I thought I would start a thread on the benefits of utilizing desktop flight simulators in training your students for the instrument rating. Would you like to share your thoughts on the pros and cons of integrating them into your syllabus?

What are the most valued advantages? ie: cost, relaxed environment, reduced total time to get signoff, fuel savings, etc.

In my opinion BATD or AATD (also knows previously as PCATD) is not going to replace any part of training that is performed in an airplane. It is simply so different that we can not say “instead of flying let’s do “sim” to save money” - however – if we try to explain VOR, ILS or partial panel in an airplane we may use airplane time unwisely. There is no need to burn aviation fuel, take student’s money and try to explain something in the high noise environment when we can do it in the luxury of the quiet classroom with the BATD. I use “SIM” for the initial concept and understanding of… if you will. Also it is great to show a vacuum failure (almost imposable to make a realistic simulation in an airplane). After student has the FULL understanding of the concept of an approach or time turns etc. then we go to “try it” in the airplane.

I agree with Radek. The desktop units are not close enough to the airplane to be used "in place of" - but the fact is that the airplane is a terrible classroom. We need to make sure that most of the "classroom" stuff is done before we get TO the airplane, and that is where the desktop units are very helpful. You can only go so far in the classroom per se, and being able, as Radek indicates, to "show" what things look like makes the bridge between theory (classroom) and practice (aircraft) much better.

The airlines used to kill pilots and destroy airplanes trying to simulate stuff in the airplane and when "sims" came along things got better. I'd rather show a student in the desktop unit (assuming that an actual sim is not available) what things look like so that they grasp concepts and procedures more firmly. Emergencies and the like, but even what does an ILS "look like" - so they can concentrate on that for understanding and not be worried about the aircraft. THEN to the aircraft and training will be much better.

Alan