Hello there.I am currently working on my instrument rating in real life, and I am wondering if anyone out there knows of a program to add to fs2004 to be able to fly real instrument procedures/ arrivals and departure procedures.Thanks...R

??What kind of application are you thinking about? You already can fly instrument procedures if you like.Nevertheless I would recommend an aircraft with a good flight model like the C172 of Flight1.http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=esd172This combined with the FlightLine N & T gauges of RealityXP you are best set up to fly instrument procedures.http://www.reality-xp.com/products/FLT/index.htmhttp://www.reality-xp.com/products/FLN/index.htm

Guys, those who are experienced in the both: can it really be helpful for r/l flying to drill the procedures in FS9? Does it potentially create any bad habits? Your comments, please.Thanks.

Sure it can. It can be used to practice VOR course intercepts, VOR,ILS,BLOC and GPS approaches,basic IFR navigation to name a few procedures that you can do in FS. Take the Instrument course that's included in FS9 and you'll see what and how to fly all of these procedures. Only you can create bad habits, if the procedures are not praticed right.John M

>Sure it can. It can be used to practice VOR course>intercepts, VOR,ILS,BLOC and GPS approaches,basic IFR>navigation to name a few procedures that you can do in FS.>Take the Instrument course that's included in FS9 and you'll>see what and how to fly all of these procedures. Only you can>create bad habits, if the procedures are not praticed right.>>John MThanks, John. Are you an active r/l pilot though? I mean current flying pilot? I saw those in FS9, but that was not my question.

There are most instrument procedures in FS2004 and you can view them on the default GPS for any airport.The one significant worry is the date of the procedures - approx Oct 2002 in FS2004. You need to make sure the current plate matches what FS2004 has, or you could develop bad habits for a no longer valid approach.That is why I use a spring 2003 Jeppsen set for my FS flying, because at a few airports there are big differences between FS2004 and today's real world.

>This combined with the FlightLine N & T gauges of RealityXP you are best set up to fly instrument procedures.I'm not familiar with this. Are these add-on gauges that install in any GA plane? Do they work in the default Cessna or the Real Air mod for the default Cessna 172?Is it an auto-install or is this a nightmare of gauge file swaps? (I'm a bit of a tech-shmoo, you see.)Thanks.

Yes I am,with over 5600 hrs in various types. When you're flying "instruments" the "instrument" does not care whether it's in a moving airplane or in a static computer. The procedures remain the same as long as the information given to the instrument are correct. The "feel" ,of course, is entirely different when flying the real thing.We can develop bad habits even if we only practice in the real aircraft. Bad habits occur only if you allow them to happen.John M

I am a forest fire suppresion pilot and the nature of our work is not as much IFR as I'd like so I use FS9 to help with IFR proficiency. Most springtimes when i go in for recurrent flt training the training pilots remark on the fact that my IFR skills are still pretty good even after six months off. Dreamfleet's Beech baron 58 with reality xp guages is an excellent aircraft to use as the guages are so fluid. With all the addons for FS9 it can duplicate the real world quite well. Infact, the visual display on my laptop is better than a level d sim I used to go to for training many years ago. When home I plug the laptop in to a 20" NEC Multisync 20WMGX2 monitor which i think is one of the best monitors available for display quality. The laptop is a higher end one and can run FS9 smoothly.So, yes, I think FS9 is a great training tool.

Are these add-on gauges that>install in any GA plane? Do they work in the default Cessna or>the Real Air mod for the default Cessna 172?>>Is it an auto-install or is this a nightmare of gauge file>swaps? (I'm a bit of a tech-shmoo, you see.)>They install in any aircraft and are very smooth, much better then the default ones.You have to install them manually, however this is not difficult and there is an extensive manual how to do this.http://www.reality-xp.com/support/useprod/manuals/index.htm

Interesting, I read the plates are different (not really important for training purposes), the switchology is different by definition, and the feel of is different. So what is left: gauges and instrument scan, and your mental picture of the position in space. One of my airline pilot friends said that with the latest add-ons it's just sometimes helpful to see the layout of airport and runways from a few thousand feet in FS. Not much more than just that.

I've flown in and out of KDCA (Washington's Reagan National Apt) numerous times and I can tell you that the standard FS9 procedures for arrivals and departures are outdated and not correct. However,if you have never been there you can get a very good idea of where the airport is in regards to the restricted airspace accross the river and thus be able to practice the procedures necessary to avoid flying into it. Which, by the way, could result with AA fire up your tailpipe. You are correct when you say," So what is left:gauges and instrument scan.....". That's pretty much all Instrument flying is.John M

I use the DreamFleet Baron58XP (GPS) for short local flights and the Level-D 763 (FMC) for long flights. Both aircraft are well modeled and have very accurate gauges. I use FS9 without AI traffic when I want to set my own weather conditions and just go practice somewhere.I use Radar Contact when I want ATC controllers all the way.With Radar Contact you can practice following ATC instructions, SIDs, enroute navigation, STARS, destination holds and request full ILS approaches. And, if your approach is wrong, you will get a go around. Radar Contact is good training for the next step up to online flying, like VATSIM, with real live ATC controllers.....