Simulators first made a believer of me when I got a Pacer Mk II in 1978. In 10 years, I put over 1000 hours on it. It augmented my Cessna 172 so faithfully that I successfully moved 15 pilots through their instrument rating and completed 40 IPCs with its help. An FAA authorization allowed 15 hours to be logged in the MK II towards the rating. Of course, they’re now called training devices and there are different capabilities that allow you to log time depending on how it’s used.
I recently attended the two-day Redbird Migration 2022 session at the Aerospace Center for Excellence (which in itself is a fascinating venue) in Lakeland, Florida. I was overwhelmed by the presentations filled with useful information about how these devices can help pilots train and improve their proficiency. For the FBO (most of the attendees), it demonstrated how sims increase the value of their training.
