A Multi-Simulator Navigation Experiment

This is an experiment. Not in content — but in structure.

The idea came from across the table at our weekly Friday FSG@ lunch. Bob was thinking ahead — possibly a private pilot certificate — and asked which flight simulator he should build.

I told him it didn’t matter. In my experience, that answer tends to stand up.

But that question led to a harder question — how do you actually prove it?

That’s when I started thinking.

What if you take a real-world flight training concept from a YouTube video, then look at how that same concept appears in other videos across FSX, P3D, X-Plane, MSFS 2020, and MSFS 2024?

Not as separate demonstrations — but as a single repeating pattern.

If the same behavior, decisions, and outcomes show up across platforms, then the argument stops being opinion.

It becomes observable.

So, the goal here is simple: observe and look for repetition.

The Subject - VOR

First Video - Foundational Understanding

You WILL Understand VORs after Watching This! (PPL Lesson 37)

This video breaks VOR navigation down into its core elements — radials, bearings, and the TO/FROM indication. The focus is not procedure, but understanding what the system is doing so you can interpret what you see in the cockpit.

More videos at Free Pilot Training

Now the question becomes: how does that same concept behave inside the simulators? 

Second Video - FSX

Flying the VOR 5 approach into Casa Grande ( FSX: SE Full Flight)

A full IFR-style workflow built around a VOR approach. Navigation, altitude management, briefing, and execution are all tied together into a complete procedural flight down to minimums.

More videos at ComputerPilot

Third Video - P3D

[P3D V4.1] Advanced VOR Navigation Tutorial | Including How to Fly a VOR Approach

This expands the system into structure — airways, intersections, DME fixes, and full-route IFR navigation using VOR and RNAV coordination.

The flight culminates in a complete approach and landing using step-down fixes and radial tracking.

More videos at Captain_Mac

Fourth Video - X-Plane

Cessna 172 VOR Navigation - X-Plane

A clear breakdown of signal behavior and cockpit interpretation. Tuning, identification, radial tracking, drift correction, and station passage (TO/FROM flip) are demonstrated directly.

More videos at The Clayviation Hangar

Fifth Video - FS2020/FS2024

VOR Approach & DME Arc Tutorial with Airline Pilot / Flight Instructor in Microsoft Flight Simulator

A full raw-data VOR approach into Vero Beach. DME arc, radial intercept, step-down descent, station crossing, and outbound tracking are all flown without GPS.  At minimums, the runway becomes visual and the landing is completed using basic instrument discipline.

More videos at Taylair

Closing Thought

Across YouTube, there is already a structured record of how these systems behave — both in real-world instruction and simulation environments.

And across FSX, P3D, X-Plane, and MSFS, the core cockpit tasks remain consistent: tune, identify, intercept, track, correct, descend.

So, the question “which simulator is best?” starts to lose precision.

Because the observable truth is, that the underlying training behavior is already shared.

Which leaves a simpler reality:

The simulator is not the differentiator.

Access and cost are.

Your thoughts,

Kenneth (Ken) Butterly, Founder