Home Flight Simulators and Real Pilot Proficiency: What Counts, What Doesn't - ProSimHQ

Home Flight Simulators and Real Pilot Proficiency: What Counts, What Doesn't

If you fly for real and also fly at home, there is a question worth answering precisely: what does the time at home actually do for you? Some of it is genuinely valuable and the FAA says so. None of it is loggable unless the device itself has been approved. This guide separates the two, using the regulations and FAA publications rather than hangar talk.

Published: September 20, 2026 | Reading time: Approximately 14 minutes

Quick Answer

The FAA approves devices, not software and not categories of hardware. Approval attaches to a specific model, granted to its manufacturer by a Letter of Authorization, listing that model's credit allowances, valid for 60 calendar months.

A home rig you assembled is not that device, however closely it resembles one. 🔴 Nothing ProSimHQ sells is an FAA-approved training device, and we make no such claim.

What home practice is genuinely good for: instrument cross-check, procedures, flows, avionics familiarity and scenario rehearsal. The FAA describes ground-based training equipment as "a valuable tool for developing your instrument cross-check and learning procedures" — and separately notes all such devices have limitations relative to actual flight.

What "FAA-Approved" Actually Means

This single misunderstanding causes most of the confusion, so it is worth being exact.

The FAA does not approve simulator software. It does not approve a type of hardware. It approves a particular device model, made by a particular manufacturer, by issuing a Letter of Authorization. The FAA's own description of the process: "The Air Transportation Division (AFS-200) provides for the evaluation, qualification and approval of ATD's as a Basic or Advanced Aviation Training Device (BATD/AATD), as permitted under 14 CFR part 61.4(c)", and "An FAA Letter of Authorization (LOA) is provided to the manufacturer for each model that qualifies."

That LOA is the thing that carries the privileges: "The LOA lists the specific part 61 & 141 time or training credit allowances, are valid for 60 calendar months, and must contain an expiration date to be valid."

The list is public

The FAA publishes the approved devices as "FAA Approved Aviation Training Devices (ATD)", dated on its face. Each row names the manufacturer with a business address, the type (AATD or BATD), the model name, the LOA expiration date, and the approved aircraft configurations. The current list runs to roughly 159 device models from around 40 manufacturers, and the entries are purpose-built commercial training devices tied to named certificated aircraft.

🔴 The practical consequence for anyone building at home. Approval is tied to a model as the manufacturer built and submitted it. A rig you assembled from separately purchased parts is not the model the FAA approved, even where the components look similar to something on the list.

Nothing ProSimHQ sells is an FAA-approved flight simulator, flight training device or aviation training device, and we do not represent any product as approved, certified or loggable. If a seller tells you otherwise, ask to see the Letter of Authorization, the model it names, and its expiration date.

FFS, FTD, BATD, AATD — the Four Things

Device Approved under What it is What it can be used for
Full Flight Simulator (FFS) 14 CFR part 60 The highest-fidelity devices, including motion The widest credit, including type-rating training at the higher levels
Flight Training Device (FTD) 14 CFR part 60 Qualified devices below FFS level Substantial credit; usable for an instrument proficiency check
Advanced ATD (AATD) § 61.4(c), by LOA Must "significantly exceed" BATD criteria — realistic cockpit layout, correctly sized and positioned controls, digital avionics, GPS with moving map, two-axis autopilot, instructor station Private, instrument, commercial, ATP and flight instructor credit, instrument recency, and the IPC
Basic ATD (BATD) § 61.4(c), by LOA The entry approval tier Private pilot and instrument rating credit, instrument experience and pilot time. 🔴 Not the IPC

The BATD/AATD split matters more than people realise. FAA guidance for flight instructors states it plainly: "Only AATDs may be used for the IPC. The flight instructor should review the ATD Letter of Authorization (LOA) for the specific credit allowances provided for that training device model."

Note the precision there, because it matters. The recency-of-experience rule listing devices for an instrument proficiency check names full flight simulators and flight training devices — not aviation training devices. An IPC in an AATD is permitted through § 61.4(c) and the device's own Letter of Authorization, not because the rule text names ATDs. In practice this means the answer is always "what does that specific device's LOA say?"

What Actually Counts, With the Numbers

Here is the part most guides skip. The instrument rating requires 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time. Against that requirement, the regulation caps device credit as follows.

Device Maximum instrument time creditable Conditions
Basic ATD 10 hours Device approved and authorized by the FAA · an authorized instructor provides the time · the FAA approved the training and tasks performed in the device
Advanced ATD 20 hours
FFS or FTD 30 hours If completed in accordance with part 142
FFS or FTD 20 hours If not completed under part 142
🔴 Overall cap: except under part 142, "a person may not credit more than 20 total hours of instrument time in a full flight simulator, flight training device, aviation training device, or a combination" toward the instrument rating

Read that overall cap carefully. Even with an approved AATD and an authorized instructor, at least half of the 40 hours has to happen somewhere other than a training device. And an unapproved home rig contributes zero to any of these figures.

