Building time with Home simulator?
 

I wasn't sure where to put this post, but anyways here's my story... Basically I'm in 2nd year of my degree in a flight school and I'm trying to build more hours for obvious reasons.. I picked up a version of Microsoft's Flight Simulator X and I was just wondering if the FAA approves any amount of flight time on home simulators?

Any info helps,

TIA.

Basically, no.

I think they recently have started to approve some PC-based simulators for some training, but they have to have actual airplane control and radio interfaces (not joystick & keyboard) and also have to be enclosed in a cockpit-like box. They also have to be certified, which means it would probably be expensive to buy.

MS Flight sim can be useful for practicing instrument scan and procedures AFTER you have learned the basics in a real sim or airplane. Aside from that, it's not remotely like a real airplane.

PCATD's (google it) can be used for 10 hours towards an IFR rating. I think more advanced versions might be approved for more but they are very expensive.

MSFS is not approved for anything as far as the FAA is concerned. There are some things I think it does well, though.

Yes, you can log those hours you spend flying microsoft flightsim even if you use flightsim 2004. The best thing to do is download most of the planes you dream of flying and log those hours. Don't let a single minute pass by without logging it. Once you meet the published mins for major airlines who fly those planes send resumes and a copy of your logbook showing the flightsim hours logged and you should be in like flynn. :)

Oh god... I'd PAY to see the looks on the HR peoples faces when they read that resume!!! :p

I can't tell you how many hours of flight time I log even though I am in the back of a 757 or md80 while deadheading for eagle. I figure the hours will impress somebody. As a MEI, I used to stand next to the runway and as a multi passes by I would yell something like, " Nose up a little more, or more right rudder." I always make sure to note the N-number as they go by so I can log it as instruction given. :) :)

No freaking way...

It's almost George Kastanza ish. I made a few mistakes in my past, like logging my first years flight time in disappearing ink. I picked the pen up at a gag shop and lost track of it. One day I needed to catch my log book up with about 500 hours and just happened to use that pen by mistake. I didn't catch the error until two years later. I was at an interview and the interviewer asked why I skipped over half the book.

This is a joke, riiiiiight?

Dude, microsoft flight simulator is an awesome training tool to practice procedural stuff, but in reality you can't get any stick and rudder skills from it because the aircraft performance is soo unrealistic. It's saving me so much money on instrument stuff though, you'd be suprised how great it is when you pull out your favorite approach and fly it on flight sim, then you go do it for real and see the simularities! You still can't count it for logging purposes though.

A pretty good one I might add.

I enjoyed it. I bet the original poster didn't though.

I have been using it a lot as well for training pourposes. I am finishing my instrument right now, and it is a lot cheaper to be able to set up multiple approaches and fly them. I still use FS 2004 which has "flight lessons" on them. I keep taking the ILS, VOR, and GPS check rides to practice. If you bust the ride you have to start again. It's good practice.

Home flight sims can be useful but it really depends on how you equip and use them. From what I can tell the flight model in X-Plane is as good as that in pro flight sims. X-Plane sells actually makes an FAA approved flight training version that uses the same flight model, the major difference being the expensive peripherals. I have the latest X-Plane installed on a gaming computer with a bunch of additional airplanes, rudder pedals, yoke, and a throttle quadrant. I find it useful for flying approaches but it also comes in handy for a variety of flight related topics. Landings and flight dynamics are the biggest of those. The gaming aspect of it is not very useful but occasionally if I can't get an airplane I will fly it for a few minutes just for thrills. I like to do an inverted pass through the Smokies in my B-52 and then land on a skyscraper in Asheville... very hard not to hurt the plane.

I've had a lot of experience on both Flight Sim. 2004, and Flight Sim. X. I know that you can create a log book, but once you do, you can't determine which of those hours were gained by speeding up the simulation rate. So in my opinion (although I myself have booked a lot of hours on the game) at the end of the day, the hours mean nothing. However, that's not to say that Flight Sims. aren't a great way of gaining expeience with different aircraft and the way they operate (not to mention that they're awesome good time!!!).

short answer...no

long answer...lolz

I thought this thread was dead? . . .

Oh, well. FS04/X and X-plane are fine for having fun and maybe learning a little about procedures, physics, etc., but they fall short when it comes to getting down the true "feel" of the airplane. It's really easy to develop bad habits and to learn over-simplified procedures and controls that you can't use when it comes to real-life flying. If you can appreciate these for what they really are -- games -- you'll be much better off (unless, of course, you have a full instrument and control stack, X-plane or some other program, and a CFI to log time with).

I got it the first time (which is rare).....nice! :D