FLIGHT SIM 101: Aug 26, 2006
Our neighbor Tony is an ex-Marine pilot and now works as a pilot instuctor for U.S. Airways. When he found out my brother was going to be in town for a visit, Tony offered to show us the airline's flight simulators out at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport. Needless to say, he didn't have to ask twice.
Now I'll probably screw up some of the details here, but as I understand it Tony actually runs the curriculum for pilot training on the Airbus A330, a mammoth wide-body plane with passenger capacity over 300. He ensures that pilots are properly certified to operate that particular aircraft, and part of that training includes simulator time. So, therein lies the good stuff.
We arrived at the airport early on a Saturday morning, probably best so that no one else would witness our terrible piloting skills. Besides, at an operational cost of $300/hour, maybe Tony didn't want to publicize that we were only there for the coolness factors. Huh, so much for the little secret. Thanks Google.
My brother and I hopped into the pilot and co-pilot seats while Tony sat behind us and manned the simulator. Everthing about the simulator was dead on realistic. The cockpit of the sim is manufactured by the same company that builds the actual aircraft's cockpit. Every button, switch, light, alarm, control, or display is just like the real thing. Then again, I suppose that's why it's called a simulator.
As my brother and I took the controls, Tony walked us through the checklist every pilot of this aircraft does before leaving the gate. Soon after, we were taxiing across the tarmac. We hadn't even made it to the start of the runway before both my brother and I began feeling a bit, well, nauseous. The sim's movement is so realisic that our pathetic attempts at taxiing were actually making us "car" sick. Fortunately neither of us ralphed on a machine worth millions!
The cool thing about the A330 is that nearly everything is automated. I always knew about autopilot, but I didn't know a plane was essentially able to take-off, fly and land itself with minimal pilot intervention. Good thing those guys are paid $150/hour, eh? Then again, I guess that's for when autopilot fails! So with the aircraft assisting us in every way, we successfully cruised down the runway and up over "Charlotte". The simulator's graphics can emulate hundreds of airports and their surrounding cities to make the experience even more realistic.
Once in the air, my brother and I took turns punching in coordinates and dialing in the appropriate controls. As the sim master, Tony had fun planting obstacles out in front, like near-flying aircraft and giant thunderstorms. The simulator can so accurately emulate turbulance that it can actually harm itself in the process! Fortunately our autopilot friends steered us clear of such disaster.
After 2 1/2 hours in the sim, we cruised on back towards Charlotte. My brother and I each took a shot landing the plane the "old-fashioned" manual way. Let's just say it's a good thing you're not flying Rodriguez Airlines anytime soon. Our third attempt was flawless, thanks again to Mr. Autopilot. The plane actually knows the coordinates and altitude of runways around the world and can automatically line itself up for the approach and land itself. A pretty amazing machine.
After time in the A330 sim, Tony walked us by some of U.S. Airways' other sims, including a Boeing 737. The cockpit on that one looked archaic compared to the A330. We also got to see mock cabins where the flight attendants train on everything from opening and closing the hatch to inflating the emergency slide to running the galley.
Our tour was great, and thanks again to Tony for showing us around. Next time you're looking to book a trip, remember: don't fly Rodriguez Airlines!
