Hi in the Cessna 172 I adjust the camera settings according your recommendations, the result for the front view is ok, I get the front view recommended by you, but then when I look left in the traffic pattern for example I am unable to see the horizon, I am clearly too high in the seat position, so when looking left a significative part of the upper vision is obstructed by the upper part of the door, I have no adequate vision of my left to see properly the run way for example, is like I moved my seat clearly too high. In your youtube video seems like happens exactly the same in the initial left movement but immediately the view changes to other one in a much lower position that allow you to see from a lower position. Can you tell me if there is some camera settings allowing this?
Hello
I can understand what you mean, though setting the camera up is constrained to the default key binds. For now, you could assign a plus and minus camera height as you are checking left and right. We will, of course, look into this in future iterations of Academy.
Hi,
to be judged good on short final and the delineated criteria for the pattern I would have to make the turn to final below 500 ft. That is something that should be thought about. In real flying you are taught to make the base to final turn at 500 ft, not lower. Even to be a little higher gives you a better position in case of an engine problem on final. In the MSFS I also find it more difficult than in real flying to be on speed to the single knot. Also my Saitek yoke is unnatrually sensitive on pitch changes on climb out. Any idea how to solve this? I don`t have this problem in X-Plane.
Is it me or is this demanding unusually wide, American-style patterns for a European airport? Flew the circuit as trained in the UK - climbing crosswind turn, turn base 45Ā° aft, dirty up all the way on base and turn final at 500, only to get an āunsatisfactoryā on final distance and threshold airspeed as the Asobo 172ās sweet spot is around 58 KIAS at flaps 3ā¦
Well, after quite a journey, and struggling through each lesson, Iāve finally made it to the flight pattern lesson.
I guess itās just a case of putting all the pieces together for this lesson. At the moment Iām still finding the same problem I had when I tried to fly patterns before enrolling in the academyā¦it all feels very rushed. The actual distance travelled is quite short, and no soon as youāve taken off, it feels like youāre coming round to land againā¦and thereās a lot of different aspects to consider and manoeuvres to carry outā¦still feels like thereās not much time to think while youāre doing itā¦but I guess, as with the other lessons, it takes time and practise to build a familiar picture. So Iām sure Iāll get there eventually.
One thing I have been wondering thoughā¦throughout these lessons Iāve been completely disabling my Tobii eye tracker, as I can not see a way of building a consistent picture if your viewpoint is constantly changingā¦but with the pattern lesson, it seems vital that youāre looking left quite regularly to try and decide when and where to initiate turns, etcā¦so would you advise turning it back on? If so, is it better to disable the movement axisā and only use it to look left and right? Or am I still better off to just keep using the buttons to look around?
When I used to fly just by setting up the autopilot, taking off and then letting the Garmin fly the plane until the last hundred feet or so of touchdownā¦the Tobii was great, as it meant I could look around and enjoy the scenery moreā¦but now that Iām trying to actually fly properly, I find it very difficult to remain consistent with it turned on, so Iāve just been keeping it off. I guess this is the right thing to do?
::EDIT::
Ok, bit more practise this morning before work, and I think Iām getting better at most of the pattern. Managing to pick out hills to head towards for visual cuesā¦and yet the biggest problem Iām still having is turning base to finalā¦despite having arguably the biggest visual cue availableā¦the runwayā¦really difficult to time this right.
I know that it says overshoots and undershoots are normal while training, but honestly, it feels totally randomā¦like I can use the same visual cues each time, and end up with a totally different result. Iāve been trying to judge when to turn based on the position of one of the wing arms/struts compared to the runway when Iām looking leftā¦but I just did 2 circuits in a row where I actually deliberately turned at the same pointā¦same bank angle, etcā¦and yet one was a massive undershoot and one a massive overshoot.
Is there a better way to get this part right? I feel like I must be missing something obvious.
I think getting it wrong is making it much harder to get the final approach right too, since Iāve got less time actually pointed at the runway, as you need to allow some time for the over/undershoot to be corrected.
Just tried again for a quick few circuits, this time WITH the tobii again.
Iām still not quite getting the hang of turning base to final, but it is somewhat easier when you can turn to look at the runway.
Iāve tried to adjust the settings of the tobii so that it doesnāt wander about too much, so i can maintain a steady-ish sight for the rest of the pattern, as itās kind of distracting having to keep toggling it off and on when needed. So Iāve just tried to set it where it will mostly stay put, but when I do make a deliberate head movement, it will turn or move the camera. I tried setting it so that it ONLY affected yaw, but this felt really unnatural and weird.
