PCATD's

[propilot1983]

Does anybody have any experience with PCATD's...Elite Software and Hardware in particular? What is your opinion of this system? The flight school I work for is looking to get one of these for instrument training.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[BeeFCaKe]

Pcatd - Worthless Flight Time?

I went to GTC in Kenosha, and at the time I was there, they exclusively used the ELITE PCATD's.

Pro's:
They were great for procedural training, expecially IFR.
Hell of a lot better than nothing at all when trying to introduce holding or approaches
Great for ME training as well, where you can review procedures etc while sitting on the ground.
most of the stations had an instructor monitor setup as well, where you could view the map page and have 'failures' without the student knowing about them. Any sim should have this, it is wonderful

Con's:
The digital controls for radios etc were a pain in the butt to use... Maybe they upgraded since then?
Unlabeled switches, but after a while you learned what did what.
Half the time you ended up flying the thing with just the trim.
"Turbulence" leaves a lot to be desired - you could set it up with only light turbulence, and it would still be almost uncontrollable.



Last year they bought an AST3000 ME sim. It is set up as a seminole (their multi trainer). I think it is a vast improvement over the PCATD's, and you can even get your rating in it... THen again, it cost them 10 times as much! In all, the PCATD's are great for procedural training. It is unfortunate you cannot log it, but then again, you don't need to. In the long run it will shave 5 hours off of airplane flight times for your students.

If you haven't already, find someone that HAS the elite PCATD's and go fly them. Compare them to other flight sims you have experience in, then let us know what you think.


Hope this helps!
-John

 

[de727ups]

Elite

I have an Elite sim approved for 10 hours towards the IFR. Got it on ebay and UPS broke the avionics panel during shippin. By the time I figured out it was broke and not just me hooking it all up wrong, it was to late to get UPS to pay for it. Anyhow, I like the Elite sim for training. I've used ATC610's for years, currently have three of them. The Elite is a step up in my opinion as you can customize it for your local area. I'm a big believer in these sims for basic procedures training, they are a good investment if you do much IFR training at your FBO.

 

[propilot1983]

Right now we do not do very much flight training for the instrument. The are probably a handful of students. We are hoping that this will cut the cost for getting the instrument rating and also attract private pilots to get the rating...the benefits go on and on for both us and the students/pilots. Just got to figure out all the details yet. Probably going to go with the 135 model.

 

[propilot1983]

Can you log the time in the sim (FAA approved) for instrument recency requirements in total time column or just in simulator?

 

[de727ups]

Some different opinions on that...

I tell guys to only log ground trainer (PCATD) time in the simulator column. You can also log it as dual received and the CFI can log it as dual given. It's not "flight time", however, and I've always considered and assumed that the total time column is "total flight time", though it usually says "total time". So, in my opinion, the only thing that should go in total time is flight time and not sim time.

 

[standaman]

Have a tendency to break sometimes. It is mostly due to student abuse. And when they break kind of hard to get them fixed. And cost a good deal too. Tend to be real sensitive at times.

 

[MarineGrunt]

I have Elite and I think it's a ripoff compared to others. With Elite, you pay almost $300 for the program and you just get a C172. If you want a twin, you have to buy the twin package for another $300. If you want a turboprop or jet, you're lookin at $500.

Looking back, I should have went with ASA's On Top Sim and got half a dozen aircraft for less than the basic Elite program. Or I should have just kept MSFS and built a custom GoFlight panel...

 

[BeeFCaKe]

Come to think of it, I have used ASA's on top before as well, and it is very good. Comparable to Elite, however I did not use it in the same type of setup as the two-moniter version which I was describing earlier.


I think ASA is great with your $75 or $100 yoke, and the customer service is real good too. The only thing I didn't like about ASA was that the GPS you really couldn't do approaches with.

-CaKe

 

[DGdaPilot]

Can you log the time in the sim (FAA approved) for instrument recency requirements in total time column or just in simulator?

I put all that stuff under simulator, but I make a note in the back of my logbook that indicates that the time was in a PCATD, FTD, etc...., not in a true simulator.

As far as Elite goes, the software is alright. SIU's got a CRM course and we fly a King Air 200 with the software. It can be pretty glitchy sometimes, especially with certain types of hardware. It's good practice but I always thought trimming the thing was a pain and worthless.