US-based navigation products ported over to Europe are never quite as appropriate for our conditions as native-designed ones. Try setting alarms for class A airspace (the one that REALLY matters) on a Garmin 430, for example. Far better to support the most promising of our own software companies, like SD, to encourage the development of Synthetic Vision, ANHR hookup and the rest.

This is an interesting topic for me. I've been using the evaluation version of SD and love it so far, but one thing holding me back from subscribing is that it is clearly and unambiguously marketed as a VFR product. As a recent IMCR I still harbour some concerns that it may in the future be inadequate in some way. With the double subscription in the first year I would not want to be jumping ship after a year or two
However I find myself asking the same question as Tim in post #2. Exactly what IFR features would I want that SD does not have? Don't most IMC rated pilots continue to use the CAA charts (would be nice to have access to IFR charts too I suppose)? Airways reporting points are in there already. Approach plates can be downloaded from the AIS website (although access to them 'on the fly' would be nice). I don't see myself doing a full IR (until such times as it becomes much more accessible anyway) so flying in airways and IFR outside the UK are not currently a consideration for me ;-)
Trying to convince myself that SD has what I require, for now & the future. My feeling is that it should be perfectly adequate for any IFR flights on an IMCR?

In a product such as SD (and not withstanding what Tim mentioned earlier here re SD being aimed at the VFR market) I would certainly appreciate, for now:

IFR Charts with IFR plates that are accessible and fly-able at the press of a button.

With regard to pseudo-ILS / pseudo-DME, how much reliance would you place on these? Are you really going to use them to fly a DIY approach to minima in IMC at an unfamiliar airfield?

Edit: Or perhaps just in marginal VFR conditions at a familiar one?

...As much as I would on the synthetic vision in Garmin 795, Air Navigation Pro just to name a few.

Fair enough! (genuine question btw, from a new IMCR who hasn't done any 'real' IFR flying )

In which case I would have thought that a pseudo-DME should be fairly easy to implement?

Integration of approach plates with the GPS perhaps more difficult to implement but I can see how that would be *very* useful.
Perhaps I should hold off subscribing until I see if any of these features have a chance of appearing in a future SD release....

If I were to make a suggestion, I would recommend taking the plunge and subscribing, simply because SD is such a pleasure to fly with. My subscription runs out in Sept 2013 (not 2012).

Yes I know, agree with all of the above.
Regards
Gavin.

On the charts of the Netherlands and Belgium you can see the lower airways. Why not on the charts from other countries like France, Germany and Spain?

I use the lower airways in France, VFR. They are mainly Class E and D, and if you're on a flightplan at somewhere between FL55 and FL105, VFR on top with an IMC rating to keep legal, it's by far the most relaxing way to the Med; you just get smoothly handed on from sector to sector. On my last flight I found all the airways I needed indicated on SD, although I understand from Tim's earlier post that the airways coverage is not complete in SD.