Renting out my home flight simulator.

A

Ashara Keliyn

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Ashara
I have a chance to buy a FAA approved Cessna/Piper single engine flight simulator for a great price. Can I rent the sim time out of my garage or do I need to be a registered flight school to do so?
 
I presume the sim does come with the QAG and LOA? How long does the LOA have remaining it and what does it say? Verifying you are an instructor?
 
Skip Miller said:
I believe you will need a CFI certificate. Otherwise the student won’t be able to log the time.

-Skip
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I believe you're correct... in order for a Student Pilot to log time, there needs to be a CFI by his/her side.

On the other hand, I believe that an Instrument Rated and certificated pilot can fly and log approaches/holds for currency on an FAA-approved simulator (AATD or BATD) without being attended by a CFI/CFII. Whether you can charge for the use of the sim might well be another question (but I don't see any logic as to why charging would be an issue).

Wayne
 
No, I am not a CFI and I didn't mean for student pilots. Just for someone who wants to have some sim time logged. Not sure about the QAG and LOA, I have to do some reading on that. It's just a really nice Frasca sim for a fraction of the cost (still expensive for me). Though I might offset some of the expenses...
 
You can’t log the time unless you have an instructor.
 
Well, you can, but it counts for nothing. You can log time sitting on a 737 to Houston, but it counts for nothing.
 
If you’re asking the question, pass on the opportunity.
 
It has to be approved by the FAA. Once it's moved from its original place, it has to be certified again.
 
I am in a very uniquely advantageous situation with this one. The company that I work for has been manufacturing certain parts for Frascas for over 25 years. The client contacted us regarding these parts for that particular sim, however our lead time is around 24 weeks. They can't wait that long, no other vendor quoted them, and without those parts the sim is basically useless. The client semi-jokingly offered the sim to me for a great price. I can buy the sim and make the parts for myself for free (the boss is OK with this, as long as it doesn't affect the overall production). It will take more than 24 weeks for a personal project but in the end I will have a great sim.
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
It counts for instrument currency if it's an FAA approved simulator, no instructor necessary if already instrument rated.
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Yep, found it in 61.51
(5) A person may use time in a full flight simulator, flight training device, or aviation training device for satisfying instrument recency experience requirements provided a logbook or training record is maintained to specify the training device, time, and the content.

I think it does not matter whether the sim is owned, borrowed or rented.
Now the LOA and QAG are a different question.
 
I know a guy with a redbird mcx. Not a cfi, not a flight school. I can use it come instrument training time.

You can rent it out. How the renter logs or doesn't log it is on them.
 
Mikey52 said:
It has to be approved by the FAA. Once it's moved from its original place, it has to be certified again.
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Only if it's being used for logging time with a CFI (for private) or logging for IFR currency, then it's part 142. If it's only being used for practice, the FAA doesn't care. It's the same as consumer-level MSFS or XPlane. Local university ran into this a few years ago. Entire Aviation dept was to move to a brand-new building. But someone forgot to budget for the FAA certification. So the dept didn't move. 12 Frascas, 4 ATPs, lots of workstations. Still in the original building.
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
It counts for instrument currency if it's an FAA approved simulator, no instructor necessary if already instrument rated.
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Only if it’s an AATD, which he did not specify it is, and most personally owned aren’t so I assumed.
 
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I own an FAA approved BATD. You can let others use it. Nobody has ever come to use mine. I have not marketed it as a business but did put it out for the world to see and make it known.

tldr, not sure it is worth creating a business over.
 
I have DCS and full controls and VR, so if anyone needs day or night carrier qualifications in an F-18 then I'd be happy to rent out my space so that you can get your required number of traps*
:biggrin:

*Applicability to United States Navy requirements not guaranteed
 
Salty said:
Only if it’s an AATD, which he did not specify it is, and most personally owned aren’t so I assumed.
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Or a BATD. I own a Redbird TD2 which is an FAA approved BATD with a LOA and QAG and completely legal for logging 61.57 currency requirements. While not cheap, it's affordable compared to an AATD.
 
murphey said:
Only if it's being used for logging time with a CFI (for private) or logging for IFR currency, then it's part 142. If it's only being used for practice, the FAA doesn't care. It's the same as consumer-level MSFS or XPlane. Local university ran into this a few years ago. Entire Aviation dept was to move to a brand-new building. But someone forgot to budget for the FAA certification. So the dept didn't move. 12 Frascas, 4 ATPs, lots of workstations. Still in the original building.
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Effing regulations (more pointedly, regulators). According to GPS, the ground beneath our feet moved 2.1 cm during a recent earthquake -- does that mean every flight sim in California is rendered invalid for logging because it moved?
 
DJTorrente said:
Effing regulations (more pointedly, regulators). According to GPS, the ground beneath our feet moved 2.1 cm during a recent earthquake -- does that mean every flight sim in California is rendered invalid for logging because it moved?
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Don't give them any ideas, lol.
 
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