X-Plane 10 as an IFR trainning / proficiency tool...

[jcomm]

X-Plane 10 could be used as an IFR proficiency / training tool.

A friend of mine who is going through his IFR syllabus while working to get a PPL is also an FSX user, but would like to use X-Plane because, among other factors, it's map views are better to analyze the flights, even if restricted to only one scenery tile ( a limitation I really would like to see solved in future releases... )

Now, while we can use X-Plane to practice IFR, it is also true that it falls short when it comes to:

- accuracy of the navaids range, depending on type. A VOR / DME / TACAN in X-Plane can be reached from any altitude, indep. of the distance...

- accuracy of some instruments, namely the turn & slip and the turn coordinator.
While the newer turn coordinator instruments can be used to more or less be able to perform a standard rate turn, and the little aircraft wings are more or less aligned with the 2' marks when we "hand" the commands to the AP and ask for a turn, the older ( bar type ) turn & slip coordinator shows a completely wrong alignment of the turn bar with the 2' marks. On the modern type turn coordinator, and on some airplanes, the turn flown by the AP aligns more or less correctly the aircraft wings with the marks.
A turn flown by the AP in X-Plane is more or less a standard rate turn (sometimes takes a bit more than the 2', or a bit less depending on aircraft / instrument panel), but it's acceptable

I think that precise turn coordinator and turn & slip indicators would be important to have if we want to really consider X-plane 10 as an IFR training tool...

There are more items of course, but I will add them in future posts :-)

Edited August 23, 2013 by jcomm

[Carlos Garcia]

The X-Plane Bug Reporter Page http://dev.x-plane.com/support/bugreport.html

[jcomm]

Thx Carlos, have used it already ;-)

[Keith Smith]

A VOR / DME / TACAN in X-Plane can be reached from any altitude, indep. of the distance...

 

I have seen exactly the opposite...unable to fly certain victor airways because I can't receive the required navaid, even when well above the MVA. 

 

PGY and MQO VORs are notorious for this in Socal on xplane.

[raven1982]

Have you tried updating the Nav info. Works pretty well for me.

 

Also, you mentioned proficiency. Are you trying to log the time towards you IFR proficiency?

[jcomm]

Have you tried updating the Nav info. Works pretty well for me.

 

Also, you mentioned proficiency. Are you trying to log the time towards you IFR proficiency?

 

No, of course not :-)  I am not even IFR rated .... But I believe the professional platforms of X-Plane allow for that.

 

ELITE, another sim I own, can also be used for that purpose. In version 7 it had the same "problem" with navaids range but got solved with version 8.

 

Regarding not beng able to get some stations, I also have that problem sometimes, and if not due to the database having some error, it appears to be tile-related, in the way X-Plane processes the arious scenery elements loaded as flight progresses.

Edited August 24, 2013 by jcomm

[raven1982]

Yes they do allow for that when accompanied by an FAA approved BATD/AATD.

 

Which NAV Aids are you having issues with? I practice IFR approaches on the East Coast and West Coast and have noticed more often that NAV Aids are available when they should not be.

 

Also, if you are looking to log time I know that laws vary from one country to the next. Some countries just require an FAA cert software, while others just want the hardware to meet certain specs.

[APUtech]

jcomm, you hit it right on the mark. I use X-Plane to keep my IFR skills sharp. I have just under 400 combined (SEL, MEL) IFR hours, and until I purchased X-Plane 10 I did most of my ground-based at home practicing in FSX. I know what you mean by the glitched turn/slip undicators, yeah it can be a drag at times, especially during those timed maneuvers; never had that problem with FSX. I just use X-Plane versus FSX for IFR practice because X-Plane has the right "feel," similar to the IFR simulators I used to pay $35/hr to use at KMYF.

The only (other) problem I have with X-Plane under IFR is that if I run into serious IMC, the chronograph in any airplane I'm flying ceases to keep real (accurate) time. In other words, if my frame rate slows down, so does the passage of time in X-Plane. A one hour flight in a near zero visibility can take up to 10, even 15 minutes longer. On my faster machines this isn't much of a problem, but I run X-Plane 10 on a 3.1 Ghz laptop most of the time because I can take it anywhere.

Have you noticed the time distortion yourself?

 

APUtech

[jcomm]

Yes APUTech, I can confirm that too :-/

 

The only way here is to considerably lower the cloud rendering settings ( I have "my puffs" at 30 % )...

 

I use ELITE for precise IFR simulation. Nothing compares to it when it comes to IFR practice. I have recently upgraded to version 8.6 wich includes the outside view possibility to stretch to your monitors resolution ( while the instrumenT panel still keeps 1024 x 768 with black stripes on both margins :-/, but it looks ok, anyway...)

 

Beware that in FSX the problems with the turn coordinator are also a plague!  I have asked A2A and RealAir to fix it, and apparently Rob Young is releasing a new version of the Duke with precise turn coordinator, and Scott from A2A made sure they would implement their turn coordinator with enough precision :-) I was told that the Milviz C310 has precise turn coordinator and is great to train IFR too in FSX / P3D.

 

Watching your flight progress on the map, and in profile view, is better in X-Plane than in FSX IMO, due to the map resolution, unless you use some outside app for FSX...

Edited August 27, 2013 by jcomm

[APUtech]

I was told that the Milviz C310 has precise turn coordinator and is great to train IFR too in FSX / P3D.

 

It does, and *so* is. I have near one hundred rw MEL hours in a 310R and yes, the MilViz 310R is true enough to put temporal apprehension at bay. And it's a blast to fly, too.

I've wanted to purchase the Elite IFR package, but I find it hard to justify the cost when X-Plane is (slowly) spooling up in practical functionality.  Still, I'm very familiar with Elite, and can attest to its quality and accuracy-of-feel.

 

I'm IFR in X-Plane I have my stopwatch on a lanyard, around my neck, just in case.