"Michael" wrote in message
ps.com...
I'm combining stuff from both replies, bear with me.

Ditto.

You are not considering difference in effectiveness of the training
device. The Frasca blows any aircraft away, in my opinion, (and I've
done it both ways) as an efffective and efficient learning tool.

That's true if the training we're focusing on is scan and procedures.
Of course everyone is different, but I found that even in the airplane,
I was proficient at scan and procedures prior to the 20-hour mark. Of
course scan and procedures are essential for safe and capable IFR
flying, but they are far from sufficient. The real issues are ATC and
weather, and those can't be learned on the simulator at all.

I don't think the Frasca is worth a damn for learning anything but scan &
procedures, at least it wasn't for me. There's simply none of the "sweat
factor" you get in the airplane, particularly in actual and when you can't
quite recall the last thing ATC told you. You just can't get that in a sim.
Scan and procedures are important, no question, and learning them on the sim
makes sense. I note that PIC makes very extensive use of them. If all you
want to do is pass the test, it is an efficient approach. I'm not saying
accelerated courses can't go beyond teaching to the test, but when you make
achieving a deadline your primary goal, I think we can all agree there is at
least a little moral hazard there.

To be fair, all of my objections are predicated on your ability to locate a
*good* local CFII. This is in some cases not possible and you are then faced
with choosing between an accelerated course taught by a good out-of-towner
or a haphazard program by the local timebuilder. The choice is pretty
obvious there.

I'm seeing an awful lot of students who seem to need an instructor
when the weather goes bad. To me that indicates a problem. Because
weather is what it is in Houston, I am generally only able to get my
student about 5 hours of actual in the course of training (and believe
me we make it a point ot get it if it is available, even if it's not
the most efficient way to get to the checkride) but they're all able to
go out and fly weather on their own.

Do you mean "are not willing to fly weather alone" or "are not capable of
flying weather alone?" As a new instrument pilot, I think part of this is
the "fear of clouds" that is now being fairly successfully inculcated during
primary instruction. Fear is good when it keeps you from doing something
stupid, but what constitutes stupid is much harder to judge with an IR than
without. I have about 25 hours of actual, a good bit of it in nice thick New
England muck, but I still hesitate to go up on my own, knowing that the
price of small mistakes is much higher than in VFR.

best,
-cwk.