(VLOG) Let’s Go for a (Simulated) Airplane Flight!

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Let’s Go for a Sim Ride!

(Note: the text of this post is essentially the script of the video blog below, so if you wanna cut to the chase, scroll down and watch the YouTube vid!)

Ask any airline pilot what his typical day at the office is like, and most likely they’ll tell you long, boring and uneventful—just the way we like it.

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Screen grab from Nat Geo “Mega Factories–Boeing 747-800”
In fact, aviation is so safe, that the average pilot will never experience a real engine failure, let alone an inflight fire.

Hard at work!

But, for the rare inflight emergency, the pilots need to have the proper emergency procedures down solid to save the day.

So, how does a pilot keep sharp on procedures he never uses?


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Next-Gen, full-motion Airbus A320 Simulator.
Enter the flight simulator.  To practice normal and emergency procedures in a new airplane, pilots fly ground-based, full motion flight simulators.

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A320 Simulator.  Note Sim Instructor seat, Left.
A mock up of the real cockpit, all systems and controls in the sim are designed to operate exactly like the real thing.

CRT screens fill every window to present a realistic, real-time display of the airport, passing terrain, even simulated storms.


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First-Gen A320 Simulator
With full motion on, even the sensations of flying are there, all the way down to turbulence and bumpy runways.

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Foggy day in the sim!

Believe me, if you were blindfolded and set in the seat of a sim, you’d swear you were flying the real McCoy.


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These machines are so sophisticated, in fact, that a pilot can be completely checked out and FAA certified without ever setting foot in the real airplane.

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Hydraulics give the pilots an amazingly realistic sensation of flying.
While a typical simulator costs several hundred dollars an hour to run, it’s still far cheaper than flying a jet.  This saves the airline oodles of money in training costs.


Once or twice a year, airline pilots go through what’s called, “Recurrent training.”

Lear 35 Simulator

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Lear 35 simulator interior

This usually consists of several day of ground school, refreshing the pilot’s memory on aircraft systems and procedures, which is followed by a couple days of simulator work, where the procedures are put to practice.

Simulator Bay, with multiple types.
This bay can house up to ten.

A typical sim session lasts four hours, two for the Captain to fly, and two for the First Officer.

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Airbus/Boeing Combined Cabin Simulator
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There are even cabin simulators, where the pilots and flight attendants can practice simulated evacuations.

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Canadair CAE CRJ (Regional Jet) Simulator

Recently I went through Recurrent to fly the A320-class Airbus.
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While I passed the ride with, well, nearly flying colors, some of those landings were a bit sketchy.  But hey, we always get to blame the sim!

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Yay!  We scraped by–er, PASSED!  Qualified to fly the friendly skies for one more year!

And now, the Vlog (Video Blog), viewable on my “Capnauxblog” YouTube page, at: 

Direct Video Link:  http://youtu.be/eYXLyGfg59o


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STOP THE PRESSES!!

I just found out:“The Last Bush Pilots” MADE IT TO THE QUARTERFINALS of Amazon’s Worldwide Breakthrough Novel Contest—

Top 100 out of 2,000!
This has been a lifelong dream!

Thank you, Mom & Dad and novelists Tawni Waters & CloudDancer for believing in me. And for those of you who took a chance and read my book, your enthusiasm has inspired me even more!

Avid blog reader & certified AvGeek Dave W. curls up with a good book & a beer in the Maldives—Now that’s Paradise!

And now I humbly ask for a favor: Readers can Provide feedback to the Amazon Judges about the book at

http://goo.gl/NhGcN


http://goo.gl/NhGcN
Long link, if short not working:



MY HEARTFELT THANKS TO ALL!

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Posting March 19 @ 12:00 PHX:

The Great Blog Hop Kindle Giveaway!

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Posting March 27 @ 11:00 PHX:

Cap’n Aux answers readers’ technical Q’s!

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Also working on:
(Vlog)

Cap’n Aux’s Excellent Philippine Adventure!