Instrument Training software

[pilot in command]

Hi all,

Looking to start my IR next year and I would like to get a heads up before I start the training and looking for some interactive software to help.

I have seen this from ASA CD-ROMs & DVDs | IFR / IR Training | VTV034 | Instrument Procedures Tutorial CD - ASA (http://www.pooleys.com/prod_detail.cfm?product_id=1639) has anyone used this product and what do they think?

Any other suggestions of software to use?

[taybird]

Oddsoft's RANT XL comes highly recommended and is very good value for money. No, I don't work for them, but I do have a copy that I use.

[paco]

Navtrainer for the ipad.

Microsoft flight sim for practice

[speed_alive_rotate]

Anyone have any thoughts on X-PLANE for IFR practice or are you best to stick to FSX? Heard good things about rant XL also, how does it compare to FSX? Any help would be greatly appreciated. SAR

[appfo09]

I personally recommend RANT XL it is worth the money you will spent on it plus your time you spent training with it , getting use to it. I use it especially before my MEP/IR revalidation it helps me a lot.

Your choice is yours !

[lasseb]

I have CBIR students using both MS flight sim and X-plane.
Both are good.
X-plane seams to have more realistic flight characteristics especially in stalls, but in plain IFR flying you will never feel the difference.

Personally I would not waste my money on training software other than fligh sim's, But thats just my humble opinion :-)

There are a lot of free places that does a good job explaining VOR/NDB/RMI etc.
Luiz is a good place to start luizmonteiro - Aviation Calculations Home (http://www.luizmonteiro.com/)
Also Tim's air navigation trainer (google it..) is fantastic.. Really crappy graphics but it does the job..

For explanation on how to actually fly, try the FAA web site. They have published an Instrument Flying handbook that is fantastic.

[speed_alive_rotate]

Great advice guys and very helpful, it is greatly appreciated. I will have a look at them sites @lasseb. @appfo09 I wouldn't mind spending the money if it is worth it, thanks again guys!

[mad_jock]

Rant XL is more of a developed course.

The problem with un supervised self teach is that it can cause more problems to solve than it helps.

Personally I would say use simulators etc once you have actually done the lesson with the instructor to reinforce the lesson but don't try and self teach yourself as it can do more harm than good.


I know others will disagree with this.

I would say get Rant XL and work your way through it and leave the rest until you start your course.

[speed_alive_rotate]

Thanks @mad_jock. Does Rant XL teach you from the basics or do you have to know what you are at?

[Fostex]

+1 on RantXL, as MJ says it's greatest benefit is that it is a structured course.

Anyone can grab some IR training SW or a pc flight sim and practice approaches. But unless you learn in a structured way and truly understand each instrument and it's limitations then you will run into issues further down the line.

[mad_jock]

RAnt XL was produced in conjunction with a rather knowledgeable and competent CAA examiner.

It focuses from what I can remember on the instruments and there interpretation in relation to each other.

It doesn't teach hand feet stuff more higher processing skills.

IR flying is a series of habits and trained reflexes and is very procedural to begin with ie each flight will follow the same flow.

It takes many hundreds of hours before you can make it up on the hoof, and to be honest some pilots never obtain the capacity to do that.

If you get yours self bad habits or have a different flow to that of the school you have to unlearn what you have already taken in and then get retrained. Which is why most instructors prefer a blank sheet of paper to work with. They also then are 100% certain that the foundations have been covered.

Even after 4000 hours of Manual IR flying I am still learning everyday I go up. And its not uncommon for me to have to give myself a :mad: after flight for something stupid I have done.

IR is actually a reasonably easy skill to obtain, to master it and the tactical situational awareness that goes with it is a on going battle of personal standards.

I do wonder if I jumped into a MEP and did an initial IR profile if I could pass it today. The work load single crew none auto pilot is utterly incredible.

[speed_alive_rotate]

Great feedback, Thanks @mad_jock

[softshoedancer]

I have had RANT ever since RANT 2000. I am revalidating my IR (at Booker, High Wycombe - excellent school, first time there after PAT EGHH shut down), and I just purchased RANT XL. I am particularly ecstatic that it incorporates a (admittedly basic function) version of the Garmin1000 PFD glass cockpit.

I would NEVER be without my RANT (I have zero affiliation with the authors, I have absolutely no idea what Steve Oddy looks like, although I have a mental picture of him as some kind of bespectacled gnome type), and the software can be used to practice approaches/ revise a lesson or as a "beginner's guide" tutorial for all the navaids currently in use. As far as I remember it incorporates all the Jeppessen plates you'll need, I simply cannot recommend this product more highly, and it is a fantastic "nerve calmer" on the evening before the test!
It allows one the space to concentrate on the instruments without needing to fly an aircraft simultaneously, which is its USP I'd imagine when compared with Microsoft FSX for example, although I have never had FSX myself. Also, as someone who has tried to find a path to install FSX on a high end laptop to no avail, the ease with which RANT downloads and runs is a sheer delight. I used to run it perfectly on a very mid range laptop previously.