subject: Instrument Flight Simulator - Federal Aviation Administration Grants Leveraging Aircraft Simulator Programs As Hours Toward Instrument Rating [print this page] Instrument Flight Simulator - Federal Aviation Administration Grants Leveraging Aircraft Simulator Programs As Hours Toward Instrument Rating
If you happen to be a private pilot trying to add an Instrument Rating to your ticket, then you might already be aware that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) makes it possible you to apply up to a maximum of 20 flight instruction hours of time training in an instrument flight simulator to be used toward your instrument rating.
Not surprisingly you could spend greater than than 20 hours training with a simulation program, however only the first 20 hours will apply, and every one of those 20 must be spent with a trainer and not solo, using a FAA approved flight simulator program. You are obviously encouraged to devote as much time as you want on a home-based simulator for the PC to make best use of the amount of time you get to practice and improve your tactics.
There are numerous reasons why the FAA authorizes you to utilize an aviation simulation program to log instrument training time in lieu of time spent in a real aircraft.
Among those reasons is due to the fact that instrument flight simulator software is able to replicate the behavior and performance of an actual aircraft down to the minutest detail. Thus, training for instrument flight in a simulator is just about the same experience as training for instrument flight in an actual airplane under the hood.
The significant difference between these 2 experiences of simulation versus genuine flight (with respect to instrument training) is that you won't be able to feel the sensations of movement that might otherwise trick you, leading to spatial disorientation, during certain maneuvers in flight such as climbs, turns, and descents (which you are trained to disregard anyway, because you must believe in the instruments and not what your 5 senses are conveying to you).
Among other factors is the cost. Making use of an instrument flight simulator is obviously a good deal less expensive than renting a plane.
A flight simulator can help to shorten the gap during those inevitable periods of extended downtime in between flights.
It could also allow you to build on your skills, help you maintain your proficiency, and could even empower you to earn some additional focus in those areas in which you could see some improvement.
Flight simulators can help you become a better pilot.
They can also help you save money, as well as time, on extra training or unnecessarily having to repeat flying the same practice maneuvers over and over again.
The good news is that, flight simulation technology is so advanced, that aviating a simulator is almost every bit as realistic as aviating the real thing. The instrument panel is identical.
The control inputs are the same. The world "map" programmed into the simulation is based on real world cartographic data. The way the aircraft performs to various internal (weight and balance, fuel, aircraft performance) as well as external (weather phenomena, air temperature) forces is designed to mimic real world scenarios.
For a number of people, a flight simulator is merely a really high-tech video game. And on many levels, it can be appreciated in such a capacity. After all, you'll never have to be fearful of crashing the plane in a simulation program!
But for many people, a flight simulator is a robust training tool, and for counltess professional pilots, it is an integral part of one's aviation career.
