INSTRUMENT FLIGHT RULES TRAINING

AT YOUR OWN PACE OR ACCELERATED

TRAINING OVERVIEW

You’re a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) only pilot and have had to cancel numerous flights due to pesky cloud ceilings. Having the VFR rating is great when the weather cooperates, but now your ability to support your lifestyle is impacted every time a cloud layer appears. What’s the solution?

Getting your IFR ticket is the next logical step for a Private Pilot, and also incredibly valuable.  An IFR pilot flies to higher standards and your Instrument Rating may be the difference between flying, and waiting on the ground for the weather to improve. At CRAFT, you can log 50% of your required training time (20 hours) in our Redbird simulator, and the simulator is quality training. In the airplane, you will find yourself training “under the hood” and the actual number of approaches you can fly will be limited by availability and ATC workload, not to mention the time it will take you to start up, taxi out, and transition to your approach target, and by time, we mean money.

With the Redbird simulator, you can instantly be transported to the airport you want to practice at – ATC won’t be too busy, or vector you around the sky to fit you in with other traffic. Your instructor can move you back to the same location over and over until you have mastered that particular part of the approach, and it’s all in virtual instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) – no peeking! Our simulator will force you to develop good scanning techniques, and at a third of the cost of a rental airplane.

In fact, the FAA has approved the simulator for use in an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC), with the exception of the circling approach and the actual landing. 

See what Rod Machado has to say about the simulator and IFR Training.

CRAFT’s Accelerated IFR Course is perfect for the pilot with limited time. This week-long rigorous, finish-up, course is designed to get your IFR ticket quickly while allowing you to absorb and master all the necessary information to make you a confident IFR pilot. You’ll have an experienced CFI-I dedicated exclusively to you. Your instructor will provide structured, one-on-one training with a focus on results. Train in the simulator in the mornings and in the aircraft in the afternoons.  

Our IFR course utilizes the Redbird Advanced Aviation Training Device (AATD) and the Diamond DA40 or DA40NG aircraft (or bring your own aircraft!). Both have a Garmin G1000 panel representing modern avionics. The DA40 is a state-of-the-art aircraft, perfect for your IFR journey. The G1000’s easy-to-read glass panel provides outstanding situational awareness in IFR conditions. The GFC 700 digital autopilot makes flying this aircraft a dream on long cross-country flights.

The G1000 suite also features Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT), providing a virtual display of unseen hazards in IFR conditions, and was recently upgraded with the Garmin GTX 345 ADS-B system, making it fully compliant with the FAA’s ADS-B 2020 mandate. The GTX 345 interfaces with the G1000 system to graphically display traffic and weather via ADS-B, and has the ability to wirelessly connect with your tablet to display similar information on select Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) applications.

If you choose to use our aircraft, you will be trained to pass your check ride in the DA40. We begin by familiarizing you with the G1000 system. You will become proficient with the G1000 by using the system in our simulator and aircraft. This will ensure you are well prepared for your check ride. We can also conduct additional training after your check ride in order to make sure you can fly non-G1000 equipped aircraft.