% from instruments even when there’s great visibility outside. I don’t know if that’s because of what you describe here, or because it’s difficult for me to manipulate the camera and fly the plane at the same time, or because this is actually just the best way to fly a plane. Either way, it’s worked pretty well for someone like me who had no flying experience. I’m also terrible at racing sims for what it’s worth.
I flew for the first time today in a Cessna 172. I had a hard time determining if I was climbing or descending by looking over the cowling and found myself frequently checking the altimeter and rate of climb steam gauges. To be fair it was mountainous terrain so there was no obvious horizon.
That’s funny to read, I took my first flying lesson a few weeks ago and had the exact same problem flying over completely flat terrain. I have some simulator experience which made me look at the instruments way too much, the instructor had to remind me continuously to stop doing that and look outside instead.
In MS Flight Simulator so far, I noticed that I quickly developed a habit of flying almost 100% from instruments even when there’s great visibility outside. I don’t know if that’s because of what you describe here, or because it’s difficult for me to manipulate the camera and fly the plane at the same time, or because this is actually just the best way to fly a plane. Either way, it’s worked pretty well for someone like me who had no flying experience. I’m also terrible at racing sims for what it’s worth.