The simulator recreates the airplane. IFR Suite is for the procedure.

You open a conventional simulator to fly one hold. The world still has to load, the aircraft still has to be chosen, and the flight still has to be set up. The hold has not started.

That is what those simulators are for. They recreate an airplane and a place. Use one when you want that: a specific cockpit, a visual circuit, a long flight. Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane are built for that kind of session.

What IFR Suite is for

IFR Suite is a procedure trainer. A session is one procedure, at a real airport or a real navaid.

• A departure, until the runway and the first turns are familiar.
• The traffic pattern, until you can describe the circuit.
• An approach, from the initial segment through the missed approach.
• A hold. The entry is direct, teardrop, or parallel, chosen from your heading and from where you are relative to the inbound course.
• An intercept, and a DME arc.

There are more than 9,800 airports and navaids. Glass or round gauges. The instruments stay in English. The session panel follows the language you choose.

You do not build a simulator cockpit first. You do not start the engines to reach the geometry.

What it does not replace

The full simulator still has its place, and so does the airplane. IFR Suite does not replace the airplane or the instructor. Time in the app is not flight time and not instrument time.

It does not copy a clearance. It is not a source of charts. There is no microphone, and it does not teach phraseology. It is not for a real flight.

Use a short session, then fly the same procedure with your instructor. The point is to arrive at the airplane with the picture already in your head.