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What IFR flight simulator software should you buy?

A pilot named George has recently posted a question on on Ask a CFI about what the best flight simulator software to buy for home computer use:

My set up now is CH ruder CH yoke CH avionics panel windows XP.

Looking for software to practice IFR

Don’t care about the big airplanes just single engine steam gages user friendly.

Carl Tyler responded by writing that he personally uses Microsoft Flight Simulator (FSX) because it supported all his plugin accessories right out of the box e.g. rudders, radio panel etc. He had also tried XPlane but he didn’t like the user interface while trying to get it to work with his pedals and other accessories was “way too difficult.” Of course, Microsoft has ceased development on the Microsoft Flight Simulator but Carl still thinks its a great piece of software and perfect for practicing those IFR approaches.

A quick Internet search reveals a few other sources for commentary about flight simulators for IFR practice, including a Best IFR Sim software thread from the Pilots of America Message Board and another webpage entitled Using Flight Sims for IFR Practice which appears to date from over a decade ago but made the interesting observation that:

In real IFR flying, radios must be retuned in real time. Sometimes there isn’t a lot of spare time to do this. You can’t pull over and stop while you twiddle knobs. (But you may be able to activate an autopilot, which is almost as good.) Very high end sims have radios that work just like the radio stack in a real airplane.

Finally, another good and very comprehensive source for information about flight simulator software is AVSIM Community Forums which calls itself the largest repository of flight sim information available as it has over 2 million messages and over 200 forums.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. David hhhhh says

    February 13, 2016 at 16:23

    if you guys would read right up front it says recreated it is not real it is based on facts and actions that could have happened did you think the movie Titanic was real did you think they were really on the ship get a clue

    Reply
  2. Jon Baldock says

    December 8, 2018 at 16:57

    I was a C-46 pilot out of DTW and YIP in the 60s and 70s .Iam looking for D-18 beechcraft and C-46s that have workable LOC/glide slopes, ADF, and VORs for my desk-top XP . Thanks , Jon Baldock

    Reply
  3. Martin says

    November 25, 2021 at 15:34

    There is an “IFR Flight Simulator” app which has a PFD and ND and simulates IFR flights. I’ve used it a lot for my flight training to practice holdings, intercepts and approaches.

    The nice thing is, it’s lightweight and doesn’t require any PC simulator setup.

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.maihoff.ifrflightsimulator

    Reply

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Matthew Stibbe
Matthew Stibbe is CEO of Articulate Marketing and Turbine, the easy, online way to deal with office paperwork. He has an FAA CPL/IR and an EASA PPL/IR and sometimes flies a Cirrus SR-22. He also writes about wine at Vincarta and being a better manager at Geek Boss.
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