Boatguy wrote: ↑Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:33 am
Know how to always have the Flight Director doing what you want since your CFII will probably have you hand flying 80% of the time. Mastering the FD in the sim will free up the brain cycles to deal with real world ATC, turbulence, traffic, etc. when you're in the plane.
A big ditto on Russ' point to "know how to always have the Flight Director doing what you want"!! Yes, you need to know how to "fly the needles" (and Russ also has a great suggestion on the CDI intercept), but if you ALWAYS keep the autopilot lateral and vertical modes in sync with your intentions (as noted in the command line, top center of PFD) even with the autopilot disengaged, then the FD is always "correct" and will become your best friend for life as an instrument pilot.
Wayne
I'm new to Diamond Aviators. I restarted flying in May after a 30 year break and got my flight review followed by my IPC (I took about 5 months off so I was able to focus on it). I got checked out in a DA40 a month or so ago and love flying the plane which is why I joined this forum!
To echo what some of the others have said, one of the really helpful tools was X-Plane (in combination with PilotEdge) especially for IFR training.
To add to that, I found this $99 course from Pilot Workshops extremely helpful in getting X-Plane set up correctly and with good references to "plug-ins" like PilotEdge, Navigraph (for updated nav data): https://pilotworkshop.com/products/gett ... imulation/
While I have been a die hard X-Plane 11 advocate for several years, I recently started doing a lot more reps in MSFS2020 once Working Title released their G1000 beta. This cleans up a ton of bugs and missing features in the pitiful stock G1000 by Asobo. I also highly recommend the Logitech Cessna yoke, throttle quadrant, and rudder pedals. I augment with a Thrustmaster joystick for the Diamond.