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A Visit To FlightSafety International's Falcon Learning Center at Teterboro Airport
By J.G. Wallace, Correspondent
I dropped my left hand over to the nose wheel steering knob, and with my right hand firmly affixed to the tri-jets throttle, I brought the AlliedSignal TFE731-5B turbofans to takeoff power. We started to roll, building up speed rapidly, then began drifting left. "Bring it back to center a little," O'Connor urged, then added the cautionary note, "just remember, it's very sensitive." Good advice, I guess, but too late, as we passed 70 knots, I overcompensated and reversed our veer, now darting right, precariously toward the grass.
 Falcon 900B simulator cockpit view |
Still trying to sound confident, I called out, "Positive rate of climb. Gear up."
My relief at having survived a departure from Runway 6, on a 73 degree heading was short lived, as I began to chase the ball; frantically trying to drive the delta into the vee on the flight director. I was wrestling with the controls, attempting to maintain 2000 feet, but the Falcon was ballooning up and down.
Sweat began to roll down my forehead. I decided to momentarily forgo the flight director bars, instead opting to look out the windscreen for orientation; trying to get my feel for the aircraft while I watched the radar altimeter. Suddenly, an inner voice offered calming words, "Relax, this isn't real. The closest you came to Teterboro Airport today was the other side of the street." True, I wasn't in a real Falcon 900, and I wasn't technically even in Teterboro, but in an incredibly realistic Level C full-motion simulator at the Moonachie, New Jersey site of FlightSafety International's Falcon Learning Center.
And in all fairness to myself, I am not a private pilot, but just an aviation buff. Like many FlightSim.Com users, my collective flying experience is about a dozen hours of Cessna time, and almost nightly PC-based flight simulation. Still, I remained determined to rein in this aircraft. Evidently sensing my frustration, O'Connor took the controls for a few moments, and after adjusting the trim settings, he announced, "Now try it."
The Falcon was trimmed out properly, and responded with incredible prowess. "Come around to about 180 degrees," Pat offered. "You should see New York City." Sure enough the familiar skyline came into view. I decided to steer towards the World Trade Center for a few minutes while I took in the controls. The ground texture and cloud effects were very impressive. Wispy tendrils shot past our cockpit, adding a very convincing effect to the entire visual package.
As we flew over the Bronx, towards lower Manhattan, I couldn't resist adding my review. "They did a great job on the City. But they forgot Yankee Stadium." Pat suggested we climb a little, then head back towards Teterboro for an attempt at landing. I sighted TEB in the distance, and came around parallel to Runway 19. Somehow my angle got a little skewed, so we decided to fly the pattern and land on Runway 6.
Since I was doing this approach visually only, Pat suggested I fly out a little to afford me a better position. I went about 10 miles away, turned on final, and actually did a good job of holding the airspeed of 126 suggested by Pat (Not bad, 126 knot approach speed in a transcontinental jet). The runway grew in our windscreen, and Pat gave a brief review of landing procedures.
From somewhere behind us in the simulator control area, FlightSafety International Product Marketing Manager Lisa Schmitt, my guide for the visit, offered a few words of advice, "Don't flare. Do it just like in the Cessna, just drive her right onto the runway." I couldn't believe what I had just heard. "Really?" I asked, more than a little doubtful. "Yep," Pat responded.
I did as I was told, but no sooner had I touched down than we started to slide to the right. I banged left rudder, and we pitched up, gaining about 30 feet of altitude, then banging back down, again arcing right. This time I was ready, and applied rudder while holding the nose down. Pat reversed thrust, and I stood on the brakes. We rolled out to a stop, then eased power forward to turn around.
 Falcon 900B simulator interior showing operator console |
Pat announced, "This time, the weather is much worse. But we'll use the autopilot, and land on instruments." We departed and went into thick clouds at about 300 feet. We maintained our departure heading for a few minutes, while Pat adjusted the autopilot. Once I looked over the switches, it became evident that I could fly the Falcon this way. Pat showed me how to changes the flight director display to change scale, or add airports or Navaids.
