The 2026 List of FAA-Approved BATDs: Every Basic Aviation Training Device You Can Log Time In

A student walks into your flight school with a $1,200 home setup: a yoke, rudder pedals, three monitors, and a polished panel that looks every bit as serious as the trainer on the ramp. The question every CFI eventually fields: "Can I log this toward my instrument rating?" The answer hinges on three letters: BATD. If the device carries a current FAA Letter of Authorization as a Basic Aviation Training Device, those hours count. If it doesn't, it's an expensive video game.

This is the gap a single product review never fills. You can find a glowing write-up of any one rig, but no current roundup tells you which devices actually hold an FAA BATD authorization, what they cost, and how many hours each one buys you. So here it is: a working guide to the basic aviation training device market, how the approval mechanism works, and how to choose without overpaying for hours you'll never get to log.

What "FAA-Approved BATD" Actually Means

A BATD is not a category a manufacturer can self-declare. Under 14 CFR 61.4(c), the FAA must approve each device, and the approval standard is spelled out in Advisory Circular 61-136B, FAA Approval of Aviation Training Devices and Their Use for Training and Experience. Per the FAA's published advisory circular, that AC sets the criteria used to evaluate a device as either a BATD or the more capable AATD.

The mechanism matters more than most buyers realize. According to AC 61-136B, the FAA issues a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to the manufacturer for each qualifying model, the LOA is valid for a five-year term with a stated expiration, and the manufacturer is responsible for supplying a copy of the LOA and the FAA-approved Qualification and Approval Guide (QAG) to every operator. Translation for your school: the device on the floor is only "approved" if its LOA is current and you hold the paperwork. An expired LOA quietly turns loggable time into nothing.

So when you evaluate any FAA approved flight simulator in the BATD class, you are really evaluating a specific model number that appears on the FAA's roster of approved aviation training devices, not a brand in the abstract.

The Hours You Can Actually Log

Here's the part that drives the buying decision. Under 14 CFR 61.65(i), a pilot may credit up to 10 hours of instrument time toward an instrument rating in a BATD. Step up to an AATD and that ceiling doubles to 20 hours. Either way, 61.65(j) caps the total combined credit from any ATD, FTD, or full flight simulator at 20 hours toward the instrument rating.

A practical wrinkle worth flagging to students: according to the Federal Register notice on Aviation Training Device Credit for Pilot Certification, the FAA's 2016 rulemaking removed the requirement to wear a view-limiting device while flying an approved ATD for that instrument training, on the basis that the device itself represents the instrument environment. The same rulemaking is what established the 10-hour BATD and 20-hour AATD allowances.

The math is straightforward. If your goal is the maximum instrument credit, a BATD gets you halfway and an AATD gets you all the way to the cap. For private-pilot procedural practice, checklist flows, and recurrent currency drills, a BATD is plenty. Buy the credit you'll use, not the credit that sounds impressive.

The Current BATD Lineup

The authoritative source for which devices are approved is the FAA's own list, published by the National Simulator Program as FAA Approved Aviation Training Devices (ATD) and dated on its face. The FAA refreshes that list periodically, so always confirm a specific model and its LOA status against the live FAA document before you write a check.

A few of the established BATD-class options pilots and schools ask about most:

Prices that can't be verified are left out on purpose. Gleim publishes its financing figure directly; for Redbird and RealSimGear, request a current quote, because configuration (glass vs. steam, panel type, peripherals) swings the total significantly. The non-negotiable filter is the same for all of them: the exact model must appear on the FAA's approved ATD list with a current LOA.

How to Choose Without Overbuying

Strip the marketing away and three questions decide it.

First, what's the job? If you're a school logging instrument students toward the rating, the AATD's 20-hour ceiling may justify the price step. If you're an individual pilot drilling procedures and staying current, a BATD does the work for far less.

Second, will it be supervised? BATD instrument time toward the rating must be conducted with an authorized instructor and properly logged. A device in a student's bedroom doesn't generate creditable hours on its own, regardless of how authentic it feels.

Third, is the paperwork alive? Before you rely on any device, confirm its model is on the FAA list and that you hold the current LOA and QAG. A lapsed authorization is the single most common way schools accidentally log uncreditable time.

The Takeaway

A BATD is one of the highest-leverage purchases in primary and instrument training: 10 loggable hours, no foggles, and unlimited low-stakes repetitions of the flows that wash people out of checkrides. The trap is treating "looks like a sim" as "is an approved sim." Anchor every decision to the FAA's approved ATD list and the device's current LOA, match the approval class to the hours you'll actually log, and buy the configuration that fits the mission rather than the brochure.

When you're ready to compare specific models side by side, our simulator directory tracks BATD and AATD listings so you can filter by approval class and configuration in one place before you request a quote.

Verify before relying on any device: see the FAA's Advisory Circular 61-136B, the FAA Approved Aviation Training Devices list, and 14 CFR 61.65. This article is educational and not legal or regulatory advice.