Losing heading/orientation of the airplane

[racin06]

I've been practicing on the sim (FS One) for 2 hours each evening for 4 consecutive days now (My wife says I've become addicted to another hobby just like my photography and amateur radio :)). I want to spend alot of time on the sim prior to flying the real thing. Anyway, every once in a while, I get confused and I can't tell which direction the airplane is traveling from a distance. Also, sometimes I can't tell which way the plane is turning/banking. For example, sometimes the plane may be banking to the left, but for a couple of seconds it looks like its banking to the right. I noticed that these things happen most when the plane is far enough away that I can't see the color of the aircraft. I only see a sillohette. Have you verteran pilots experienced these things? How do I solve? Any suggestions? Thanks.

[mozmonkey]

Here's how I get out of these sticky situations:

Step 1: Make sure you're not inverted
Pull back on the elevator to see which way the plane goes. If it goes straight up, push forward to level off and proceed to go to the next step. If it goes towards the ground, keep pulling until it's level and flying towards you (if this works, skip the next step). NOTE: This is why it's good to always keep your plane at a safe elevation, otherwise you'll end up in the ground.

Step 2: Bank and turn
Bank your plane 50% to one side and lightly pull back on the elevator. This will make for a large and safe turn. Be sure not to bank too much as it will get you into a tip stall that you might not be able to recover from. This is also why it's really important to make sure you're not inverted at this step.

When the plane is really hard to see, just start doing these maneuvers and watch which direction the silhouette travels in order to start figuring out the orientation of the plane.

When you fly a real plane this wont be a problem as long as you keep it close to you. ;)