There is one more limit worth knowing: the practical test for an instrument rating may be taken in an aircraft, a full flight simulator, or a flight training device. ATDs are not on that list — and the FAA states on the approved-device list itself that "Pilot certification practical tests, Part 141 stage exams/end of course evaluations and the flight portion of a Flight Review cannot be accomplished in an ATD", and that "Aircraft 'type' rating experience requirements cannot be accomplished in an ATD."

How ATD time is logged

Specifically, and not as flight time. FAA guidance: time is logged as dual instruction and as BATD or AATD time, and "Any columns that reference flight time should remain blank when logging ATD time." It may be recorded only as Instruction Received, Instrument Time and/or Total Time.

Instrument Currency: the Useful Exception

This is the most practically valuable thing in the regulations for a working instrument pilot, and it is more generous than the rating credit.

Instrument recency is task-based, not hour-based. Within the preceding six calendar months you need six instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses using navigational electronic systems.

And those tasks may be done in a device. The rule permits accomplishing them "in a full flight simulator, flight training device, or aviation training device provided the device represents the category of aircraft for the instrument rating privileges to be maintained and the pilot performs the tasks and iterations in simulated instrument conditions."

It goes further: "A person may complete the instrument experience in any combination of an aircraft, full flight simulator, flight training device, or aviation training device."

There is no hour cap here, because the requirement counts tasks rather than time. An instrument pilot with access to an approved device can maintain currency in it entirely.

🔴 The condition still holds: the device must be approved. Flying six approaches on unapproved home hardware does not refresh currency, however carefully you fly them. Takeoff and landing currency is more restricted again — it requires a device approved for landings and used within an approved course at a part 142 training centre.

The Line Your Hardware Cannot Cross

There is a specific sentence in the FAA's approval criteria that determines why consumer hardware is not on the approved list, and it is worth quoting exactly because it applies to every ATD approval, basic and advanced alike:

"The aircraft physical flight and associated control systems must be recognizable as to their function and how they are to be manipulated solely from their appearance. These physical flight control systems cannot use interfaces such as a keyboard, mouse, or gaming joystick to control the aircraft in simulated flight."

The same criteria add that, except during initial setup, a keyboard or mouse may not be used to set or position any feature of the flight controls for the maneuvers being trained.

This is the structural reason, not a judgement about quality. An approved device has to present controls that are recognisable and manipulable as the aircraft's own. That is a design and approval question about the device as submitted — not a statement that consumer hardware is imprecise or that home practice is worthless.

What Home Practice Is Genuinely Good For

Now the positive half, which is real and which the FAA supports — with one caveat stated up front.

🔴 Caveat first, so nothing here is overstated. The FAA passages below describe approved devices. They are not statements about unapproved home hardware. We quote them because they describe what kind of learning transfers from ground-based practice — and that reasoning applies to your procedural practice at home even though the credit does not.

The FAA's Instrument Flying Handbook describes what ground-based training equipment is for:

"This ground-based flight training equipment is a valuable tool for developing your instrument cross-check and learning procedures, such as intercepting and tracking, holding patterns, and instrument approaches. Once these concepts are fully understood, you can then continue with inflight training and refine these techniques for full transference of your new knowledge and skills."

FAA instructor guidance is equally direct about breadth, noting that "Most operational tasks and procedures for private pilot certificates, instrument ratings, commercial pilot certificates, and airline transport pilot certificates can be initially taught in an FFS, FTD, or ATD."

And on volume, a line worth internalising:

"there is no limit on how much time can be logged in an FFS, FTD, or ATD. The FAA recommends that training should continue in the simulator until the required tasks are accomplished successfully, before attempting the same tasks in an aircraft."

The limits are on credit, not on practice. That distinction is the whole argument for a home rig: nobody caps how much you rehearse, and the FAA's own recommendation is to keep rehearsing on the ground until the task is right.

Where the payoff actually is

  • Instrument cross-check. The scan is a perishable habit and it rehearses well on the ground.
  • Procedures and flows. Checklists, configuration changes, approach briefings and missed-approach sequences.
  • Avionics familiarity. Learning a GPS navigator's menu structure at home rather than at 120 knots.
  • Approach plate familiarity. Flying an unfamiliar approach before you fly it for real.
  • Scenario rehearsal. Running the sequence for a situation you would rather not meet cold.

And Where It Stops

An honest guide has to carry the counterweight, and the FAA publishes one.

On upset prevention and recovery, the Airplane Flying Handbook states that training devices "have a broad range of capabilities" but that "While all of these devices have limitations relative to actual flight, only the higher fidelity devices (i.e., Level C and D FFS) are a satisfactory substitution for developing UPRT skills in the actual aircraft."

It also makes a point about the psychological reality of a simulator that no hardware budget fixes: "the learning achieved while viewing that scene from the security of the simulator is not as complete as when viewing the same scene in an airplane."

