Page 39 - Volume 20 No. 6

A mass of up to eight giant iPads fastened together in a make-shift horseshoe. Few, if any, knobs exist. You tap on the screen to wake up the computers. Another tap to create green boxes around each simulated knob, like heading, autopilot modes, landing gear, virtually everything. Thenyoutaponthe+or-tochange a digit. Then, another tap to exit the green box. Changing the altitude pre-select from 8,000 feet to FL390 might involve 50 taps. I counted them. Unfortunately, by the time
I had tapped my way to the new altitude, I stalled.
I forgot to tap the autopilot on.
I did, however, become really good at tapping. At dinner, I found myself tapping on the table. I couldn’t stop. My dinner guests moved to another table. But, there is a bright side to this story.
After all that tapping, I became very proficient at Morse code.
Fly safe.
engaging the autopilot with a real knob. Laugh if you want, but the type of training device can make a real difference in how quickly you learn. Take the Mustang non- motion trainer at Flight Safety, for instance. It is an exact replica of the C-510 cockpit with every knob, switch and button you would find in the real airplane. Even the throttles work. And although it doesn’t move and has no visuals, you can program the FMS, shut down an engine, and “crash”, just like in the multimillion dollar simulator. I can touch a knob and things happen just like they should. Later, I can jump in the full-motion simulator or the real airplane and make an instant transition to reality.
Other training devices are not so friendly to me.
Let’s call them the “flat screen” simulators. That’s what they are.
AOPA Insurance Agency Quarter Page
4/C Ad
JUNE 2016
TWIN & TURBINE • 37