Flying - On The Ground

Flying at last!   Well, actually not.  An airplane was not available so the instructor suggested we spend time in the aircraft simulator instead.  I said "sure" but I had no idea of how cool this machine is.  I have used a number of desktop simulators on my computers at home, but this machine leaves them all in the dust.  First, as a simulator, it has motion!  When you bank the simulator, it tilts sideways and when you raise the nose, it tilts up!  And it feels more like a real airplane.  I flew this for an hour and ten minutes, and it was such a help in getting back my "feel" for the airplane.  It was an afternoon well spent.

This is the Redbird Flight Simulator, and you can see the caution tapes on the floor because no one can get near it from the outside when it is running.  You enter the door to the left of me in the photo and then the door closes and you are in the airplane.  I is a very sophisticated light plane simulator.  I have been incredibly lucky in my life and thanks to friends in the business, I have flown a Pan Am Boeing 707 simulator, a Pan Am 747 Simulator, and a TWA 727 Simulator!  Flying those was a thrill, to know what it feels like to fly a heavy turbojet aircraft.  This simulator is such a great teaching tool, because the instructor can stop it in "mid-air" and we can talk about a maneuver in the middle of it, and then continue flying!