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Simulation practice for student pilots. Free to start, no card required.

PRACTICE MODE · Works with Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane

Fly tonight's lesson before you pay for it.

Home simulator time is never loggable — even with a CFI present. Only FAA-approved training devices with a Letter of Authorization qualify (AC 61-136B).

Start free — fly Mission 1 tonightSee the founding offer

The loop, end to end

Everything described in this section works today. Nothing on this page is a preview of something we intend to build.

  1. 01

    Read the number the FAA publishes

    Every mission opens with the Airman Certification Standards tolerance for that maneuver, quoted verbatim, with the skill element it comes from. Those numbers are federal public domain and they are never behind a payment: you can read all eight briefs without an account.

  2. 02

    Fly it in your own simulator

    You get the setup that makes the practice mean something — assists off, simulation rate at 1x, live weather enabled — plus a route file that loads first try. Default scenery. No add-on purchase, no launcher, no installer.

  3. 03

    Write down what you actually saw

    Then you self-assess against each tolerance: within, outside, or "not measured" — and "not measured" is the most important option we ship, because an honest blank beats a guess that corrupts your own trend. The AI debrief reads what you wrote and answers it. It is metered, and the meter is on the button before you write: 10 per calendar month on founding and Student, unlimited from Pilot up, 0 per month on free.

The eight missions

Private pilot airplane maneuvers, each one anchored to the Airman Certification Standards element that publishes its tolerance. The brief is public for all eight; what a plan buys is the loop around them — the attempt history, the debrief, and the exports.

  • traffic-pattern

    Traffic Patterns (simulated practice)

    PA.III.B · FAA-S-ACS-6C

    Free — no card required

  • steep-turns

    Steep Turns (simulated practice)

    PA.V.A · FAA-S-ACS-6C

    Free — no card required

  • slow-flight

    Maneuvering During Slow Flight (simulated practice)

    PA.VII.A · FAA-S-ACS-6C

    Free — no card requiredTransfers poorly to the aircraft

  • power-off-stall

    Power-Off Stalls (simulated practice)

    PA.VII.B · FAA-S-ACS-6C

    Transfers poorly to the aircraft

  • stabilized-approach-go-around

    Stabilized Approach and Go-Around (simulated practice)

    PA.IV.B · PA.IV.N · FAA-S-ACS-6C

    Transfers poorly to the aircraft

  • short-field-takeoff-landing

    Short-Field Takeoff and Landing (simulated practice)

    PA.IV.E · PA.IV.F · FAA-S-ACS-6C

    Transfers poorly to the aircraft

  • soft-field-takeoff-landing

    Soft-Field Takeoff and Landing (simulated practice)

    PA.IV.C · PA.IV.D · FAA-S-ACS-6C

    Transfers poorly to the aircraft

  • navigation-leg

    Navigation Leg — Pilotage and Dead Reckoning (simulated practice)

    PA.VI.A · PA.VI.B · FAA-S-ACS-6C

What leaves the product

Every mission exports a .PLN for Microsoft Flight Simulator and a .FMS for X-Plane 12, sharing one canonical file name with the printable A5 kneeboard so the three always travel together. X-Plane is supported on day one, with the exact folder path, not as a footnote.

The route also deep-links out to the real planning surface, where you build the actual plan against actual conditions with live weather enabled. That link leaves the practice context on purpose: real conditions belong to the real product, and the two never share a page.

It connects to the reading

Each mission points at the matching study surface, so a 40-minute practice session turns into a 45-minute one that ends on the theory behind the maneuver you just flew. We cross over to that surface rather than rebuilding it here.

Open the study library

Founding member

One price, locked for life, and a plain account of what your money is for — including what happens if the thing it funds never ships.

Founding member

$79.99 for the year

Less than half of what one lesson in the airplane costs you.

You'd be founding member #1. The cohort is capped, and the cap is published before the offer opens.

The founding window closes when the desktop helper reaches its first public release. There is no countdown on this page and there will not be one.

The price is locked for life: every renewal stays at this number for as long as you keep the plan, whatever the plan costs by then.

Thirty days, unconditional. Ask for a refund by e-mail and you get it — no reason required, no form, no questions asked.

Take a founding seat

What the cohort pays for

Founding seats fund one thing: a desktop helper we call Link, which reads your simulator directly so an attempt can be measured instead of remembered. Everything else on this page already exists and is not waiting on the cohort.

What happens if Link never gets built

Everything on this page works today, without it. The missions, the published tolerances, the self-assessment, the AI debrief and the exports are what you are paying for — the desktop helper is an addition to that, never the thing that makes it work.

If we decide not to build it, we will say so on this page with the date and the reason, and we will e-mail every founding member the same day. You will not find out from a forum thread.

Your price stays locked either way, and the guarantee is unconditional for thirty days regardless of what we ship or do not ship.

The limits, in plain English

Not a flight record
This summarizes a video-game practice session. It does not count toward any FAA certificate, rating, or flight time — even with an instructor present.
Never loggable
Home simulator time is never loggable — even with a CFI present. Only FAA-approved training devices with a Letter of Authorization qualify (AC 61-136B).
No recency benefit
Practice here satisfies no FAA recency-of-experience requirement, including instrument recency under 14 CFR 61.57(c), which requires an FAA-approved training device operated under a Letter of Authorization (AC 61-136B).
AI debrief is metered
The AI debrief is capped, and the cap sits on the button before you write anything — never revealed after you have paid: 10 per calendar month on the founding and Student plans, unlimited from the Pilot plan up, and 0 per month on the free plan.
Self-reported
Nothing here is measured by us. You fly the maneuver, you read your own instruments, and you tell us what you saw. We publish the standard and hold your words; we do not verify them.
Not affiliated
Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft Corporation.

Questions people actually ask

Does this get me anything toward a certificate or a rating?

This summarizes a video-game practice session. It does not count toward any FAA certificate, rating, or flight time — even with an instructor present.

Does it satisfy any recency-of-experience requirement?

Practice here satisfies no FAA recency-of-experience requirement, including instrument recency under 14 CFR 61.57(c), which requires an FAA-approved training device operated under a Letter of Authorization (AC 61-136B).

What does it cost to start?

Nothing, and no card is required. All eight mission briefs are readable without an account, and the free plan flies the free missions with the self-assessment attached.

Which simulators does it work with?

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024, and X-Plane 12. Default scenery — every practice area is at a general-aviation field you already have. No add-on purchase and no third-party utility.

How many AI debriefs do I get?

10 per calendar month on the founding and Student plans, unlimited from the Pilot plan up, and 0 per month on the free plan. The remaining count is on the button before you write anything — we do not hide a meter until it runs out.

What will my instructor make of this?

Your instructor is the person this is meant to help, not the obstacle it routes around: you arrive having already rehearsed the procedure, and the lesson goes further. Anything you bring them is advisory. Simulation practice only — advisory. Do not use as the sole basis for solo, endorsement, or checkride-readiness decisions.

Are you affiliated with Microsoft or Laminar Research?

No. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft Corporation. X-Plane is a product of Laminar Research, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by them either. "Works with" is a description of compatibility and nothing more.

What if the desktop helper never ships?

Then you keep everything on this page, which already works without it, your price stays locked, and we say so publicly with the date and the reason. The founding section above states this in full, and it is not collapsible there either.

Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft Corporation.