Ready, Set, GO! RWY 12R DXB.

[Adam the Akrodude]

Gotta get onto Ray. I need that little Emoticon dude with his little arms outstretched waving up and down - Ray?

I'll be the guy dropping down on all fours chanting "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy" at Expo Salty and Stu!

[Capt NG]

You've been in the sims Adam. You probably smelt the sweat and tears in the one Ray got you in.. Regardless of the scenario you face in a check.. One constant remains.. Failure management..fly the sim ( maintain control), identify the problem, carry out memory items, run the checklists, gather information ( weather, airport, navaid, NOTAM requirements), make a plan, tell everyone about it, carry out your plan, modify as required..start again at maintain control and do it all again until you land, ditch, evacuate......

QF and VA have different sim matrices based on different requirements... None better than the other, just a function of the difference in flying we do..

One thing is common though.. Go into a sim not prepared and you'll probably be crucified. And rightly so.

[Nillus]

...and there's that smell as soon as you walk into the sim building...
Hydraulic fluid.
And fear.

It's palpable.

[Capt NG]

Yeah... And don't even mention the bat phone.

[Cap'n Wannabe]

When Adam and I went for our sim ride, Ray gave us a tour of the facility...not just the flight sims, but the simulators for cabin crew as well. It was quite daunting for an outsider such as myself, only imagining the kind of training given, for the situations that we, the unwashed masses, hopefully never get to see.

[Adam the Akrodude]

...and there's that smell as soon as you walk into the sim building...
Hydraulic fluid.
And fear.

It's palpable.

I also picked up a kind of poopy/vomit smell as well, then realised that was me! My two sim rides were daunting, humbling, in parts scary and pretty exciting. These experiences are right up in the top ten of my most treasured aviation experiences.

I now understand how these incredible machines can be used as "instruments of torture" for the pro's like you Salty and Stu. Very interesting and I think a very valid point raised by Stu in relation to doctors not having to go through any kind of annual testing/review and yet we also put our lives in their hands. Throw in the annual medical testing requirements and I just can't think of any/many other professions that require the individual be tested so much to keep their jobs! This experience certainly confirmed to me that I have the "wrong stuff" and I salute Salty and Stu and all whose workplace is in that rarefied air up in the flight levels.

I remember reading somewhere that US Naval aviators use the term "exactitude" - having an attitude for exactness. A couple of my instructors over the years have been current or past airline pilots and they have this "exactitude" to their flying and insist on it with their students - it's not flying at +/- 100 feet, it's at the required height +/- sweet FA, same with speed, attitude and heading and right down to landing right on the runway centreline. There is none of this "nah, that'll do she'll be right mate" - it's flying to a exactness - nothing else will do. This discipline for exactness or sharpness certainly helped me when learning to fly the higher performance aerobatic aeroplanes and in practice for aerobatic comp's - it helped, but I was still crap!

As Damo mentioned, Ray took us through the entire facility explaining all the various simulators, right from all the various types of doors, the exit slide, the large pool for raft and helicopter crash dunking, the multi-million dollar 737 cabin simulator, the flight sim's right from the cardboard bomber procedures trainer right through to the multi-million dollar 3-axis flight simulators. It's a amazing facility and does really hearten one at the lengths gone to train both the cockpit and cabin crews here. I do wonder if airlines from other regions go to these lengths?

[Nillus]

Not all do it to the same as Aussie standards...we are constrained and tested by CASA regularly.

Overseas standards vary from excellent to...err...not-so-much.

[Nillus]

The "Bat-Phone"...oh yeah.

"Capt/FO/SO xxxxxxxx is removed from flying duties until further due failure of simulator."


Serious business.

[Ericg]

Nice pic that one.

hrtpaul, I would love to have a go at your C208 sim! out of all the aircraft that I have flown, most of my favourite flying memories are whilst flying the Caravan. Beautiful aircraft to fly.

Our company just changed over from 1 x 4 hour sim session every 3 months to 2 x 4 hour sessions every 6 months. Seems to be a winner amongst the crew as there is a bit of space between the cyclics now.

Eric.

[Tony P]

Hey Eric,
How about printing up a C208? In 1/48 please!!
Tony