Flying ability without flying too often
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Hey,
I’ve heard repeatedly that for flying well it’s necessary to fly often, and not take extended breaks. This was mostly applied to WVR, awareness, formation tightness.
Can one maintain relatively good skill in these areas without flying too often? Is there any trick that can help? I don’t intend to run the sim without extended breaks. Too many things going on and simming mostly doesn’t fit.
sh
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What would “not too often” be ?
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Sh,
Yes, the skills are perishable. There’s a reason RL pilots train so much. However, it’s important to keep a healthy perspective.
After a lot of years flying singleplayer, last night I flew my second multiplayer mission. While it was fun, let’s just say it was a lesson in what I don’t know! That’s where perspective comes in. Instead of being negative, I chose to be positive. Being part of a good WFW helps a lot.
For you, having a lot of stuff in your life does not mean you can’t enjoy BMS. So, my first tip is, keep it in perspective.
The second tip is to focus your BMS time where needed. For me, MP has made me want to be better at formation flying.So, when when I fly singleplayer I put myself in the wingman slot.In your position, put your limited time where needed. If you like SEAD/DEAD, don’t fly BARCAPS. When your time is really limited, fly the TE’s.
The third tip is to not let it get “too serious” . A lot of us here are really dedicated to simming and BMS. It is a big enjoyment to me, but I do have many other things in my life. Don’t let BMS become a “job”, keep it fun. -
Hey,
I’ve heard repeatedly that for flying well it’s necessary to fly often, and not take extended breaks. This was mostly applied to WVR, awareness, formation tightness.
Can one maintain relatively good skill in these areas without flying too often? Is there any trick that can help? I don’t intend to run the sim without extended breaks. Too many things going on and simming mostly doesn’t fit.
sh
as above, depends on what you consider too often. Being facetious, I would say you cannot fly too often Its simply not possible XD
More realistically, its just not possible to fly 18 hours a day, 5 days a week. So any continuous training you plan on doing needs to be carefully considered for maximum effectiveness in the given time you can dedicate to flying. Identify objectives before you start, determine ways to accomplish those training objectives effectively and efficiently, act out the training as best you can, then assess how it went, looking for areas it was weak or could be improved.
Keep that cycle going, and you can tailor your flying training so that no matter how little time you get, you are at least spending it as best you can.
You obviously will be limited by how often you can practice, but there is no need to be limited also by the quality of your practice as well.
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I sort of “force” myself to fly offline at least once a week, with a “wet contact” at least once a month.
Altough it sometimes feels like a bit of pain having to set things up, planning your mission on your own etc I find it has a really relaxing effect, so I’m usually quite happy when I followed through with the practise much like you feel after exercising. It might sound silly, but that’s how it works on my end
Cheers, Uwe
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Interestingly for the air refueling thing, its so much the same as formation flying, which is obviously practiced on every flight, that USAF F-16 pilots only need to do it once every 6 months to stay current on it.
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In the last year I was flying the tutorials when 4.33 was released, but I was flying also before only a few times - and to be honest,
the first ramp starts require a lot of time.
My skills became worse in the last years.
When I get more freetime in future, I will have to practice everything again - but atleast I regain the knowledge fast.
But knowledge is not skill - meaning, even if I know how things work, I’m partially too slow - and my Situational Awareness suffers hard -
Tank in a constant turn whenever you can and your skills will stay up.