Why Simulators are More Difficult to Fly Than Aircraft

Simulators are typically more difficult to fly than the aircraft they represent. The factors involved include limited field of view, degraded visual acuity, scene distortion, absence of depth perception, attenuation or absence of motion cues, and response delays that are often inconsistent among visual, motion, and instruments. It is suggested that for most training tasks the added difficulty because of these factors is not a drawback, and should not be alleviated at the expense of dynamic fidelity.