Originally Posted by VTcharter

Not sure that I agree with you there.

ATP Aeronautical experience requirements
61.159(a)5, "Not more than 100 hours of total aeronautical experience requirements of paragraph (a) of this section may be obtained in a flight simulator or flight training device that represents an airplane, provided the aeronautical experience was obtained in an approved course conducted by a training center qualified under part 142 of this chapter."

Also reference 61.129(i)1,2 / 61.109(k)1, 2 for the same basic allowance only for use toward Commercial Certificates and Private Pilot Certificates respectively, and in these cases, the sim time may be obtained from outside of a Part 142 facility. My interpretation of these reg's in addition to the lack of reference of the in-ability to log Sim time toward total aeronautical experience leads me to conclude that appropriate approved sim time received from an instructor / approved facility may be logged as total experience, however only a certain amount may be counted toward your ratings.

Finally, reference 61.51(h)1 Logging Training Time
"A person may log training time when that person recieves training from an authorized instructor in an aircraft, flight simulator, or flight training device."

It does not specify that it may only be logged as sim...only that it may be logged as training time, and as stated previously, only a certain amount may be used toward a rating.