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CAE's full-flight simulators create an illusion of reality that can fool even the most cynical pilots. A web-based distance-learning program is under development. |
At least the oxygen masks didn't drop down," I said defensively as I bounced the Airbus A320 during a hard landing. It was a short field carved into a hillside on the Portuguese coast. But still, I should've done better.
But there weren't any oxygen masks to dislodge. I was in the cockpit of a full-flight simulator at CAE's base in Saint-Laurent outside of Montreal. Nevertheless, the "landing" felt real enough to embarrass me and make my hosts glad I wasn't flying the real thing.
But it was a simulator. So a couple of button pushes on the instructor's panel gave me another chance to humiliate myself. This time the wrap-around visual was a night scene of the approach to the airport at Innsbruck, Austria, with the surrounding mountains silhouetted against the lights of the city and with cars, their headlights piercing the dark and red taillights following behind, moving along the roads below. I flew the curving visual approach into the valley, skirted the shoulder of a mountain and set the airplane down on the short runway. It wasn't a greaser, but this time my landing was much smoother.
If you've never "flown" a Level D full-motion simulator, it's difficult to comprehend how easy it is to believe you're in an actual airplane. The A320 simulator featured CAE's Maxvue Plus visual system, and there's no question the capability of today's simulators has leapfrogged the FAA requirements to qualify for Level D approval. CAE, which has sold more than 400 flight simulators and training devices to more than 90 airlines, aircraft manufacturers and training centers, packs features into its systems that go above and beyond the requirements and further foster the illusion of reality.
For example, its Gates program displays airport ground vehicles and taxiing airplanes that are fully correlated with the simulator's actions. The program even includes ATC radio communications and sound effects. During a demonstration, we sat at the gate at Anchorage, Alaska, waiting to depart FedEx's base with blowing snow swirling through the glow of lights on the hangar wall. Trucks drove past, and a marshaller waved his orange batons as a tug slipped under our nose and hooked on. In the distance we could see airplanes landing. As we waited, the cargo plane in the next gate pushed back. We heard his engines as he fired up and taxied past. Then it was our turn. The tug pushed us back and, after starting our engines, we followed the other airplane toward the active. The proper taxiway and runway signs appeared through the snow as virtual plows worked to clear the runways. Other FedEx airplanes landed and taxied past as we moved toward the departure end of the runway.
If, as we taxied out, there had been an emergency that required help from ground personnel, crash trucks and ambulances with their lights flashing would have raced to where we had stopped. From his console, the instructor can crank up the wind speed and change its direction. When he does, the blowing snow and the wind sock react to the changes. It's so real I felt cold. While we accelerated down the runway, the snow blew back-realistically-and we rotated and began to climb. As far as I was concerned, we were flying.
