12 Can I maintain my IFR currency with a PC-based simulator?
Description
This article is from the Flight Simulators FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Bob Wittick rwittick@msu.edu others.
12 Can I maintain my IFR currency with a PC-based simulator?
There is no PC-based program that can, at the present time, be used
to log IFR hours. However, the following products are recommended
for serious IFR practice:
"Elite" by Aviation Teachware is an extremely expensive, but highly
realistic IFR trainer that is available for the Mac and IBM. There
are several different versions out, depending on what type of
computer you have, and they all require a flight yoke of some kind or
another. Elite is not a toy, and is probably the most accurate and
realistic PC-based simulator, both in terms of flying
characteristics, and instrument panel simulation. The list price for
Elite varies from $400 to $700, depending on which version you
purchase.
"Instrument Pilot" by Precision Training is an IBM (386 or better)
based integrated instrument rating instructional simulator. It comes
with speech generation hardware to simulate communications and
includes all equipment necessary for instrument training ground
school. List is about $495, and it can be purchased directly from
the company at (800) 452-0465.
"IFT-Pro" from Flight Deck is also a good choice. Though not as
complex as Elite, it still offers a high level of instrument and
flight realism, and is an excellent package. It's also a lot
cheaper.. list is somewhere around $350. It is available for IBM
systems.
"FS200", by Jeppesen, is an IBM PC-based (486 or better)
flight sim that is intended for IFR training, and has a "pilot
console" that attaches to your serial port. The console has switches
for nav/com radios, throttle/prop/mixture, flaps/gears, etc..
Databases constructed from Jepp NavData are available for $75 each.
Prices range from $800 to $1,500 and up depending on the hardware,
databases, and software options selected. FS200 can be purchased
directly from Jeppesen at (800) 732-2800.
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