Hi,
I am looking to set up an IF Sim on a PC or Mac in order to assist while I train for my IF Rating on my SR22 (Avidyne). Does anyone have experience with the available Sim’s on the market who can tell me which are realistic enough to be of some use during IF training and for later currency training?
Cheers,
Dion
Do a search in Marketplace, but the best one for your needs is TOUCHTRAINER by http://www.flythissim.com. It is FAA certified and you can log your time. You can also build your own per their instructions, but is not FAA certified.
Hi John,
Many thanks…willdo. BTW is something like Micosoft FSX not up to the job ie just a ‘game’?
Dion
Flythissim is the only way to go. With the Cirrus Avidyne panel, you have a computer sim which functions exactly like the real Avidyne panel. I used Flythissim extensively during my instrument rating and it cut down significantly on the “buttonology” part of IR training.
FSX just can’t compete with the realism of Flythissim.
Paul
Everyting he said. I tried MS, Eaglesoft etc. FTS is miles ahead, will save you mucho $$$.
There is the underlying flight simulator and there is the instrumentation. Flythissim uses X-Plane as its simulator. FSX is no longer in development by Microsoft so when Flythissim made their simulator selection, they went with the one that was still growing.
There is no better or realistic simulation solution for home use than Flythissim. It is an incredible value given all the development work they have in it.
Come join COPA and you will learn even more on the member side. If you are going to operate a Cirrus, COPA is a must.
Has anyone had any luck with the build your own approach? Looks like to total software needed is less than $200.
Many have done so. Follow this guide: http://www.flythissim.com/new_users.html
Of course you have to have the hardware to support.
They have nice videos as well. Surf their website.
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the advice. Have taken a look at Flythissim and it it looks impressive. Am I correct that it requires two separate processors…a Mac to run X-Plane and a Windows machine to run the Flythissim Cirrus addon? They apparently get connected together somehow to form a working simulator. Is all the interconnection software that is required included in the package? And what are the hardware specs required for the two processors? Thanks again…
Will take your advice and spend the bucks on joining COPA!
Dion
Dion,
You can use Mac or Windows to drive X-Plane. The SimAvio must run on a WIndows machine and that is what drives the avionics and their display.
You can technically run the whole suite on one Windows machine, that is what most do. You can also run it all on one monitor, but it is not the most visually pleasing. I have even run it all on a good laptop.
Check the link above for info on system hardware specs.
Hi Dion,
No, one CPU works fine as long as its a pretty good processor and video card. I run mine on an Intel Core i7 @ 2.67 GHz, 12GB RAM, and ATI Radeon HD 5800 video card. This handles all the SimAvio/Cirrus stuff and very high resolution settings in X-plane. It does help to have 2 monitors (or even 3 if you have them) so that you can have the scenery from x-plane on one monitor and your panel from simavio on the other. I have mine “stacked” with one above the other so that it mimics the view in the cockpit.
Paul
Dion,
Here’s a few photos of what a PC set-up can look like. I have the Avidyne panels and the Perspective as I fly both and use Flythissim to stay up on both avionic suites.
This is the setup that got me through the instrument rating 
Is the lower monitor a touch screen?
Mine is not, but that would be really cool. I use a mouse.
For me, that was the easy way.
The mac is just a dual core (mac mini 2.26ghz) and the Windows XP was running on a dual core Mac mini (boot camp). Just network them together. Note that the mac mini computers have a pretty good video chip set - nvidia 9400. If you use a PC, plan on putting in a good video card. The typical business graphics chip set on most PCs won’t cut it.
It does take a fair amount of work to get it going, but it is worth it.
No No No! You can do so, but I run it all, just fine, off one PC with an i7 chip. A good graphics card is a help, but for IFR training most of the flying the screen is grey, so no stress on the graphics card either. That matters if you like nice puffy clouds and cars running around…
I run a GEforce GTX 480 video card. It was once the top-dog, and now all over the net at under $200. System is an i7 930 @2.8. Runs it all with two Planar touch screens. Do not hesitate to call if this is teh route you want to go. BTW Carl and team at FTS are great guys, happy to help out and fellow Cirrus guys. I have no financial interest…
For sure. The initial set up is easy. My brother is computer savvy and he set the panel up himself. For about $100/$200 (time based) the FTS guys will link into your PC and set it up in any custom configuration you desire. That’s the route I went. You can’t log the approaches officially, but the DIY system is less expensive.
Hey guys, this is Eric and FlyThisSim. I highly recommend a single computer set-up for a first time user. Many years ago, a two computer setup was a good idea. Now it’s really not necessary at all. Our TouchTrainer is build on a single PC, and we get about 60 fps on a three screen visual with the rendering settings set at extreme high texture resolution. We turn down the cloud detail, which is a real killer on performance. We will be launching a major new release to SimAVIO soon, and it won’t have the ability to communicate with a Mac initially. (sorry maccies) This is why a single Windows machine is the best launching pad for your sim adventures. Good luck and fly safe.[ap]
Hi paul n/Eric,
Now you’ve got me drooling over those pics !! I’m about to jump in my car and rush out to buy hardware…however can you advise on the following:
I am a Mac fan and am in need of a Mac upgrade at present so am considering buying a 27" iMac to meet my home admin as well as Sim needs. Will an iMac be able to handle both the X-Plane application as well as the Flythissim software or am I better buying a dedicated Windows machine of the config you guys have mentioned?
Thanks for all the advice!
Dion
The reason I recommended 2 computers is that I did not have a core i7 (at that time) - and I had plenty of dual core and core i3 machines.
If you love using a mac (and I do), you will only be able to run x-plane natively on a mac. The simavio must run on windows. It is possible to install windows on a mac (dual boot mode using boot camp). Don’t try using a virtual machine (vmware etc) - you will need the mac to boot up into windows.
With the 2 mac dual cores, I could get 30 frames per second. It worked well enough.
Before going in to do a real simulator ride (for an IPC), I would do all the approaches on my home built simulator. It is great to fly the sim before going to a new airport - or just to refresh yourself on the approaches before a trip.
