Approved sim for home use

Now that the letter of the law has been changed to allow maintaining IFR currency in simulator alone, wouldn't it be cool if DyGarNin released a "sim-only" version of SkyViewG1000X with a bunch of USB ports to hook up pedals, stick, outside view monitors and a knob panel, and had the combo approved as AATD with the FAA?

It might "phone home" to log your approaches, provide meaningful training scenarios, and so help pacify the ur-bureaucrat to slide through the approval process.

I'd drop a few grand on one, if it meant not having to fight over sticky club sims that have nothing in common with the airplane I fly and are always broken when you need them.

Hint hint g3xpert.

I would too.

A sim in every home ...

Aluminum said:

Now that the letter of the law has been changed to allow maintaining IFR currency in simulator alone, wouldn't it be cool if DyGarNin released a "sim-only" version of SkyViewG1000X with a bunch of USB ports to hook up pedals, stick, outside view monitors and a knob panel, and had the combo approved as AATD with the FAA?

It might "phone home" to log your approaches, provide meaningful training scenarios, and so help pacify the ur-bureaucrat to slide through the approval process.

I'd drop a few grand on one, if it meant not having to fight over sticky club sims that have nothing in common with the airplane I fly and are always broken when you need them.

Hint hint g3xpert.

Click to expand...

Check out "6DOF" and X-Plane. Arduino or RaspberryPI versions. There is a growing interest in this arena and it can't be long before the tipping-point is reached and really useful HomeSim will be common. I believe that SkyView logging captures all the necessary data to have an X-Plane replay of a flight now. Probably all vendors do it.

6DOF (6 degrees of freedom) also called Steward Platforms, and DIY linear actuators are reasonable DIY projects for anyone who has built a Vans, especially with glass panels.

I hope to see this area of aviation advance soon.

These guys have been around for awhile. I've only browsed the website, no experience with the actual product as to its accuracy...

https://realsimgear.com/

We have been doing that for over a decade now with our EFIS systems and I use this facility myself for EFIS software development.

You can connect any of our older Odyssey/Voyager G2 or newer iEFIS (with iBOX) to FS9 or FSX using a simple bit of "glue" application which can be downloaded from our website.

Quite flexible, you can use the flightsim nav radio as "SL30", even use the autopilot using simulated servos and get it to fly (simulated) GPS aided approaches, play around with VOR and ILS, all the usual stuff.
The EFIS does not know the difference between the real and simulated World which makes this a useful tool for me.

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics

Would you not rather just go fly? I have assumed sim currency was for those without a plane.

Johnnybgoode said:

Would you not rather just go fly? I have assumed sim currency was for those without a plane.

Click to expand...

Yes, but; Keeping ones self IFR current sometimes is difficult. To practice you need a safety pilot and they are not always available. The bigger issue is probably money. Sim time is cheaper. In addition I was surprised at how long it takes to fly 2 or 3 approaches in the real world. A fair amount of that time is getting from the departure end of one approach to the Initial Approach Fix on the next.

That said I have zero logged sim time but I would love to have a setup similar to our RV on my computer at home whether I could legally log it or not.

Rainier Lamers said:

We have been doing that for over a decade now with our EFIS systems and I use this facility myself for EFIS software development.

You can connect any of our older Odyssey/Voyager G2 or newer iEFIS (with iBOX) to FS9 or FSX using a simple bit of "glue" application which can be downloaded from our website.

Quite flexible, you can use the flightsim nav radio as "SL30", even use the autopilot using simulated servos and get it to fly (simulated) GPS aided approaches, play around with VOR and ILS, all the usual stuff.
The EFIS does not know the difference between the real and simulated World which makes this a useful tool for me.

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics

Click to expand...

Thanks for chiming in Rainier!

While the hardware is clearly capable, the key word here is "Approved", as in the regs only make the self-logged approaches legal if the device itself is approved as "Advanced Aviation Training Device" by the FAA.

Any thoughts on setting up a combo for sale and having it approved so? I think there could definitely be a small but loyal home market; many clubs would want one too if cheap enough. Especially if you made it a "cloud service", pardon the non-pun, to grow out of the limitations and fussiness of desktop sims and add more realism and more complex situations. (Bonus: dogfights! )

Aluminum said:

Thanks for chiming in Rainier!

While the hardware is clearly capable, the key word here is "Approved", as in the regs only make the self-logged approaches legal if the device itself is approved as "Advanced Aviation Training Device" by the FAA.

Any thoughts on setting up a combo for sale and having it approved so? I think there could definitely be a small but loyal home market; many clubs would want one too if cheap enough. Especially if you made it a "cloud service", pardon the non-pun, to grow out of the limitations and fussiness of desktop sims and add more realism and more complex situations. (Bonus: dogfights! )

Click to expand...

Actually yes - I have received several suggestions like that over the years. A few systems have been put together for pilot training mostly for single seat jets where the "approval" requirement was not considered of value for a client.
But... It's a full time job doing something like this so to speak and not quite in the line of stuff we keep ourselves busy with so it is likely never going to happen. So, for now it is strictly "for enthusiasts"...

It was originally included in our system to help with software development - where so far it has proved very valuable. It allows us to throw about any conceivable scenario at the system and do so repeatedly in the same way.

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics

Johnnybgoode said:

Would you not rather just go fly? I have assumed sim currency was for those without a plane.

Click to expand...

While everyone's situation is different, for sport flying I would typically not want to "just go fly" when there is actual IFR weather--especially in vertical development in a 1000lb airplane! The rating is there only to get me home safe when I'm not able to plan around the weather.

In that light, depending on location, it can be practically impossible for most of us weekend warriors to get enough actual procedures to stay current, let alone proficient.

Flying with a safety pilot is fine, but a sim can put you in much more challenging scenarios to sharpen the reflexes and increase stress tolerance. Too, it's always a good idea to fly a planned IFR flight in a sim first, especially if it's your first time to a new destination, or if you're a bit rusty on procedures.