Flew in a $10 million commercial airplane simulator

[kwong2001]

Well I work for the government. Not doing anything hard, just working with a system called EDW which is an electronic filing system...anyhoo.

At the job i'm at, every now and then something cool comes up, got to tour the plant where they make the F-22....but that was nothing compared to today.

We got to go to this boeing facility where they train people to become airpline pilots. Apparently they have huges 6 month courses with both classroom and simulator training. The simulators are so real that the FAA can certify people to fly full size real airplanes. It's that good

Anyhoo, 5 of us went there and flew in the simulator. It felt so real it was rediculous. The simulator sat on 6 hydrolics and had all the instrument panels just like the real airplanes. Everything was fully functional right down to the most insignificant switch.

When you turned, the simulator turned, when the plane accelerated, it felt like it was accelerating. When it accelerated, then simulator leaned back and it felt so real, when it slowed down, it went forward. Truely amazing. Indescribable.

Anyhoo, we each got to try a landing. The controls were a little on the sensitive side. I managed to land but it wasn't the prettiest. One other guy landed and the two other people that got to fly the simulator crashed...lol...big ego trip...sorta

Oh yeah, and the instructor that was there did a barrel roll at the end then shut the engines down and dead sticked it in...it was great, even when he did the barrel roll, it felt real....

Well, that's my story, I don't think I gave the experience justice but I suck at writing so there....

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

That is some of the coolest stuff on earth!

I got to fly the only C-130 Hercules simulator in the world at Niagara Falls AFB one time. Did a flight in Alaska. From take-off to landing. When I was done, the flight captain asked me how long I have been flying. Lol! Just the sims man, just the sims. He was floored! I brought my father along and he crashed miserably! My point was, I can relate to the ego trip!

Did you get any pics?

 

[kwong2001]

No pictures, just memories. BTW, the facility had 8 simulators, all of different planes.

I probably could have landed a lot better all pro like if I had a little bit more time in the simulator, like 10 minutes cuz first time i actually flew it was going for landing.

It was so much fun though....

 

[wdavidhicks]

Kwong, that's cooler than poop!

My company handles the HVAC at FlightSafety and Alaska Airlines at SeaTac. Hangars, admin facilities, reservations AND the simulator bay. Three stories to house a plane environment suspended on massive hydraulics accessible by a retractable footbridge from the second floor level! Each simulator requires its own refrigeration chiller to cool off all the electronics!

I SOOO wanted to climb into that thing but I was just the IT guy who was doing a technician a favor by delivering a refrigerant drier after hours when all the refer supply houses were closed. (Our techs that work there develop that rapport with the facilities personnel and they get to fly!)

The techs say they've seen many a flight candidate walk out white as a ghost for fear that they may have failed for their last allowable time.

Kwong? Christian? Do you guys have MS's Flight Simulator?

 

[kwong2001]

I've got the simulator. But I think it's the 98 version.

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

Refer warehouse?

Yes I had/have the sim. I logged MANY of hours on it back in the day. Actually started playing the SIM before MS bought it on the Amiga/Commodore. Logged many hours on Janes AH-64 Apache Gunship sim too!