When I went to visit Austin neighbors Redbird Flight Simulations last week to fly and review their excellent and affordable full-motion sim, the FMX, owner Jerry Gregoire invited me to visit soon with my 11-year-old son Eli to go flying in the sim. Yesterday I took Jerry up on the offer, and it was an eye-opener.
Eli, like every one of the dozens of 11 to 12-year-old kids I know, loves computer games, and I have to say that I think we’ve done a good job as a family of avoiding the bad stuff and pointing him and his friends in the direction of fun, engaging and positive games. The Nintendo Wii has been great. In fact, it was on the Wii that Eli first started getting interested in flight simulations, thanks to a fun and fanciful flying game in one of Nintendo’s game collections. Eli is good at this stuff, too. He regularly flies down volcanoes and though mountain caves and lands on winding mountain roads. (Even though it’s just a silly animated game, such flying still makes me cringe!)
We showed up at Redbird yesterday morning and Eli was excited to be there. This I could tell by the fact that he got out of bed without too much wrangling despite it being spring break. Charlie Gregoire, Redbird’s VP of Sales and Marketing, showed us to the FMX and helped me remember how to get the airplane, which he configured as a 172, started.
I hopped in the left seat and showed Eli the basics, where the throttle and mixture were, what the various controls did, where to find the airspeed and altitude figures on the G1000 display—it was super easy for him to do, much easier than it had been for me when I transitioned to flat panels almost 10 years ago now.
Then I switched seats with Eli.
The first thing he did was point the nose to the ground. Fun, for Eli, is strafing stuff. So I let him. Charlie had assured me that there was no way we could hurt the sim, that you could even do an aileron roll in the sim. When Charlie mentioned acro, Eli’s ears perked up.
After some practice holding altitude and doing some turns and the like, which Eli found quite challenging, he asked if he could do a roll. What the heck.
It’s been ages since I’ve done any aerobatics, but I know that the procedures are pretty simple. I guessed the entry speed, 110 knots, and explained the procedures to my boy.
He’s a pretty quick study, much more so than his old man, and he knew what he had to do. Nose down ten degrees, 110 knots, nose up ten degrees, full deflection, enjoy the ride and recover.
“Ready,” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.
Bingo, bango, bongo, he nailed it. The smile said it all.
We spent another 45 minutes or so in the sim. Eli did a couple of takeoffs all on his own, and it wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty darned good. His landings were likewise survivable by both plane and occupants. And, yes, I let him take off and land off airport. Again, smiles all around.
And when we were done with our time in the FMX, I had a kid who was enamored of flying, something that his being a back seat passenger on many trips in the Cirrus couldn’t accomplish, and understandably so.
What does aviation hold in store for Eli? I don’t know. He might decide to become a pilot, and if he does I’ll be happy for him. It has sure given me a lot of joy.
But I do know one thing: the chance that Eli had to “really” fly an “airplane” all by himself was transformative.
What a great way for organizations like EAA, AOPA, and GAMA to spread the joy. Encourage members to invest in sims, get them out to places where kids can hop in, spend 15 minutes (or, hopefully, longer) getting a feel for what it’s like to do what we do and what we love to do. If I owned a flight school, I'd invest in a Redbird FMX and get it out to the masses. It would cost more than $1 an hour, though X-Plane or Flight Simulator wouldn't even cost that much. You could probably make a little money with a traveling sim show by charging a little for the time, and you could then sign the kid's new logbook.
Aviation going viral? That, as the kids say, would be sweet.
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Submitted by Ed Cook on March 18, 2010.
Every flight instructor knows the airplane is the worlds worst classroom. Simulators, and other training devices have proven their value in training. It is the place a student can get the "feel" of the new environment, learn about the checklist use, be introduced to procedures, develope a sense of the timing an aircraft requires, and so on. An instructor can allow a student to make mistakes that could never be allowed in the aircraft. With simulator training integrated in the flight training curriculum, the student will have the best understanding possible.
Submitted by robert goyer on March 18, 2010.
My point is that an airplane isn't a great marketing platform either.
Sims are probably better at that too.
Submitted by jets4u on March 18, 2010.
Where are the major manufactures? They must be idiots for not instilling this love of flying into the next generation. Its only importance is whether there is a future for general aviation.
