Started my IFR training.  I was curious if anyone has used it as a supplement to their studying/training.  Did it help?

 

I was thinking of using the A2A 172 as it seems the most realistic as far as systems are concerned.

 

 

Absolutely! A2A 172 is a great system/procedures trainer.  Add http://www.pilotedge.net and you have a really strong IFR training supplement.

Pilot Edge without a doubt!!!

 

Best service available for flight simming to date

 

A2A is good, Flight1 puts out a great G1000 equipped skylane, Realair is superb but they have faster aircraft. Basic Carenado planes are decent enough.

I have a couple carenado aircraft with the G1000 and damn, they are framerate killers. And my rig is no slouch...

I used FSX default Cessna 172 classic for IFR training supplement. Worked well. P3D has the same IFR functionality so it should be the same as with FSX. 

If you have the default FSX C172, port it over to P3D and then install the Mindstar G1000. Great trainer for practicing IFR and learning the G1000.

 

If your trainer is steam gauge, A2A C172 with either RXP or Mindstar GPS is the way to go.

 

+1 on Pilot Edge. Keith Smith, the developer, has a workshop on using flight simulation for IFR training posted on Youtube.

I suggest that your instructor should be involved in what ever IFR training you are undertaking. Apart from anything else, he'll want to make sure you are not picking up bad habits from YouTube or anywhere else.

I suggest that your instructor should be involved in what ever IFR training you are undertaking. Apart from anything else, he'll want to make sure you are not picking up bad habits from YouTube or anywhere else.

 

Yup, instructor already knows.  So far, flying IFR seems to be more difficult in the sim as I do not have the feedback of the stick.  It is always a pain to get the aircraft trimmed out in IFR conditions.  Trying to stay away from cheating with the autopilot.  ^_^

Yup, instructor already knows.  So far, flying IFR seems to be more difficult in the sim as I do not have the feedback of the stick.  It is always a pain to get the aircraft trimmed out in IFR conditions.  Trying to stay away from cheating with the autopilot.  ^_^

Just wondering - for a while I thought that sim IFR / IMC flying is pretty close to real one. I mean that during my PPL I have flown regular 3 hours with cap covering my external view and I felt pretty the same as I would be flying in FSX or P3D (some optical and sensual illusions).

 

However, few days ago I was flying with my FI at 4000ft and he said that it would be good experience to me if I could feel for a while how is it in real clouds, so we descended to 1500ft through thin cloud layer. I was in IMC maybe for 5-10 seconds, but feeling was crazy! All the turbulence and "whiteness" outside the window just made my senses go nuts!

 

So my question is- are those feelings always so "intense"?

The sim is good for procedural practice, but having something with current NavData is important as a lot changes in the IFR world on an annual basis. My instructor is a big fan of sim training. In his experience, students that practice procedures in the sim are more efficient and require fewer hours of training.  No, it isn't a 1:1 replacement for the real world because you can't replicate the sensation of flying and the exact feel of the yoke. However, try flying in the clouds in sim and you'll still get that disoriented feeling - crazy how the mind can mess with you.  I also recommend doing procedural work using a 2D panel or at least modify your view in the VC so you are looking only at your instruments. That is a great way to simulate the hood. Just my 2 cents.

 

Todd

It is amazing how disoriented you can actually get in real life, I was up with my buddy in his Tiger.  He took me up into the clouds, covered the instruments and told me to keep what I "felt" was straight and level.  Needless to say, I came out of the cloud almost inverted, weirdest feeling ever.  Happened every time we did it.

Might want to consider X-Plane, I find I can trim it just fine for hands off flight.

 

As to whether it gets easier flying in the clouds, it absolutely does. I never really experienced the wild disorientation that you experienced, but by the time I flew in my first cloud in a GA airplane, I'd had been simming for 30 years prior and had built up decent scan and confidence in my ability to interpret what the instruments are telling me.

 

The other thing to know is that if the plane was trimmed for hands off flight prior to going into the clouds, then barring any significant turbulence, you won't need to do much else to the plane, other than small pitch changes. The plane doesn't suddenly roll all over the place just because you're in a cloud :)

 

I fly in a wide range of IFR conditions but I don't fly much more than 100 hours per year (most of that would be 6 hour roundtrips that are many weeks apart). Without the sim at home, there's no way I'd have the confidence to fly in the clouds. I'm on the sim once or twice a week at a minimum, doing full end to end flights (not just approaches).

Might want to consider X-Plane, I find I can trim it just fine for hands off flight.

 

As to whether it gets easier flying in the clouds, it absolutely does. I never really experienced the wild disorientation that you experienced, but by the time I flew in my first cloud in a GA airplane, I'd had been simming for 30 years prior and had built up decent scan and confidence in my ability to interpret what the instruments are telling me.

 

The other thing to know is that if the plane was trimmed for hands off flight prior to going into the clouds, then barring any significant turbulence, you won't need to do much else to the plane, other than small pitch changes. The plane doesn't suddenly roll all over the place just because you're in a cloud :)

 

I fly in a wide range of IFR conditions but I don't fly much more than 100 hours per year (most of that would be 6 hour roundtrips that are many weeks apart). Without the sim at home, there's no way I'd have the confidence to fly in the clouds. I'm on the sim once or twice a week at a minimum, doing full end to end flights (not just approaches).

Thanks Keith. This one comes from a real expert in both worlds FSIM and Real Flight! 

Might want to consider X-Plane, I find I can trim it just fine for hands off flight.

 

As to whether it gets easier flying in the clouds, it absolutely does. I never really experienced the wild disorientation that you experienced, but by the time I flew in my first cloud in a GA airplane, I'd had been simming for 30 years prior and had built up decent scan and confidence in my ability to interpret what the instruments are telling me.

 

The other thing to know is that if the plane was trimmed for hands off flight prior to going into the clouds, then barring any significant turbulence, you won't need to do much else to the plane, other than small pitch changes. The plane doesn't suddenly roll all over the place just because you're in a cloud :)

 

I fly in a wide range of IFR conditions but I don't fly much more than 100 hours per year (most of that would be 6 hour roundtrips that are many weeks apart). Without the sim at home, there's no way I'd have the confidence to fly in the clouds. I'm on the sim once or twice a week at a minimum, doing full end to end flights (not just approaches).

 

X-plane seems like a great IFR training sim...just make sure you set weather to IMC at all times so you don't have to look at the ugliness that is X-Plane... :Just Kidding: I kid, I kid!

I would endorse the A2A C172 in P3D for IFR training.... I use it to keep "current" and when incorporating the F1 GTN750 it's almost perfect.

 

The C172 that I have flown has a GNS430 in it, but the GTN offers WAAS functionality.

 

Bruce.

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