Learning To Fly 3 is fine for basics, but it shows its age pretty quick
I installed it back around 2021, mostly because a buddy told me to stop trying to learn on X-Plane and just use something that doesn't crash every time you land hard. My setup was a basic yoke, pedals, and a laptop that wheezed after half an hour. I flew about 40 hours on it before moving on. Here's what I actually learned from that time. It's not a full simulator. Think of it more like a structured ground-school companion with some basic flight physics wrapped around it. You pick an airport, pick a plane, and go. It covers VFR navigation, basic instrument procedures, and a handful of patterns you'll actually use if you ever get in a real Cessna 172. The lesson structure is linear — it doesn't let you jump around much. That's deliberate, I guess, because the authors probably figure most people will waste their time if given a blank slate. The terrain is... adequate. Flat where it needs to be, weirdly detailed in places that don't matter and completely missing features you'd notice immediately on approach to KATL. I remember flying into a fake version of Charlotte and expecting to see the interstate running dead ahead of the runway. It wasn't there. The software didn't even try. This isn't a dealbreaker if you're just learning patterns and basic navigation, but if you're using it as a visual reference for real-world airports, you'll get confused fast.
What actually works well
The weather system is the best part. Not because it's realistic — it isn't — but because it forces you to make decisions. I learned about minimums the hard way when I tried to continue an approach in scattered thunderstorms and got absolutely chewed up. The software doesn't forgive you. You either slow down, go around, or find yourself spinning. It's a decent introduction to the concept that weather isn't optional. Most beginner simulators let you fly in perfect conditions forever. This one won't. That said, the weather can also just disappear entirely if your machine can't handle the rendering. My old laptop would render sky blue for about three seconds, then switch to white. I learned to run it at 720p and lower texture quality just to keep it stable during cross-country lessons. The aircraft models are limited to maybe six or seven options, mostly single-engine piston. You get a Cessna, a Piper, a Cherokee, and a couple of twins if you push through enough lessons. The handling isn't precise — you can tell the physics engine is simplified — but it's honest enough. You still feel stall buffet. You still notice when you load the wing too hard on a turn. It's not going to teach you proper coordination by itself, but it won't lie to you the way some games do.
The part nobody mentions
There's a radio window that looks functional but is kind of broken in a specific way. The COM stereo is keyed like a phone. You press and hold to talk, release to listen. That sounds normal until you try to read back an ATC clearance while managing other controls. Your finger slips off the keying button and you're suddenly silent mid-clearance. I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out why ATC kept giving me corrected instructions when I clearly said I understood the first time. Turns out I was holding the key button for a fraction of a second too long and getting clipped transmissions. I ended up remapping the transmit key to my mouse wheel, which solved the problem without making anything worse. This is the kind of thing the manual doesn't cover because it's a configuration issue, not a software bug, but it's genuinely frustrating until you figure it out. If you're serious about flying, use this for the first ten hours and then switch to something with better visuals and more realistic systems. If you're just curious, it's free to try and the trial lasts long enough to learn the basics of pattern work, takeoff and landing, and simple navigation. You won't become a pilot on it. You won't even get close. But it's better than nothing and it won't cost you anything unless you actually like it enough to buy the full version. The full version runs about forty dollars. I bought it on a sale, paid the list price, and looked at it twice in the next six months. Not because the software is bad, but because I moved on to X-Plane 12 anyway. X-Plane has better weather, better physics, and actually accurate terrain. Learning To Fly 3 did the job for a while. It's a stepping stone, not a destination.
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