It depends what you want to practice. If it's instrument scan and aircraft
control, then you'll want two things in a PC simulator: 1) good flight model
and 2) good instrument frame rates. For this, the X-Plane series is great.
ASA's OnTop and Intrument Trainer are good too. They also all have realistic
turbulence effects. Most people who've flown in IMC can atest that bumps in
the clouds are more of a rule than an exception. I have tried Jeppesen's sim
as well as Elite and I like ASA's for their simplicity, frame rates, price
and turbulence effect. Jepp's turbulence is unusable.

Flight Simulator 2004 is good for the ATC practice. It also gives you a good
idea of what an approach to minimums actually looks like. X-Plane does too.

None of the PC sims let you practice radio operations while bumping around
in turbulence while barreling down an approach which (for me) creates a
challenge in my own plane. You can spend a few (OK a lot) extra dollars on
the PCATD hardware to get that practice but that's up to you. Most models in
ASA's sims require you to click on a button to get the radio stack up and
that makes the drawback even worse. They do have a good playback feature
that let's you review your track with a convenient view of what your
instruments looked like during the approach.

Lotsa good stuff out there. I would download the available demos and take a
look-see for yourself. YMMV

Marco




wrote in message
...
I am just starting my Instrument rating,
and I believe that a good PC based flight simulator would
help shorten the learning curve.

What simulators would this group reccomend?

I hava older versions of X-plane (V6) and MSFS2002.
I have a high performance PC so I should be able to run whatever is
availible.
I've tried the C172 in both sims.

MSFS2002 the VSI is way too fast and the plane is way too stable.

XPlane, the plane feels about right, the only complaint is the turn
gyro is way too twitchy.

Anyone have comments on later version of either of these sims?


Paul

(Yes I know that a PC based simulator time can not be logged)



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