subject: Instrument Flight Simulator - Federal Aviation Administration Allows Use Of Flight Simulators As Cre [print this page] If you already are a private pilot who is looking to add an Instrument Rating to your ticket, then you might already be privvy to the fact that the Federal Aviation Administration permits you to commit up to a maximum of twenty hours of dual-instruction time in training in an instrument flight simulator to be used as credit towards your instrument rating.
Of course you may spend greater than twenty hours training in a simulator, but only the first twenty hours will apply, and each of those 20 needs to be spent with an instructor and not on your own, using an FAA approved flight simulation program. (You are of course allowed to spend as much time as you like on a home-based simulator for the computer to maximize the amount of time you get to practice and perfect your techniques.)
There are many reasons why the FAA allows you to use a flight simulator to log instrument training time in stead of time spent operating an actual airplane.
Among those reasons is that instrument flight simulator software is able to duplicate the behavior and performance of a real airplane down to the tiniest detail. Thus, training for instrument flight in a simulator is pretty much the same experience as training for instrument flight in a real plane under the hood.
The primary difference between these two experiences of simulated versus real flight (as it relates to instrument training) is that you will not be able to experience the sensations of movement that could otherwise fool you, resulting in spatial disorientation, during certain maneuvers in flight such as climbs, turns, and descents.
With all of the evolution in computer engineering technology that we have available to us in this day and age, in the twenty-first century, one of the greatest and most essential tools that every pilot, irregardless of whether he or she happens to be a novice pilot or an ace pilot, must have at his or her disposal, is a reliable flight simulation program.
A flight simulation program can help to narrow the gap during those inevitable periods of lengthy downtime between flights.
It can also allow you to brush up on your skills, help you maintain proficiency, and can even empower you to earn some supplemental experience in those areas in which you could see some improvement.
Flight simulation software can help you become a better pilot.
They can also help you save money, as well as time, on needless training or unnecessarily having to repeat flying the same practice maneuvers over and over again.
The good news is that, flight simulator software technology is so sophisticated, that piloting a simulator is just about every bit as realistic as piloting the real deal. The instrument panel is identical. The control inputs are identical. The world "map" programmed into the simulator is based on real world cartographic data. The way the aircraft performs to various internal (weight and balance, fuel, aircraft performance) and external (weather phenomena, air temperature) forces is designed to mimic real world scenarios.
For many people, a flight simulation program is simply a very high-tech video game. And on many levels, it can be enjoyed at that level. After all, you'll never have to worry about crashing the plane in a simulator!
But for many others, a flight simulation program is a heavy duty learning tool, and for numerous professional pilots, it is an integral pillar of one's aviation career.
