yallu Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 For an older dude like me, the opportunity for a career change - to become an airliner pilot - has long since gone... So the only logical option is to fly a simulator. The bigger the better. And that's what I just did with a friend of mine . We had a 3 hour session in Finnair's Flight Academy where we flew the DC-9-51 simulator (full cockpit, visual, motion etc.). And there was a friendly real pilot giving us instructions. What an unbelievable experience. It's just so much different than with a PC. Here's a couple of poor shots (I guess I was too excited when I took these photos): http://www.finnairflightacademy.com/simulators/simulators_8.html (PS. Damn me. Me so stupid. Why did I become a software architect when I could have been a pilot... Maybe...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Very nice Capt, sounds like you had one fantastic time there mate cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanF Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Look at all the bells and whistle's on that beast, probably took most of your three hours to do your before start checklist's Looks like a fun day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Now that´s a cockpit there! Like these pictures very much - and indeed: As Iain wrote - for those three hours in the sim there at least: Captain Yallu! Super! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clutch Cargo Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 WoW, they even simulated the wear and tear of the old bird, ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sos Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Look at all the bells and whistle's on that beast, probably took most of your three hours to do your before start checklist' I would love to see Hendo trying to start it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Kane Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Awesome machine. What were the graphics like? Sometimes on those older simulators the graphics are really dated but they do use an oscilator sometimes (mirror reflected onto a screen) to create some depth in the graphics. Those machines are focused on the gauges really and the graphics don't matter so much. Geared towards IFR training. I remember the old flight simulator at my old flight school graphics looked like the first release of Flight Simulator, however all the gauges worked beautifully. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yallu Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 We used the night visual. It was extremely realistic. Especially the lighting. Far far more realistic than I expected, and more realistic than FSX night lighting. The "glow" was just right and it had feeling of depth in it. No stuttering at all, completely fluid. Also, most likely the day visual wouldn't have looked so good given the age of it. Still, it's amazing when you think the sim is 40 years old... We didn't use much time for starting, just flying. Mostly take-off, pattern, landing. And repeat. We did use the navigation instruments though just to test them (VOR, ILS etc.). But it was a lot like MD-80, and I think I could have started it properly pretty much the same as I start my Leonardo Maddog. We just didn't want to spend any time on something we can do with the PC. We wanted to experience the flying and the hydraulic motion of the sim - and the stiff firm controls. That we can't do home . The flying was completely different from PC flying. The controls require a lot of power to operate. I'm not a small guy, but even I had to almost stand on the brakes to slow the plane down after revers off. I'm not sure I could keep the controls pulled back for 1 hour in case the elevator trim failed. It requires some physical strength. But it trims nicely. It flies nicely when you get it into proper trim. It's not like all PC addons that are all very jerky and nervous. Also, it's a bit slow to change the flight envelope compared to PC. The weight feels. You really have be ahead of the situation more than with PC. Initially, we found it most difficult keeping the pitch correct. We made too big corrections because we expected the flight envelope to chance far more quicker than it actually did. So we overdid it. And according to the instructor the DC-9 is actually very nimble compared to the sluggish MD-80... That must be flying like a brick then . IMHO, the biggest difference with this sim and a PC sim (physical differences aside) is that the roll/pitch/etc. rates are probably ok with the PC sims, but there's a little weight related delay to get there first in the real sim. Especially with pitch. As said, it requires planning ahead. So how did we fly then. I'm happy to say all take-offs and landings went within params. We didn't crash, we didn't fail anything. We knew all the most important instruments and principles in advance making it easier for the instructor. In fact, the instructor was a bit amazed how we managed the plane and read/used the instruments. He even gave us a "look" (in a positive way) when we pointed out what he was doing wrong setting up the first take-off (engine selector was not on Both)... But to tell the truth, it was very difficult observing all instruments while flying. Not nearly as easy as with PC. It's just so different. But I guess with a few more hours it would have been a lot more easy. Anything I felt was wrong? Only one thing - the plane felt like 20 m above the runway. But it's probably right and I'm wrong. This is the first year the sim itself was not certified for operation again. Instead it was to be scrapped but the aviation museum got a limited time (end of this month) chance to lease it out to raise funds (lease was 650 EUR/3h). I hope they can continue this deal even after the end of this month. The problem is they can't really sell the sim... According to the staff, it's most likely no engineer can reassemble the big room full of HUGE old computers again once they have been disassembled for transportation. So it will all most likely end scrap metal sooner or later. We also visited the rooms of the newer Embraer and ATR sims. Especially the Embraer sims is huge. It must be three times the size of the DC-9 sim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolP Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Nice read, Captain yallu. Me so stupid. Why did I become a software architect when I could have been a pilotDon't worry, some of the flying guys may have dream jobs too, others than their current one .. I guess. And nobody holds you back from going on the small Cessnas first, just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxter Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Wow, that looks awesome. Congrats on the experience. Must do something similar one day. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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