"MikeC" wrote in message
...
I'm just about finished with the rating and have found the simulator
combined with an instructor to be really helpful. I started with a
certified
Elite system for the first 10 hours and it really improved my procedures
and
mental prep. It's just a lot easier to learn when you're not concentrating
on flying in our afternoon turbulence and your instructor can focus on
what
you are doing because he doesn't have to keep one eye open for traffic.
The
MS 2002 is really pretty good as well and I've been using it for practice
before the checkride. It's all pilot nav right now but I understand the
new
version is going to have more IFR features and support dual monitors for
instructors.

MS FS2002 already supports a networked connection to an instructor's
computer. (There's also a multiplayer mode so you can fly with your friends
and see each others' planes.)

--Gary


BTW, if you haven't figured it out already, the rating is a
blast. Nailing an approach is like making a perfect landing, very mentally
rewarding.


Mike Clapp
LVK


"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
.com...
As y'all know I'm working on my instrument rating (only 15 hours into it
so
far). I just had to mention a WONDERFUL aid that I found in practicing
nav
radio navigation practice: OnTop IFR Proficiency Simulator. Now of
course
I realize it can't be used for real simulator time, but it has been such
a
great aid on practicing hold entries (it has the airport and navaid
database). I can start myself off from any position and try different
hold
entries. I can also go to another screen and 'playback' what I have
just
done,,,, with my track superimposed over a basic chart. Also, you can
pause
the simulation and take a look at a map which shows your current
position
at
any time. I started using it just a handful of days ago after feeling
kinda
'stupid' not getting the way to make the various holding pattern
entries.

I just thought I'd pass along this aid, just in case there are others
like
me, who need a little something extra to help visually conceptualize all
this IFR stuff.

--
--
Good Flights!

Cecil E. Chapman, Jr.
PP-ASEL

"We who fly do so for the love of flying.
We are alive in the air with this miracle
that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"

- Cecil Day Lewis-

My personal adventures as a student pilot
and after my PPL: www.bayareapilot.com