IFR Flight Simulator – Making Flight Training Affordable

There is no doubt that with the economy in trouble as it is today, the dream of being able to do something with your pilot’s license is slowly slipping out of reach.

If you already have your private pilot’s license and are looking to obtain your Instrument Rating, then it is strongly recommended that you consider getting your hands on a good IFR flight simulator.

What this will allow you to do are thee things:

1. Save money

Flying is expensive. Between the aircraft rental fees, fuel surcharges, and flight instructor fees, the costs can add up to the thousands, especially if you need to take your time to get your license and need to spend extra hours in the aircraft perfecting your instrument flying techniques.

Making use of an IFR flight simulator is definitely one way to reduce the costs of your instrument training, as well as your instrument proficiency check (if you fail to meet the minimum requirements to maintain instrument currency). The cost of an IFR flight simulator is immeasurably more cost effective than renting an actual aircraft.

So if the FAA says that you can log up to 20 hours of dual instruction with a simulator towards your instrument rating, then you would be foolish not to take advantage of it. Especially with the way that the economy is going these days, it is important to be mindful of every single penny that you spend, and put it to better use.

2. Save time

Using an IFR flight simulator not only saves you money, but also can save you time. It is much easier to hop onto a computer, fire up the IFR flight simulator software, and be “airborne” within minutes. Whereas, a real flight requires checking out the airplane, refueling, and performing a preflight inspection every time you hop into the plane.

If you have set a goal for yourself to obtain your Instrument Rating by a certain target date, then the weather can cause you delays, depending on where you live and what time of year it is. Rain, snow, low overcast clouds, and excessive wind can all result in canceled flight lessons. This can easily slow down your progress. Especially if you are one of those pilots who can only fly on weekends because you have a day job during the week.

So using an IFR flight simulator eliminates these delays due to bad weather cancellations, and it can get you airborne faster each time as well.

3. Getting In A Little Extra Practice

An IFR flight simulator also empowers you to squeeze a little bit of extra practice into your schedule. You are no longer restricted to flying only when the instructor is available, the flight school is open, and the aircraft is available and not down for maintenance. So you can spend extra hours on the simulator above and beyond your standard flight training sessions. That is the beauty of having access to your own IFR flight simulator.