Originally Posted by
rudestuff
I just had a look at EFT prices, £11k (+£2.5k) for 40 hours and an SEIR. That's a very expensive simulator! I know that training on a DA40 makes sense if you're moving onto the DA42 but there are also cheaper airplanes out there. 30 hours in a 172 or PA28 then 10 hours on DA40 would be about £10k, saving enough to pay for your MEIR as well.
25 hours in the sim plus 15 in the aircraft comes out at £10925, so using your calculations you would save £925. (No approach charges or landing fees in the sim so that knocks a bit off too.) Which wouldn't pay for the MEIR upgrade, or anywhere near it. Plus the quality of the training is vastly superior using a sim - one CAA senior examiner told me he always knows when students haven't used a simulator because they just aren't as good. Plus according to the CAA that's the only single engine approved simulator in the country - and the approval is only about £500 per year cheaper than a DA42 simulator which nobody bats an eyelid at paying for. Expensive? Yes, but you get what you pay for. Better than the aircraft for IR training? Also yes.