FSXFlight

I have always been a huge advocate of Simulations and training using Sims and I personally use Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) a lot.  Mainly I use it to keep my instrument skills sharp, to work on emergency decision making (ie engine failures of all sorts), and I also use it to recon new areas before I fly to them on cross countries.  Yes it may not be exact, but it gives me a lay of the land and a little more familiarity on what to expect.  If you are flying in the Pacific Northwest, the Orbx add-on scenery IS very close and makes this process even more realistic, but that’s another story. 

Last week I saw a new “tool” advertised on Facebook that caught my eye called FSXFlight.  This is a program that you download on your computer and it stimulates your iPad using Foreflight or Wings-X either via wifi or cable as you fly in FSX.  It literally acts just like it would if you were flying in your plane and you looked at your iPad and it will show your icon moving across the map – WAY COOL!  It also shows you traffic (if you pay for that feature in Foreflight) and will also warn you to entering the runway just like if you were taxiing in an aircraft.

Although I have been flying with the iPad now for about three years, I am now using it exclusively since I no longer have a beautiful MFD to look at and because potentially I could be flying different aircraft, most of which will have no MFD.  I upgraded my Foreflight to include the geo-referenced charts as well and I find that they are every bit as good as the Jeppesen charts on my CMAX and even better in some ways, since they will overlay over a sectional, or IFR chart on Foreflight (They are also about $1100 cheaper a year too).  Since purchasing FSXFlight, I am now finding all sorts of cool things that my Foreflight would do, that I had no idea.  It’s a great way to test your “resource management” and to truly learn how to maximize the use of the iPad without burning up hundreds of dollars in avgas.  For anyone that uses FSX and Foreflight, I HIGHLY recommend you buy this program (and I have no affiliation with this company, I just really like the product and it's only $19.99).  It’s easy to install (takes 5-minutes and you are up and running), and provides you an extremely valuable tool to train with.  Check out the website and see the demo video for yourself.

http://www.fsxflight.com/