I have gone a couple of times to this small sim facility near DFW (coincidence only). It's run by a nice guy named Jeb, and has some interesting hardware.
He has a very nice, FAA-certified sim, a certified Robinson R22 sim (it can be lots of other things, but it is certified for loggable time only as an R22).
In addition, he has constructed a number of recreational sim stations, 3-screens and yokes and the like, for rental by recreational simmers and dogfighters. Nice rigs.
Finally, he has a recreational sim to emulate an airliner cockpit, ten (10!) screens, and a big honkin' pedestal, just like Greg has to avoid when he climbs into his office chair.
The certified sim: it can be configured as a whole bunch of different aircraft, with the instruments displayed on a high-res screen in front of the pilot's (and copilot's) seats.
I flew the certified sim configured as an A36, did six approaches in it, and it is pretty darned good. I started to complain about how it reacts in pitch, but I also realized that I made the same, exact, mistakes in the sim as I do in the plane, so I guess it is not that far off.
It is especially nice that it includes an actual GNS430, because I have never been able to get too much out of flying approaches with the Garmin PC sim. As little as I get to fly in actual, it was good to be able to "fly," eyes wide-open, and have an approach end much as they do in real life, with the clouds fading out in raggedy patches. Very lifelike, I "felt" the seat moving at times.
At $65.00 and hour for the loggable time, it was a great value, although you really need a trained cohort to set you up for approaches.
Spike says, "check it out."
He has a very nice, FAA-certified sim, a certified Robinson R22 sim (it can be lots of other things, but it is certified for loggable time only as an R22).
In addition, he has constructed a number of recreational sim stations, 3-screens and yokes and the like, for rental by recreational simmers and dogfighters. Nice rigs.
Finally, he has a recreational sim to emulate an airliner cockpit, ten (10!) screens, and a big honkin' pedestal, just like Greg has to avoid when he climbs into his office chair.
The certified sim: it can be configured as a whole bunch of different aircraft, with the instruments displayed on a high-res screen in front of the pilot's (and copilot's) seats.
I flew the certified sim configured as an A36, did six approaches in it, and it is pretty darned good. I started to complain about how it reacts in pitch, but I also realized that I made the same, exact, mistakes in the sim as I do in the plane, so I guess it is not that far off.
It is especially nice that it includes an actual GNS430, because I have never been able to get too much out of flying approaches with the Garmin PC sim. As little as I get to fly in actual, it was good to be able to "fly," eyes wide-open, and have an approach end much as they do in real life, with the clouds fading out in raggedy patches. Very lifelike, I "felt" the seat moving at times.
At $65.00 and hour for the loggable time, it was a great value, although you really need a trained cohort to set you up for approaches.
Spike says, "check it out."