Feeling much more confident, I admitted, "This is how I do most of my Flight Simulator flying at home. Dial in the autopilot settings, set my GPS waypoints, and sit back and watch until I get there. You know, fly the A-340 to South Africa while I watch TV." Jokingly, Lisa remarked, "You know, you could be a corporate pilot, but you don't have a newspaper."
Flying the Falcon through the autopilot was disarmingly simple. By turning the heading knob, and watching the flight director, I was able to line up perfectly for an ILS approach. An indicator confirmed that we had intercepted the localizer, so I switched from Heading mode to Approach, just like PC flight simming. So far, so good.
The Falcon 900 does not have auto-throttle, but it was easy enough to maintain our speed. The flight director has a speed trend bar, making it easier to anticipate changes. I had been flying at around 155 knots, thinking that once I dropped the gear we'd settle in around our desired 126 knots approach speed. But after two notches of flaps, and an extended landing gear, we were still moving fast. "This is a really difficult aircraft to slow down," Pat explained, as I eased back on the throttle, watching the trend bar disappear just as we hit 126 knots.
"Our decision height is 200 feet. At 200 feet disengage the autopilot and take the controls," Pat added. Since Pat had also set the weather, I inquired, "When will we break out of the clouds?" "Oh, right at decision height," Pat answered.
Sure enough, as we passed through 200 feet agl, the clouds parted to reveal a well-lighted Runway 6, dead ahead. I jabbed the autopilot off, and executed a near-perfect landing, engaging the thrust reversers, and standing on the brakes. I thanked Pat profusely, and Lisa and I exited the simulator, just in time for a flight crew for a foreign nation's executive aircraft to resume their recurrent course.
Back to the business at hand. Training. An activity that occurs around the clock at Teterboro, and FSI's other learning centers.
FlightSafety International is the industry leader in flight training and flight simulation; offering everything from Private Pilot all the way up to individual initial and recurrent training for 30 different aircraft manufacturers. FlightSafety has 34 Learning Centers in the United States, and also has facilities in France, Great Britain, Canada, and China. And in addition to flight training, FSI also offers a myriad of maintenance training programs.
FlightSafety works with airline, corporate, and military aviators, and maintenance crews. FSI even offers an airline placement program, which matches suitable candidates with prospective airline employers. And besides aviation, an FSI division, MarineSafety is the leader in crew training for the shipping industry.
 Falcon 2000 Level D Simulator |
A pilot trained on a Level C simulator can be type-rated on a particular aircraft, but must still perform three takeoffs and landings in an actual aircraft before carrying passengers. Those trained on a level D sim can forgo the flight requirements.
 FSI instructor Pat O'Connor at entry to the sim |
And while Pat and his colleagues can call up a wide array of pitfalls for the crew, he has yet to see anyone break into a cold sweat (except perhaps this reporter). "Most of the crews are very experienced, so they don't panic," O'Connor explained. "But since the Falcons are so reliable, they never fail, crews don't get the opportunity to work out problems outside of the simulator."
Much of the focus in flight training today is placed on Crew Resource Management; a complex way of saying "working together," to solve problems, according to Schmitt. In addition, crews can benefit from extensive avionics training in the simulator. Corporate aviation benefits from flight simulation in many ways; an aircraft doesn't have to be out of regular service for a crew to train, the costs of using a simulator are far less than in an actual aircraft, a crew can work out scenarios you wouldn't want to do in a real aircraft, such as engine failures, and the bottom line of better trained crews and less training on actual aircraft is attractive to insurance carriers as well as the corporate bean counters.
Like most FSI learning centers, most classrooms are dedicated for a specific aircraft type. The facility offers amenities such as a crew lounge because of the constant activity. "No one is thrilled to hear they have an 11:00 p.m. sim slot, but we try and make it more comfortable," Schmitt added. "Most of the crews here are a long way from home, and we want them to be happy."
And while most home PC flight simmers never experience the complexity of a Level C simulator, or the depth of a FSI training course, we can still learn from FlightSafety International's over forty-five years in the flight training business. FSI has a unique relationship with Microsoft, having authenticated many of the flight models for Flight Simulator 98. Now FlightSafety International is marketing AviatorPro, a package of training add-ons for the FS 98 package. For more information, visit WWW.FLIGHTSAFETY.COM.