I think between using this, and really trying to double check and maintain the correct speeds and pitch attitudes (especially during the turns, where itās easy to let things run away from you), Iāll get there with more practise.
Really enjoying this challenge of learning to fly instead of just relying on the autopilot so much.
Itās definitely been (and still is) extremely difficult, but I think Iām getting thereā¦ and even if Iām still not perfect, or even still not very goodā¦ Iām definitely better than I was.
At least now, when I make a mistake, i can actually visually see what Iām doing wrong (yes, I know, āvisually seeā sounds dumb, but what I mean is that i can now often tell from the cockpit view out of the windscreen, what in doing wrong, because you can see if youāre attitude is wrong, or see that youāre descending too fast, or turning too steep and things like that).
Learning about the correct sight picture for each element of the flight has made a huge difference.
At the beginning of the year, I was ready to give up flight simming altogether, so Iām really glad I found this course.
Looking outside the windscreen and actually looking for negative trends is vitally important, attitude, overbank, sink rate etc. Understanding these pictures is an enormous milestone. Eventually it will become second nature.
On the base to final turn, youāre not missing anything obvious but there are some points,
Firstly, I think you might be mixing up the two different turns. The strut cue (runway end level with the strut 45Ā° behind you) is the cue for turning base ie. leaving the downwind leg. Its not a cue for turning final. The runway itself is the reference but you would use that reference on the fly..as youturn around base, watch the extended centerline swing towards your nose, lead the turn a little before it lines up, then adjust your bank through the turn (steepen if you are swinging through it / shallow off if you are falling short). Its definitely something to practice a lot. Back in my initial training, I spent several solo lessons just staying in the circuit for ~2hrs. I was a wreck of a human after it but it helped immensely!
Secondly, and this is probably the real reason the rusults feel rather random, check your wind and keep it in your mind. The base leg is extremely sensitive to it. Even a small amount of crosswind will push you towards or away from the centerline. If youāre using live weather, it can be different on ever circuit so bear that in mind.
A few more items that might help,
Youāre in free flight so give yourself some room. In the sim, nobody can question your license so who cares if you fly a bigger pattern, wider downwind, longer final. It can be made less rushed and you have a lot more time too practice.
Try, also, to fly a consistent downwind distance away from the runway and not just rely on the strut. Find a geographical point that you fly over consistently, like an odd part of a field, a house, a road and check that picture each time youāre at that point on the downwind. It should look the same each time.
Regarding the Tobii eye tracker, Iād turn it back on for the pattern. Having that easier view would make a big difference. We typically dont reference ancillaries like these for the course because not everybody has or has access to these things.
As Academy default, though, yes the left viewpoint is high, but you can modify this by adding in a camera height or seat height keybind with up/down keys.
Thanks as always for your detailed reply. Most helpful.
I am off work tomorrow. So Iām gonna give myself a breather today and spend a good few hours repeating the pattern at LSZR tomorrow.
Iāll focus on your tips and hopefully start getting the hang of it 
Thanks again
Just passed with 90% overall score.
My biggest error seems to have been turning to base too late.
I did slightly overshoot the turn to final, but let it correct and still had time to stabilise approach somewhat.
So before I move on to solo lesson, Iāll have to do some more laps, remembering to turn to base a little earlierā¦well, quite a lot earlier it seems haha. Iāll have to find an earlier visual cue.
Thanks again for all the help.
Time for a break now though
Really nice! Practice makes perfect, right? 
Iām gonna go with practise makes better for now haha.
I definitely feel a lot better than I did in January. This course has allowed me to actually stick with this hobby, instead of quitting and selling all my gear.
Learning to hand fly feels like so much more of an accomplishment than learning how to use the Garmin.
Now that I understand how things work more, and can have better control of the aircraft, I will be able to go through the bush trips properly, and enjoy the challenge of actually flying them.
I understand flying patterns and I am able to do the process of flying a pattern. What I cannot do is fly a pattern within the parameters required by the airport. How can I place a flightplan into Navigraph to simply fly a pattern so I follow my path while practicing? I use msfs 2024 on PC.
Flying a circuit is not something that one would expect to flight plan. The goal of a circuit is for you to fly a specified pattern, typically rectangular, with the intent to land.
Building the mental picture of a circuit as it is flown is vitally important as it is something that will be conducted, or potentially conducted very often.
The study material contained within Academy will help build on this and after practice it will become second nature.