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“50"; "40"; "30"; "20"; "10". Not a bad landing for a publisher (must remember to line my right knee up with the centre of the runway) but we’ll taxi to the gate, exit the flight deck and breathe the clear alpine air of . . . Cambridge?! To take the controls of a commercial flight simulator is an invitation rarely extended, so I was delighted recently to be given the opportunity to visit Virtual Aviation’s state-of-the-art facility at Cambridge Airport. Established in 1998, Virtual Aviation Flight Training is an EASA Approved Training Organisation (GBR.ATO.0385) regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority and has the distinction of operating the most advanced Boeing 737 fixed-base simulator in the UK. Earlier this year, in collaboration with AviationShake - a London-based pilot careers specialist - the company launched its new AirlineReady™ Multi Crew Cooperation (MCC) and Jet Orientation (JOC) courses, designed to give pilots the best possible chance of securing their first airline job.
"This product is ground breaking, providing pilots with the highest quality of training and the comprehensive preparation needed to succeed in their hunt for an airline pilot job," says Virtual Aviation’s General Manager, Naveed Kapedia. "AviationShake can offer our candidates support that no other provider can match - their team of current airline recruiters will mean Virtual Aviation students will be amongst the most employable pilots on the market." "MCC+JOC is a crucial phase in the training of an airline pilot as it is usually the first time these students will have been exposed to a multi-crew environment," added Flight Training Manager, Mark Green. "It is also the final training they are likely to undertake before seeking employment with an airline." The Simulator Manufactured by Sim Industries in The Netherlands, this £2 million piece of kit features genuine Boeing 737NG flight dynamics and can be configured as a 737-800W or 737-700. It incorporates the most advanced visuals currently available and is the only one in the UK to be fitted with a collimated visual system. Because of the cost, you would normally only find a collimated visual system on a Level-D full flight simulator.
The Rockwell Collins EP-8000 image generator is widely recognised as the most advanced of its kind and this is the first time it has been integrated into a fixed-base simulator. It provides the best possible scenery, weather and custom airport models. The EP-8000 is actually superior to the image generators on most full flight simulators currently in service. The 200x40 'wraparound' collimated visual system creates a true 3D environment outside the cockpit and is far superior to simply projecting the computer-generated image onto a flat or curved white panel. From the almost tangible ‘fluffiness’ of the clouds to the staggeringly realistic terrain and even the vehicles travelling along the roads beneath, the effect is extraordinary.
I must admit that I was sceptical about the realism of the flying experience, given the absence of hydraulics beneath the flight deck to mimic pitch and roll. How wrong I was! The brain is completely fooled by the excellence of the visuals and the dynamics of the ‘aircraft’ into producing all the sensations you’d expect. What makes a real Boeing 737 simulator? The Boeing 737 is the most popular commercial aircraft ever produced, with over 8,000 aircraft having rolled off Boeing’s production line in Renton, Washington. A true Boeing 737 simulator has to start with the front end of a retired aircraft, removed from the fuselage to ensure the absolute correct dimensions, then fitted with genuine Boeing parts for the exact correct feel as a real flight deck. The idea is that a pilot should be able to walk out of a simulator and right onto the real flight deck without the need for any extra familiarisation.
But the cockpit is only half of it, and this is where you really see (or should we say ‘feel’) the difference of a genuine Boeing 737 simulator. We are of course talking about control loading. This can be done with various different methods, from simple springs to the most advance electro mechanical setups. The software behind the control loading is the crucial factor in how a simulator performs. A Boeing 737-800 has a maximum take off mass of 79 tons, all of which you can feel when you rotate the aircraft into the skies at 140kts or more, without good flight dynamics you won’t get this sense of realism. Many simulators just don’t produce this feedback correctly, meaning all you are doing is flying a generic and inaccurate jet wrapped in a “Boeing” shell.
The Virtual Aviation simulator uses genuine Boeing flight dynamics, written for simulators by Boeing themselves using their own data from over 50 years of design and development. When you rotate - just like the real aircraft - the tail passes through ground effect at roughly 10 degrees, requiring more effort. You pull the speed brakes and you get a light buffeting through the controls as turbulent air hits the horizontal stabiliser. Increase the power and the nose pitches up, and of course the dangerous opposite of the nose dropping as you retard the thrust levers. Small details like this really do make the difference when training on this iconic aircraft. They change the way the aircraft feels in the air, the way it moves and handles and enhances the learning experience to near-aircraft levels. So how can you tell? For a start, just look for the name. Boeing will only allow the use of their name if the simulator uses genuine Boeing Flight Dynamics. Boeing are naturally protective over their name and only allow it when you’re using their own data, data which ultimately provides a pilot with the highest quality training tools available. "The next generation of pilots coming through are more technologically adept, so an archaic style of course delivery on a redundant device is incompatible to their preferred learning style,” says Naveed. “Virtual Aviation is clearly leading the way in its efforts to ensure students are at the forefront and their employability is our ultimate goal. We are constantly looking for improvements and enhancing the added value further.“
“We have achieved this holistic overview by actively engaging with our instructors, industry experts, educational institutions, current and previous customers and prospective customers. Our team is fully behind this initiative to ensure we remain committed and dedicated to this cause.” “We are a very small team and are certainly not in the market to churn out unemployable students; rather we are focussed in delivering a more personal approach, enhancing their right competencies, skills and experiences so that they are able to stand out from the crowd,” he concludes. My thanks to Flight Training Manager Mark Green (my 'First Officer') for an enjoyable and highly informative afternoon's flying. Now if I'm ever a passenger on a 737 and . . . in true Hollywood style . . . a voice comes over the intercom: "Can anyone on board fly this plane?" - I might just be tempted to put my hand up!
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