Submitted by Aerorush on March 18, 2010.
For a number of years I’ve been involved in flight simulation, albeit Microsoft’s various versions of Flight Simulator and not full motion equipment like the FMX. I’m also a staff reviewer for Avsim.com and have the opportunity to review most flight simulation products on the market. With real flight time on my logbook ranging from Cessna 152’s to Citations, reviewing virtual products can be done knowing both the limitations of the program and what each aircraft should feel like.
Although no simulator, especially a desktop one, can adequately recreate the feeling of flight, let me assure you some of the commercial products available for Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X (FSX) are surprisingly complex with flight dynamics and systems accurately modeled.
Recently Cessna partnered with Flight1 software to develop a virtual version of their wonderful Citation Mustang for FSX and a local flight school that owns a real Mustang uses the FSX version as a training tool. In addition, the latest ground texture, scenery and weather enhancements available for FSX are making the environment in which the student flies highly believable.
An Australian company, Orbx, has a long history if creating high quality scenery packages for FSX. Their airport sceneries are accurate down to the placement of the garbage cans. I’m currently photographing rural Washington State airports (1000+ images per airport) in order to have each upcoming airport scenery package accurate and realistic. They’re even modeling any derelict aircraft on the ramp with true to life registration numbers, flat tires and aircraft condition.
One final thought; there will soon come a time when this level of realism is commonplace in all levels of commercial flight simulators, and I believe the flight schools will see a growing number of students more knowledgeable in aviation fundamentals than at any time in history.
-Aerorush.com
Submitted by robert goyer on March 18, 2010.
I have to agree. And look for my review of Redbird's FMX in an upcoming issue of Flying. Redbird, by the way, uses Microsoft's commercial sim modeling backend to support all of its simulation products.
The real accomplishment here, though, is twofold: that its sims are full motion and only around $60,000; and that the avionics are controllable with actual buttons and knobs that are very close approximations of the real instruments. So when you learn how to use the Garmin G1000, you're learning the whole thing, from where to locate the knobs to how they feel in your hand. Great stuff all.
Submitted by Anonymous on March 18, 2010.
Rental of a Cessna 172 costs about $100 per hour. To fly safely, I decided it was necessary to fly at least 5 hours per month, which means an outlay of about $500 a month. This is a considerable amount for those on a limited or retirement budget such as myself. I decided to supplement my real flying with simulated flying using Flight Simulator X. The latest scenery available for Washington State where I live is amazingly realistic, and the airports and navaids are quite accurate. I was surprised how well flying in FSX translated into being more confident when flying the real Cessna 172. In FSX one can fly cross country and make simulated landings prior to performing the actual flight. Learning to fly with a glass cockpit or GNS 530 is easy and fun. Real world weather, turbulence, crosswinds,wake turbulence, and engine failure can all be simulated very well. Emergencies, IFR approaches, and short-field landings and takeoffs can be performed without risk. Many already have home computers capable of running FSX, or the earlier version, FS9, which works very well on older PCs. To be realistic, a joystick or control yoke and rudder pedals are recommended. Headphones are nice, but not essential. I stronly endorse flight simulation as a supplement to real world flying.
Jim Kaye
Submitted by alexwalters on March 18, 2010.
You are right on.
For many years I have been a Flight Simulator enthusiast and I have found a way to share that with others.
I am a member of EAA Chapter 99 in Vero Beach, Florida. The chapter has invested in a simulator running Microsoft Flight Simulator X and I maintain and operate it for the chapter.
Although it is not full motion, it does have a large main monitor, a second smaller display for a moving map, a yoke, separate throttle segment, an operable swithch panel, rudder pedals and a unit that imparts engine and runway vibrations into the pilots seat. Also we run photographic scenerey of our area so users can sometimes even find their neighborhoods and homes.
We use this simulator at our learn to fly Saturdays, Aviation Day at the airport, and at other aviation related functions all during the year.
Kids and adults alike love it. There is always a waiting line, and we have had hundreds take it for a turn around the pattern.
While it is not the real thing, it is an affordable way to give them a taste of what flying is all about and hopefully light a fire in some of them to become our pilots of tommorow.
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