X-Plane 11 and IFR

Question

Currently I am training to get my instrument rating and want to use X-Plane 11 to practice. In its current beta form, can I practice IFR flying (dept/arr/garmin etc...) or do I have to wait to purchase the final product? As you can understand, the sooner I can start using it to practice, the better. I should also mention that I have no interest at all in X-Plane 10. So, that carrot which is dangled upon purchasing 11 beta I could care less about. In fact I would rather see a percent reduction of the purchasing price. Anyways, is X-Plane 11 useful now for IFR practice, or not?

Thanks for your time.

Answer 1

Hi, well, everybody has different expectations, so it is hard to answer without knowing more precisely how you want do practice IFR. I would say, X-plane 11, in its current beta release, is as useful as XP-10 was (ans still is) in terms of IFR practice. That said, you might consider building your own opinion by browsing youtube as many many videos are available.
As an example, I use a set of 2 Ipads to simulate both screens of the G1000, using Simionic Hardware and software. All this works extremely well since XP11 has been prereleased.
But you do not need all that to have a satisfying level of IFR simulation. I find XP11 sufficient on its own.

Comments

Okay thanks that's a good answer. I just wanted to know if X-Plane 11 in its current beta form is capable of IFR flight without massive bugs to ruin the experience.

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I find its much harder to trim the aircraft (flying the provided C172) than real C172, which makes you work hard on keep a good scan going.  But I've been using it for practice IFR flights just as you are looking to do, and it IMO works great for that at this point.  I've heard from others that xEnviro really adds to the realism of the weather, especially flying in/out of clouds, so that might be something to look into if you're looking realism in that regard.  Also, take a look at PilotEdge if you want to actually practice your radio calls and procedures with realistic ATC on the other end.

Answer 2

YES very useful to train IFR, mainly procedures and scanning. You can set weather to the minimums, which is nearly never available as such in real.

The only thing missing is realistic ATC, certainly in Europe. That would add the 'radio stress' factor / distraction. IVAO might be an alternative, but most of the controllers are not familiar with IFR training procedures. Furthermore one might object to IVAO's atmosphere, but you might not have a problem with it.