Transfers well from home practice Does not
Instrument scan and cross-check Stick-and-rudder feel
Procedures, flows and checklist discipline Upset recognition and recovery
Avionics and GPS menu familiarity Real motion and physiological cues
Approach and airspace familiarity The consequence pressure of actual flight
Radio phraseology and workload management Anything requiring logged credit or currency

Use it for the left column. Do not expect the right. And bring the questions it raises to your instructor — a home rig is at its best when it makes your next lesson more productive, not when it substitutes for one.

Building for Procedural Practice

If procedural rehearsal is the goal, the hardware priorities are different from entertainment flying. Fidelity of layout beats fidelity of feel.

  • A yoke rather than a stick, if you fly a yoke-equipped aircraft — the hand position is part of the habit.
  • A separate throttle quadrant with the levers your aircraft actually has, so configuration changes are a physical action rather than a keystroke.
  • Rudder pedals with toe brakes — coordination and ground handling are procedural too.
  • Avionics you can reach without the mouse. The single biggest gain for instrument practice is learning the box by feel.
  • A stable, repeatable mounting position, so your scan builds against a consistent geometry.

Hardware at ProSimHQ

The full range is in flight simulator controls, complete rigs in flight simulators, and the hardware side is covered in our MSFS 2024 flight controls guide, our VR flight simulation guide, and the racing and flight simulator buyers guide.

🔴 To be unambiguous: none of the products above is an FAA-approved training device, and buying any combination of them does not create one. They are for practice and for flying. If you need loggable time or currency, that runs through an approved device, under its Letter of Authorization, with an authorized instructor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I log time from a home flight simulator?

No, unless the device itself is FAA-approved. FAA approval attaches to a specific device model, is granted to its manufacturer by a Letter of Authorization listing that model's credit allowances, and is valid for 60 calendar months. A rig assembled at home from separately purchased components is not the model the FAA approved. Nothing ProSimHQ sells is an FAA-approved training device.

How many hours of simulator time count toward an instrument rating?

Against the 40-hour instrument time requirement, a maximum of 10 hours may come from an approved basic aviation training device or 20 hours from an approved advanced aviation training device, provided an authorized instructor gives the instruction and the FAA approved the training and tasks. A full flight simulator or flight training device allows 30 hours under part 142 or 20 hours otherwise. Except under part 142, total device credit is capped at 20 hours in any combination.

Can I maintain instrument currency in a simulator?

Yes, in an approved device. Instrument recency is task-based rather than hour-based — six approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses within the preceding six calendar months — and those may be accomplished in a full flight simulator, flight training device or aviation training device representing the right category of aircraft, in simulated instrument conditions. They may also be done in any combination of aircraft and devices. The device must still be approved.

What is the difference between a BATD and an AATD?

Both are aviation training devices approved by Letter of Authorization, but an AATD must significantly exceed the basic criteria — a realistic cockpit layout, correctly sized and positioned controls, digital avionics, a GPS with moving map, a two-axis autopilot and an instructor station. A BATD supports private pilot and instrument rating credit and instrument experience. An AATD additionally supports commercial, ATP and flight instructor credit, and is the only ATD category that may be used for an instrument proficiency check.

Why are consumer flight controls not FAA-approved?

Because of a specific criterion that applies to all aviation training device approvals. The FAA requires that an approved device's physical flight control systems be recognisable in function and manipulation from their appearance, and states they "cannot use interfaces such as a keyboard, mouse, or gaming joystick to control the aircraft in simulated flight." It is a requirement about the device as submitted for approval, not a judgement about the precision of consumer hardware.

Is home simulator practice worth anything for a real pilot?

Yes, for the right things. The FAA describes ground-based flight training equipment as a valuable tool for developing instrument cross-check and learning procedures such as intercepting and tracking, holding patterns and instrument approaches, and notes there is no limit on how much time may be logged in a device — the limits are on credit. Practice transfers best for scan, procedures, flows and avionics familiarity. The FAA also states that all such devices have limitations relative to actual flight, and that only the highest-fidelity full flight simulators adequately substitute for upset recovery training in the aircraft.

Building a Rig for Procedural Practice?

Tell us what you fly and what you want to rehearse — scan, avionics, flows, or a specific panel. We will help you match the layout, and we will tell you plainly that none of it is a training device.

Flight Simulator Controls Flight Simulators

Sources and Further Reading

ProSimHQ Editorial Note

ProSimHQ is an independent retailer of simulation equipment from multiple manufacturers. Nothing ProSimHQ sells is an FAA-approved flight simulator, flight training device or aviation training device, and no product is represented as approved, certified or loggable. Regulatory references are to 14 CFR and FAA publications current at the date of writing; regulations and advisory circulars are revised, and a device's Letter of Authorization carries its own expiration date. This guide is general information, not legal or instructional advice. Consult a certificated flight instructor and the current regulations for anything affecting certification, currency, logging or training credit.

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